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With plans to enjoy the slower pace of life Mallorca has to offer through the Winter, BikeBiz talks to cycling author Guy Andrews about his favourite rides, game changing products and what he’s cooking up for 2015…
What bikes do you own?
I have an Independent Fabrication XS, a Colnago, a Pinarello, a Pegoretti, a Condor, a Masi, a DeKerf mountain bike and an old Gazelle track bike. There’s a few more… probably way too many, but I love bikes and it’s hard to resist that +1 moment.
What’s your favourite place you’ve ridden?
On the road it would have to be Mallorca because the winters are warm, the roads are mostly quiet and the drivers respectful of cyclists. In the UK the roads in Northumberland are amazing, but I’d always rather be in the sunshine.
What’s your favourite race?
I’ve never been a huge fan of working at the Tour de France because it’s so big, I prefer the Giro d’Italia and the Spring Classics, especially Flanders and Roubaix. In the UK it would have to be the Three Peaks Cyclo-cross and the Rutland-Melton Cicle Classic. I am always blown away with how much passion has to go into organising a race in the UK. Guys like John Rawnsley (3peaks) and Colin Clews (R-M) are the real superstars of British cycling.
Apart from a few races, the UK race scene needs to improve and that means that those who have benefitted from the growth in cycling should now help out those who do what they do for the love of it. A better and broader racing scene in the UK would give the smaller professional teams a better platform to build on and would make cycling more visible to the public. That would be the best legacy of last year’s amazing successes.
Above: Andrews mid interview with Fabian Cancellara (photo by www.timmkoelln.com)
What projects are keeping you busy nowadays?
I’m working on a few book projects and really enjoying it – just researching and writing again.
Name one cycling product that you’d not be without and one that you feel revolutionised cycling at the time and why:
Look clipless pedals would probably answer both those questions. Although I think tubular tyres are still worth mentioning because that technology is the same as it was 100 years ago and it’s yet to be bettered. There’s still something quite luxurious about riding out on a pair of tubs.
If you could improve or develop your own product, where would you start?
Magazine-wise I would hope that people realise that, like any product, good writing takes time and that’s becoming a rare thing in all journalism these days, especially online. As a result everyone is just watching each other for stories because everything ‘has’ to happen so quickly, that’s a shame because you can’t beat getting out on the road to cover a story properly.
The cycling media are all too willing to cut corners and do things just to get them out there, perhaps that’s just the way things are now, but as that tread-mill speeds up the more you run – and the faster it goes the more is missed. Maybe I’m a dinosaur, but i think it pays to stop and be mindful of the quality in the story, rather than the speed at which it can be published.
As for developing new media projects myself, well watch this space!
