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
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
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
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
The Domestiquated Animal 