MARK McNALLY - RIDING FOR ANTOINE

CHRIS WILLIAMS - THE 'BUSINESS' OF PROFESSIONAL CYCLING

GORDON DANIELS - FINGS AIN'T WOT THEY USED T'BE . . .

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Over a long career, retired amateur racer Gordon Daniels read every book and article he could find on the subject of training for cyclists. His personal favourite may surprise you. Take a look at his reflections on a life in training here.

CONQUISTA 14 - SUBSCRIBER COPIES

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Subscribers: please don’t be alarmed if a mysterious Jiffy Bag lands on your doormat in the next day or two. We have kept complete records, and we know exactly what’s inside . . .
 
Yes, Conquista issue 14 is here, and available now from our website, our usual independent stockists and from WHSmith around the UK. To have Conquista delivered to your door in a Jiffy, why not subscribe today?

DAVID ROBERT - KBK JUNIORES

JÖRG JAKSCHE - PUERTO, FUENTES & ABSOLUTION

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The whole sorry saga of the mystery Jiffy Bag raises once again the unwelcome spectre of doping. In Conquista issue 1 Jörg Jaksche wrote about finding himself in the middle of one of cycling's most spectacular busts, Operación Puerto. Now you can read his full insider account at conquista.cc in Puerto, Fuentes and Absolution here. 

And remember, Conquista issue 1 is still available both in print and as part of our digital back issue bundle - pdf downloads of all our ten first issues (0-9) for just £20. Find out more here.

Image: ©Cor Vos

JOSH LANE - BODY OF WORK

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Blogger Josh Lane – bike obsessive, mechanic at Shoreditch’s legendary look mum no hands! and all round good egg – has very rapidly become a fixture at conquista.cc. This week he takes a long hard look in the mirror and evaluates the physical changes that have followed his switch from MTB to road riding. Check out the latest instalment of his Life Behind Bars here.

PHIL MACDONALD - REPORTING FOR DUTY

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"Stripping away any pretence of glamour, what is a swannie, really? A glorified sandwich maker, bottle filler and driver. If you can slap some oil on legs and hold a conversation about farting then you have the complete skill set.”
 
In normal daily life, Phil Macdonald has a perfectly respectable job as a physiotherapist. So what makes him periodically abandon all connection with real life, logic and common sense and hit the road with Team Wiggins?

Learn from the inside just what it means to be a soigneur, in Phil’s Reporting for Duty, originally published in Conquista issue 13, and now available on Phil’s website here.

Image: ©cadenceimages

TREVOR GORNALL - SPEEDRUNS

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In the latest entry in his blog Diary of an Amateur Racer, Conquista editor Trevor Gornall takes on the awe-inspiring Speedruns of the Liverpool Century Road Club. These are four training rides, of up to eight hours’ duration, intended as the last piece of pre-season fine-tuning running on Sundays in late January and February. 
 
Featuring arcane rules that no one can agree on, arguments about who is allowed to contest what is not a sprint at the end of what is definitely not a race, malfunctioning Garmins, inadvertent trespass, a guest appearance from Phil Macdonald (siogneur to Sir Wiggo himself) and a LOT of beans on toast, this is British grass roots cycling at its grass rootsiest. Put the kettle on and join the action here.

MARCOS PEREDA - "OSITO": CYCLING & THE BROTHERS ESCOBAR

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He started his criminal career stealing gravestones from churchyards and reselling them. It is estimated that at his peak he was supplying 80% of the USA's imported cocaine, and had a personal net worth in excess of $30 billion – making him the world’s seventh richest man. Pablo Escobar was a conquistador, all right.
 
He was also a cycling nut. His brother and right-hand-man Roberto, known as Osito (“Teddy Bear”), was a professional rider, and later a team owner (and you thought Oleg Tinkoff was bad). Pablo even built his own personal velodromes: star riders were paid handsomely to come and perform for the entertainment of the brothers.
 
And now you can read the full story of Cycling and the Brothers Escobar here – as told by Spanish cycling writer Marcos Pereda (with thanks to ctxt.es).

Image: ©ctxt.es

SCOTT WILSON - A CANTICLE FOR COMMERCE

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Josh Lane's recent blog entry about Generation Lost drew a very enthusiastic response, becoming one of the most-visited pages ever on conquista.cc.  
 
Josh’s thoughts about the challenges faced by cycling’s younger generation struck a particular chord with Scott Wilson. Scott is a mechanic and frame builder in Chicago, Illinois, and a nonfiction writing master's student at Columbia College. He applied his unique combination of talents to the topic of cycling and the cyclist within capitalism.

You can read his thoughts in A Canticle for Commerce here.

PREVIOUSLY IN CONQUISTA'S BEAUTIFUL WORLD . . .