In the past two weeks I’ve replaced the rolling hills of Yorkshire for the potholes and frenetic pace of New York. It’s hard to write about cycling in New York without becoming a constant stream of criticism, depression and disillusionment, so I mostly packed away my bicycle and kept my thoughts to myself. (see: The only cyclist […]

One of the good things about cycling up here in Yorkshire is that there are a lot more cyclists on the road. Oxford is excellent for commuting, but when training you see far fewer cyclists out on the lanes. Down in Oxfordshire you can go miles without seeing any fellow cyclists. Leeds by contrast is […]

After the stunning report of the A5 Rangers 31 mile hilly time trial, I missed a few days blogging. My excuse was that I was absorbed in writing an evaluation of the Irish economy within the confines of a deflationary fiscal and monetary policy. I thought that was a good excuse, until someone pointed out […]

re: knee problems, a reader mentioned a website which might be worth a look – trainingforcyclists.co.uk. I was taken with a post about a hamstring stretch. In past few weeks, I’ve felt a mild tightness in hamstrings. I’ve picked up that hamstrings are very important for cycling. Weak / inflexible hamstrings can cause problems with […]

It’s the first of March and it’s the time for the half-time oranges after the winter’s training mile period is officially over. The dull plodding of long winter miles is over, replaced with the oncoming balmy sunny weather and fast races run at temperatures approaching 30 degrees (we hope). Despite the welcome approach of the […]

It will be 40 years ago to the day this weekend that England captain John Pullin rose wearily to his feet in a smoked-filled room in the old Hibernian Hotel in Dublin, dodged a couple of incoming breadrolls, and uttered possibly the most memorable 13 words in rugby history: “Well we might not be any […]

Really excited about proposed stage routes through Yorkshire. Now with maps! They will take in all my old training routes. The hills of the Yorkshire Dales and Haworth It’s going to be really hilly. Up and down all the time, like a real Flanders classic. Stage one – Saturday, 5 July Leeds – Harewood – […]