cycling science

I’ve got my work cut out this month, preparing for several gigs at Edinburgh International Science Festival and Chester University.

None of them will be quite the same as each other or the same as what’s gone before.

Ashleigh Fraser, Scottish National Junior Women’s Road Race Champion 2014, reveals the winning diet

Among the line-up in Edinburgh at 5.30pm on Sunday 12th April will be Scottish national junior women’s road race champion Ashleigh Fraser.

She’s going to explain the science of nutrition – what to eat to be an elite cyclist. It’ll tell me where I went wrong because I suspect my teenage diet of apple pies and Cheesey Wotsits weren’t much good.

And Professor Andrea Sella will be going further than Ernesto Colnago ever dared. If Eddie Merckx had come to a Cycling Science presentation before his 1972 attempt on the world hour record, he would’ve done even better. Andrea’s demonstration is a real eye-opener and UCI rule-makers should start taking notice so they can close another loophole…

I’m refining the aerodynamics demonstrations and showing some mildly embarrassing home movie from last century, together with some futuristic stuff. A tenuous link between Edinburgh Castle and the science of cycling will also be fully exploited without apology or shame.

The gigs for Chester are going to be full on and part of the University’s excellent efforts to boost cycling in the city. I used to live nearby and spend my weekends there so it’s great to be going back

The first day, Friday 24th April, will be for students from year 7 to university level. I’ll be giving a cycling science presentation, with a few demonstrations thrown in, and then leading two short cycling science rides around the Thornton campus.

On the second day, Saturday 25th April, the University and others will be running several events in the city centre. I’ll lead a FREE public ride about cycling and science from the university’s city campus in the afternoon. Come along and take part in the experiments and demonstrations to learn about WHY cycling actually works.

In the evening I’ll be giving a presentation about what was probably the first mountain bike crossing of the Greater Himalaya. I can’t believe I actually did it so do come along and learn about the ridiculous risks I took as a fool-hardy and unprepared younger self.

The Chester events are FREE. Book your tickets for the Saturday afternoon ride here. For the Himalayan adventure presentation, book your free tickets here.

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