Can-do girls - High Speed Fixie Chase!

Meet 23-year old Ainara El Busto, track and road racer, but also Queen of Red Hook racing!

I met Ainara at the Red Hood Criterium when the second round of the series was held on the Greenwich Peninsula in London last month.

For those who aren't familiar Red Hook is a series of town centre criteriums held on track bikes. No brakes are allowed, so you really need to have top-end skill to get round the course which can be pretty technical. Or failing that, be prepared to kiss the tarmac a few times!

Red Hook first began in Brooklyn, New York, in 2008 and over the years they have added on rounds in other cities around the world. London, which was round two is a relatively new addition, while rounds three and four are held in more established venues at Barcelona and Milan respectively.

Ainara has been a real dominant force in the Red Hook series, and was consistently the series leader for 18 months, until the London round. Her party was spoiled firstly by the arrival of London 2012 team pursuit champion Dani King, who obliterated the field. To add insult to injury Ainara unceremoniously exited the race when she got a puncture and has dropped to third place in the rankings.

According to Gabe Lloyd, the commentator, this is really big news that Ainara has lost the top spot in the series, and to get back on terms Ainara is going to have to not only win the remaining rounds, but her rivals, new leader Ash Duban, and Vittoria Reati will need to have a bad race or puncture - beware of stray nails and tacks!

When I spoke to Ainara on the night I was quite impressed at how gracious she was in defeat, and was able to still speak very positively about her racing and the talents of her other competitors.

"I really enjoy racing at Red Hook. There is always a good atmosphere. The girls get on well and we support and encourage each other. Dani (King) is a phenomenal rider and it was good to race against her. It is a shame that I could not properly compete against her. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things go better for me at Barcelona and in Milan. The support from the crowds in London was great.

I started racing in Red Hook in 2014, when I received an invitation to compete in the Barcelona round. At the time I had never heard of this type of racing, so myself and my coach Hector looked into it and thought that this was something that could work well for me. I really enjoyed the race and have carried on doing them since.

Coming from a track background meant that it wasn't too difficult for me to get into it. The thing I like about it is that it isn't just about how strong or fast you are, it also depends very much on your bike-handling skills.

Also the atmosphere is different from that at a criterium race on the road. It is friendlier and more relaxed.

The training I do tends to be road/crit race training, and up to two weeks before the race I was doing interval training. The courses at the different rounds are fairly similar, though I have more fun when it is very technical!

For new racers at Red Hook I would say the most important thing is to get used to riding a fixed wheel bike, and after that you can enjoy it!"

On the night I also spoke to some of the other gutsy women who pitted themselves up against the best at the London race. The sound of tearing around a technical course on a fixed wheel bike with no brakes is pretty scary. But hearing what the women had to say, I am half tempted to have a go! Perhaps!

For those wanting a high adrenaline fixie fix the remaining Red Hook rounds will be held in Barcelona on August 27th and Milan on October 1st.


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Fast, furious and risqué - Red Hook comes to London!

Fast, furious and risqué! Red Hook crits come to London

This Saturday we will be treated to the mass spectacle of one of the craziest criterium races I have seen - the Red Hook Criterium! Imagine a town circuit race on tight corners with participants riding fixed wheel bikes and no brakes.

Circuit races can be tough enough, but riding this on fixed wheel bikes adds that extra element of excitement and exhilaration - I imagine! I haven't dared to try it!

The event is part of the Red Hook Criterium Championship Series which consists of four rounds held around the world. The first round was held in Brooklyn, New York. London is the second round, while the final two rounds will be held in Barcelona and Milan.

I saw the race in Milan a couple of years ago when I was working there. It looked fairly scary and a bit wild, with folks shouting at each other to get out of the way.

There were only a couple of crashes, none of them being serious. Having said that, sometimes there can be carnage as was seen at the previous round in Brooklyn this year.

As Red Hook is coming to my home town I will go along to Greenwich Peninsula this Saturday afternoon and check it out. A couple of racers I know are doing it, though the star rider in the women's race will be none other than Dani King - Olympic team pursuit track cycling champion. Sadly she was not selected for the Rio Olympics so we will get to enjoy her company here in London. The Wiggle High5 rider said to be "thrilled to be taking part and can't wait to be involved in what will be a spectacular showcase for women's cycling."

I look forward to seeing how she gets on, and I'm sure her excellent track cycling and crit racing pedigree will make her a strong contender on Saturday at the fixed wheel criterium extravaganza.

Here's to a great spectacle with everyone finishing in one piece!













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10 Soundbites from Dani King

10 soundbites from.... Dani King

London 2012 team pursuit gold medallist and Wiggle Honda rider Dani King is getting back in the swing of things after her terrible accident at the end of last year.


Photo from www.wigglehonda.com

Having to overcome the physical injuries was bad enough, but getting over the mental hurdle was a greater challenge.
But now following her 10-week rehabilitation Dani is back in the saddle and racing.
 She has also been busy on training camps, supporting her Wiggle Honda team mates on the side lines at some early European road races, and appearing at Bike Expo, Manchester. I caught up with Dani King at the team launch in Ghent. Here are a few things she had to say.


"I was lucky to get a break last October – I hadn’t had that in about 3 years, which was good but unfortunately I had another forced break with the crash in November."

"I can still feel pain in my ribs every now and again but it’s more of a mental battle for me now, but I’m getting there."

"My first race will be in the UK, the Tour of the Reservoir, then I’ll do a few time trials. My first race with my team will be the Omloop van Borsele, which is towards the end of April. It’s a classics type race."

"I’d like to target the Women's Tour. That’ll be a major goal of mine."

"Rochelle [Gilmore] has done a great job in putting some great personalities together [in Wiggle Honda], so I’m really excited about racing with them this year."

"I took my health for granted before the accident but I’ve found a lot of perspective since."

"It is a shame they [Joanna Rowsell and Laura Trott] are not riding in this team but I’ll still see them out on the road. We communicate on social media most days. It’s not like their completely out of my life – and I’m going to Jo’s wedding this year."

"Getting into the pursuit team for Rio [2016] is gonna be a massive deal for me. It’s not gonna be easy, that’s for sure. What I was lacking for the four kilometres was strength so this road season’s about developing myself as an athlete."

"I really enjoyed my presenting role on the BBC. Who knows, a future career in broadcasting would be nice. But I’ll stick to cycling for now."

"My dad is my biggest role model. He competed in the winter Olympics in biathlon.  After him, Chris Hoy is a cycling role model. He is such a genuinely nice guy who is always there for me to offer advice." 

The full interview with Dani is now up on the Cycling Weekly website.         


 

Hello to Wiggle Honda!

My first gig of the year was a trip across to Ghent for the launch of the Wiggle Honda Pro Cycling team. Around 15 journos were taken by Eurostar care of Wiggle/Brand Nation to meet the likes of Dani King, Giorgia Bronzini, and newly crowned World Omnium Champion Annette Edmondson.

Photo by Wiggle Honda

I have been to team launches of women's teams before but not one like this. The hotel, the Standton in Ghent was pretty neat and reminded me of hotels from another world - that's to say hotels where you have a sojourn rather than a functional hotel to crash. It's a shame we were only there for one day!

Back to the launch, the girls were presented at a nearby PoortAckere monastery, where each one in turn rode up the aisle to the reach the stage on their Colnago V1-r bikes. I can't think when I've even seen someone cycle on the interior of a religious establishment - I guess there's a first for everything.

It was good to catch up with a few folks I'd met previously - like Dani King, Giorgia Bronzini and their photographer Bart Hazen. At these things it's also a chance to make a few more contacts. I finally got to meet team manager, Rochelle Gilmore, who certainly sounds very savvy.

He mother was also in attendance, which was jolly supportive her. I must admit, I'd seen her around and had assumed she was a friend of Rochelle's or her sister - rather than her mother. She looked very young and glamorous!

As the team is supported by The Bradley Wiggins Foundation, and Brad was in Belgium on that day in advance of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, I wondered if he might make an appearance. But there was no sign of him.

One person who did show up and seemed very welcomed was Marc Coucke, CEO of Omega Pharma. There is speculation that Omega may in future sponsor the team.

Anyway, it was a good day out. I interviewed a number of the women, including young British riders Amy Robinson, Anna Christian.



My write-up on the launch is currently on the Sportsister website, and there's a Dani King interview due to go into Cycling Weekly in the future - other bits and pieces will go on this site too.