Olympic cyclists put road machines away

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32972, 19 July 1972, Page 12

Olympic cyclists put road machines away

Except for such “off the field” activities as their official farewell on August 5, the last has been seen in Canterbury this season of the Olympic Games cyclists, B. G. Stockwell and P. D. Brydon. After the Air New Zealand Grand Prix 10 days ago, they put their road bikes away and until they leave for Munich will ride only track machines. Mr W. W. Thorpe, the New Zealand selector who is supervising their training, issued the order of “no more road bikes, even for training. “It’s a matter of getting them used to their track bikes in the short space of time left,” said Mr Thorpe. “But the main drawback is getting them moving in cold temperatures. I’ve been praying for warm days, but

we are just not getting many.” The unusually bleak winter was a problem faced by the rowers, as well, but it is even more serious for the track cyclists. Each Wednesday. unless the weather dictates otherwise — as it has been — they train on the English Park track. If it is wet, however, training is out — and even after rain, there is a problem. The cyclists, or Mr Thorpe, have to arrive early to sweep the bottom half of the track clear of the rubbish which accumulates after soccer. Then Mr Thorpe acts as a substitute for other cyclists — riding a motorcycle, to lead out the two riders, in turn, for sprints as part of their speed-work programme. The training by Stockwell and Brydon has changed markedly since they stopped riding on the road. At one

stage, they were doing up to 500 miles a week, but usually nearer 300, in their build-ups. “They were deliberately using one another a fair bit,” said Mr Thorpe. “They were going out together, and working one another over; really stretching each other out.” Now they are going out each morning and doing short time trials, about 10 miles, “really hard, flogging themselves,” said Mr Thorpe. In the evenings, they are going out together, and doing about 40 miles at a fast clip. “But with the weather as cold as it is, they are doing more plodding than speedwork,” said Mr Thorpe. “The human body won’t function properly if it is frozen, and unless we get some warmer days, it is going to be very difficult to get Blair and Paul as right as we would like them for the Olympics.