17 Jun The Power of a bar
It is good share. Good for the world, who ever is being assisted and your own view of yourself. It is the right thing to do. In the race book it was a long stage. 175km with 8km neutralised. We were, as a team worried...
24 Feb The Cycling Club dinner
"I attended a local cycling club’s dinner this winter and was honoured to be seated at the table with the Chairman and the club secretary.The Chairman, like most chairpersons in organisations, is a position of honour for the work they have done in the past....
10 Feb Love is but a field away
Before the invention of the bicycle, the average distance between the birthplaces of spouses in England was one mile. Studying parish registries of birth death and marriages - Stephen Stearns, a Yale professor of evolutionary biology found on average, we were marrying, not only within the village,...
25 Jan crash!
A friend crashed deep into a hard corner a while back. After checking that there were no bones broken and that his head hadn’t impacted the ground- I played the incident down and encouraged him to get back on his bike and keep moving....
08 Dec Big ride or little spin
I love the monthly bike publication Cyclist. Suits my time in the saddle. Well written, great images. I switched my monthly subscription from Rouleur as the self-proclaimed tag line of “The world's finest cycling magazine” began to irk. Imagine what you would think of a wedding...
23 Sep So what do you do?
He sat opposite me, still smiling, with a few more kgs on than I remember and no longer a biker. He had been cycling so long that if you mentioned his name, let's call him Michael (it’s his real name) I could only picture him...
09 Sep The one about bike fitters (5 minute read)
A stranger arrived at my door sporting a 120 mm stem that hadn't been tightened properly. He had been told I could help. After a few comments on the weather, he exchanged large amounts of personal information which included recent car purchase details (lease not HP)...
02 Sep Do you make it in Burgundy?
It is nearly a fact that cyclists have generally shunned team sport participation, yet we ride around together in small and large groups, bonding through a shared passion. Part of the need to belong is buying the uniform. The ‘correct’ shorts. The helmet that...
15 Aug Pro Team mechanic
Swapping to new computer this morning and found an interview with Benny Devcich, who was lead mechanic at Mark Cavendish's Colombia team in 2008. I wonder is he still "on the tools"? Swiftly and silently slip down to the 17. Lift it again and a glance...
22 Jun Generating heat while cycling. The art of Venting
FRED STOOD AT THE TOP OF THE CLIMB WAITING FOR JOHN. HIS FACE WAS THE COLOUR OF BEETROOT. WATER RAN FROM HIS NOSE LIKE A BROKEN SPOUT. HE STILL WORE HIS ‘FAVOURITE’ WINTER GLOVES. IT WAS MAY. When we understand what is happening within our body...