Cycling: it's a community thing

The term cycling community has an American ring to it somehow. For us, it evokes a small town where everyone calls each other by their nicknames and high-fives are the order of the day. The real meaning of the term has long been a subject for debate in the letters pages of UK cycling magazines, where cycling etiquette and cyclists’ sociability are discussed at length. The underlying philosophy that motivates us here at Simpson is that cycling brings together like-minded people, regardless of age, religion, social status or wealth. Like it or not we are all bound by our love of the bicycle. How we've arrived at this point is secondary to the immediacy of where we are now. Shared experience tends to bond people. From families with young children to dog owners to the drivers of VW camper vans… all are likely to be sympathetic to each others’ needs. We believe cycling does exactly the same thing. If you pull up at traffic lights with another waiting cyclist the chances are you'll strike up a conversation. Be it about the weather, the road surface, bike comparisons or just 'which way are you heading out mate?' you'll always get a response. While out riding this weekend we shared some miles with a cyclist we meet in just such a fashion. It's good to ride with new people, to share the unique pace of another; both mind and body benefit. It's a shame a broken spoke cut short a very enjoyable ride but we swapped numbers and will hopefully buddy up again soon. Having nursed the stricken bike back home it was great to receive a text from our new cycling friend making sure we got back safely.

Let's be careful out there

As our thoughts turn from platefuls of turkey and sprouts to the challenging business of winning back our pre-Christmas fitness, there is a seasonal dilemma to face: do you risk cycling on icy roads or do you resign yourself to the sweaty drudgery of the turbo? Unless you’re a special kind of masochist, you’ll probably opt for the road whenever possible. The turbo is tough at the best of times but hauling your stiff and bloated frame on board in a frozen shed in the deep mid winter knowing that nothing but solitary pain lies ahead takes self discipline to a whole new level. Riding on the road is so much more fun…and more sociable…and more rewarding. The risk of a bit of ice here and there seems a small price to pay. But this blog post will appear less than a week after a Simpson team member came off on the ice and turned his hip and elbow into a purple and black bruise-fest. It will also be almost exactly a year since another one of Simpson’s finest came off on invisible black ice at no more than 15mph and ended up with mild concussion, some nasty bruising and a broken helmet. One of the riders we were with that day also went over but he wasn’t so lucky. His broken hip took months to mend. Of course, nine times out of ten you’ll get away with it. You’ll spot the occasional glistening patch on the road and glide past it without so much as a wobble. But every once in a while it’ll go pear-shaped and then, if you’re really unlucky, you’ll have a few weeks of enforced inactivity during which to reflect on whether it was really worth it as you watch your cycling buddies build their fitness for the season ahead.

The year ahead

It's been another busy year for Simpson magazine. 2014 has seen us participate in a number of events from the retro to the nocturnal and take to the boards at the Lea Valley Velodrome with the launch our own team. As ever, we live to ride but we also want to share, captivate and involve others in this beautiful sport through the publication and this website. Prompted by numerous inquiries about our trade team kit, we're now working on the launch of our own cycling club, Simpson CC, together with a range of clothing for on and off the bike. We're also in the process of organising our own rides and we'll be actively encouraging you to join us on the road. There'll be no membership fee or forms to fill in (life's too short), we just want as many people as possible to get the most out of their cycling. We're big fans of the increasingly popular idea of non-affiliated cycle clubs - groups of riders getting together and riding, just for the sheer pleasure of it. We also admire the graphics being generated by this new independent scene. They are unique, original and 100% homegrown and we love them! Just like the magazine itself, Simpson CC will be open to everyone. It's not about elitism - all ages and abilities are welcome. Issue 7 of the magazine will be making an appearance early in the new year and it will be full to the brim with the broad spectrum of content you've come to expect from us. We know we drop off the social media scene every now and we understand that this might create the impression of inactivity - but more often than not it really signifies intense spells of offline work. We hope you agree it's usually worth the wait. We firmly believe that all work and no play might make us as dull as some of the other cycling titles out there (titles that we're far too polite to name, obviously) so we fully intend to kick back and address this by signing the trade team up for some challenging rides for 2015 season both in the UK and on the continent. Watch this space for further details!

Clean up your act

Riding through the winter months demands more commitment: fact! Low temperatures dictate the need for extra layers of clothing, which in turn create their own challenges. Anyone who has tried to retrieve a bar or gel from a rear pocket with numb fingers encased in winter gloves will know what we're talking about. The point when frustration turns to anger is the moment a ride ceases to be enjoyable. From sportive to daily commute, if you're not suitably attired or haven't bothered to tuck in and pull up your clothing, the damp and cold will inevitably find a way in. Only time out on the bike in wintry conditions will determine the layering options that work for you. We all have different needs; our bodies react uniquely and must be listened to. Being too hot can be just as bad as being too cold. The elements cause just as much mental suffering as physical. There's an aspect of primitive isolation to any long ride which can force us into a survival mode of sorts. There's always the possibility of being stranded, however much care we take over our equipment choices. It's these moments that lay bare our reliance on our creature comforts. There's nothing quite as humbling as finding yourself alone on a country lane, miles from home, in the face of a pending storm. It's at times like this that reliability suddenly seems much more important than speed. As we outlined in the second edition of the magazine, there is a strange nobility in suffering. It's good to be taken out of our comfort zones once in a while and to come face to face with the age old challenge of survival. The reward - the successful completion of a ride - strengthens the bond between rider and bicycle. What we must never lose sight of is the essential clean up and re-lube of your bike after such epic winter journeys. Just as your kit should go in the wash straight after a ride, so too does your bike need some TLC. Back in the comfort of our centrally heated homes, it's too easy to overlook the very machine that delivered us safely back.

Going wild in the country

If you think cyclo-cross has taken off in the UK in recent years you should do yourself a favour and visit Belgium for a Superprestige series race meeting. Last weekend we visited the Gavere meet just outside Ghent, where tens of thousands gathered to watch huge stars such as Sven Nys and Kevin Pauwels power round a ridiculously muddy and technical course in the grounds of a stately home. The riders’ amazing bike handling skills were matched only by the enthusiasm of those watching them from every possible vantage point around the course - more often than not with a plastic glass of beer in one hand and a paper plate of mayo-sodden chips in the other. TV cameras were there to capture the action, the highlights of which were shown on national news programmes at the end of the day. After the races, hordes of rowdy CX fans poured into the vast fan tent to cheer on the cheesy but wildly enthusiastic singer and his dancing girls as they belted out Europop anthems and pranced around the stage. It all shows just what’s possible when TV coverage generates enough commercial sponsorship to turn what could so easily have been a bunch of grim-faced riders charging around a soggy, deserted field into a joyous, circus-like celebration of a fantastically watchable and thrilling sport. We’ll be sharing our wonderful Belgian CX adventure in much more detail in the next issue of Simpson - including what it feels like to ride an elite-level course on a top-of-the-range Ridley CX bike with the latest SRAM ‘cross componentry. Meanwhile, it’s back to the warm tea and wintry delights of the British CX scene for us.