10 Reasons to Take Up Cycling

By on June 8, 2013 in articles, cycling

If your reading this, chances are you already cycle or have an interest in cycling. But, nevertheless since it is National Bike week here in the UK, these are 10 powerful reasons to take up cycling. 1. Freedom. Cycling gives a sense of freedom that sitting in a car can never give. Descending a hill […]

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Whiteleaf hill in the Chilterns

By on June 6, 2013 in cycling, hill climbs

This weekend, I’m not racing. Somehow I’ve been encouraged to organise the cycle section of a beginners triathlon in Portishead. Still it’s quite nice to have the odd weekend off. You can concentrate on training, rather than having to think about peaking for the National 25. At the moment, I’m pretty keen on the idea […]

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Some cycling photos from Oxford

By on June 5, 2013 in cycling

This is a nice wide road (St Giles), where cyclists can get away with cycling two abreast. The joy of seeing cyclists two abreast! The Eagle and Child in the background was a haunt of J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien was a keen cyclist and would always cycle into town. For a short time, he owned a […]

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Cycling doesn’t have to be expensive

By on June 5, 2013 in articles, money

Cycling can seem an expensive hobby. Only last week I reviewed a time trial helmet which cost just shy of £300, with an extra visor, a feintly ridiculous £80. Whatever branch of cycling you take up, it seems there is no limit to the amount of money you can spend. However, here’s a short reminder […]

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Peaslows hill climb

By on June 3, 2013 in cycling, hill climbs

Peaslows hill climb at the bottom. A nice 10% gradient awaits. Peaslows is number 37 in Simon Warren’s 100 Greatest cycling climbs book. Distance – 1.6km Avg Grade – 10.7% Lowest Elev – 237m Highest Elev – 408m Elev Difference – 171m There are a lot of great climbs around this part of the world. […]

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Cycling vs Cricket

By on June 2, 2013 in timetrials

Saturday evening was a 25 mile time trial. Who said cyclists don’t have a good social life, eh? It was quite a nice evening (by 2013 standards anyway) though a stiff northerly wind made it hard out to the turn. On the way back, it felt ridiculously fast. I averaged 54 kmph for the first […]

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Time, Speed and Truth – A history of timetrialling review

By on May 30, 2013 in cycling

Time, Speed and Truth is a history of timetrialling from the late nineteenth century to the modern day. It’s a curious and fascinating story, which says quite a lot about the British attitude to cycling in general. The book by Peter Whitefield provides a good overview of the strange evolution and some of the great […]

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Changing attitudes to road fatalities.

By on May 28, 2013 in articles, cycling

Reading a book – the History of Time trialling by Peter Whitfield I was struck by some statistics about the level of road fatalities, during the 1930s and 1940s. Despite road traffic being only 10% of today’s levels. Road deaths reached nearly 10,000 a year. There were up to 1,000 road fatalities a year of […]

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Frocester Hill

By on May 28, 2013 in tejvan

On Saturday, I was riding the Farnham 10 mile TT open time trial. Off number 100 in a field of 101. It was a good race; despite a north westerly wind, it felt fast. I managed to do the 10 miles in 20.21, which was just enough for first place, pushing Nick Dwyer into second […]

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Praying for good weather

By on May 21, 2013 in timetrials

The weekend was a mix of riding a 10 mile TT, organising a race, and being glad I don’t organise or ride the Giro d’Italia. Saturday was a 10 mile TT in Leighton Buzzard on a little known F12/10 course. I did 20.42 which is quite good for a single carriageway. A good little course, […]

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Race against Time – Obree vs Boardman

By on May 17, 2013 in books

A review of The Race against time – Obree, Boardman and the quest to be the fastest man on two wheels by Edward Pickering. This is one of the best cycling books I’ve read for quite a long time. I really enjoyed reading it. It’s pacey, interesting, amusing and based on two giants of British […]

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