I note that it has been raining a lot and it is pretty cold in Britain. Tales of punctures and soakings are plentiful on my social media timeline. Meanwhile here we welcome rain as everything is dry and somewhat wonderfully when it does rain and although it can be really, really hard stair-rod style, it… Continue Reading
Latest in: Road – almost all asphalt
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It was intended to be a rest day at the training camp, but the sun was shining, the birds were tweeting and we wanted to wear our best white road shoes. So we did and I enjoyed a 62kmh plus descent although otherwise it was more about enjoying being alive and enjoying the views, plus… Continue Reading
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Determined to chill out this ride and not push on we stopped (on a long climb) to look at something we had spotted during the spring from the road when the lack of foliage had revealed a stone urn at the village of Appenrode. It looked like the type of stone urn that you often… Continue Reading
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I was trying to think when was the last time I pinned a number on? It must be 2006 when I raced at the lost Eastway Cycle Circuit (bulldozed under the 2012 Olympic Velodrome in 2006). Looking back it was the process of putting a number on your back pocket or doing it for another… Continue Reading
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It had been hot, over 40 at times and nor did the heat relent that much in the evenings. For a cool ride it was best to get up early and I mean early and too early for me, and head for the forests. Prudence said in my ear not to ride too much, so… Continue Reading
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I went for a road ride with just a few metres of gravel and I did it simply so I could wear my favourite shoes. These road shoes are only for sunny days and ‘clean’ riding. They are white and they glow silver in the sunshine. I have been thinking that for most of my… Continue Reading
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We think we might pedal far and heroically but history tells us what suffering, travel and hardship really is and which at times can be beyond understanding. A visit to the Museum Friedland as part of my June 15 ride to Friedland. Personally, I am an (Cycling) Immigrant. In Transit Migration and immigration are part… Continue Reading
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A short ride from my new home town is a place that played an amazing part in post-World War Two life – it was at the Friedland Transit Camp that millions of displaced people, POW’s and refugees travelled through. It was near the small village of Friedland that the US, British and Soviet Zones of… Continue Reading
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A ride to the now defunct Internal Border. Every location has an intrinsic value and the landscape can be dramatic or even supine and a ‘back-water’ can have a story to tell, if often a little more prosaic than some. Additionally man’s intervention in the landscape can be dramatic (or traumatic) and with the passage… Continue Reading
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Riding out from London and over the North Downs and into the Mole Valley has been part of my staple cycling diet, sadly the last time I rode here was in the late summer of 2017. Today, June 26, 2018 I rode into the valley again. Combining the stresses and strains of the North Downs… Continue Reading
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Murals have a long history of presenting a narrative, a sentiment, a joke or simply a nice artwork. They are the embodiment of art in a public space. Thomas Hart Benton and Diego Rivera reflected the narratives of US and Mexican history respectively along with many others by creating epic art works that few people… Continue Reading
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The 2012 Olympic Games cycle road races featured nine ascents of the Zig Zag road, better known as Box Hill, for the men and two for the women. It was intended that this North Downs climb would smash the race apart. Sadly, for the British team working for Mark Cavendish and despite setting the pace… Continue Reading
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Belgium one cycling nation – Kassein or Pavé? / Belgien ist eine Nation von Radfahrern – Kassein oder Pavé? The picture above is of World and Olympic Champion Nicole Cooke riding the Muur de Huy during La Fleche Walonne Classic Name a famous Belgian ‘Plastic Bertrand’ I replied – ‘nah, someone famous, name me a famous Belgian’? My… Continue Reading
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I have spent time in Berlin and other German towns and cities over the years, and I have a huge regret. I must admit to feeling a bit silly, but here it is: I regret not watching the Viktoriapark cyclo cross race held in Berlin. My image of Berlin was built on cold war film… Continue Reading
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2014 saw the hundredth anniversary of the start of World War One and this caused a rekindling of interest in the long, bloody fighting line that straddled Europe between 1914 to 1917. To mark the occasion the 2014 Tour de France visited many of the major battlefields and stage five began at the Belgian town… Continue Reading
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Homage to the Hell of the North Spring Classic Riding the bi-annual Paris Roubaix Sportive organised by VC Roubaix is a must do event and we cyclists are blessed that we can ride the very routes made famous by the top stars of our sport. The ‘Hell of the North’ Paris Roubaix Sportive follows the… Continue Reading
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‘Brutal’, is all I could utter when asked how it went; what else could I say? A little earlier I had fallen into the arms of a friend in Roubaix Velodrome centre. I felt so weak and there was simply nothing left in my body, but my soul was full, very full. The bi-annual event… Continue Reading
