Cycling, skiing, food & photography
This Christmas my Mum gave me her signet ring. In the last year her fingers have swollen up meaning it no longer fitted. The swelling was caused by problems with her lymphatic system and ultimately the return of her cancer which she is now fighting with chemotherapy. The ring has the Mackenzie insignia of a … Continue reading Perseverance
I've been here before. Wondering whether what I'm about to do is possible, sensible, desirable even. Can I cross a continent? 20 years ago the plan was similar but different. I'd been living in Hong Kong, teaching English in a secondary school: my take on the middle-class British rite of passage that is the gap … Continue reading Retro
It's about three months since I learned I had a place in the Transcontinental Race and it's a little under two months until the race starts. It's become a pretty all encompassing thing in my life since then. When I'm not working I'm riding my bike, planning or recovering and not much else gets a look … Continue reading Progress
I don't like musicals. There's something about suddenly bursting into song to express your feelings that doesn't work for me. That and random street urchins, shopkeepers and others showing unexpected dancing skills and the ability to backflip down the street as part of the big showstopper number stretches credibility. It freaks me out. But I'm … Continue reading Asphaltophilia
When I tell my cycling friends I'm riding the Transcontinental they usually say something along the lines of, "That's cool." Non-cyclists usually ask if I'm doing it for charity and I've struggled for an answer. In my first blog post I examined why I'm doing the event and the motivation is deeply personal. You could even say … Continue reading Charity
This weekend has been beautiful and sunny in southeast England. The bluebells are finishing their epic display in the woods. I saw houses and pubs clad in beautiful wisteria on my ride today, their heady aroma wafting across the road. The first British asparagus of the year has hit the shops and I stuffed a … Continue reading Seasons
When I started this blog I made a promise to myself: I wasn't going to start another journal where some middle-aged guy gives you a blow-by-blow account of his "epic" day on the bike. We all know what it is like to suffer on the bike, to bonk, to be wowed by the views, have … Continue reading Lessons
Wednesday moring. I'd just finished my turbo session, cooled down, had some breakfast and showered. There wasn't a sudden creak, crack or snap. I just realised I could no longer move my neck freely or without pain. I took the day off work and - frankly - panicked. Visions of the dreaded Shermer's Neck before I'd … Continue reading Setbacks
That's me up there, pretty physically and mentally distraught at the end of Rapha's Hell of the North a year ago today. It wasn't an especially tough ride at a little over 100km and 1,000m of climbing albeit with quite a lot of bridleways and terrain not normally suited to road bikes. It was the punctures that … Continue reading Suffering
Cake and cycling are a classic combination. Like lamb and mint sauce, Morecambe and Wise, Roquefort and Sauternes, or or golden syrup and over fresh bread (trust me on the last one). It's about more that just fuelling. A good cake stop is an opportunity for the ride to regroup, to chat, to fettle with … Continue reading Velolife
The Domestiquated Animal 