Pink Rifles and Kitchen knives

The Guardian has been showcasing photos by the Dutch artist An-Sofie Kesteleyn of American children posing hard faced with child sized rifles in shocking pinks and blues. It is a nifty art project and the images are unsettling, especially knowing the weapons may be small but are real all the same.  The article references accidental killings and  the bizarre American certainty they need guns for protection. It is familiar stuff, but all a very long way away. There are things closer to home that worry me far more. Let's unpack this a little.

The pink rifles may be distasteful to many, but growing up I spent many happy hours shooting air pistols and rifles. If somebody had given me a .22 rifle I would have been delighted. From what the article says these kids fire their little guns at rifle ranges, probably a lot safer than what me and my brother did in the back garden. In the end I got bored and grew up. There were lots more interesting things out there than shooting Dad's old beer cans. It helped that my parents weren't gun nuts or survivalists, but presuming the parents of the children in these pictures are is also a hefty presumption.

What I find much more frightening is the young people in London who feel they need to carry knives for protection. That is a thought process that leads to very real tragedy in our streets. A couple of years back through my work I came face to face with this when two of my residents children were killed in gang violence. Nobody was carrying a gun, just knives. Kesteleyn has done a good job of her photo project and her work is enjoying recognition. But before we get too judgemental of these chubby kids and their parents, let's take a hard look at our world.

La Course, La Tour sealed with a kiss

For those unfamiliar with the traditions of professional cycling it retains a strange archaic ritual where the winner is attended to on the Podium by 'Podium Girls', normally two. The money shot being a picture of the victor waving his trophy (and or cuddly toy) while being kissed on either cheek by the girls. In terms is of symbolism it's all pretty single entendre. In launching La Course, a women's race on the final day of the Tour De France, the organisers, ASO have been eager to share the news that the winners with be greeted by 'Podium Boys.' Hurrah for equality. Hopefully the women will have more class than Peter Sagan, photographed last year taking a sneaky grope. But in these enlightened times surely this doesn't go far enough. Surely the victor should be able to select their gender of choice for that all important peck, or should they wish, one of each. Equal love and all that. Alternatively let's take the opportunity to consign this toe curling tradition to history and pay more attention to tackling the huge inequality within the sport.

ASO are also making a lot of noise about offering equal prize money for the men's and women's race. Ok, don't mean to be snarky but.... Yes, the prize money is equal to that of the man who wins the final stage of the TdF. It dodges the challenge that ASO as yet do not run a Women's TdF, because, well it's all too hard. The man who wins the TdF will earn vastly more. The pay, appearance fees and sponsorship enjoyed by even mid ranking male pro's dwarfs what the women get, even the very best. In terms status and rewards women's cycling is where tennis was before Billie Jean King. A big part of this is women's races, even  when they do exist, do not enjoy serious coverage. Rather than jokey patronising press releases about podium boys, those organising the big races, and the UCI who sanctions them need to move into the 21st Century.

Flight for Life - Refuge and Jenny Smith

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/28/domestic-violence-first-womens-refuge-saved-my-life?CMP=fb_gu

Away from the fun cycling and music things that I like to write about I was moved by this article from Jenny Smith. The role that Refuge plays in supporting the victims of domestic violence is now well known, but two things struck me about this story. The first was how all the other services Jenny had reached out to in 1973 simply pushed her back to face more violence. But secondly how little this subject is talked about even today. While Jenny thanks Refuge for saving her life, something like two women a week are still being killed by their partners. 40 years on from Jenny's escape the problem has not gone away.  

Back Home? Addiscombe 25 27.4.14

Sunday's Addiscombe 25 was run on the G25/53 out of Broadbridge Heath. If there is any course I consider home this is it. It was where I did my first open TT (and went off course, turning back only when I saw the M23 slip road), and where a couple of years later on a lovely September morning  I went under the hour. If the rumours are true this course will not be around for much longer. Development in the area is happening apace, with new roundabouts and slip road appearing. Along with this major road works will be kicking in from the summer. All progress I guess but I will be sorry if the G25/53 is a casualty.

Not that the course exactly spoils us. Yesterday was wet with a wind that just seemed to never do you any favours. With lots of standing water it was as Bashers said, a day of 'tiptoe round the roundabouts' or risk ending up like Dan Martin in the L-B-L. However it nearly didn't happen for me. I got up in time, and was sitting reading the paper and eating breakfast. I checked my watch, 6.15, maybe should start thinking about leaving soon. It the dawned on me,  I was off at 7.32!! I reached the hall flustered at 7.10. Addiscombe's Andrew R Green kindly pinned my number on as I signed the start sheet. I the end I got a mighty 8 minute warm up riding to the start.

Bash was already on the road and Paul King was due to go off a little later. The upside of tearing around late was that I did not get the chance to brood on the crappy weather, and just got on with it. A couple of days before, Des at Cadence had worked on my position and warned me to expect it to feel a bit strange, but once I had finally warmed up and got into my stride it felt pretty good. I could have dug a bit deeper, but my 1.5.20 marked a bit more progress.

Paul King came in with a 1.4.47 but top dog was Bash with a 1.1.12, and excellent time on a tough day. Pete Tardros won well with a 53.49.

Palace, Pulis and thoughts on staying up

Please forgive this even more self indulgent that usual ramble. So Palace are staying in the Premiership, at as the press like to remind us, the fifth time of asking. So I have been thinking about what was different about this term, other than bald fact of survival, compared to the others.

So here we go. 1992-93
The suggestion that Palace have never stayed up in the Premier League was always a bit of a cheap shot. The relegation in 92/93 was in its inaugural year, and Palace had been in the top flight since 89/90. It was a once great squad that had declined steadily, so tells us little about the current vintage but may be a cautionary tale for what happens of one lets the grass grow under your feet. Though still a strong squad players had been allowed to go, most notably Ian Wright without the money being reinvested that wisely. Despite looking good enough to avoid the drop, a freak set of results sent us down on 49 points. It was also the first time when Steve Coppell betrayed a frailty that would reoccur every so often, and ultimately prevented him reaching the managerial heights he once looked capable of. It seemed he would reach a point of despair, when he no longer knew what to do. It would resurface during is brief stint at Man City and again at Palace in 97/98.

94/95 - The Cantona Year
The core of the premiership squad retained from 92/93 allowed CPFC to bounce back at the first time of asking, and being promoted as champions I expected us to make a decent fist of our return. Like the current team the problem was scoring goals. Chris Armstrong had scored 23 goals to get us up, but suffered a very public drought once there. Like the current squad there was a great keeper and a strong defence.  But unlike the current team there was also a lack of quality in central midfield. Southgate was played out of position (a mistake Keegan would later make as England Manager), and Ray Wilkins limped off during his debut never to return. Dowie's arrival up front and Ray Houghton were the right answer, but they arrived too late. At heart it was a team that should never have gone down. Alan Smith's limitations as a manager would be exposed on his return a few years later but it was a squad that deserved better. Making the semi final of both the League and FA cup in a season when 4 went down to shrink the Premiership the joke was 'Palace made the last 4 of every competition they entered' haha.

97/98 Brolin, Brolin, Brolin
This was the season I feared we would repeat. Up through the playoffs, our best player ( then David Hopkin) as this year (Zaha) was committed to moving on. The squad was hugely underpowered for a top flight now corn fed on foreign talent. Unlike this time frantic buying seemed to work at first, if only away from Selhurst, with Lombardo, Shipperly and Warhurst all playing well and us holding our own. Unlike this time, practically every quality signing (and a few that weren't) promptly got injured. I shudder to think where we would be now if Jedniak, Puncheon, Ward and Bolasie had all limped off like this lot did. Chaos descended as increasingly desperate throws of the dice brought in the likes of Brolin and Padavano. The sight of Brolin running around with a comedy bandage around his head, being laughed at by the away fans is still probably my most humiliating experience at Selhurst. We were a shambles. One huge difference this time has been home form. On 19th April 2014 we secured premiership safety, the bedrock of this had been wins at home. On 20th April 1998 I was there for our first home win of the season. On paper by the end of the season we had a great squad. Lombardo had shown some real affection for the club, and the likes of Marcus Bent and Matt Jansen had come in, and a young Clinton Morrison was coming through. But this was all washed away by the combination of fate, Mark Goldberg and Terry Venables.

2004/5 - Andy Johnson
Another playoff promotion, but one powered by a surge in form midway through the campaign. In many ways this was our most competent effort to say up until this year, and we ultimately took it to the final day. The squad that went up was not that strong, but in Andy Johnson we had be best striker to pull on the red and blue since Mark Bright. Unlike Clinton Morrison and Chris Armstrong, Johnson could score goals in the top flight, or with his incredible pace win penalties. That much of the first team (Routledge, Watson, Boyce, Soares and Johnson) went onto solid top flight careers suggest it was an opportunity missed. Unlike the current side it relied on one trick, AJ's goals, and lacked a mental toughness under pressure. Fitz Hall and ultimately fatally Leigetwood gave away too many free kicks around the box and games we should have won ended as draws.

I was afraid this season, however much it is good to go up turning up week in week out to watch your team get battered is miserable. With Glen Murray injured and Zaha sold all I wished for a the team to fight relegation bravely and retain its pride. It started as I feared. Our victory of Sunderland was indicative of just how bad DiCanio's regime was. Then, with Pulis in the wings we got a draw with Everton, maybe we could get more points. Pulis arrived and the rest is history. So what is different now. Starting at the top, the current Chair seems to have more about him than Goldberg or Jordan. His achievement in convincing Pulis to take the job has been key. Curiously the completeness of Holloway's failure worked in our favour. A marginally better start and we could be in the situation that Swansea and Norwich have brought upon themselves. If the right change had been made earlier in 92/93, 94/95 and even 97/98 there may have been an escape route.

But is was not all about Pulis. Previous managers (Dougie Freedman rather than Holloway) had bought well. The squad came up blessed with a central midfielder in the shape of Mile Jedniak who is of premiership quality. Not since Geoff Thomas left have we had a player of this quality to build around. Behind him Delany, Ward and Speroni were the core of great defence, that good signings have further strengthened. With Zaha grabbing headlines Bolasie was a bit of a secret to all but the Palace faithful. His partnership with Puncheon as given Palace a level of flair, especially in the last quarter of the season to hurt teams. As well as giving the team belief and a mental toughness Pulis's way highlight something very important. Top flight teams if you let them take the lead will simply keep the ball and watch you run around. But, keep the scores level, or even pinch a lead you can get at them on the break. We have never come from behind to win. This round head approach was beginning to look a bit wobbly until the turning point at home to Chelsea. Ultimately when the chips were down this is a team that now believes in itself. Despite at the huffing and puffing the difference between the teams outside the Europe chasing behemoths is small. The difference between the 1-0 and the 1-1 draw are small but crucial. The recent wins against the likes of  Everton and Chelsea with be remembered, but survival was chiselled out of 1-0's with Villa, West Ham, Stoke and Hull.

Dan Martin - Flag of Convienence

There are reports going round of a 'controversial' interview given by Dan Martin's uncle, Stephen Roche. In this interview Roche has suggested that Martin chose to represent Ireland rather than Britain as a cyclist just to advance his career. By far the most shocking thing about this story is that it is in anyway considered controversial. As  I recall Martin has always been pretty open. His decision to ride for Ireland was at least in part motivated by a lack of support for road racing from a track focused British Cycling. That he doesn't settle down each night under a tricolour duvet humming 'A Soldier's Song' hardly marks him out as unusually unpatriotic.

For decades now athletes who have the option have frequently selected the nationality that offers them the best career opportunities. England's cricket teams have relied for decades on players who may be British by passport but South African by accent. Jack Charlton's 'plastic paddy' world cup squads on the 90's was almost as overt in its willingness to embrace players with tenuous connections (or none in the case of Tony Cascarino). In cycling Britain happily embraced the likes of Michael Wright, a Belgian who had to take English classes so he could talk to his team mates. And of course Chris Froome is probably is a current case from Martin's own sport.

Increasingly the notion of Nationality is going to be hard to pin down. There was the case a few years ago when the much of the British team at the cycling road race world championship followed their trade team loyalties and rode in support of the Italians rather than doing their plucky best for the home grown also ran. The best footballers from around the world are coached and developed by European Clubs whether they are African, Korean or even Brazilian. And they are playing alongside each other every week. Globalisation both of the labour market and of sport will increasingly mean athletes will be able to choose their nation, and national differences between sports will narrow.

In this environment there will be a hierarchy of national teams across a sport. Of course there will always be sports people who feel such a strong national allegiance that even if offered the option they could not represent any other nation. But plenty will simply go for the best offer, which normally boils down to 'which is the best squad I have a decent chance of getting into.' And why not. These are professional athletes. In opting for Ireland Dan Martin has done nothing new, unusual or unreasonable. If their is anything controversial about the story it is that the rather spiteful comments come from Stephen Roche, a cycling legend and a member of Martin's own family. That he was stating the bleedin' obvious is less so.

Crawley Wheelers Sporting 41.59 - Back to sparrow's fart

With British Summer time now locked in, its goodbye to post 9am start times for us Testers, and a return to leaving home while loved ones are still tucked up in bed. I recall a TT in Horsham a few years back when during my warm up I found myself racing an owl. In truth I didn't mind the early get away today, it meant I would be safely on my way before my fellow City dwellers started storming towards the coast for bank holiday fun and games.

Anyway, this course, the GS/196 was a new one on me. When I mentioned it to James Stone of Brighton Excelsior (something of a Guru on all things cycling as far as  I am concerned) I got a laugh and a wry smile. The main benefit of doing a 41 mile time trial is that it makes 25 mile TT's feel shorter, and 'sporting' designation for this one told me I was not in for a moral boosting fast time. Despite the sun, it was a chilly start, with envious glances being cast towards those with the foresight to pack full finger gloves and knee warmers.

Starting from Handcross it opens with a long section with a fast downhill bias, building lots of baseless confidence. It levels out, but while there a few sections where on can push a big gear and get a nice rhythm this are the exception. Lots of short rises to stop you getting to comfortable. But the real sting is in the tail, and the tail is about 8 miles long and very stingy. As Dave Churchill of Bigfoot said, 'I was on hour pace after 40km.' Erm yes. Because all that lovely fast descent at the start has to be paid for with a long drag uphill into a headwind at the end. That chequered flag just never seemed to what to appear and time ticked by.

I came in with at 1.57.48, which I was pretty happy with as had been able to go the distance without dropping off in the final 10 . Dave C wasn't thrilled with his 1.50.09, noting dryly that if he had done a personal best he'd have an excuse to never come back. But as he as entered a lumpy little TT around Devil's Dyke on Monday, I suspect he is made of sterner stuff.

The winner was the ever marvellous Steve Dennis with a 1.37.12, an excellent performance on genuinely testing sporting course. Have to say a big that you to Stuart Nisbett and his team from Crawley Wheelers for putting on a fine event. It is a tricky course and the marshalling was universally excellent. 

Weather Forcasts and the Redmon 25

In my way of dividing up the racing season, the Redmon 25 is the start of Time Trialing proper. January and Feb kicks things off with the Reliabilty Trials (that didn't really happen this year tbh), March is all about the sporting courses, Hardriders and the like.

Today was also the 3rd round of SEWTTS, with another strong field of women riders. They enjoyed the dubious pleasure of going off first. Rebecca Slack, the mastermind behind SEWTTS earned the Michael Fish award for optimistic and inaccurate weather forecasts, with an early tweet suggesting that the women riders would miss the rain. Hmmm, as I arrived the first salvo of women riders were on their way. Their grim faces, and the work my windscreen wipers were having to do, suggested that whatever she turns her hand to a glittering career in the met office doesn't await.

The course was a new one on me, and a change from previous years, the G25/46. On a first acquaintance I can't say I liked it much. But the combo of wet, nagging cross winds, and headwinds probably did not let me see it at its best. I was the only Old Port in this one. The other Testers either in deepest Kent or applying salvon to their cobbled parts in Flanders. It was a day to get through, and I managed a less than sparkling 1.08.09

For the Men, it was Conal Yates who I think came out on top, with a 54.44.  At the start he was my minute man, at the end, my 15 minute man. With the outstanding rider of SEWTTS round 1, Natalie Cresswick a DNS, there was a well fought battle for the women's prize.  However looked like Jasmijn Muller had good minute on the rest to finish with a 1.01.06 . Great rides by both the winners on a tough morning.