Cycling, skiing, food & photography
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'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
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
I love maps. They give me a sense of adventure and possibility. Poring over them trying to figure out where you want to go and what you want to see gives you a sense of the place long before you get there. One of the joys of the Transcontinental is looking at maps of places … Continue reading Contours
The Domestiquated Animal 