-
Magic hour in Nederland
Evening rides come in two kinds. First, there’s the frantic assembly on lycra pulled on after a stressful day; a ride sandwiched closely between the commute and darkness. These rides are the bread and butter of Spring and Autumn. They are what keeps the wheels turning when there isn’t another time to ride. The second […]
-
Booth Falls in the Gore Range
Christa and I have an adventure planned for later in the year; we want to hike the highest mountain in the Gore Range. The Mountains encircle the north western edge of Eagle county, forming the boundary with Summit county on the east. They are forgotten about; lacking the magical 14,000 foot peak, tourists attention is drawn elsewhere […]
-
The Steamboat Stinger – round 4
I raced the Steamboat Stinger in 2011, 2012, 2013, and now here in its fourth edition I’m lining up for the fourth time. I’m proud to say I’ve been here since the beginning; this race and my cycling career started at a pretty similar time. In 2011, I was lucky enough to be handed a […]
-
The Exmoor Explorer
The Exmoor Explorer is a ‘non-race’ around the amazing trails of Exmoor, starting from Minehead. What is a non-race, I hear you ask? Archaic English land laws prevent competitions on public rights of way. This means races are restricted to private properties, and anything using the extensive and fantastic network of trails we have has to […]
-
Road riding on Exmoor – a biased review
The Exmoor coast is the most primitive shoreline left in England. The huge cliffs have protected 35 miles of coastline from development, and the result is one of the most one unique landscapes in the UK. The cliffs role inland onto huge flat-topped hills. The relentless atlantic storms and long winters have scoured the vegetation from […]
-
Lee Bay
I love Lee Bay. It’s tucked away between Ilfracombe and Woolacombe. You wouldn’t find it without looking, as it’s not on the road to anywhere. This is both in it’s favour, and the reason it’s had a hard time in recent years. When tourism relied on public transport (that is, before the motorcar), Lee was […]
-
The Odiham Experience
Trevor and Sarah have been my friends for the last five years. At least. Their friendship predates the scribblings of this blog, but if I think hard enough, I can still remember things that happened prior to the internet. When I was at the University of Bath, they were the first people who experienced the […]
-
A walk along the Exmoor coast
-
British XC National Champs
My first attempt at racing British Nationals. I feel like I’m a pretty experienced bike racer at this point – It’s been four years since I started pinning on numbers in earnest, and I’ve raced a huge number of events across the world. With all of that, though, I’ve very rarely raced in the UK. […]
-
The Firecracker 50
What does it take to lose a 50 mile mountain bike race by 0.16 seconds? It takes so much. So much support and effort on many people’s parts. The Firecracker 50 is a big event in Breckenridge. It’s held in the midst of the Independence Day celebrations; it forms the start of a carnival style […]