..!! FIRST DATE !!..

WHAAAT?? A date, on a Cycling Blog!! You must be kidding,my son would say to me.

Not exactly a date but close enough.I am talking about my first experience as National Team Manager for the Mongolia Cycling Federation(MCF) at the latest UCI Road World Championships in Doha.

To cut the story short....

The morning after my late arrival in Doha,I had an email from MCF General Secretary Naran Zundui delegating me as Team Manager for the Championships...

WOW...

I was like a kid with his new favourite toy.I don't want to sounds monotonous.

City of Great Architecture.

During the championships I had the pleasure to meet great new people,see friends of the past, attend meetings, visit the commissaires office & much more. We had long,hot & exhausting days but the ambience of the UCI RAOD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 made it easier.

6 hours late finally room service arrived.

The MCF represantation was composed by 5 riders,1 Coach and Me as Team Manager.I had the pleasure to be a DS(Directeur Sportif), Mechanic,Soigneur for the riders while they were training or resting and working alongside their coach.

You can use anything to make a Coffee Bar

It was a great place to see the SD logo amongst the big cycling brands during the championships, but mostly important enabled me to meet some of our supporters around the globe.We are looking forward to see all of them again soon.

Tegsee before the start of the Junior Race.

Under 23 waiting to start a training ride.

A typical day at the Championships:

• 0530 Wake up call
• 0630 Breakfast
• 0730 Training ride for few hours before the temperature going up
• 0900 Attend Meetings at UCI Event Hotel
• 1200 Maybe lunch
• Shopping for rider's food
• 1600 Chillax by the pool
• 1800 Meeting again
• 2000 Dinner of course
• 2200 Bed time

Supporting(Shouting Tegsee) out of the car during the Junior ITT race.

Tegsee con la nostra bella amica Australiana TIffany Cromwell

The Cannibal(EDDY MERCKX) with Tegsee

Belgian Fans walking to the Start Line.Behind one of stadiums for the FIFA WORLD CUP 2022

Instructing Miga before the start of the Elite race, with the rest of the Delegation arrived for the main event.

Desert Feed Zone #1.South Africa 

Live Cam in the middle of the Peloton!!

Team Germany had few DNF's.Doctors checking body temperature.

We are now working  to get the MCF team across for the CycloCross World Championships 2017 in Luxembourg.If you like to support them please get in touch with us.

The Teams watching the last few KM of the race on the TV's

Vamos en España , 23rd March 2017 !!

Ciao a tutti,

In collaboration with PA Cyclism we have created a cycling package to Spain for March 2017. Those Spanish tour can be for Road Bikes or Mountain Bikes. There will be plenty of climbing this is why the area has been used copious times by the VUELTA.

Fresh water to keep you hydrated.

History on route.

The date for March trip is departure on 23rd of March 2017 and return on the 26th late evening.

3 Days of cycling + 3 Nights = 570€ plus flight

Every night amazing fresh food.

The prices above includes:

• Half Board accommodation in double room
• Great local Staff to make your wonderful trip amazing
• Daily Energy pack (gel + bars + powder)
• Transfer from & to Madrid Airport
• Daily Support Vehicle to transfer your luggage between hotels
• Full travel Insurance
• Free Cycling Jersey

Wild Nature

We have left the freedom to each individuals to book their own flights,given them the flexibility to stay longer or depart at different times.

If you are interested in joining us please email for more infos at ride@saddledrunk.com

Our Ambassador,Kaylegh Adams

We would like to introduce our female ambassador,Kaylegh Adams.Below a quick introduction from her.

From the age of 13 sport has been a massive part of my life. From this age I started swimming for my local swimming club. I started off swimming for just 2 hours a week but this very quickly progressed to swimming 8-9 times each week. Fitting this in around school was stressful but to me at that point keeping fit and staying in shape was very important, so no matter what it took I made it work. As I became one of the older swimmers in the club I soon figured out that I had joined the sport late in swimming terms and I was never going to be able to compete with those swimmers that had been training since they were 6/7 years old. This spurred me on to try other sports, one of which was triathlon. I took part in my first triathlon in 2014 and I came second in that, just behind a world class athlete. I then tried one more and managed to win, I then knew that triathlon was the sport that I wanted totake further; giving me new challenges both physically and mentally.  I got myself a proper coach who had me training around 12 times a week (which seems a lot) but when it is something that you love, it’s something that just comes naturally. Once I had qualified for the World Championships, the day before my 18th Birthday, everything began to happen very quickly.  Sponsorship opportunities happened and I became somewhat of a ’local celebrity’, something I still struggle to both accept and deal with!. Once I had finished 9th in the world and then 2nd at the Europeans everything became much more serious and people including other competitors started to want to talk to me about what training I was doing, what races I was doing and how fit I was feeling which then became a constant internal battle with myself.  Self doubt started to creep in... Every time someone asked me how fit I was feeling, I would wonder if I was as fit as I could be; if I had trained as hard as I could do; whether I was indeed capable of competing at that level.  I was always asking these questions internally...  Did I need to add in extra training sessions; whether I needed to up my game... this was my own internal argument and it really didn’t matter what any of my coaches said...  I was full of self doubt. This has a detrimental effect on athletes both mentally and physically (believe me, I speak from experience!). I began to get injured and fatigued which, I now know was a direct impact of my continued overtraining – my continued self doubt and the negative effect that this has on the mind.  A human body just cannot cope with so much stress both physically and mentally. With this in mind, I thought that a new coach may be the answer to all of my problems. I swapped coach and this was the best move I could have made at this time.  My original coach is and will always be important to me and I have so much to thank her for however, for me at that time a change was as good as a rest as they say!  The sessions were different, more challenging...  This stopped me over training and has just forced me to adapt and force my mind to work in a completely different way.  I have different challenges to focus on.

 I am writing this now as I am considering all of my options within all 3 disciplines that make up triathlon.  Cycling is definitely the discipline which I enjoy the most.  There is no hard session of cycling that has ever put me off. I love the burning sensation in the legs and the buzz it gives you after, without mentioning how much cool kit you can get to dress up in for each ride. I feel that the pressure of sport, performance and constant training has really affected my enjoyment of the sport of triathlon and am hoping that a complete change in training with my coach Mark Yeoman will be just what the doctor ordered to allow me to keep excelling in sport as after all, sport is one of the best ways to make friends, keep fit and keep your mind and body healthy.

I would like to thank Stefano at Saddle Drunk for all his support on my triathlon/cycling journey and I hope that many other people are able to experience his amazing kit while taking part in one of the best sports that there are - cycling. Ride fast, ride slow, just ride.

GRANFONDO LA MONT BLANC

Nick named "La Granfondo on top of Europe's Roof" will be held again this year in the stunning surrounding of the Mont Blanc,in Courmayeur.

The event will be held on the 26th of June 2016 and thousands of riders will attend this astonishing Granfondo.

The rides available caters for everyone,from novice to expert.There will be plenty of climbing,plenty of elevation gain.The feed stations manned by the friendly local people will be able to provide local delicacies given you the boost to ride those mountains. 

You can reach the event from various airports, Geneva,Turin,Milan. Transfers could be arranged via private  buses or car hires.

Accommodations can cater for every needs, from apartments to 5 star hotel,Cycling and golf could also be combined.A little tour to the Mont Blanc,horse riding,relaxing at the SPA and food & wine tasting are a great combination for an amazing weekend.

Check this video to feel the immense of this location. 

We can help in arranging your weekend away in the top of Europe. Packages can be provided,for more info email us store@saddledrunk.com.

Otherwise you can find the registration link by clicking here .

Profile of the long distance. 

The SaddleDrunk Team will be there,you can also be there in sharing great emotions with us.

SD TEAM

Fueling a champion: what Orica GreenEdge feeds Tour Down Under race winner Simon Gerrans during a race

Interview with Orica GreenEdge soigneur about what riders eat during the stage.Author James Raison & Credit Photos to Chris Komorek,EcoCaddy.

Danny Clarke

Seven hours before Simon Gerrans won Stage 4 of the Tour Down Under in South Australia, his soigneur Danny Clarke was hard at work preparing food for him and the rest of the Orica GreenEdge team to eat during and after the race.

It’s theoretically simple but logistically complex.

Danny starts by explaining exactly what is in the consistently wrapped foil packages he’s laid out.

He prods the largest packages containing rye bread sandwiches.

“That’s walnut and philly (Philadelphia cream cheese) spread, and this is philly with ham,” he says, before moving down to the smaller ones marked ‘sweet’.

“Those are orange and poppyseed cakes.”

On the bench next to him is an enormous slab of savoury rice cake ready to be sliced and wrapped

“That’s just ham, Arborio rice to make it sticky, and some soy sauce,” says Danny, handing me a slice of the chewy and mildly salty cake.

The sweet rice cakes sound a bit more palatable.

“They have cranberries, sultanas, honey and condensed milk to bring it all together.”

The food is simple but nutritious. The texture is important too, riders have to be able to chew and swallow it during the race.

“I alternate sweet and savoury rice cakes every day,” says Danny.

“One batch will last me two days, so the riders think I’m cooking them a different flavour every day, but I’m just alternating them,” he laughs.

The wrapping has been as carefully chosen as the ingredients.

“This paper has come from somewhere in Germany,” says Danny. “I don’t know what they do with it, but we use it for wrapping race food,”

It looks like tinfoil with a thin paper on one side and it is so important that it travels with the team around the world.

Danny lays out the full contents of a musette: two sandwiches, a sweet rice cake, a savoury rice cake, two gels, and two water bottles. Each musette will feed one rider for the stage and Danny personally hands the bag over to the team in the feed zone.

Post-race food is being prepared too, but unlike at other tours, the riders have the luxury of eating it back at the tour village in the middle of Adelaide because the stages all finish close to the city.

It’s a precise mix to take care of all the riders’ post-race needs.

“First they get a protein shake straight off the bike,” says Danny. “Then a couple of water bottles. “

Thirty minutes later they are fed meat and salad sandwiches, then an extra carb snack, he explains pointing to his slab of rice cake again.

The Orica GreenEdge team won four of six stages of the Tour Down Under, and Simon Gerrans took overall victory and the points classification. That phenomenal success is built on the efforts of unsung helpers like Danny Crke.