| Rob
Hayles revisits the lanes of Hampshire - Cycling Weekly (July
2006) |
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| Interview with Rob Hayles by
Cycling Weekly in July 2006
Photographer - Luke Evans (website)
Topic - The Southdowns Challenge
Rob Hayles is really enjoying his cycling these days - especially
in the summer which is really his 'off season' from the track
World Cup and the championship events in which he has become
one of Great Britain's most successful and consistent performers.
Who wouldn't be chiper when the sun is shinning and you've
got a few hours' riding around some great Hampshire lanes
ahead of you?
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Hayles, at 33, has got nothing to prove on
the bike but since his wife Vicki, a former Olympic swimmer,
has just had their first child Madeleine, he seems more
at ease and determined to make the most of the remaining
years of his career.
Pictured Right - Rob with
Gareth Peters and Geoff Loveman (Fareham Wheelers Cycling
Club) at Wickham Church.
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Hayles during the summer months looks quite
different to the gaunt, alabaster-skinned apparition of the
track that most of us see on the telly when he's being interviewed
about another medal, or maybe one of his famous crashes.
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The hayles phizog has a good tan and he looks
fit after a racing trip to Luxembourg where he captured some
GB youngsters at the Fleche du Sud. "I'm having a whale
of a time," says Hayles with a roguish grin when asked
about his solo sponsorship venture with Parker International
"Any problems are my own and in the races I can just
play off the other teams."
Emotional:
After the intensity of the winter track session which includes
six days of racing , World Cups, the track World Championships
and, this year (2006), the Commonwealth Games, the traditional
road race season represents something of a shift in emphasis
for Hayles. There's no let-up in the racing - Premier Calendars
and crit series - but he gets a break from coaching programmes
set by British Cycling's Simon Jones. "I tend to leave
Simon alone." says Hayles. "During the summer there
isn't the day-to-day contact that we have during the winter.
The track can take a lot out of me emotionally so I just ride
the road for fun. Building up for the Worlds and the Olympics
I feel the need to win - the hunger is there and I know what
it's like to experience it."
Today's ride is a trip down memory lane for Hayles, who has
come down south from his Peak District base, outside Manchester,
to visit his parents in Hampshire and to try out some of the
roads used by the new Southdowns Challenge Cyclo-Sportive
that takes place this year (2006) on September 3. Hayles's
dad John, a track sprinter who hung up his bike for a 30-year
career as a wrestler with the stage name 'Killer Kowalski',
follows in his car with a friend and the brains behind the
sportive, John Ellwood. |
Overlord, over here:
Hayles is joined by three members of the Fareham Wheelers,
Gareth Peters, Phil Burton and Geoff Loveman, and the first
photo-call takes place at the D-Day Memorial Hall in Southwick.
Nearby Southwick House was the HQ for Operation Overlord
in 1944 and where, on June 5 that year, General Eisenhower
gave the green light for the invasion of Normandy the following
day. The hall will be the HQ for the Southdowns Challenge
and from there we track north-east in the direction of Cowplain
and Buriton. |
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| Despite the 'Southdowns' monicker it's true there
are no really monster climbs in this area, which forms a triangle
of peaceful East Hampshire countryside with Portsmouth in the
south, Petersfield in the east and Winchester in the west. |
Three Fat Ladies:
Butser Hill is the highest point, at 888 feet, but the route
skirts around the north of Butser after crossing the A3 and
then arrives at Langrish where the 80 miler does a northerly
loop (via Charlwood, New Alresford and Cheriton) on the top
of the 50 mile lap which heads west via West Meon.
West Meon is well-known for being the burial place of Thomas
Lord, after whom the London cricket ground is named. Guy Burgess,
the infamous spy who, as secretary to the British Deputy Foreign
Minister, transmitted top secret Foreign Office documents
to the KGB on a regular basis, is also buried there. |
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This is great cycling country with many quiet lanes, shaded
by trees in the Forest of Bere and then more open along the
soft contours of the chalk-based South Downs, which after a
couple of hours, begin to take there toll on the legs. |
On one of the longest climbs of the ride, to
the school at Ditcham after about 20 miles, Hayles maintains
a strong, even pace which opens up cracks in the gallant Fareham
defence and is evidence of his good form having put in some
punishing rides up north with friend and former Cofidis team-mate
David Millar.
When the sportive takes place on the first Sunday in September
it will provide a sporting, very agreeable and pretty tough
challenge to riders on both the 50 and 80 mile routes. One
tip is to use good tyres as some lanes can be quite gritty,
especially after heavy rain. |
