Wiggins: A true champion

One of the plus points of being at home having to recover is the ability to watch events live on TV, to savour the moment as it unfolds, not having to worry about finding out the result before having witnessed it for yourself. I was privileged to watch a man, not only race against the clock but exorcise a demon that had threatened to ruin a season or even a career.

Having just won the Tour of Britain, Bradley Wiggins arrived in Florence, Italy, ready, literally to take on the world. Pitched against the top two giants of individual time trialling, Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara, Wiggins rode his own race - listening to his body rather than the time gap reports. He rode with his heart, defying conventional logic and produced a ride that typified the fire and underlying passion that makes a true champion.

Former World Time Trial champion Chris Boardman's commentary always kept the Wiggin's dream alive. 'He'll have to do something special now' were his words as Wiggin's time dropped to +25 seconds behind. What happened next was truly astounding; the stuff of legend. The deficit began to drop, and drop, to eventually end up at -0.01. It was enough for second place overall, an amazing result that will be remembered for many years to come.

Sometimes it's not the bike that goes wrong

Amid the excitement generated this week by the start of the Tour of Britain, the Bike Show at the NEC and numerous other events going on this weekend and next, our creative department has been grounded from any form of riding for eight weeks. This comes as a massive blow but, by taking positives from this situation, drawing from the experiences of the greats of the past, has proved inspiring. The focus now is about getting fit and back on the bike, setting targets for the new year, having something to aim at.

We strangely forget that bikes don't move of their own accord, they don't go anywhere without someone to propel them. If, for whatever reason, this energy source goes wrong, bikes become static objects.

Ipswich SkyRide weekend

The roads you ride as a kid always stick with you as some of your first cycling memories. When we were invited by both Ipswich Borough Council and British Cycling to participate in their SkyRide weekend, it was an ideal opportunity to introduce ourselves to Suffolk's growing population of cyclists.

Saturday saw us down at the Waterfront, a recently regenerated docklands area, for both the sign on and finish of the UCS Ipswich and Coastal Giro d'Espresso, a 71 mile sportive taking in some of our favourite roads in the area. Although the sun was out, a strong coastal headwind for the final 21 miles saw riders in groups triumph over solo efforts.

At the heart of Ipswich sits Cornhill, a paved area that encompasses the Town Hall, Old Post Office and a street market most days. Based next to the SkyRide start area and the British Cycling café, we had a great day meeting cyclists and the public. As a bonus to an already excellent weekend, we were interviewed by a film crew putting together footage of the event for the Council website.

Dusk till dawn

When you mention to someone that you've just got back from reporting on a stage of this year's Vuelta in Spain, you can almost hear people thinking 'What a great life you lead!'. The reality is far from this vision. It can be very stressful, frustrating and demanding - never helped by the constant language barrier either.

Obviously you'll have to wait to read the full report in the next edition of the magazine but for now let us assure you that the same degree of pain, commitment and sacrifice found in cycling, is called upon when covering any kind of event at home or abroad. For all the toiling and efforts there has to be some redeeming factors as well. We got to see some amazing scenery, meet some great people especially the guys from www.lavereita.es. and the sun shone on us for the entire trip.