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Alex suffering in the SCCU 21 |
Alex Kew has been a member of the Phoenix for four years and is the current Time Trial Secretary.
What’s your bike
ownership history or what do you currently ride?
The usual back catalogue
of a Raleigh Grifter in the dim and distant past with my first road bike being
a Clements Reynolds 531 tubed bike. My current bikes are a Van Nicholas Euros
which I have used for training, sportives time trialling and commuting. This
year I took the plunge and have bought myself an Argon E-80 tt bike, which has
helped me knock a few seconds off my pbs.
How did you start
cycling?
I’ve always cycled or
done some triathlons of some sort but in the last few years I have found it
harder and harder to stay injury free when running, so cycling has become a more
important way for me to keep fit and keep the belly at bay.
What made you join
Kingston Phoenix?
I wanted to improve the
cycle leg when I was competing in triathlons. I always seemed to be going
backwards when compared to other competitors and I decided that I wanted to do
some time trialling to improve my bike speed and I saw that the Phoenix did
their evening 10 time trials. I came along to my first one in 2010 and have not
looked back since.
What has been your
most memorable cycling experience?
This year I competed
in the Alpe d’ Huez short course triathlon which took in the 21 hairpins of the
mountain climb. It was a fantastic day and I couldn’t stop grinning the whole
way up. It helped that my swim leg was so bad that I was able to overtake a lot
of other riders on the ascent. The run at the top of the mountain was a
different story altogether but it was still a day I will never forget. In a
completely different vein I supported some of our riders in the National 24
hour Time Trial and it was a complete hoot. I spent most of the time eating
while watching my club mates suffering on their bikes. It was a great 12 hours.
What has been your
worst cycling experience?
I have the usual
stories of being caught in biblical weather or getting my nutrition wrong and
suffering the consequences. A couple of
years ago, Simon T convinced me to take part in the Pearson Sportive, a 100 mile ride out to Brighton and back, when
my longest ride in the preceding 3 months had been a 10 mile commute. I spent
the entire ride slumped over the bars trying to hang onto Simon’s wheel, trying
to convince myself that it was all ‘miles in the bank’. I had a similar experience
this year when I took part in the SCCU Sporting 21 and I got up late so didn’t have
a proper breakfast, but I decided to bulk the morning out by cycling to the
start and back to make a 60 mile ride. By half way through the tt I knew it was
going to end badly. This time it was Brain’s wheel that I was trying to hang
onto as we cycled home. How I was able to cycle so slowly and still stay
upright is beyond me. I’m pleased to say that the vast majority of my cycling
experiences have been good ones.
What cycling /
sporting achievement are you most proud of?
Winning the Pete
Mitchell Trophy last year for the Hill Climb Championship was a real honour. Racing
the Forestman Triathlon in 2011 was a great experience and I was really pleased
with my cycling fitness at that time. I felt pretty bombproof and was the
lightest and fittest that I had been in 20 years. This season has been a good
one for me with personal bests at 10 and 25 miles and over a Half Ironman
distance at triathlon. I seem to be getting faster as I get older, which is
nice! So if I can keep that going for a few more years then I’ll be pleased
with that.
What are your plans
for the rest of this season or next season?
I really want to go
sub 60 for 25 miles next year. It’s such a bench mark for a cyclist and it’s a
badge of honour I want. My current pb is 60:56 which I achieved this year on
fairly patchy training, so with a solid winter under my belt I hope that I
should be able to take a fair chunk off of that and get that sub 60. I suppose I should do my first 100tt and 12
hour next year. We’ll see. Other than that, I just want to keep enjoying it by
getting out regularly with my friends and enjoying the sport.
Do you have any
particular cycling or sporting heroes?
I suppose Chris
Boardman was the first cyclist who I took real notice of, when he won the
individual pursuit gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics. I remember going up to
Lilywhites in London to see his Lotus bike which was such a modern piece of
engineering at that time. Nowadays, the people I most admire are those people
like Ron, Doreen and Brian Powney, Lisa, Frank, Ray Dare, Ann Bath and many
others who have done some amazing things in this sport and also given so much
to the club over the years. I am very proud to be a small part of that and to
know these riders.
Sum yourself up in
three words.
Usually off course.
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Alpe d' Huez Triathlon 2014 |
We really need to teach you the lingo, Alex. ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's 1:0:56, or an "oh, 56" - not 60:56 and
"under" (the hour), not "sub 60". LOL
And I have been trying to tell you - and others - that helping in a 12 (or 24) is a grand day out. It's fun, and a terrific sense of achievement when you help your rider to their goal (or at least get them to the finish!).
That's the runner in me speaking! ;-)
ReplyDeleteVery enlightening wheezy! I never broke the hour used to do 00's for 25 and fifty at the age of 22 so I recon you should get under the hour next season. A challenge if you can cope with 100 mile and 12 hr TT KPRC could field a good team next year especially if Stewart takes part.!
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