Category: Features

27-year-old Tom Smith is a deaf cyclist who has already taken Bronze at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Australia and become a double-medal winner at the 2013 Deaflympics in Sofia. Born and bred in Cardiff Tom now spends the racing season in Belgium � Cyclo talks to him about his impressive racing career, overcoming the tough challenges associated with being a deaf athlete, and how the Deaflympics still fails to gain the recognition it deserves…

 

Cyclo: You�ve been a cyclist all your life? Can you remember that first bike?
Tom Smith: Most of it! I started racing when I was 9. My first proper road bike was a steel Dave Marsh in purple with 5 or 6 speed cassette and down tube levers. My first track bike was a white Ribble…

 

Cyclo: What problems do being a deaf cyclist present?

 

Tom Smith: Missing certain parts of what people are saying to me; whether I�m wearing my ears (hearing aids) or not. But�I try to think that my hearing loss is part of my ability, not disability.

 

Cyclo: It�s often said that when one sense is impaired the others are heightened. Do you find any truth in this and, if so, does this help your cycling in any way?

 

Tom Smith: My perception and vision are quite good, and this gives me a wicked sixth-sense at times so yes I do believe in that.�I try and keep myself as visual and aware in my surroundings as possible so that I can develop that and my other senses. I think it�s important so that I can be more aware of things that I may miss otherwise.

 

Cyclo: How early on did you realise that cycling was more than a hobby?

 

Tom Smith: Very early on. I never thought to be anything other than a cyclist. Even when I had career paths at school they never could get any interest out of me for anything else.

 

Cyclo: When you were younger you rode for Cycling Club Cardiff and also trained with the Maindy Flyers in Cardiff. Can you tell us about that?

 

Tom Smith: I started riding for Cycling Club Cardiff when I was 8. Dad took me down to a Saturday morning session that was being run down at Maindy. My first time on a fixed wheel bike was scary as I didn�t know how to stop. But once I was put on the track I was instantly hooked. I think I was around 10 years old when I started doing two or three club sessions a week between the Flyers and C.C.Cardiff. It was a good group with the likes of Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe attending too.

 

Cyclo: You were training and riding with both hearing and hearing-impaired cyclists?

 

Tom Smith: Everyone was hearing apart from me. It was only until I set up Great Britain Deaf Cycling in 2007 and started looking that others were starting to get interested. Only one other cyclist has been involved since due to funding reasons.

 

Cyclo: You were in an accident at 17 � there were lasting implications?

 

Tom Smith: Yes, I was hit by a car out training. The effects were difficult to understand at first as I didn�t seem to have back problems, only a leg issue. Due to the time it took to realise what had happened between the accident and the surgery (four years) I had developed some strong imbalances. I�m happy to say that these have been corrected although it took a very long time. I now have some screws and cage holding my L5-S1 vertebrae together which stays in there for life.

 

Cyclo: With on-going back problems what adjustments did you have to make?

 

Tom Smith: I was advised by my spinal consultant to get a bike fit. I saw two different companies and they both couldn�t do anything for me. So I went back to traditional methods and that has worked best so far. With the help of my team at CISM (@CISM_uk) in South Wales, we found a position that was comfortable and also good for power. Then we went along the insole path again (after many failed attempts) to try to make the most of the new position. I found out about Superfeet by chance on a Youtube clip. I got in touch and they have been great letting me experiment with different insoles. The power that I can put through the pedals now is noticeably better. It�s the only insole I have managed to stick to for a long period of time, so I�m thankful I found Superfeet.

 

Cyclo: You were a Bronze medallist at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Australia � can you tell us something about that experience?

 

Tom Smith: Matt Crampton just piped me to the line on that occasion. I did the scratch race the day before and was angry at myself for missing out on a medal (fourth). So the Keirin being a fighting race � before the regulations changed � I was able to make use of that adrenaline. I got seventh in the Points race too…

 

Cyclo: Tell us about the road to the Deaflympics.

 

Tom Smith: It was a difficult one, especially with the funding side of things; the government had withdrawn funding for deaf sport to allocate it to London 2012 so each Team GB athlete had to raise all costs for preparing and competing themselves with no access to Lottery funding. I had the help of some very good friends and family but the majority I had to pay from my own pocket. The selection was easy enough being the sole rider. I just had to be honest with myself and of course with UK Deaf Sport that I had what it took to get my medals. I was going to go to the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics but as I was still struggling from the back operations I had to be honest and pull out.

 

The training was all done by my team at CISM. We worked together on my nutrition and found pathway that suited me best based on my genetics results. On top of that there was hard training and also even harder racing in Belgium.

 

Cyclo: You brought home two medals, tell us about those races.

 

Tom Smith: I was the only representative for GB so I was marked out in the road race. After the first climb I was in the leading group. There were odd attacks going and I was making one or two moves as well. I missed the essential one just by being caught in the wrong place in the group. When I reacted I had a Russian and Italian jump straight on me, both of whom had teammates in the lead group. Needless to say I had to do the work to bring the gap back. Only the Russian was half working with me, so it was turning out to be a pointless effort. I saw the blackboard saying the gap had gone to 35 seconds so it was a case of now or never. I hit the front hard for 20 or 30 seconds and I managed to get rid of the other 2 guys. I spent the next 40km soloing my way to the lead group. I managed to get there just at the bottom of the climb. The lead group of 4 were surprised to see me and immediately put the hammer down on the climb. I lost touch half way up but managed to keep the gap to 15 seconds. Then I had to solo the last 5km by myself again. I latched on just inside the 2km mark. I knew I had nothing for the sprint so went for a long one by surprise with 5 or 600m to go. I got 50m to the finish before getting caught. I think that silver was the hardest medal I had ever won! The data from the heart rate monitor certainly showed that!

 

The Points race was two days after the road race and I was in no fit state after my efforts. The course for the Points race was on the road too and the circuit was a straight up and down, meaning we had to do 100 hairpin turns throughout the race. My accelerations out of the corners were poor but the top end speed I had. An American guy attacked just before halfway and no one wanted to chase. I managed to get a few sprints, and really I was fighting with a Russian to get silver. We ended up on the same points but he got a higher placing in the final sprint.

 

Cyclo: How was it returning to �normality� after the high of the Deaflympics?

 

Tom Smith: After the Sofia Deaflympics I had a week to �wind down� at home before heading back out to Belgium to finish off the rest of the season. I had a few interviews and awards ceremonies to go to after the racing season, but nothing I would consider out of normality. Neither I nor my other medal winning teammates (Mel Jewett in the Marathon and Lauren Peffers in Athletics) got the credit we deserved compared to the British medal winners of London 2012. Especially seeing as we all had jobs and paid our way to get to Sofia and with little reward apart from the satisfaction that we won medals from our hard work. So there wasn�t really anything out of the ordinary, which was disappointing, but it did take me a while to recover from the physical and emotional effects.

 

Cyclo: As you say, the Deaflympics still doesn�t really get the audience recognition it deserves. What are your thoughts?

 

Tom Smith: Deaf Sport has grown at a different rate compared to the Paralympics for example. If we use this example, the Deaflympics have been around longer than the Paralympics but because the ICSD (International Committee of Sports for the Deaf) declined the invitation to join the Paralympics when it was renamed from the Stoke Mandeville Games, we are now in the position we are in. My personal opinion is that there are faults on both sides. The Deaflympics wanted to do their own thing so that they could flourish as a deaf community. They have every right to want to do that, but it hasn�t had the profound effect that the Paralympics has had, on the deaf community, deaf culture, the athletes or even the hearing world. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) and ICSD have been in discussions held over the last decade or so to invite Deaf sport into the Paralympics, but I don�t think enough is being done to do that from both parties. Sport is a catalyst for change in society and culture, and it�s important that something is done soon before deaf sport is ignored altogether.

 

Cyclo: You spend your race season in Belgium � how do you find attitudes to cycling differ in mainland Europe.

 

Tom Smith: Belgium is the heart of cycling so the lifestyle and routine is created around bikes and health, which makes living and working better for the locals here. Britain still hasn�t caught on to the essence of cycling as a sport or lifestyle. Entering the races here is cheap- only 5 euros, and all the races in East Flanders are within 45 minutes� drive or ride. Then there�s the racing itself � which is always fast!

 

Cyclo: And what�s next for you?

 

Tom Smith: I have a few interclub and pro races coming up in in the next couple of months so I�ll be working hard to get team selection for those. Then at the end of the year I�m doing the British Track Champs and the Tour de Formosa in Taiwan. The latter is dubbed the Deaf Tour de France and I need to come up with �2000 to pay for the flights and for a pre-race training camp, which means I�m looking for businesses who want their logo on the jersey or anyone who can help out � obviously I�d appreciate hearing from interested parties, you can email me here.

 

 

Find out more about Tom on Twitter, facebook and via his website tomsmiffy.wordpress.com

 

Read the Cyclo review of Superfeet here.

 

Miles Stronger is an online retailer selling a range of cycle niceties from shorts and shocks to gels and nutrition bars, but what makes their offer unique is that co-founders Teresa Robbins and Mike Grinsted source and sell only those products which are 100% British. Cyclo talked to them to find out what makes them tick…

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Cyclo: Can you explain what makes Miles Stronger so different?

 

Miles Stronger: Our main unique selling point is that everything � and by everything we mean absolutely everything�� we sell or stock is made in Britain. The other main point, which is a by-product of our �Britishness�, is that we feature some new and exciting brands, which in many cases gives our customers the chance to buy something completely different.

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Cyclo: What was the �eureka� moment that led to setting up Miles Stronger?

 

Miles Stronger: The inspiration really came about in early 2012. We had become a bit fed-up with finding the same brands all with far-away production facilities, usually in Asia. It seemed to us that manufacturing products half way round the world isn�t a long-term or efficient approach. The current increase in the number of people taking up sport, increased concern for the environment and the growing support for UK manufacturing, meant the timing was right. The search for British-made products and brands was born.

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Cyclo: You are both successful business people, but were there any particular challenges in setting up this business given the current financial climate?

 

Miles Stronger: Because we have �been there� before setting up the company was relatively straightforward for us. Initial funding was from our personal resources, so thankfully we had no need to find a financial backer. However we have had to be very careful with our choice of which items and how much to stock to ensure our own resources are used wisely. In the longer term we will be looking for the support of a bank to assist with this point, something we know won�t be easy!

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Cyclo: Are margins tighter when sourcing purely British products?

 

Miles Stronger: Not necessarily, but in some cases yes. We are able to make acceptable margins on most of our products and still come in with a competitive market price for items, often less than house-hold �name� brands to reflect the lesser known nature of some of those we stock. Funnily enough the margins are tightest on some of the more well know brands we stock, because we have to compete directly on price with discount houses. That said, we have strategically priced a few items to ensure that we don�t appear expensive, as this would be counter productive for us. We believe in the long-term, not just a short-term cash generating company. Miles Stronger is a business, but we also believe in doing the right thing along the way, so we have made a strategic choice in a couple of cases.

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Cyclo: How did do you go about deciding on the lines and brands you stock?�

 

Miles Stronger: Finding the brands and manufacturers is not easy. In fact this has probably been � and remains to be � the hardest parts of running Miles Stronger. Lots of time on Google, Twitter and general networking has been our most successful way to find suppliers. Many companies use the British �brand�, but when you get down to it they don�t actually produce in the UK, perhaps just design or are a UK-based company. We�ve found this with small and some large well-know brands too!

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Cyclo: So you personally scrutinise?�

 

Miles Stronger: Absolutely. When we find a potential product we always test the product and visit the manufacture to see their production for ourselves. If the product doesn�t pass our road tests, is poor quality or we have concerns about at least medium term supply then we don�t stock or sell the product. Thankfully the quality of most of the products we�ve come across has been excellent, this is something which sometimes I think we Brits fail to recognise but large parts of the international community�do�still acknowledge.

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Cyclo: And are you finding brands returning production to the UK?

 

Miles Stronger: Yes, a good example is the Sockmine brand. They are a large sock manufacturer (the company name is Roy Lowe and Sons) who some years ago, eight I believe, moved their production out to Turkey and China. They took a decision in early 2013 to start producing their own brand of technical sports socks � their historical business is producing socks for most of the large UK retailers � back here in the UK, re-opening their previously dormant factory in Nottingham. They sell the products directly, but we were the first to retail their products, but probably not the last!

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Cyclo: You look to highlight new and emerging brands too, yes?

 

Miles Stronger: Yes, many of our brands are from small companies who are driven by an entrepreneur or talented designer who may have started their business in the last couple of years. I think if we had tried to start Miles Stronger three or four years ago it would not have been possible as these emerging brands just would not have existed then and they form a large part of our portfolio today.

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Cyclo: Any particular brand or product that you�re particularly impressed to be stocking or have �found�?

 

Miles Stronger: Again, the Sockmine definitely would come in this category because the product is great quality and perfectly encapsulates our message. But another product we have been impressed with is the Running Food Chia Charge Flapjack. This is one of our smaller suppliers, but the product has been born from a passion for the product and well thought about. In our experience once people taste the product they are hooked, I certainly know we are. Despite this not being a well-known brand we have sold a lot of this in comparison with some better-known products.

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Cyclo: How closely do you work with brands?

 

Miles Stronger: Very, we purchase direct from all of them and in some cases have given feedback which as been taken on board and affected the product design. All of the brands are keen to promote their �British Manufacturing� credentials, so to many we come across as a very welcome customer.

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Cyclo: What plans for the future of Miles Stronger?

 

Miles Stronger: We are still on the hunt for more brands and products. If you come across any please do point them in our direction!

 

Take a look at the full Miles Stronger range at milesstronger.co.uk