The reason?

Well the great Kenny Van Vlaminck (KVV!)has chosen one of my photos of himself for his new range of designer apparel. Yes, you heard it correctly. A photo of mine will adorn the front of KVV!’s new range of T Shirts.

For those unfamiliar with the man (and i can’t think that there will be many) KVV! is the legendary Belgian hardman who took the northern classics  by storm in the 90’s. Announcing his arrival on the scene with a spectacular 67th at Fleche Brabanconne in 1992 he followed this up with 11th in 93’s Gent Wevelgem and then to prove these results were neither flukes or career blips inspired by pharmaceutical assistance he stormed to an incredible 19th in the prologue of the 96 Tour of Morocco.

Widely regarded by Belgians as the man Merckx could have been KVV!’s formidable hardman status gained him a reputation throughout Europe that survives to this day. His transition from cyclling great to knowledgable tv pundit has been smooth and natural, organic some might say, and he is bringing to cycle sport what Mick Fleetwood brought to the 1989 Brit Awards.

For Mick and Sam read Kenny and Ned.

If there is  one fly in the ointment in an otherwise flawless Kenny world it is that he has been cursed with the misfortune of bearing an uncanny resemblance to former National Road Race Champion Matt Stephens. The irony really couldn’t be any greater when you consider the staggering gulf in the talent of these two men.

Kenny can be found at http://www.kennyvanvlaminck.be

Hard Case Nutter

Kenny shadows a young Greipel

Loads of lunatics get on mountain bikes and ride down hill really fast. At some point they fall off usually resulting in some form of injury (being looneys they tend not to notice this fact). For the injured the paramedics bounce across the fields in a land rover. When this is deemed inadequate a proper light flashing woo-woo ambulance also bounces across the fields. Finally a big yellow helicopter appears Apocalypse Now stylee from behind a copse and ferries the injured to the mortuary. This sport is brutal and seriously entertaining. Its like Takeshis Castle on bikes and i confess to having the greatest admiration for the type of folk it attracts. These free spirits hurtle along with little thought for their own life and limb out of sheer competitive gusto.

Its just fabulous and of you happen to be in the vicinity on either Saturday or Sunday (Sunday is National Champs day) then you need to get yourself there

My gut feeling is that Froome will take the honours as far as Sky are concerned but these two may be so busy neutralising one another that Alberto C. could sneak up and urinate on their potato based fast food.

Whatever happens this will be one intriguing race and has seems to have been the norm these past couple of years the Brits will be in the thick of it.

We are now entering classics season and for the next few weeks the thrills and spills will abound. With the peleton now seemingly a cleaner place the new talent emerging, particularly from the new world and the UK, will have a great chance to grab glory.

By the way Alex Dowsett to Movistar- brilliant move and much glory to come.

First on Saturday i went to the excellent Hit the North (4) at Phillips Park Prestwich. This is a brutal two hour mtb race all done for charity and included the legendary Nick Craig who went and won it. There were many highlights of the day but i particularly enjoyed seeing the Mayor of Burys Jag get stuck on a particularly gravelly ascent (don’t ask). A crowd formed to assist in the push. Me, i laughed a lot.

The race was run in great weather unlike last year with a field of over 300 and there were some very tired looking folk at the finish

Sunday i was the photographer for the excellent Cheshire Mini Sportive. A field of 650 competitors set off from Poynton Leisure Centre and through the leafy (sort of) lanes of affluent Cheshire on a course of either 30 or 60 miles. The great pleasure in photographing the sportives is that the riders are genuinely having a great time. Most wave, smile and greet you as they bowl past.

The one thing that made both these events possible and indeed highly successful was the hard work and efficiency of the organisers. Both Jason Miles of HTN and Tony Orell of Torelli sport worked like Trojans and not to forget that collectively they ran events with around a thousand competitors all who seemed to enjoy themselves and all who appeared to make it through in one piece. Well done gents!

Female champ was the ever smiley Nikki Harris, and well she might smile today as she beat the odds on favourite Helen Wyman.

Mens champ was Ian Field for the second year running.

The cross season has nearly finished now and sights switch to the road but this winters action has proven just what an exciting and well supported sport this is.

Photos are now online at chrismeadsphotography

In part two of this adventure i headed down to Blackpool. Now anyone familiar with this town will realise that during the summer it can be something of a culture shock to the civilised human ( i want to use stronger language here but i dont have a good lawyer to hand). In the depths of winter however, and if you stick strictly to the sea front, it is actually quite sexy! Now don’t head up there on my say so because behind the scenes it still leaves a lot to be desired but if you choose your aspects carefully the scenery can be quite rewarding.

Anyway, enough of the arty stuff, its back to the cycle-cross this weekend!

The commentary was done by the acerbic Peter Graham from the organising Lancashire Road Club and he really doesnt care who he offends, especially in his words, the idiots who take their dogs to the race. He also saved a bit of criticism for the fans who had cycled there. “What fool takes a bike to a bike race?”

Next stop Cross, cross and more cross.

The cyclo cross season has returne dand i attended my first race Sunday last. This was the Weaver Valley CC race at Northwich and whilst i left Wigan-On-Sea in fine blue skys and sunshine the weather got very foggy and anti-photographic as i neared my destination. This put a particularly transluscent haze on the pics from the Youth race but as the morning went on the fog lifted and fortunately the senior race was held in bright sunshine.

The race was won by Paul Bethel who outsprinted his younger team mate Giles Drake for the honours although i am sure Drake will take his fair share of wins over the next few months. Photos are now online at www.chrismeadsphotography.zenfolio.com

Sunday sees a return to the road as the National Hill Climbing Champs come to the Rake at Ramsbottom then its cross all the way to next spring.

I may blog about the Armstrong situation later. Everyone else is!

Now i like to look sideways and irreverently at things but this needs staring at head on. The truth is that a whole generation of mainly American riders systematically doped and cheated. Riders who i for one trusted and looked up to. Indeed the thought never crossed my mind that the likes of Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie were souped up when they performed their heroics, mainly in the service of their team leader Armstrong (first name formalities are done with for him, and Savile for that matter!) And how Michael Barry got a berth in Team Sky is beyond belief when you consider the stance Dave Brailsford has taken on these matters!

All of this is rather depressing and the only beacon of light is that the sport may at last be on the cusp of cleaning itself up. Yes the UCI, McQuaid and everyone else included. The Yanks of course werent the only ones at it and if you want some really depressing reading try this

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/24/sports/top-finishers-of-the-tour-de-france-tainted-by-doping.html

Please let this now be the end of it. And dont be shy about sending some of these guys to prison. Its fraud, sporting fraud.