Pastures New

Hi everyone, just dropping a quick line to let you know that the site will be going offline for a couple of days at the end of the week as I ship across to a new web host – I hope you’ll find the new, improved blog easier to navigate and easier on the eye

To the sun, two the seas: a week of two races

There’s something about this week, every year, in cycling that makes me shiver. The thrill of opening weekend has subsided and the adrenaline rush of the major classics is yet to come. It’s too soon to give any real credence to the relative form of riders and yet it offers us the opportunity to gain

One week in February…

February. Ah, February, grim bastion of winter, stubborn oppressor of warmth and merciless purveyor of the darkness, we beseech thee… give us something to smile about? And lo, February delivered. Bike racing, by the bucketload, and it wasn’t half bad. Remember when February used to consist of a few half-hearted lower level races and the

Clash of the Off-Road Titans

(Or, the Cyclocross World Championships – elite races preview) Sit back, relax, put the Rocky themetune on Spotify, because we’re going in. However you dress it up, both the elite races at this year’s cyclocross World Championships feature very public rivalries, and are expected to come down to head-to-heads in both cases between the top

Festive Cyclocross – An Extended Review

I’m cross-posting (pun accidental but delightful) this from my newsletter, partly as I know not everyone wants to make that kind of a commitment (we all have a lot going on in our inboxes, am I right?) and partly for posterity, as my longer form pieces is what this site is all about, and my

Snapshots from the Tour

The bigger the race, the longer it takes me to reflect upon the events that came to pass. The Tour de France is the biggest race of the year, and there are always myriad stories to tell, from the individual moments that capture the imagination, to the big picture, the glorious, technicolour whole. The 2022

Yin, yang and sore elbows: some thoughts on the World Championship road races

Two mornings, two early alarm calls. Two bleary-eyed visits to the kitchen to make the first cup of tea of the day and catch up on two very important races. The elite road race weekend has come and gone, and as always, it leaves in its wake a multitude of conflicting emotions, questions and talking

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ALL NEW: Newsletter now launching!

Welcome back to the site and apologies for my absence. It’s been a busy summer of um, watching a lot of bike racing, and writing about a lot of it too, albeit for other outlets. Which is fantastic and I am truly grateful for the opportunities I’ve been afforded, but I’m anxious to keep up

The Utrecht Files

Day 1. Prequel – the Travelogue This isn’t a confessional. Nor is it therapy.  Focus on the cycling. Focus on the cycling. But in the beginning, there was none. It was the night before… as the saying goes. It started with a narrowly avoided panic attack in the aisle seat (22C) of a KLM plane,

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About yesterday…

13th July 2022: the 108th Tour de France, Stage 11 It was the race we all deserved. Stage 11 of the Tour de France 2022 will go down in cycling history as the day we celebrated the attacking spirit of this unique generation of talent; a day of pure, undiluted joy at the spectacle of

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