Cycling, skiing, food & photography
It's been a while since I didn't achieve one of my cycling goals. This weekend things didn't go to plan. The aim was to ride a route that approximated the largest circle I could draw within the UK. It'd have been just under 1,000km and just over 10,000m of climbing. The aim was to do … Continue reading Failure
I didn’t come to Morocco to push my bike. I was seduced by vistas of the Atlas Mountains radiating improbable shades of ochre and green and red in the golden hour; smooth-looking gravel tracks disappearing into the distance; pedalling up passes and swooping down descents; desert skies strewn with stars at night; Berbers, camels, oases … Continue reading Shrugging
In audax circles, Paris-Brest-Paris is the big one. Run only every four years it's a 1200km ride with a route pretty much described by its name except these days it starts a little way outside the French capital (this year in Rambouillet about 50km out). Complete the epreuve and you can call yourself an ancien of PBP … Continue reading Ancien
It’s so easy to be a taker. Goods and experiences are on tap in my 21st century, western lifestyle - as long as you’ve got the money instant gratification is so easy . The kinda cycling I do is pretty much the same with so many events going on; you can register online, pay and … Continue reading Involuntary
The first month of the year takes its name from Janus the two-faced Roman god who looked back to the past and forward to the future all at the same time. I've already done some reflections on 2018 so it's now, belatedly, time to look ahead to what this year has in store. The big … Continue reading Targets
It's been a pretty benign December but it hasn't quite been the end to the year I wanted, going down with a chesty, phlegmy cough. Doing my normal ride up to Birmingham on Christmas Eve and back on the 27th to break the back of the Festive 500 probably didn't help and I've spent the last … Continue reading Reflections
About 250 riders started the Transcontinental. Most I only saw on the startline as they charged on ahead findishing days ahead of me. I was surprised by the number I saw along the way; I'd guessed our routes would be very different but as it turned out many were ploughing a similar course. I decided … Continue reading #facestodots
It’s about 8pm on the 13th day of the Transcontinental - a Friday night. I’ve just crossed into Bosnia, leaving the EU for the first time on the ride. It’s Matthieu’s birthday and I find him and Thomas sharing a beer at a gas station on the edge of Gradiška the scrubby border town with … Continue reading Review
I'm not a big fan of blow-by-blow accounts. They can be pretty tedious and unless you're a better writer than me they don't really convey the feelings and sights of a big day on a bike. So this post is more for my benefit than to read by others: an aide memoire for what happened on a … Continue reading Quotidian
Riding across Europe requires some tough kit choices in terms of quantity, quality, comfort, speed and risks you want to run. I've spent quite a lot of time honing down my choices to take the things I need to cover any realistic eventuality but fingers-crossed nothing more. There are a few luxuries I've included to … Continue reading Kit
The Domestiquated Animal 