It was great to see Matt Brammeier back at a bike race. We met him at the finish of Stage 1 of this year’s Tour of Britain in Wrexham and chatted a little about his typical race-day routine, role within the team, life with Team MTN-Qhubeka and the goals of the team in relation to the Qhubeka Charity.
Tag / Qhubeka
Bramm is Back
Today we joined Team MTN-Qhubeka rider Matthew Brammeier, complete with crutches, at the finish of Stage One of the AVIVA Tour of Britain in Wrexham. This was the first time Matt’s team mates had met him since his horrendous crash at the Tour of Utah. To a man they were absolutely delighted to see him in such great shape just a few weeks after his +100 kmph collision with a team car. And not just his team mates, the staff and riders of other teams, as well as general public were all pleased to see him back at a bike race already. Matt is well on the mend and hopes to be back in the saddle again soon.
Issue 6 Playlist
Who likes music? Everyone, right? That’s why we are sharing our Issue 6 Spotify playlist to go alongside our latest publication. An audible accompaniment to enjoy while you take in the pretty pictures or read the stories and features. Eclectic doesn’t really cover it…we certainly have a massively diverse collection of tune-age reflecting the global exploits of our subjects, snappers and scribblers.
Courtesy of our man Down Under @Touringtim who has done a piece on the JAYCO HERALD SUN TOUR – we have an introduction to Township Techno from @TeamMTNQhubeka rider @SongezoJim and the thumping drum beat of Spoek Mathambo’s cover of Joy Division’s ‘She’s Lost Control’. We’ve added in an especially bouncy Scouse House track ‘Drugs’. Yes – Scouse House is an actual thing – this one is for you @Mattbrammeier85.
We have an in-depth feature on @jamesgolding1 THREE STEPS FORWARD – TWO STEPS BACK – his battle to recover from near death and how riding his bike has played a massive role in his recuperation. The piece features great shots courtesy of @Joolzephoto. James made a poignant contribution to the playlist with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet Home Alabama’. It’s not an obvious selection, nor does it necessarily reflect his usual music taste, but it will always have an extra special meaning from the time of his ride across America. No spoiler alerts here – you’re gonna have to read our interview with James in the magazine to appreciate why he was so happy to cycle out of Louisiana and into the Heart of Dixie.
To go with superb photo galleries from @wyuet covering the JAPAN ROAD CRITERIUM, RACE & CYCLOCROSS we’ve been painfully predictable in our selection of the timeless classics ‘Big in Japan’. You will see the grinning mug of @NathanPeterHaas beaming from the podium, so in his honour we’ve added ‘Mr Roboto’ by Styx. And just so we fully deliver on the Japan/Robot Pop genre we couldn’t miss the Flaming Lips classic ‘Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots’. By coincidence, the winner of our Fiction Competition is Kathryn Ezra @MiniBearTravels with her short story THE JAPANESE SHIRT. She’s contributed some tracks too – ‘Travelling Alone’ and ‘Songs That She Sang In The Shower’ by Jason Isbell and ‘Staying In Love’ by Raphael Saadiq. We liked our runner-up so much we decided to also print Colin Stokes @MoonrakerVelo offering CHASING THE GOLDEN FLEECE. We’ve got a few tracks from this self-confessed music nut, including Linkin Park’s ‘The Radiance’, Paul Oakenfold’s ‘Ready, Steady, Go!” and Eminem’s ‘Till I Collapse’.
We’re also out in Mallorca with BORA – ARGON 18 @BoraArgon18 and have a cool photo set from legendary snapper Brian Hodes @veloimages. We’ve interviewed Team Manager @ralph_denk who told us that currently featuring heavily in the car of their DS Enrico Poitschkes is Helene Fischer’s ‘Atemlos’. True story. I’ve really struggled to find a sound justification for a very random contribution from our Swiss branch. The best I can do is offer ‘Dick Dagger’s Theme’ as a tribute to @johndegenkolb ‘s moustache. Please don’t ask, simply sit back and dig that groovy Seventies rhythm.
From another great supporter of Conquista – the uber-talented Tino Pohlmann we present his gallery NEW YORK MESSENGER – portraits and stunning urban cityscapes. Get your retro lugs around ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn’ from the Beastie Boys.
From Sean Lee @DownundrCycling who has contributed a piece on the retirement of old ‘bum-chin’ himself CADEL EVANS @CadelOfficial got ‘Leaps and Bounds’ by Paul Kelly. And from @adamsemple we are blessed with a handful of ear-pleasing tunes to complement his amusing observations at the TAIWAN KOM – ‘Liberation’ by Harold van Lennep, ‘Né Sous Le Sun’ by Everydayz, ‘Twilight’ by Anthony & The Johnsons and the unforgettable ‘Seasons (Waiting On You)’ from Future Islands. Filling out our roster is debut boy Tom Owen @owentcharles. A LONG ROAD AHEAD is his take on Bali and its untapped cycling potential. Listen to his tracks ‘Mountain Sound’ by Of Monsters and Men and ‘There Goes Our Love Again’ by White Lies.
We pad out the list out with a sprinkling of tunes that have percolated around Conquista Towers in the weeks running up to publication of Issue 6 – mostly courtesy of those fine people of @BBC6Music.
Something for everyone, or nothing for anyone, we’re not quite sure, so in the words of the Beastie Boys….KICK IT….
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