There is ‘London tight’ and there is ‘Roubaix tight’; this passed through my mind when after much bike preparation I hit the first stretch of pave at Troisville the first section of cobbles on the route used by the Paris Roubaix pro road race held in April. In the race the riders take in a… Continue Reading
Latest in: cycle sport
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Since my big change in life I have ridden my bike, listened to more LP’s and read more books in one month than I did in a year. Maybe this also has something to do with me being without a TV service which means no plonking myself in front of the ‘telly’ (which I do… Continue Reading
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With my favourite Jimi Hendrix song in my head I got a little carried away. I had intended a simple spin down to the Bahn, but I became adventurous and rode some great and new to me gravel roads. On route I managed to include two old watchtowers (hence the song) that once guarded the… Continue Reading
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40 kms of rough stuff, kolonnnenweg and kopfsteinpflaster, mit cakes, watch towers and an old Jewish Cemetery on our May 5 ride. Cakes we consumed at Spinnerei Gartetal e.V. The ride – https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3620853847 Cycle Fahrrad Goettingen home page
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Mayday is a public holiday in Germany and like most public holidays and Sundays retail life slows almost to a halt and it all seems a bit old fashioned compared to the 24/7 shopping fuelled frenzied lifestyles (and endless sales) which seem the norm in the UK. Except, even here in Germany there are those… Continue Reading
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Where I go mad on a road bike… and I win Paris Roubaix. “Don’t play in the dirt it’s dirty” – an often used expression to curtail an action of an adventurous child, and if inculcated deep enough it could mean a lifetime of avoidance of all sorts of things. Thankfully I know that there… Continue Reading
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Around the globe most of the land is owned by just a few people and this affects how much access we have to it. I’m not a believer that land is somehow French, German or English and for me talk of sacred soil is weird and somewhat nudging on nationalist fanaticism. What I believe is… Continue Reading
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Today’s midweek ride with Gunnar Fehlau seemed to pay homage to the Spring Classics with a route that combined sections of Flanders like Kopfsteinpflaster, bergs and Ardennes fast tight flowing roads. I should add that of course we included gravel. Post ride Kitty seems to not be impressed with yet another ride by me and… Continue Reading
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Light snow had been falling all day on Tag 21 on the German Haus, nonetheless David led us into the forest for an evening ride – we did feel a wee bit like Hansel and Gretel especially when we hit some truly gnarly single track made slick by the snow. This forest was planted in… Continue Reading
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Its day 19 in the German Haus and kitty sniffs my shirt contemptuously post ride – ‘what another ride’, he seems to be saying. Gunnar Fehlau and myself this time and where took off our coats there was once a railway now just a relic in the gravel. We mixed tarmac and gravel (with only… Continue Reading
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A 14 KM ride in 43 minutes early evening (6pm) saw me skip down the ‘Tilly Berg’ through housing and quickly onto the gravel paths that took me along the ‘watch towers’, across the Leine River, lingering at the Keissee Lake and onto the Bahn. Very few battles have been fought at this spot on… Continue Reading
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With time a little tight this day our ride with Gunnar Fehlau included more tarmac than normal, but it was good tarmac and mostly traffic free. We rode between the Leine River and the B27 along the Leine Valley (and back). There were also a couple of awesome gravel descents. From May we can stop… Continue Reading
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Inspired by the Gent Wevelgem women’s bike race we popped out for an hour. For the first time in a long time I felt a bit of sparkle or at least signs of life in my legs. Only a few short stretches of tarmac on this ride in between the ‘good stuff’. The ride: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3512812699… Continue Reading
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I am a new immigrant; I am not an expat hiding behind a term because of prejudice toward immigrants, a prejudice that is oddly extolled by some people who themselves live in a foreign country. Whilst I am an alien I do blend in with the majority of people in Germany (even when wearing Lyrca),… Continue Reading
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Lunch time gravel ride with Gunnar Fehlau und Andrea Hofling, so gut! Almost all gravel and a lost railway riding between the Leine River and the B27 (Wendebachstausee, Rheinhausen, Gartetal). Five minutes of light traffic and then we were on the rough stuff, brilliant. The ride: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3503452420 Cycle Fahrrad Goettingen home page
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With so few miles in my legs in recent months this ride, my first since coming to Germany, felt tough especially on the cobbled climb through what were the Zieten Barracks and then the abandoned Panzer Weg up to Kerstlingeröderfeld. Once a place where Chieftains and Leopards roamed. My fitness will come back to me… Continue Reading
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The last days has seen huge rain fall, which although good for the forest, ground water and the water supply is still a pain. Today, and after a torrent in the morning the sun shone and made the trails look almost bianche as they dried. This ride is the smaller route version of the Gutingi… Continue Reading
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Video and picture links to UCI rated cyclo cross races unless otherwise stated. The big issue being geo-restrictions on content (I try not to post links to stuff that may be taken down) – 2018/19 calendar Latest posts are at the top and do watch out for updates. Livestreams are sometimes available on Eurosport (plus… Continue Reading
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There is, of course, something great about adventurers who strike out, often to the ends of the earth for long periods of time. Heroic as such adventures are, they should not put the day to day journeys on the ‘home front’ in the shade. In my years of living in London I have taken many… Continue Reading
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I have been ignoring my YouTube channel for a while now ever since Facebook made posting video much easier and allowed good access to friends etc. Now I have renamed my YouTube channel Velo Klubhaus to reflect this (my) website. I shot my first video on November 13, 2011 at Stanmer Park, Brighton for a… Continue Reading
Velo Klubhaus 