The Duchess of Cambridge’s socialite sister Pippa Middleton has taken to road biking - with none other than Jonathan Edwards, the former Olympic triple-jump champion, as her coach.
Writing in the Telegraph, Pippa, better known for her sporting prowess on the tennis court, says she isn’t a complete beginner, having learnt to ride with her parents on “a solid mountain bike with thick tyres designed to blast through mud and puddles.”
She’s also completed a 30-mile cycle race in Scotland, the Highland Cross, a couple of years ago.
But, she says, she’s ‘intimidated’ by urban cyclists.
“I may mock them as geeks in their “bib tights” (essentially Lycra dungarees), streamlined helmets and triple lens, wraparound sunglasses but, in truth, their hard-nosed attitude – some can be incredibly rude – and self-belief that they are the rightful rulers of the road makes me nervous,” she says.
The clue to understanding them better, she says, is learning to ride in clipless pedals.
So off she trots to Battersea park to meet Jonathan Edwards, who’s been cycling to keep fit since his retirement in 2003.
Now she says, he and she are “helping promote the sport as part of the Telegraph’s Get Slim Without The Gym initiative, which starts next week.”
He’s full of handy beginner advice, such as that “small, fitted saddle bags are better than a rucksack.”
Hopping aboard a Hoy Sa Calobra bike, Pippa practises clipping in, and clipping out of her pedals, then rides across a cricket pitch a few times to provide a softer landing in case she takes a tumble.
An important concern of Pippa’s is “how do you avoid developing massive thighs like many of the Tour de France chaps?”
Apparently the key is low resistance long distance riding - in case any readers are concerned about the circumference of their thighs.
After a couple of laps of the park, Pippa’s sufficiently experienced to venture into “professional territory – heart monitors and bike computers (these track distance and speed and are great for fitness training: the best brand is Garmin, apparently)” - and it’s already time to start dabbling in carbohydrate drinks.
Pippa’s advice finishes off with a short ode to delicious kale and singing the praises of Wiggle and Buffs - so next time you’re riding in West London, perhaps keep an eye out for a very familiar backside atop a saddle in front of you.
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44 comments
good grief what a twat this woman is, so tiresome ..
Column inches folks, that is all. Read it if you want, ignore otherwise.
Anything written by anyone that encourages people to get around cities by bike instead of cars is ok by me.
This article needs more pictures. #justsayin
Read the bloody article fatbastard. She was loaned the bike. And Jonathon was the one mainly handing out advise
Apart from that mainly good advise IF you are wanting to get out of the city and do some exercise on two wheels. For commuting advise I would have handed her a Pashey or hybrid with flat pedals and put her onto the streets of London. If we are wanting more people to commute then we need to convince them that they don't need all the kit and that they don't need to be bombing it round the streets to do so. Some interaction with traffic would have let her understand why some cyclists are so 'hard nosed' (assertive in cycling language)
I did read the "bloody" article. I am sick to the back teeth of so called "celebrities" being wheeled out as "experts" on every subject on earth. Why did she need a loan bike? Surely her sister's mother-in-law could have bought her one for Xmas?
Some bitter people here.. Very lol
Good on her, it's about getting bums on seats. I'd like to think that the cycling community is all welcoming and we're there to help the novices and, of course, massage the egos of the Strava gods.
Agreed. It's been said here before that it's difficult to get women riding and difficult to break down the fear factor.
Well, she's a little girl and yes, happens to be a celebrity - that is precisely the profile of someone that women listen to, so she's ideal.
This can only be a good thing in attempt to break down the them versus us divide. She'll only truly understand the hard nosed attitude of urban cycling once she leaves the safety of the park and hits the morning rush hour commute.
Jesus H Christ! They have to teach her how to clip in to her pedals and give her a free Hoy bike, so she can promote cycling!!!! Just because her sister has married a royal Parasite. The Telegraph should have got someone who knew what they are talking about, and not someone who talks outs of her Arse.
She might be a royal parasite, but she is also not a cyclist and this is a very important point. If you want people to see bikes as normal get NON cyclists on bikes. The more who ride the better, the more drivers who understand why cyclists do what they do, the safer it should become.
If the Telegraph had used a normal person then their parasite-worshipping, celebrity obsessed target audience would never bother reading the article!
So I'd echo the comments by arfa, mrmo and workhard - at least it's a famous person talking about cycling in a positive way
Yeah thanks for shining such illuminating light on the dark mysteries of urban riding Ms Middleton - and there was me worrying about the size of my thighs...
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