Recent Blogs
2013 L’Etape du Tour: Annecy to Annecy-Semnoz (Race Report)
The 2013 Etape du Tour is my favourite Gran Fondo to date. There were four of us that did it and as we had never attempted such an event before it really felt like a great adventure at the time that we would all conquer together. They say you never forget your first….
2014 Gran Fondo New York: Race Report
I actually registered for this ride when we were still living in the UK thinking that it would be way to hit the ground riding once we had moved to Philadelphia, USA in April 2014. Having been back riding for a few years, cycling was a big part of my life, and...
2014 L’Etape du Tour: Pau to Hautacam (Race Report)
The setting for my second L’Etape du Tour was in the Pyrenees, a part of the world where Melissa and I had road tripped in the early Spring of 2011. Although that trip had been all about gastronomy, we got a good feel for the often inclement weather in the mountains,...
2015 Festive 500
I am a long time user of Strava, a relatively recent adopter of Rapha clobber and a perinial slob in the week between Christmas and New Year and so when I stumbled over the “Rapha Festive 500” Strava challenge to ride 500km between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve I thought I’d give it a red hot go.
2015 L’Etape du Tour: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to La Toussuire (Report)
The route for each years Tour de France is usually announced in late October the previous year and soon after the route for the L’Etape du Tour is selected from a mountain stage of that race. It is usually the ‘Queen Stage’, being the toughest, most challenging and...
2016 Gran Fondo New York: Race Report
This was my second attempt at the Gran Fondo New York having first completed the 100 mile (160km) race in 2014. It was my 6th Sportive yet the first one where I had actually gone into the event with a competitive mindset. I was after a decent time rather than being satisfied with just finishing. My goal time was rather ambitious……….but the question is, was it realistic?!
2016 Etape du Tour: Megève to Morzine (Race Report)
The 2016 Etape du Tour from Megeve to Morzine in the French Alps was my 4th Etape du Tour. In 2013 there were 4 of us, this year there were 11, including 6 first timers. A motley crew of Aussies, Irish, Scottish, French, American, Dutch and English. It was weird being the “seasoned” Etape veteran, one of the go to guys for info and tips. Weird as I still very much consider myself a novice cyclist and weird because, yes I may well have participated in 3 previous Etape du Tour’s but I actually hadn’t set an official time yet! A bloody disgrace if you ask me. How would this year go?
What Is The Trans America Bike Race?
I decided a few months ago that I would do the 2017 Trans Am Bike race, a 6,800 kilometer (4,233 mile) self supported bike race across America. At the time of writing it is just under 9 months until the race and as I am off the bike for a week recovering from minor surgery I thought I’d dedicate this blog post to researching and getting to know the race a bit better.