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Brother UK Cycling Podcast – Episode 26

Episode Description

Adam Kenway, a Brother UK-sponsored athlete, joins co-hosts Timothy John and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK, for a look ahead to the 2022 hill climb season.

Adam, a former national hill climb champion, offers insights into the pain and pleasures of cycling’s most demanding discipline: one that routinely pushes competitors to collapse. 

This light-hearted but informative episode takes the listener beneath the skin of the British hill climb scene by exploring its physical and technical demands, blue ribband events and increasing popularity. 

Listen now and get up to speed with one of the best-loved periods on the British domestic racing calendar with insights from one of its strongest and most successful competitors.

 
 
 
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Episode 26: 2022 Hill Climb Season Preview

Episode contents

  • 00.02 – Introduction
  • 00.37 – Hello And Welcome
  • 01.07 – Part One: On The Rise
  • 04.41 – Part Two: Winnats Reflections
  • 10.14 – Part Three: Lucky Horseshoe?
  • 12.45 – Part Four: Design and Technology
  • 18.30 – Part Five: A Golden Era? 
  • 34.30 – Part Six: Power Shift
  • 22.42 – Part Seven: Conquering Everest
  • 25.21 – Part Eight: A Second Title
  • 28.00 – Part Nine: Outro

Transcript

Introduction

Timothy John

"If your passion lies in elite British road racing, and you want the inside line on the teams, riders, organisers and sponsors that make this sport such a compelling spectacle, you're in the right place.

"I'm Timothy John, and joining me for every episode is my co-host, the Managing Director of Brother UK, Phil Jones."

Phil Jones

"Thanks, Tim. It's great to be here. We're going to use this platform to talk about all the key issues surrounding the sport. With special guests, deep dives into hot topics and plenty of chat, we'll keep you informed about all things UK racing. Stay tuned!"

 
 

Hello and welcome

Timothy John

“Hello and welcome to this new edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast. It’s never too early to start looking ahead to the hillclimb season, especially when you’re in the company of a former British hill climb champion. 

“We have with us today Brother UK-sponsored Adam Kenway. Adam, thank-you very much indeed for joining us.”

Adam Kenway

“Oh, thank-you for having me here.”

Timothy John

“And I’m also joined, of course, by my co-host, the Managing Director of Brother UK, Phil Jones. Phil, thanks for sticking around.”

Phil Jones

“Thanks, Tim. I’m looking forward to hearing all about lightweight bikes and very high heart rates.”

Part One: On The Rise

Timothy John

“Well, we love the hill climb on the Brother UK Cycling Podcast. I think that’s been well established. 

“I don’t know if this is just a perception, but it seems to me a discipline that’s on the rise, if you’ll pardon the pun. We’re getting a longer and longer hill climb season. Bhima Bowden’s events, for example, the Summer Hill Climb Series, are a perfect example: 16 events from May 6 to August 19. 

“Adam, is hill climbing expanding? Is it becoming more popular?”

Adam Kenway

“I think it is, because it’s open for such a wide demographic of cyclists. It’s getting a lot more open. Rather than road racers finishing their season by doing some hill climbs, it’s a completely new sport as such, where people just do hill climbs. For them, it doesn’t clash with the road race scene. They can do hill climbs all summer. 

“And also, in the summer, it’s nice weather. Like the race I did on Monday: a beautiful summer’s evening, closed roads. There were two pubs on the course. They made their own Dutch Corner on one of the corners. It was a great event, a great event.”

Timothy John

“Someone as rapid as you Adam, I thought you were going to say, ‘And I stopped off at one of the pubs on my run.’ Good to hear that you weren’t so far ahead that  you could do that.”

Adam Kenway

“I felt like it half-way up, I must admit.”

Phil Jones

“What was that climb like, Adam?”

Adam Kenway

“It was very short; probably too short for my preference. A little bit too short, but it was a fantastic climb. 

“That’s one thing about hill climbing: there’s a climb for everybody. People know their data more and more and know themselves better than they ever have. 

“There are minute-long climbs like this one - this one was 51 seconds - to long, Cat and Fiddle-type climbs, which are 19 minutes and averaging five or six per cent. 

“There’s a range of climbs for everybody, and that’s another reason why is it so popular.”

Timothy John

“I see this parallel with cyclo-cross. I know that some traditionalists, Mark Botteley, for example, who manages our Brother UK-Orientation Marketing teams, he says the road season ends too quickly these days and the cycle-cross season begins too soon.

“Is the hill climb season starting too early, do you think?”

Adam Kenway

”I don’t think so, because the people doing the hill climbs are really different characters. There isn’t a cross over. It’s almost like a battle, a road race, where a hill climb is more about yourself and what you can get out of yourself, so I think it’s a different kind of cyclist. 

“Some people might say it starts a little bit too soon, which can almost dilute the 10 or 12 weeks before the Nationals, but I find as long as you don’t peak too soon, and you’re doing

them for the event and enjoying riding your bike.

“Like, for the one on Monday, I’ve still got ‘road race legs’, as I call them. I could probably go up that climb exactly the same after 100 miles. I’d probably be five or six seconds quicker when I’ve really tapered down after some specific efforts. It’s amazing, when you start trainman for specific efforts, how quickly that form comes on.

“Trying to prepare for Nationals is a matter of getting that right, and the top lads now are expert at it. They hit September so hard. In the first couple of hill climbs, I’m off the pace, almost, until I get a bit of freshness in my legs and start doing specific efforts. 

“I normally come round about Monsal Head week, four weeks before the Nationals, and think, ‘Ok, now I need to start hitting some form and start that upward projection.’ 

“I think it’s all about, mentally, getting in that winning routine. I want to be on the podium at every race I do. You don’t want not to be on. Like the Nationals last year, I’d been on the podium for five years previous, and it was a bitter pill to take, but it’s almost making me more eager this year to get the training.”

Part Two: Winnats Reflections

Timothy John

“I’ve got here on my list of questions, ‘Have you buried the disappointment of last year’s Nationals?’ I’m not sure what the answer is.”

Adam Kenway

“It was such a great climb to have it on: an iconic climb, Winnats Pass.

“It was one of those [situations] where I normally do very well on hill climbs because I’m quite relaxed. I’ve got my bike sorted. I try not to think about it at all, kit-wise. I’ve done it. I’ve practised it. Forget about it. I just focus on staying relaxed. I know I’ve done the training. My legs will be there on the day. You can’t change any of the factors. On that day, I probably should have mucked about with my bike a bit more than I did.

“It was just one of those days on the bike. Your legs don’t turn up. The bike’s not right. It’s just one of those [situations], really.”

Phil Jones

“So what would you have done differently, Adam? What was it about your bike that you think you should have tweaked?”

Adam Kenway

“I'd put on 90mm track tubs, which are super light, super low rolling resistance, and great on dry roads. Normally, Winnats is quite a good road surface because there are no trees. It’s quite open, so normally there’s not much foliage on the roads and you get quite a lot of grip. And even on the Wednesday beforehand, when I was practising, I’d no wheel spin issues. But on the day, it was torrential rain. It was like a river coming down the road. 

“In my head, it felt like my wheels didn’t stop spinning, but, realistically, there were two sections on the climb where I had really bad wheel spin, and I went from - it doesn’t seem much - 14kph, 15kph to almost zero. And then you have to get back up to speed on such a steep gradient, and then for it to happen again, in your head, it’s like, ‘game over’. 

“It’s all about keeping your momentum, especially nowadays. If something happens, you just need to keep your speed. You’ll never be able to regain that speed or get back up to speed, because the lactic acid in your legs just builds up and builds up and builds up. You’re almost hanging on, rather than accelerating.”

Timothy John

“Did you feel like you were in a nightmare: trying to run away from somebody, and your legs won’t work? Or trying to scream for help and your tongue gets tied? Was it that kind of scenario?”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah. The problem was, as well,I knew everybody on the climb. All the noise, people shouting, and I was thinking, ‘I’m not doing what I could be doing.' Even on the climb, you’re beating yourself up in the head. 

“It’s racing. You can look at it in two ways. You can think, ‘Oh, game over,’ or you can use it as hunger for the next training session, and I will do. In September, when I’m doing those

hard sessions, I’ll just be thinking ,’I don’t want to be there again,’ and trying even harder.

“But even my warm-up didn’t go to plan. Hannah, my other half, will kick me for this. I was warming up on the turbo. We got under a tree, got a tarpaulin up, so I was nice and dry, and just standing there under an umbrella. 

“About five minutes into my 40-minute warm up, I got a towel to wipe the bike and just make sure. She just leant over with her umbrella and dropped the towel into the turbo trainer. Because I was doing an effort, it completely blew up the turbo!

“So we’re there, and I was like, ‘Ok. No stress.’ It was so cold and wet that I couldn’t warm up on the road. It was too wet. I took the bike off the turbo and sat in the car and put the

heaters on, and that was my warm-up! I probably could have warmed up on the road, but I’ve been in that scenario before and you almost get colder, warming up. 

“It’s funny. I was speaking to someone about the National Road Race Championships, and they said that everyone had been warming up before the start. Cav was sat in his car until about 10 seconds before the start. 

“Everyone was sitting on the line with their rain jackets on. Cav got out of his car, in his speed suit, went straight to the front line, and that was my mentality: hopefully, not to get too cold, but even riding to the start line, I got cold. But, end of October, in the middle of the Peaks, you expect that.”

Timothy John

“Yeah. We talked earlier about this increasingly early start to the season. Do you think autumn will always be the business end of the hill climb season? 

“This year, for example, Monsal Head, a race you’ve won twice, October 2. The Bec hill climb, where I think you were second last year, October 9. The Nationals, not until October 30. 

“Is it always really going to be an autumn sport?”

Adam Kenway

“I think so, just because you can’t keep that form for too long. The Nationals are even bigger in hill climbing than it is in road racing or any other sport. It’s such a big event. 

“Everyone wants to have the stripes, and once you’ve had them, nobody can ever take them away, as such. It’s a really big honour, and, in cycling, most people either dread or love

hills. It’s a part of riding your bike, so the National hill climb champs are such a big thing.

“September and October are always going to be the sharp end. 

“Monsal Head, I’ve been second three times and won it twice. I need to win it again this year. I really do. And then Bec, [last year] was the first time I’d done the Bec.CC hill climb. I’m definitely going again this year. It’s an amazing event, really good: a carnival atmosphere, which I love. Now I know the course a little bit, know how to ride it, I’m definitely going down there, hopefully, to win, but for a good podium. 

“There are some really, really good hill climbers down south, whom sometimes you only see at the Nationals. Groups of hill climbers merge at the Nationals: southern hill climbers and northern hill climbers.”

Phil Jones

“Hang on. There are no hills in the south are there, Adam?”

Adam Kenway

“That’s what I tell them at the Nationals!”

Phil Jones

“There are no hills in the south.”

Adam Kenway

“They’re very good at short, one-minute power climbs. They’re very good at those sort of climbs.”

Part Three: Lucky Horseshoe?

Timothy John

“Let’s get into this year’s Nationals because they will be held on Horseshoe Pass, in North Wales, but perhaps not the Horseshoe Pass that the casual observer might picture. It’s the old road, Adam. Tell us about the course for this year’s National Hill Climb Championships.”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah, it’s about 1.4km long, from the top of my head. I might be wrong. The average gradient is about 14 per cent, but it’s a very consistent gradient all the way up. 

“The course record at the moment is around about 4.20, 4.30, but I think, on the day, it’ll be down to about four minutes, depending on the wind conditions in North Wales in October. It could be five minutes or six minutes if the wind is in the wrong direction. 

“It’s going to be a really great climb, I think.”
 

Timothy John

“And at a distance and gradient that suits you?”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah, I think winning the Nationals-wise, I have a chance on any course up to about five minutes. The last time it was a four-minute climb, I was second to Dan Evans, and I put out some good numbers, and this year, I'm putting out better at the moment. We’ll see how that carries on towards October. 

“There are some really good hill climbers out there - Andy Feather, Tom Bell, Andy Nicholls, Dan Evans - and there are always some more coming to the scene every year. 

“You never know what form riders are coming into. Andy Nicholls is going very well at the moment because he does road racing as well, but Tom Bell and Andy Feather focus on the hill climb, so you don’t see them until the first hill climb of the season.

“You don’t really know how they’re going to go, and it all depends where we’re going to meet. Tom Bell and Andy Feather, for example, probably won’t do Monsal Head or Bec because it’s a bit too short for them. 

“People like Ed Laverack will focus on longer climbs, so I might meet him once or twice, but it’s going to be exciting at the Nationals to see how everybody comes together and races.”

Phil Jones

“So this will be the first time it’s gone up that side of Horseshoe Pass, I guess. Normally, it’s the longer side, which is a nine-minute climb, so you must be quite happy that it’s the shorter version of the climb. 

“If it was the longer version, would you still have gone in for it?”

Adam Kenway

“I’d always go in for it, but, yeah, I’m much happier that it’s the steeper side. 

“It brings different riders in. Ed Laverack, would have loved the long one. He’ll still be ok on the shorter one, but it’s pulling more towards the power riders, rather than that threshold effort. Rather than a time-trial effort, it’s more of what I call a hill climb effort: one where you can taste blood in the back of your throat and lactic acid building in your legs.”
 

Part Four: Design And Technology

Timothy John

“Very good. Has the Dremel been in the closed season, more importantly? Have you had any Dremel action that you can report to our listeners?”

Adam Kenway

“It has, and I’ve had some help, as well. Basically, I work in a school now in the D&T department."

Phil Jones

“Did you do that deliberately? Have you got that job specifically to help you win more hill climb championships? You devious, conniving…” [laughs]

Adam Kenway

“Yesterday, we had three or four students working on my frame, sanding it and getting off all the excess grams.”

Phil Jones

“You’ve got to watch out now. Adam’s got the support of the education system behind him now. My goodness me, that’s a smart move.”

Adam Kenway

“It’s amazing how the students want to get involved and really buy into it and get some sandpaper on and sand away.”

Timothy John

“I didn’t have any teachers like Mr Kenway when I was at school, and I’m absolutely gutted about it, I’ll be honest.”

Phil Jones

“Adam, can I bring one of my bikes down to your D&T session, and maybe you can make mine a bit lighter?”

Adam Kenway

“We have a great course called Repair and Restore, and that’s what we’re repairing and restoring at the moment.”

Timothy John

“By sheer coincidence: ‘We’re repairing and restoring Mr Kenway’s bike!’”

Adam Kenway

“We allocated some students to it.”

Phil Jones

“I remember your bike. You flashed into my mind the other week, Adam, because I’d driven over to see some friends in Worksop, and I’d come back via the route which takes me near Pea Royd Lane; that shopping centre.

“In 2018, when the Nationals were held there, and you were competing, I’d driven over to watch the Nationals that day. Pea Royd Lane is a horrible, horrible climb.”

Adam Kenway

“It’s about two-and-a-half minutes; no, 2.18, I think we did it in the end. Andy Feather won, Callum Brown second, and I came third that year. I seem to get some grim weather. Do you remember? I was warming up, and it started snowing! 

“A grim climb but a great climb. For some reason, it feels very bleak to me. Some climbs feel warm and homely, and you feel safe on them. Shrawley Walsh, where I came third in 2019,

felt like a very safe climb. A nice climb. A warm climb. 

“Winnats and Pea Royd Lane, you’re very exposed. It feels like just you and the elements. It’s going to be a very exposed climb in Wales.”

Timothy John

“Just picking up on Winnats: how significant was it last year to have the National Championships back at the home of British hill climbing? 

“We know that, unfortunately, it wasn’t the day you wanted, but in terms of its importance to hill climbing as a discipline, was it a useful marker?”

Adam Kenway

“Oh, definitely. You just have to look how many people came to watch in those [terrible] conditions. The road was probably three deep for a kilometre. At the top, all you could do was ride on a central patch on the road because there were so many spectators, and for that to happen in those weather conditions…

“People rode out for 50 miles and stood in the pouring rain for three hours watching riders. I thought, ‘I’d much prefer to do my hill climb and get back into a warm car, even a bad

attempt at a hill climb.’”

Phil Jones

“I remember watching that. I watched that on the YouTube channel, and I felt cold watching it, Adam. It was horrible, really, really horrible, and you could see how cold the riders were coming up. 

“Occasionally, someone would stand in front of the camera at the side of the road in a full-on sou’wester. The rain was coming in sideways, and it just looked dire for the National Hill

Climb Championship. It just looked awful.”

Adam Kenway

“Chris Myhill who put it on did an amazing job. I know that Chris Myhill was part of it, and the other people are probably not given as much credit as they deserve, but they did an amazing job, and I’m just looking forward to this year and years to come, really.”

Timothy John

“Brother UK sponsored last year’s National Hill Climb Championships: the first Nationals held on Winnats Pass to crown a women’s champion: that’s been a theme throughout this conversation, hasn’t it, or rather earlier episodes that we’ve recorded today - the strength of women’s cycling. Another amazing podium with Bithja Jones, Mary Wilkinson and our own Rebecca Richardson. 

“Just in terms of ever-increasing standards: we’ve mentioned a number of times, Andy Nicholls, Andy Feather. Is it getting harder to win this thing?”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah, winning any hill climb. Six years ago, you could turn up, and even if you were on an off day, you would probably get the win. Now…On Monday, I won by 0.1 of a second. There are so many really good riders. 

“An easy way to explain: in 2012, the National Hill Climb Championships was held on Bank Road. The winning time was 2.25. In 2016, you would have struggled to get in the top 25 with that time, just four years later. 

“Winnats was a bit different because there hasn’t been a climb there for many years, which makes times quite hard to compare, plus wind conditions. But in the year before, at Shrawley Walsh, the course record was 2.22 for probably 30 years, and then on the day, we got it down to  2.06. I crossed the line with only Tom and Andy Feather to go, and I broke Callum Brown’s record, which he’d set the minute previously, by four seconds. 

“I heard the time I’d done over the Tannoy and thought: ‘I’ve got it. I’ve won.’ And then Tom Bell came over and beat me by half a second and Andy Feather came over and beat me by two. I thought: ‘Hats off!’ I’m happy with third. I’d love to have won, but …’”

Phil Jones

“Straight back down to the workshop with those kids and get the Dremel out again, I think, Adam, to try and find that extra half-a-second in power-to-weight ratio.”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah, let’s find the marginal gains.”

Part Five: A Golden Era?

Timothy John 

“Does it feel like a bit of a golden era?”

Adam Kenway

“I think, because I’m in it, it always feels like a golden era. It’s obviously going to have a bit of a rose-tinted hue to me because, in the last seven years, I’ve been on the podium five times, and I’ve won two golds - team and individual - silvers, bronzes. It’s really rose-tinted for me. 

“Two things I remember with bikes are watching the Tour of Britain, getting one of the yellow signs, and then watching Mark Lovatt win the National Hill Climb Championships on the Cat and Fiddle climb when I was 16. I saw him win it when I first started riding bikes, and I thought, ‘That’s what I want to win,’ and I never thought I would.” 

Timothy John

“Would a better question be, is it a more specialist era? For example, Russ Downing has won Monsal four times, but Russ Downing is a WorldTour pro. The names that we’re discussing today - Tom Bell, Andy Feather, Callum Brown, Adam Kenway.- are specialist hill climbers.”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah, it is very specialist. Tom Bell, last year, I’d like to say that no one in the world would have beaten him on that day, with the training that he’d put in and his power-to-weight ratio.

“You just have to look at Monsal Head. In 2019, Tom Pidcock came 11th. Last year, James Shaw came 14th. These are WorldTour riders. They’re getting up there because they can ride

a bike, but it’s hard to do. 

“I remember Tom Pidcock. He hadn’t done it before. It was his first time. He was at the start, saying, ‘How do I do it?’ I said: ‘Just go as hard as you can from the bottom to the top.’ 

“He still do a good time, but when we’d got to the top, he looked at my time and said: ‘I don’t know how you did that.’ It was nice.”

Timothy John

“Wow. I’d take that all day long, wouldn’t you?”

Part Six: Power Shift

Phil Jones

“To put that into perspective, Adam, what sort of watts would you be pushing for a four-minute effort, let’s just say, to take a win on Monsal or something like that?  What would your average power be for that four-minute period?”

Adam Kenway

“Four minutes for Nationals, it’ll be, I reckon, 650.”

Phil Jones

“650 watts for four minutes. You want to try that at home, kids? When you’re next on your turbo trainer or WattBike, give that a go.”

Adam Kenway

“And Monsal Head will be 1000 watts for a minute and then hang on for the rest, really.”

Phil Jones

“Wow. A thousand watts for one minute, so another one to try in the pain cave at home.”

Timothy John

"I'm busy."

Phil Jones

“I’d been measuring that in milliseconds, Tim, rather than minutes.”

Timothy John

“You mentioned earlier that period in the season when you make that transition from road racer to hill climber. Is that a date on the diary, is that marked on the calendar, or is that more or a matter of ‘feel’? Is that something you sense: that it’s time to make that transition?”

Adam Kenway

“Normally, it’s September 1, if I’m honest. That’s when the hill climbs start to be held every weekend, and I look and go, ‘Ok, every weekend, I’ve either got one or two hill climbs.’

“I know which I’m doing. I’ll plan the calendar depending on what the Nationals is and also what I’m good at. Everybody wants that morale of winning races. It’s funny, when I come

second now, I’m disappointed, whereas years ago, I would have thought: ‘Amazing. I’ve come second.’ Now I want to win. 

“You have to plan your races for where you want to perform and pair them against other riders. So you might say, ‘I want to win that one, that one and that one.’ You can see the build-up to the Nationals. The climb for this year’s Nationals is four minutes, so I’ll probably be picking four-minute climbs. 

“This year, I’ll be going down the data front. I’ve always been a ‘feel’ rider, but because it's four minutes and constant, you will be able to ride by power. I want quite a few four-minute climbs in race scenarios to see what power I’m putting out, so on the day, I know, ‘Ok, I’ll be riding at this amount of watts,’ and I’ll see what I can do.”

Timothy John

“That sounds like a fundamental shift: from ‘feel’ to power.”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah, I think nowadays, you have to, with how everybody is progressing. At Monsal Head and courses like that, you can’t because it’s too short, but for a four-minute climb, I’m definitely using power data. 

“People always say, ‘I can’t believe you didn’t ride to power [data]’ but now I’ve had to make the shift.”

Phil Jones

“Does that mean you’re going to have to use a head unit on your bike? Have you given that to the kids in the school to offset that weight?”

Adam Kenway

“I’ll certainly give them the mount for it and get them filing the mount down a little bit.”

Part Seven: Climbing Everest

Timothy John

“I’m picturing this head unit as a little circuit board and an LCD screen, either side of the stem!

“You’ve taken your hill climbing in various directions. You made an Everesting attempt in 2020, and I remember speaking to you soon after the world record had been set in Ireland, just

outside Belfast, and you fancied the job. Do you still?”

Adam Kenway

“I really do fancy it. At the time, I had a team-mate who lived in Ireland, quite close to the climb, and we were going to do it as a dual thing, but it was quite hard to set up. 

“It’s doable, but I’d need to get out there, recce the climb. I think you’d have to stay there for quite a few days to make sure you got the right weather window for it because if the weather is wrong…

“If you’re a second slower per lap, or, let’s say, 10 seconds slower per seven-minute run, and you’re doing 60 runs, it soon adds up, and you can’t gain that back. There’s only so much power you can put out on the way up and only so fast you can come back down the hill. 

“I definitely want the British record, the UK record. We’ll see how that goes. I know that Max Steadman has had a couple of goes at it, and he’s always come close, but something has always happened. 

“I might have to pencil something in for the six-week holiday.”

Phil Jones

“Would you do that after the Nationals, Adam? I guess you wouldn’t attempt something like that as a training regime.”

Adam Kenway

“If I did, it would have to be before I started to focus on the Nationals. After the Nationals, I don’t think you’d get the weather window to focus on it efficiently. You’re going to be on the bike for six hours, non-stop, going up and down hill. 

“You need good conditions: not too cold, not too hot and a really good prevailing tailwind up and down the climb." 

Timothy John

“Is it very different to a hill climb? Is it as different, for example, as is attempting the Hour Record from a four-minute pursuit?”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah, I think it’s more like a road race, if I’m honest; just a long road race, going up and down climbs; like a really gritty road race, where you’re chewing the stem for most of the day.”

Timothy John

“Is it still relevant? It was the ultimate expression of lockdown, wasn’t it? Riders were looking for solo endeavours, something they could do while still staying safe, and there was a whole flurry of Everesting attempts. Is it still a current event?”

Adam Kenway

“It’s not as popular as it was. Obviously, during lockdown, it was great, because you could just go out on your own and do an Everest. 

“If you break the record, it’s always going to be relevant to you, and, in the end, that’s all that matters, isn’t it? Whatever you do is for yourself. Obviously, in the modern day, some people thrive on social media: the ‘likes’ and things like that, but, for me, it’s about what I’m getting from it. 

“I watched people doing hill climbs in the past, and I used to look up to them. I’d like to put myself in that position.”

Part Eight: A Second Title

Timothy John

“Well, with that in mind, what would a second National title mean to you?”

Adam Kenway

“Oh, a lot. I don’t know. You’ve tasted it once. Dan Evans has won it twice and said the second one almost meant more to him. It’s almost harder. You’ve got an added weight of expectation on your shoulders. 

“I’d love a second year in the ‘stripes’. It’s like nothing else. Cav winning the National Road Race Championships this year: you just saw the joy. I’m sure that meant more to him than in the first year he won it.”

Timothy John

“That’s a very good frame of reference.

“This is so far beyond my capabilities it’s untrue, but I’m trying to picture opening a wardrobe and seeing a national champion’s jersey hanging inside it. What does that feel like?”

Adam Kenway

“I’ve got two. I’ve got one on the wall: the jersey that they awarded me on the day. And then I’ve got the Raleigh kit which I wore with the National Champion’s stripes: I’ve got a skin suit with that on. 

“The last time I used that - and I’m sure I won - was the last time anyone raced in a Raleigh jersey, as well, which is quite nice. The team had ended, and that was the last time anyone raced in a Raleigh top. For me, it’s quite nice.”

Phil Jones

“It’s nice and nostalgic that, Adam. It’s really nice because, obviously, Raleigh as a brand is in everybody’s mind. They remember Raleigh bikes because they often had a Raleigh bike as a kid; certainly, people of my age did because they were rolling around on Choppers and Grifters. Raleigh is synonymous with that period. It’s a nice nostalgia.”

Adam Kenway

“One of my biggest regrets…I’ve got lots of photos of me in my national jersey with my Raleigh bike. At the end of the season, I gave my Raleigh bike back, and I wish I’d bought that Raleigh bike, so I could have had the Raleigh national champion’s jersey with the Raleigh bike.”

Phil Jones

“Was it red and yellow?”

Adam Kenway

“Yeah, it was such a nice bike to ride as well. I think Raleigh went out of fashion a little bit, but I enjoyed it. I liked that bike a lot.”

Phil Jones

“I still see them come up occasionally on eBay. They come up every now and again, but, obviously, it’s not the bike, and, for you, it’s got to be the bike. 

“I saw something on social media recently: I think it was Alberto Contador’s bike collection at home. It was unbelievable. He’s got almost every bike he’s ever ridden from the get-go and

every race that he’s won, and this place was just like a phenomenal cycling museum. You thought: ‘I want to live here.’

“Those key moments in life that you’ve just described: ‘That time when I won it, and that’s the bike, and that’s the kit, and that’s the medal, and that was me. That was me in the peak of my condition.’ 

“Maybe, Adam, this time around, if you do it, you’ll have an opportunity to keep your bike his time, won’t you? You won’t make the same mistake twice. 

“And you’ll be in Brother kit as well. We can have a Brother kit made with the champion’s stripes, so that will be even better.”

Outro

Timothy John

“That would be the icing on the cake, wouldn’t it?

“Thank you very much indeed, guys, for joining me today: Adam Kenway, the former British hill climb champion and, we hope, the future British hill climb champion, and Phil Jones, the Managing Director of Brother UK. 

“Guys, thank you very much indeed for joining me.”

Phil Jones

“If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, please hit subscribe.”

 
 
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