Martyn Ashton - Road Bike Party

Marco Pantani

  

 Pantani and his famous stage win

                                                               Marco Pantani 

Factfile

1970: Born on 13 Jan in Cesena, Italy

1992: Makes professional debut

1995: Bronze in World Championships

1998: Won Giro d'Italia and Tour de France

1999: Thrown out of Giro for failing blood test

2003: Year spent battling for reputation in court. June - books into clinic for depression and drug use.

2004: Found dead, hotel, Rimini, Italy

I wanted to write a little bit about my Cycling hero, Marco Pantani who was without doubt both one of the most charismatic and yet perhaps one of the most fragile and tragic riders of the modern era. I was lucky enough to see the man in the flesh at the height of his career and during one of his greatest stages wins, a “tale to compare with the best in the history books.” Stage 15 of the 1998 Tour de France, 198km from Genoble to Les Deux Alpes including 2645m Col du Galibier.

The weather that day was terrible, more reminiscent of the English Moors than the usually baking summer sunshine in the French Alps.

Pantani perfecting the Blackbeard look

“Laurent Jalabert had cracked on the Télégraphe, blaming the weather ("The cold was killing me. I knew the stage would be tough, but I didn't realise how tough. I couldn't recover and my muscles wouldn't respond. My teeth were chattering on the descents and I felt like my circulation had stopped."). Jaja wasn't just making excuses, it really was a foul day to be riding a bike. Two riders, Fabrizio Guidi and José Luis Arrieta, had already abandoned the stage, suffering from hypothermia.”

At the start of the stage Pantani was over three minutes behind race leader and reigning champion, the German Jan Ullrich. By the end of the day Pantani would lead the race by over six minutes and was able to hold to enough of a time cushion to claim the yellow jersey in Paris.

 “Four kilometres before the summit of the Galibier, Pantani let his legs do the talking. As they climbed Galibier, Pantani watched and waited as the German wore himself out. he simply rode off the front of the group and disappeared into the fog and the drizzle and the crowds lining the climb. In those four kilometres Pantani put almost three minutes into Ullrich.”

“On the roof of the Tour Pantani paused to don a rain cape before facing into the fifteen kilometre descent to the foot of Les Deux Alpes” 

“When Pantani rode into the ski-station at Les Deux Alpes - arms spread, head raised, eyes closed - Ullrich was still four kilometres down the climb. By the time he crossed the line the German had ceded almost nine minutes to the Italian.” source

 I was standing there that day poorly dressed for the unexpectedly freezing cold of the Col. I stood shivering as the endless stream of motorbikes and team cars finally made way for the cyclists. The first to appear of course was my Hero, Pantani, slicing through the rain and spray and off into the valley below.

So what drew myself along with millions of others to celebrate the diminutive Italian? For me it was simply because he was “II Pirata” or the pirate. He was distinctive and individual in every way. He was a flyweight, the perfect build for a climber, Bald with protruding ears complete with earring.  This look was finished with goatee and Bandanna.

In the Saddle again Pantani was a pure individual. I still vividly remember his accelerations on the Mountain, exploding away from pack as if just fired from a gun.

Unfortunately as we came to find out Pantani’s brilliance was not quite all of his own making, abusing performance enhancing drugs, perhaps throughout his career.  It was his exclusion from the Giro 1999 as a result of failing a blood test that finally alerted the world to his transgressions and began Pantani’s rapid decline, developing a huge Cocaine habit, which culminated in his death aged just 34 alone in a motel, Valentine’s Day 2004.

Pantani’s story is excellently portrayed in  “The Death of Marco Pantani: An autobiography" (2006) by Matt Rendell. Rendell points to the many undiagnosed mental frailties from which Pantani suffered as major contributors to his downfall. As an athlete he was able to ignore his problems, once this focus was no longer there the lid was lifted on his many inner demons, to devastating effect. 

I fully acknowledge Pantani’s many faults. Though one partial apologia concerning doping is the well-trodden response: “they were all at it” weak of course, but from the “Festina” scandal (during the 1998 tour), where a masseur was found with a car full of performance enhancing drugs, to the present day, Where the on-going revelations concerning Lance Armstrong and his “most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen". It’s clear that doping has been endemic within cycling for years.

(A saddle utilising Pantani’s nickname)

 Yet Pantani’s style, his charisma hooked me and so many others so much more than say an Armstrong ever did. And if the pirates’ exploits go onto to influence a future “clean” champion that would be a legacy that may help Marco to rest a little easier.

A documentary charting Pantani’s competitive life is scheduled to appear in cinemas next year, before the centenary edition of the Tour. ‘The Accidental Death of a Cyclist’ by renowned director James Erskine, who previous works include “One night in Turin” and “Senna”. Much like Erskine’s other work the Pantani film will feature race and news footage, with interviews of the pirate along with reconstructions on his most famous moments on the road. 

Budapest Cycle Culture

Good example of a Budapest "fixie" bike

As I mentioned previously, Budapest has undergone something of a revolution in the numbers cycling in recent years. These numbers perhaps reflect a trend throughout Europe and it would interesting to find out if similar change has taken place throughout the continent. 

As a result the city has a strong and vital cycling sub-culture, which is now moving increasingly into the mainstream. How is this culture evident to the outsider?  Well you simply have to spend a little time in downtown Pest to come across any number of customised “fixie” bikes like the example above. There a a lot of bike workshops (some examples below), often hidden below street level and giving the cycle addict endless opportunities to further personalise their bike.

 One of the real success stories of this cycling revolution has been niche clothing and apparel manufacturers, particularly Bagaboo http://bagaboo.hu/. Hugely popular in Hungary the company formed by former cycle couriers began producing quality bags for cyclists a few years ago as the popularity and reputation of the company has grown the manufacturer has begun increasingly to diversify The unique selling point for Bagaboo is that the customer has a great deal of control over the look and build of the product, having the ability to specify colours, patterns and even extra pockets!

What is clear that regardless of the roots of this surge (or perhaps resurgence!) Cycling in the city has really taken hold. 

The cycle couriers

Being a cycle courier and let’s face it risking your life on a daily and sometimes hourly basis means that this quickly becomes not merely a job but a way of life! As such it is unsurprising that the cycle couriers are an important influence in new trends, spawn new fashions and even new leisure activities (so called “alley cat” races and bike polo) and network in some of the many workshops around the city along with favoured bars and cafes.

 There are currently around 6 cycle couriers firms working in the city but the original and most well known is Hajtás Pajtás http://hajtaspajtas.hu/, established back in 1993 “Buppa”, the owner of Bringa Angyal and who  worked for Hatjás in 90’s recalls that businesses treated the idea of bicycle couriers in the city with disbelief! But with time the company went from strength to strength. When the company was first formed the city was a much different place, virtually no cycle lanes and roads full of unsympathetic drivers.  until being affected much like everyone else by the financial crisis.

 Perhaps unsurprisingly Hajtás staff have been influential in improving the conditions for cyclists in Budapest with one of the founders (name) going on to introduce critical mass to the the city. 

Alley Cat Races
They first appeared in Toronto around 1989 and are now a fixture in many major cities throughout the world the race have number of different forms but perhaps the best loved of these is the classic version.

In this classic version competitors place their bikes at an agreed collection point where shortly before  the start of the race a a list of checkpoints is attached to each. The racers then navigate their way across the downtown pedestrians and oncoming traffic! The races are open to everyone either confident or misguided enough in their cycling abilities! Of course the post race party is an essential part of the experience.

Below is a link to the European cycle messenger championships that was held in Budapest 2010 with some nice clips not only of the races but also in turn helps to illustrate  this idea of a sub-culture

http://youtu.be/l63K_6i4D1k

http://youtu.be/S8fUW6SEQKE

Recommended bike shops

• Bringa angyal http://akerekparbolt.hu/ - The owner “Buppa” speaks good English and really lives for cycling, having worked for the original cycling couriers “Hajtás Pajtás” and also done the job in New York too and will give good advice and doesn’t seek simply to sell you as many Things as possible. The shop operates a call out puncture repair service between 8am-10pm.
• Kerekparbolt http://akerekparbolt.hu/ -  (XIII) Very good and honest service at low cost the guys also sell quite a few second-hand bikes but unfortunately speak little English.
• Recikli Bicikli http://reciklibicikli.blogspot.co.uk/– Formed by two former cycle couriers the shops focuses on creating bespoke bikes from second hand frames, many of which have been imported from Italy.

Budapest's Cycling Revolution

According to the Sustainable Cities website: http://sustainablecities.dk/en/city-projects/cases/budapest-cyclist-numbers-double numbers of cyclists in the Budapest in just two years. This story was published in 2010 so I would suspect that numbers have continued to rise still further. 

 (source: cafebabel.com)

There are number of reason for this: As mentioned at least half the city, pest, is super flat (important to mention that along the river on the Buda side is extremely good also and you have an opportunity to get the best views of landmarks such as the parliament building). The climate from April onwards is very pleasent with little and ride and importantly for me, coming from Britain as I do, minimal wind! Thirdly i've no doubt that finances have contributed to change, with fuel prices continuing to rise while wages remain stagnant.

Cycling in the city has been championed by what may have previously been two opposing sides: Activists from the vibrant local cycling subculture and the City council. I want to cover cycling culture in the city in a seperate post, but in order to quickly illustrate its strength in Budapest, the city hosted its first Critical Mass (C.M.) ride (where cyclists take over the local road network to protest against primacy of cars.) September 2004. By 2008 the C.M. spring ride had attracted a record 80,000 participant! http://criticalmass.hu/english.

During this time the city council has also been busy both accomodating, encouraging cycling and cyclists. As previously mentioned a large network of cycle paths have rapidly taken shape (though as yet, far from perfect, there are still places where the paths simply end with the unlucky cyclist having the option of either cycling on the pavement or one the BUSY city centre roads). Other enlighted changes include allowing cyclists to travel the opposite along one way roads and also onto suburban trains. These have all encouraged locals to get on their bikes!

The drivers and the roads of Budapest

(Classic patchwork road in Budapest)

Drivers in the big city in general seem to drive faster and concentrate less on the road in front of them than i have been used back in Britain (thats not to say drivers over there are so great!) Using a mobile phone while driving is like a number of countries is illegal here but this is largely ignored and with the limited numbers of Rendörszég (Police) it is law that is difficult to enforce. 

Unsuprisingly nightly news continously new and terrible crashes on regional roads. Despite this drivers can be curteous toward other road users as long as they get on with it and get out of the way!
It is important to be aware of this bacuse i mentioned previously the city, particularly the Buda side is a very the great place to cycle and as such there are many bike rentals companies seekingto make the most of this opportunity. Simply as a tourist be a little wary!

The roads are in not grea condition with many containing the scars of overuse, suffering extremes of weather and disfigured by a patchwork of piecemeal repairs. The experience at busy junctions becomes more tricky when you take into account deeply rutted tramlimes and the grooves in the tarmac that sometimes make you feel like your bobbing along in a little boat on a rough sea!

Fortunately there is a growing network of cycle paths and these have becomie increasingly popular in quite a short period of time. I have been told there has been something of cycling explosion in Budapest in Recent years. I want to anf figures the back this in the near future.

Intro

Hello! I just wanted to start this blog to share my interest (perhaps love?!) in Cycling..  I think this really started watching highlights of the Tour de France when i was a child. Unsuprisingly i became a little bit of a Francophile too!

As such i've always cycled finding like many others before and after as a real opportunity to go free range even when relatively small.

I now live in Budapest and continue my passion here. In many way the city is very suited to cycling with the pancake flat Pest providing an obvious contrast to the (steep!) Hills of Buda. At the same time the city is still undergoing a culture a change a lot of investment being put into creation of cycle lanes in a short period time and mainly as the result of the increasing prices of petrol and stagnant wages numbers of cyclists rapidly increasing. Yet many drivers have yet to really come to terms with the changes. In a country where there seems to be a quite a large number of accidents on the road cyclist are increasingly becoming involved. I have personal experience of this from both sides causing damage to an oncoming car while i was dozing (a reccurring problem) and also being the blameless victim of an absent minded driver.

All in all i have a positive experience during my time here!