On the Road Bike

by Ned Boulting

  ‘I guess so.’ I try to get inside that observation, to imagine how that must feel. I give up, and watch the windscreen wipers flicking the Belgian rain from in front of us. I note that this was where Wiggins was born.

  Belgium. Not Britain.

  Somewhere else.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Many people gave up a great deal of time to help me tell this story, not least the ladies and gentlemen who feature heavily within. So thank you Chris Boardman, Mick Bennett, Garry Beckett, Avril Millar, Ian and Sally Anne Meek, Tony Hewson, Ron Keeble, Graham Webb, John Herety, Maurice Burton, David Millar, Simon Mottram, Gary Kemp, Brian Smith, Germain Burton, Ken Livingstone, Nadav Kander, Bob Elms, Tommy Godwin, Joe Clovis and Jim Robertson. Also to Dan Gordon, Brian Robinson, Phil Griffiths, Barry Hoban, Barbara Ford, Kay Jones, Matt Stephens and Kristian House for providing me with considerable help in my research.

  Thanks to the welcoming people at British Cycling who sent me an invitation to their gala dinner back in 2010 and set me off on this path.

  To all my fellow Real Pelotoneers, in whose company I completed the 115 miles of the Tour Ride, and whose better knowledge and companionship kept me going, thank you. In particular, thanks to my good friends Joad Raymond, Luke McLaughlin, John Beech, Matt Rendell, Adam Tranter, Chris Alfred, Jim Clayton and ‘Skipper’ Steve Trice. Simon Taylor, who attacked me on my local hill, sneaks in here, too, along with his hand-painted steel frame Graham Weigh bike. I also owe a debt to Ian Cleverly of the beautiful Rouleur magazine, to Gavin Brown from Metro and to Lionel Birnie from the Cycling Anthology for keeping my writing arm in practice. To those riders, and ex-riders, alongside whom I have learned about the domestic cycling scene, I am very grateful. They have had great patience. So, thanks Maggie Backstedt, Paul Manning, Yanto Barker, Ben Swift, Andy Tennant, Ed Clancy, Lizzie Armitstead, Dean and Russell Downing, Julian Wynne, Alex Dowser, Dan Lloyd, Roger Hammond, Tony Gibb, James McCallum, Tom Southam, Rob Hayles and Graham Jones. Hats off to those who make sure that the Tour of Britain and the Tour Series get on the telly, in particular to Mark Sharman and Niall Sloane at ITV, as well as Sharon Fuller, Rohan Browning, Glenn Street and Mat Pennell (amongst many others) at Century TV. The staff at the Caird Library in Greenwich let me use their space, despite the fact that I was blatantly not interested in maritime history. Simon Bromley was kind enough to let me use the picture he took of me struggling up the Bec Hill Climb.

  I should acknowledge Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins, who provided me, and you, and all of us with the absurdly improbable sight of a British Yellow Jersey leading out a British world champion on the Champs-Elysées. They’ve played a not insignificant part in all this. As has everyone at Yellow Jersey Press, in particular Justine Taylor, Kris Potter, Fiona Murphy, Frances Jessop, Myra Jones and the excellent editor Matt Phillips, who has now become a dad to young Maggie, and, although he does not yet know it, is hurtling towards his own mid-life crisis. Thanks too to Mark Stanton if he can bring himself to read past the title to get this far.

  Thanks to my magnificent and largely indifferent children, Suzi and Edie. And thanks to Kath, who has shown only limited and occasional interest in this book. Which is no bad thing, because she probably won’t like what I’ve written about her. Those three people are, once again, my full stop.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted inwriting by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Epub ISBN: 9781448161096

  Version 1.0

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  Published by Yellow Jersey Press 2013

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  Copyright © Ned Boulting 2013

  Ned Boulting has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs

  and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

  First published in Great Britain in 2013 by

  Yellow Jersey Press

  Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

  London SW1V 2SA

  www.vintage-books.co.uk

  Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

  The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 9780224092081