ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW: JAMES 'HANK' LOWSLEY WILLIAMS 

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW: JAMES 'HANK' LOWSLEY WILLIAMS 

Hank 1

Hank is more widely known for his efforts on the road. As a member of the Hunt supported BIKEChannel Canyon team, Hank spends the warmer months of the year racing UCI continental events around Europe and Britain. Now the off-season has fallen upon the peloton, so too has 'cross fever. 

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW WITH JACK PULLAR

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW WITH JACK PULLAR

 

Jack 2

This week's On The Drops features none other than BIKE Channel Canyon's Jack Pullar. We caught up with him on all things climbing, and were thrilled to discover his prettiest bike was the same as Ollie's...

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW WITH RICH MAGUIRE

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW WITH RICH MAGUIRE

cross is here

You won't necessarily see Rich's name plastered all over the very tops of the leaderboard throughout the London x League CX season (that is a realm most of us only dream of). But if you could quantify passion and put it into some sort of order, Richard Maguire would wipe the floor with the hundred or so other names in the list. He'd then remount his bike with unparalleled elegance and stomp off up the road...

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW WITH DAN PULLEN

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW WITH DAN PULLEN

 

4Season

Dan is something of a local legend, and whilst not everyone will instantly recognise the name Daniel Pullen, you'd be hard-pushed to find a cyclist locally who hasn't heard the name Stravanator Dan!

Read on for more.

 

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW WITH HARRY TANFIELD

ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW WITH HARRY TANFIELD

Tanfeild

Harry Tanfield (known as The Wizard by team-mates) is one of many prodigious young talents rising to the top of domestic pro cycling within the ranks of the BIKE Channel Canyon team. As a rider he's had a tremendous season for the newly-formed team, and is on most cycling fans' radars as 'one to watch' for the future. Particularly talented at time trials (finishing 5th at the National Championships earlier this year on the Isle of Man) and all things proper aero, we caught up with Harry whilst flying back from his last event of the season, to look back across the 2018 season and chat the breeze! 

TOUR OF BRITAIN | BIKE CHANNEL CANYON PHOTO EPIC

TOUR OF BRITAIN | BIKE CHANNEL CANYON PHOTO EPIC

We always try to use the word 'epic' sparingly... reserved only for those rides which are truly 'epic'. But we are going to use an 'epic token' here to describe BikeChannel Canyon's effort in this year's Tour of Britain which concluded late last week.

Please enjoy the photo gallery of BikeChannel Canyon's first Tour of Britain... 

AGAINST ALL ODDS PART TWO: VENTOUX @99BPM

Smile for the Camera

A few weeks ago we featured OpenDev rider Will Johnson article detailing his preparation of riding up Ventoux at 99bpm (which can be found here). We are glad to say that Will's adventure was successful, but it certainly was not without mishaps and a huge challenge for the ex-Leicester Tigers professional rugby player. 

Read below to find out exactly how it all went down (and up) for Will.

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Well, here’s the story of a heartless fat man climbing the Giant of Provence, a fine title for a fairy tale! To recap, a heart arrhythmia and a few operations in 2016 has left me with chronotropic incompetence, which basically means my heart rate barely rises when I exercise. A little annoying to say the least, but in the bigger picture, things could be worse, I’m still on my bike.

BIKECHANNEL CANYON BY NUMBERS TOUR OF BRITAIN

Hunt supported BIKEChannel Canyon have had a successful start to their first Tour of Britain. Stage two brought on 211km with Rory Townsend taking turns in the seven man breakaway...
BIKEChannel Canyon takes on Tour of Britain

BIKEChannel Canyon takes on Tour of Britain

BikeChannel Canyon takes on Tour of Britain

UCI Continental team and Hunt supported, BikeChannel Canyon, will be taking on the pinnacle of British road racing starting this Sunday at the OVO Energy Tour of Britain.

Rolling out of Edinburgh, the Hunt supported team will be racing the eight stages as one of the twenty competing teams. Beating other high noting British based Continental outfits to gain a position on the start-line within the first year of operating is quite an achievement for the young team.

AGAINST ALL ODDS: Ventoux @99BPM

AGAINST ALL ODDS: Ventoux @99BPM

For many cyclists, climbing Ventoux is a dream. The mythical status it holds in cycling and its moon like landscape means that it is more than just any old climb. It has been the scene of huge triumphs in cycling like Contador cementing his victory in the 2009 tour, as well as many tragedies like the death of Tom Simpsons during 1967 edition of the same race.

Out of the thousands, if not tens of thousands of people who ride the peak every year, it is almost undeniable that Will Johnson is taking on this monumental climb which previous to a year ago it would have been thought of as impossible for Will due to his heart condition.

Read about Will's story here.

Climbing @99bpm

REFLECTIONS ON THE LONGEST DAY: THE WILL JOHNSON EPIC

You may be more familiar with Will Johnson from his exploits on the pro rugby pitch, and rightly so... as  a long-standing former member of Leicester Tigers first 15 and now, we're honoured, he is on the Hunt OpenDev Team. Will is a truly high appreciated contributor as he provides invaluable feedback on prototypes as well as where we can improve wheels designed for the most powerful riders. So with his input we designed the new Race Aero SuperDura wheels.

WILL JOHNSON HUNT WHEELS OPEN DEV TEAM MEMBER

Like most of us who ride in day-in-day-out, Will may never be lining up for the Tour, a Monument or pull on a Polka-dot Jersey... and that is completely fine. Cycling allows us all to enjoy and push as hard or as little as possible. In this article, Will definitely found his limits and it can even be said he pushed a little beyond them. Sometimes, we need to step out of our comfort zone and see what we are made of, not matter if its a Sunday century or lining up for a national championship.

BIKE Channel Canyon British National Road Championships Photo Journal

BIKE Channel Canyon British National Road Championships Photo Journal

The BIKEChannel Canyon team were pushing hard at one of the largest meetings on the British domestic racing calendar The Road Race National Championships. Thursday included a individual time trial looping from St Johns to Kirk Michael. Harry Tanfield finished with a 5th place in the elite TT, even managing to finish ahead of a number of world tour pro from Sky and was very close to the lead testers Alex Dowsett of Movistar and creditable winner Steve Cumming from Dimension Data.

There is no shame in us admitting that a good proportion of us here at HUNT | TheRiderFirm and you the HUNT riders/customers are suckers for road racing. With the Tour starting tomorrow and the British Road Champs just passed, it is no coincidence that we'll all be pouring over stage profiles and making office predictions before each stage. We were also at the British National Champs with the BIKE Channel Canyon Team to work closely with them on new wheel ideas, feedback and do our soigneur duties with bottles & gel hand-ups at the feed zone.

Sunday was a serious test for all the the riders who had to take on one of the hardest courses in British Nat Champs history. The 193.7km road race route took inspiration from the famous Isle of Man TT as well as the iconic Snaefell mountain climb with nearly 1500ft of ascent on just this climb, plus many other lumps around the course. Youngster Harry Tanfield made it into the early break and held this own in the fast-paced dozen or so riders. Dexter Gardias from BIKE Channel Canyon also mixed it in the leading groups with Cav and other World Tour riders as the race progressed with constant attacking and finished a very creditable 16th in the Elite men's which included at least 10 world tour riders (that we could count anyway). The BIKEChannel Canyon team once again put in a stunning effort.


See below a photo journal of how things went down on the Isle of Man. Check out the shot when Alex Dowsett's bike hits the timing board!

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