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European Rides
Better Than Guinness(18/10/2011 09:03:24)Another deep breath and the Mediterranean finally comes in to view. Light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, or something like that. The roads are busy, a far cry from the serenity of the hours that have just passed. The aroma of sea salt drifts in ... |
Le Great Escape(18/10/2011 09:03:07)The eagerly anticipated sequel to John Sturges’s iconic 1963 classic, staring the late and undisputed ‘king of cool’ Steve McQueen, based on a true story ‘Le Great Escape’ tracks the trials, tribulations and tarmac of one rider, and three willing and ... |
Turning Yourself Outside In(19/09/2011 10:11:27)Let's lay the cards on the table right from the start. Despite apparent claims the world over, there's no such thing that can stall the hands of time, give you the wings of a dove so you can fly or mysteriously enhance an otherwise fair to middling p ... |
Fase Nove - Mount Etna(19/09/2011 10:10:57)I knew it. I flippin’ knew it. Do something for long enough and eventually you’ll get your reward. The dawn of April and whilst the rest of the country is praying for a change in the weather Team Liquigas-Cannondale are congregating on the acrid slop ... |
Circles Under The Sun(02/11/2010)Benvenuto a Venezia, seemed to be the only sign in existence as I glanced nervously around the airport like a schoolboy walking into class for the first time. Heart-rate quickening to the pace of my huried steps from one end of the baggage reclaim t ... |
Sportful - Italy's Finest(02/11/2010)After the festival vibe that the Giro d'Italia brought to the slopes of the Monte Grappa for Stage 14, today would be a much quieter day with just a couple of prerequisites, namely a bike and plenty of mountains. Since I was staying in Feltre, home ... |
Fuelled By Grappa(02/11/2010)If you ever needed reminding why cycling is the greatest sport in the world then here's why. Departing from Feltre under a sky of pure blue, espresso pumping through the veins on the slopes of the Monte Tomba, exhilarating switchback descent (over ex ... |
Col du Tourmalet - Riding Into Blue(06/06/2010)Cycling has a rainbow of colors associated with it. Yellow. green, pink, white...they all have their significance in the peloton. At the beginning of the ride the only colour was a somber grey. The clouds looked thick, and with fresh snowfall the ... |
Cent Cols Challenge Day 2: Mother Nature(15/11/2009)Having a bit of luck on your side is never a bad thing when taking on the mountains. Unpredictability is ever present, it’s just a matter of when it may strike and of course how hard it will hit you. Today’s second stage was to be a ten mountain mo ... |
Cent Cols Challenge Day 1: A Touch From Heaven(15/11/2009)Breakfast was quiet as forty like minded cyclists (read masochists) prepared themselves for the very first stage of the inaugural Cent Cols Challenge, 194km from Thônon les Bains to Albertville, 4,700m of climbing and 8 Cols (the main protagonists be ... |
Cent Cols Challenge Day 3: The Sisteron Express(15/11/2009)After yesterday’s white out and more heavy snow during the night the Cent Cols team had to do some serious ‘on the fly’ route planning as it was evident that trying to get over the 2,360m pass of the Izoard was not going to happen today, and p ... |
Cent Cols Challenge Day 4: Riding For Money(15/11/2009)Life is all about doing what makes you happy. It’s a cliché I know, but it’s too short. If the truth be known it may only be as long as a winding alpine descent. The question is, how far down the descent are you already and are you happy? Somet ... |
Cent Cols Challenge Day 5: Character Building(15/11/2009)Being the first point to point style event that I’ve done like this I have to say I was not only eager with anticipation beforehand at how it will all work out, but also somewhat nervous as to the unknown format of doing things. It was quickly evide ... |
Morning Has Broken(22/08/2009)Girona Diaries Day 3: After the monotone grey that filled the sky yesterday it was pleasing to awake to the calmness of wispy white clouds and blue sky. Admittedly, their arrival was well past what's known to be 'fashionably late', but since ... |
Home & Dry(22/08/2009)There is one advantage to having twenty-four hours of constant rain whilst trying to enjoy a few days in the mountains surrounding Girona. It gives you a chance to check out exactly what the city has to offer, right? The abundance of cafés and tour ... |
The Sweepstake Is On(22/08/2009)Girona Diaries Day 2: With the forecast showing heavy rain for the next 48 hours, it was no surprise to be woken by rain bouncing against the bedroom window. What was a (pleasant) surprise is that by mid morning there was a glimpse of blue sk ... |
Girona - Can You Feel It?(22/08/2009)Girona Diaries Day 1: With the luxury of spring upon us, meaning guaranteed longer days and warmer temperatures, it was time to make the most of the long Easter weekend and experience some new roads and culture. Girona, Spain, was the ... |
Spanish Flyer with Garmin's Dave Z!(22/08/2009)Girona Diaries Day 4: Although the Spanish weather forecast has been somewhat questionable over the last few days, on every site I looked at it said that today was going to be a good one (and by that I mean no rain!) Knowing that we were on f ... |
Last Man Riding(26/12/2008)Gran Canaria Diaries Day 7: December 9th After all of the amazing rides this week I knew that whatever happened today could not put a dampener on my spirits, even if the forecast was predicting an 85% chance of rain. When I awoke, t ... |
You Gotta Believe Me(26/12/2008)Gran Canaria Diaries Day 1: December 3rd My alarm kicked in at 5am, but in all fairness I’d got to bed pretty late so luckily I wasn’t in a deep sleep. 21 minutes to Bournemouth airport and a 5 minute check in procedure reinstal ... |
It's All Relative - Prelude to the Gran Canaria Diaries(26/12/2008)According to the locals the weather wasn't too good in Gran Canaria today. Well, having spent the last few weeks putting every piece of cycling kit on to prepare for a ride back home (and still coming back colder than frosty the snowman) 20 degrees ... |
Start With Caution(26/12/2008)Gran Canaria Diaries Day 2: December 4th Now over the past decade I’ve been on many an organised training camp, normally to rid the typical winter weather in an attempt to kick start the season in the best possible fashion. I rememb ... |
Diamonds Are Forever(26/12/2008)Gran Canaria Diaries Day 3: December 5th Dia-mond: Pronounced - dahy-muhnd Definition: 1) A pure or nearly pure, extremely hard form of carbon, naturally crystallised in the isometric system. 2) With respect to a ... |
Pines & Needles(26/12/2008)Gran Canaria Diaries Day 4: December 6th Now with views like this on awaking this morning it was always going to be a good day. Since my original route changed ‘on the fly’ yesterday, to tame the beast that is the GC210, I thought i ... |
Riding With Angels(26/12/2008)Gran Canaria Diaries Day 6: December 8th With my original route plan changing on day two, avoiding dark skies, the voice inside was telling me to finish what I’d started, so today I headed east towards Agüimes and then on the GC100 t ... |
In Search Of Lance(26/12/2008)Gran Canaria Diaries Day 5: December 7th Having skirted around the coast before heading inland for the last couple of days, today was a case of going straight down the middle. Weather predictions looked to be the best of the week an ... |
Watch Out Super G(18/09/2008)The Mountain Diaries Day 7: August 22nd The drive from Selva di val Gardena to Zell am See in Austria for our final challenge should have been an easy one. Leaving Italy yesterday in the middle of the afternoon gave plenty of time ... |
Mental Fatigue(18/09/2008)The Mountain Diaries Day 6: August 21st After what turned out to be a rather unexpected epic in the Dolomites yesterday, the ride today was never going to be of the same proportion. Another one of those “transition” days as we need ... |
Nove Cotti(18/09/2008)The Mountain Diaries Day 5: August 20th In theory it should have been an early night yesterday, plenty of recovery and a dawn patrol start ready for the big ride that we had planned. The reality was a late night getting the bikes p ... |
Panini Power(18/09/2008)The Mountain Diaries Day 4: August 19th Our last day in Bormio and one that we had termed with affection as a ‘transition’ day before heading to Selva di val Gardena in the Sud-Tirol that evening. The great thing about mountains is ... |
The Drei Laender Giro(18/09/2008)The Mountain Diaries Day 3: August 18th I was really looking forward to today. Not only did we have a full day in the saddle planned but we were meeting up with the dream team that is Markus Neuert from Cyclefilm & his ace driver c ... |
Never Under Estimate the Gavia(18/09/2008)The Mountain Diaries Day 2: August 17th We were expecting light rain for much of the day so, although overcast, it was definitely a bonus that it was at least dry, and a double bonus since we had two of the hardest climbs on the rou ... |
Stelvio Calling(18/09/2008)The Mountain Diaries Day 1: August 16th With a 2.30am start, and a day of travelling, it was always going to be an easy day of riding to stretch the legs and familiarise ourselves with Bormio, in the Lombardy region of Italy, and ho ... |
Prelude to 'The Mountain Diaries'(18/09/2008)It’s only right that a couple of times per year you get the chance to sit back, relax, switch off and just unwind from the day to day rigours known as life. I think this time is known as a holiday. holi•day (häl′ə dā′) |
