12 months, 5 days and a scattering of hours.
No, not the amount of time since I last wrote a blog although it does seem like it. Actually it’s the time elapsed since I last set foot (or wheels) on this exact spot, although so much has happened since, it seems like a lifetime ago. Continue reading
I appear to be cycling on the moon. That or in one of those paintings of Hell by Hieronymus Bosch. Huge volcanic mounds rising from a dead ocean of gnarled, blackened lava rock; a lunar-sea of rubble broken only by thin ribbons of silken tarmac which slide sinuously through the hellish terrain.
First impressions: if this is hell, then it’s got great roads to cycle on. Continue reading
When questioned as to just why he wanted to climb Mt Everest The British mountaineer George Mallory famously responded – “Because it’s there”.
It’s such a brilliant and bald statement that encapsulates why we human beings daily strive to complete essentially pointless feats of endurance. Continue reading
My current cycling speed record is 38mph (61 kmph). Surprisingly this was not achieved on the sleek and aerodynamic road bike but on Claud, my aluminium-framed workhorse of a touring bicycle.
Rather than awesome leg power on my part, I strongly suspect that a combination of precipitous hills in Ontario and four fully loaded panniers were the main contributors to this record. Especially as, try and I may, it’s a speed I haven’t come close to reaching since on the roadie. Continue reading
I can feel the ca
r pulling across in front of me before I can see it. The nice clear road that was ahead of me just seconds before is now filled with a large chunk of solid metal bearing down across my path and cutting me off entirely.
The bike fishtails as I brake so hard the pads are squealing and there’s a distinct aroma of burning rubber as I slew helplessly towards the metal flank of the large saloon vehicle blocking my path. In that moment of clarity I realise that there’s nothing more I can do. Continue reading
Cycling in a skirt 