Colin Clews's guest appearances

Colin Clews

Queer Margins

Lost Spaces

The British Continental

Marc Thompson

Peter Tatchell

Darryl Bullock

Michael Ryan

Emerson Collins

Lori Bell

Tom Goss

Will Warren

Jake Scott

Joe Evans

Colin Sturgess

Dennis Hensley

Jim Brown

Darren Styles

Emily Nelson

OwlTail

27 June 2021 will be a landmark for British road racing. It will see the first elite-level road race in the UK for 666 days. Fans, riders, and teams have had to wait nearly a full year two years for an elite road race on home soil. And whilst many a cycling fan will have their gaze fixed on stage 2 of the Tour de France, it’s important too that we celebrate this moment. The race we allude to, of course, is the 5th edition Women’s CiCLE Classic. A relatively new race on the calendar, it has quickly established itself as an important event for the women’s domestic peloton. And as the first round of the National Road Series after such a long lay-off from elite road racing, it takes on even greater significance this year. Ahead of the race, we spoke to the organiser Colin Clews, who coincidentally was also the organiser of the last National A road race in the UK: the Bourne CiCLE Classic. In a fascinating interview, Colin explains the challenges of putting on a top-level race in these times, tells us why the event will be much more than just a bike race, highlights the massive interest the race has had from both teams and the local community, discusses the new route, and what kind of race we might expect.The incredible Pete Stanton was also on the call with Colin, but for some reason, our technology failed to capture his end of the recording. Pete is the very generous sponsor of the race and has been since its inception, as Colin explains in the interview. The hiccup means, however, that, unfortunately, we can’t hear from Pete this time around, so we’ll have to get him back on the podcast another time. View the startlist. A race preview will be published soon too and we'll add a link here once it's up.Support the show

27 June 2021 will be a landmark for British road racing. It will see the first elite-level road race in the UK for 666 days. Fans, riders, and teams have had to wait nearly a full year two years for an elite road race on home soil. And whilst many a cycling fan will have their gaze fixed on stage 2 of the Tour de France, it’s important too that we celebrate this moment. The race we allude to, of course, is the 5th edition Women’s CiCLE Classic. A relatively new race on the calendar, it has quickly established itself as an important event for the women’s domestic peloton. And as the first round of the National Road Series after such a long lay-off from elite road racing, it takes on even greater significance this year. Ahead of the race, we spoke to the organiser Colin Clews, who coincidentally was also the organiser of the last National A road race in the UK: the Bourne CiCLE Classic. In a fascinating interview, Colin explains the challenges of putting on a top-level race in these times, tells us why the event will be much more than just a bike race, highlights the massive interest the race has had from both teams and the local community, discusses the new route, and what kind of race we might expect.The incredible Pete Stanton was also on the call with Colin, but for some reason, our technology failed to capture his end of the recording. Pete is the very generous sponsor of the race and has been since its inception, as Colin explains in the interview. The hiccup means, however, that, unfortunately, we can’t hear from Pete this time around, so we’ll have to get him back on the podcast another time. View the <a href="https://thebritishcontinental.co.uk/2021/06/21/2021-womens-cicle-classic-provisional-startlist/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">startlist</a>. A race preview will be published soon too and we'll add a link here once it's up.<a href="https://thebritishcontinental.shop" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show</a>

Colin Clews | The return of the Women's CiCLE Classic

The 7th episode of the series features an in-depth interview with Colin Clews, someone who in our view should be regarded as a true legend of domestic road racing. Founder and director of CiCLE Classic promotions, a UCI race commissaire, an anti-doping control officer and a member of British Cycling’s road commission, he’s a man who lives and breathes cycling. And at 70 years old, his passion for the sport seems absolutely undiminished. He’s probably best known as the organiser of the Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic, Britain's only UCI 1.2 race. Taking place on roads and farm tracks across the undulating landscape of Rutland and East Leicestershire, it is one of the most spectator-friendly races on the British calendar. It’s often compared to a Belgian classic and it’s easy to see why. Year-after-year, the race produces images of dust-covered pelotons, rowdy roadside BBQs and riders scrambling for spare wheels after untimely punctures. Colin seemed too modest to admit it in the interview, but after 15 editions, the race has become a true British monument. Through his CiCLE Classics promotions vehicle, Colin has now added a women’s edition as well as a junior men’s version of the race, and last year he also ran the inaugural Bourne CiCLE Classic. In this interview, Colin recalls the early beginnings of the race and how he’s transformed it into one of the most cherished races on British shores. He discusses the challenges of organising elite bike races in the UK, explores how we can improve the domestic scene and recounts some his favourite editions, including some incredible tales from the infamous rain-sodden 2012 race won by Alex Blain.Support the show

The 7th episode of the series features an in-depth interview with Colin Clews, someone who in our view should be regarded as a true legend of domestic road racing. Founder and director of CiCLE Classic promotions, a UCI race commissaire, an anti-doping control officer and a member of British Cycling’s road commission, he’s a man who lives and breathes cycling. And at 70 years old, his passion for the sport seems absolutely undiminished. He’s probably best known as the organiser of the <a href="https://thebritishcontinental.co.uk/2019/04/26/2019-rutland-melton-cicle-classic-preview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic</a>, Britain's only UCI 1.2 race. Taking place on roads and farm tracks across the undulating landscape of Rutland and East Leicestershire, it is one of the most spectator-friendly races on the British calendar. It’s often compared to a Belgian classic and it’s easy to see why. Year-after-year, the race produces images of dust-covered pelotons, rowdy roadside BBQs and riders scrambling for spare wheels after untimely punctures. Colin seemed too modest to admit it in the interview, but after 15 editions, the race has become a true British monument. Through his CiCLE Classics promotions vehicle, Colin has now added a women’s edition as well as a junior men’s version of the race, and last year he also ran the inaugural <a href="https://thebritishcontinental.co.uk/2019/08/31/bourne-cicle-classic-mens-race-preview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bourne CiCLE Classic</a>. In this interview, Colin recalls the early beginnings of the race and how he’s transformed it into one of the most cherished races on British shores. He discusses the challenges of organising elite bike races in the UK, explores how we can improve the domestic scene and recounts some his favourite editions, including some incredible tales from the infamous rain-sodden 2012 race won by Alex Blain.<a href="https://thebritishcontinental.shop" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show</a>

Colin Clews | Creating a British monument

Though he only lived in London for a short while, author Colin Clews has fond memories of The Fallen Angel, a bar in Islington. Whilst desperately waiting for a visa to go to Australia, Colin volunteered at the newly formed Terrence Higgins Trust, and supported fundraising efforts of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, and has a slew of stories from this time to share! Find out more about Colin at https://www.gayinthe80s.com/--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/k-anderson/message

Though he only lived in London for a short while, author Colin Clews has fond memories of The Fallen Angel, a bar in Islington. Whilst desperately waiting for a visa to go to Australia, Colin volunteered at the newly formed Terrence Higgins Trust, and supported fundraising efforts of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, and has a slew of stories from this time to share! Find out more about Colin at <a href="https://www.gayinthe80s.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.gayinthe80s.com/</a>--- Send in a voice message: <a href="https://anchor.fm/k-anderson/message" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://anchor.fm/k-anderson/message</a>

The Fallen Angel, Islington, London (with Colin Clews)

Colin has given so much of his time away. During his life he’s committed himself to helping people dying of AIDs in Australia, supporting a Welsh mining community and now publishing his blog Gay in the 80s and his book by the same name. His stories are funny, heartwarming and sometimes sad but his warmth is clear in every word. Colin was fantastic to talk to and is a wealth of knowledge on queer history.We reference a couple of articles and pictures during the conversation, head over to the Instagram page @QueerMargins to see them.

Colin has given so much of his time away. During his life he’s committed himself to helping people dying of AIDs in Australia, supporting a Welsh mining community and now publishing his blog Gay in the 80s and his book by the same name. His stories are funny, heartwarming and sometimes sad but his warmth is clear in every word. Colin was fantastic to talk to and is a wealth of knowledge on queer history. We reference a couple of articles and pictures during the conversation, head over to the Instagram page @QueerMargins to see them.