As we were each handed 2 dry pieces of toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast, I wondered how my tired legs would get me through the final stage of 86kms and 2300 metres of climbing. No one expected an easy last day, but the official timing was to stop at the 55km mark…perhaps […]
Transpyr penultimate stage.
One of the great pleasures of riding a stage race, particularly in a foreign country, is arriving in a new town and then finding the best café, bakery, bar or churreria. Stage 7 of the Transpyr ride was a vast contrast to the difficult and technical stage 6 that saw many riders finishing just in […]
10 things you need to know about Euro racing
If you’re an antipodean coming to Europe to race for the first time like Imogen Smith, you’re probably prepared for big hills, dramatic landscapes, and hard racing. But here’s a few things Imo picked up that you can’t prepare for… 1. Eurobombing The way Euros descend on gravel is so distinctive there’s actually a special […]
Training in Winter (in Noosa)
Mike suggested I write something on training in Winter but that is hardly fair to all the southerners (i.e. those south of the Queensland border) as I live and train in Noosa (Queensland) where overnight temperatures are rarely below 10 C and daytime temperatures rarely below 20C . I really don’t think I have the […]
Brutal..just brutal.
There were a lot of words being spoken about the first stage of Transpyr 2013, but the most common was “brutal”. A mid 30’s temperature was an added bonus for the ride that took us from Roses on the sea, up to Camprodon at 1000 metres. A new route this year saw the riders endure […]
Riding Transpyr: Mediterranean to Atlantic via the odd mountain or two.
With the very generous support of MarathonMTB.com, Mike Blewitt and the organisers of the Transpyr, Kim and I are in Roses putting the finishing touches to our preparation for departure tomorrow. We have 9 days to pedal 820kms across the Pyrenees to our destination of San Sebastian on the Atlantic ocean. This evening, before our […]
Matthew Dennis’ Blog: Blazing the Bristol Bike Fest
Sun blazing and with a smell of sun cream in the air the event started with a run and as I’d already had the pleasure of starting the Enduro 6 I left it to my team mates to battle it out to see who was going to do the honours; Si Ernest our ringer from […]
Justin Morris’ Blog: Conquering Corners, Climbs & Commiserations
Hello mates! I am now entering month 4 of cycling abroad for 2013 and as every year and I’m sure every Aussie expat can attest it has been a roller coaster. My time here in the USA so far has been primarily focused on criterium races tempered with 2 stage races. The National Criterium Circuit […]
Veterinarian or Athlete. Just Decide
The last 6 months have been all about decision making, some choices were made for me, some I had to figure out myself. My newly acquired obsession with motivational video clips, some very cliché, some worth watching, made me come back over and over again to this one sentence, which goes as follows; “Make […]
Trying Something New…
Firstly, let me set out my stand. I’m a mountain bike racer; that’s what I do. I have sometimes succumbed to the lure of the asphalt for extended periods of time, especially when I lived in Cambridgeshire, and area of the UK not renowned for its off-road riding. Equally, now that I live in London […]