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Obergurl?
With barely a day to spare, England was forgotten and replaced with the Alps. I try my best to plan things in a less chaotic manner, but sometimes the best laid plans are always destined to fail. As it was, the ‘student retreat’ in Obergurgl had sat on my calendar for a lot longer than […]
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Not the normal Monday morning
6 am. Alarm goes off. An hour earlier than normal. I lie half awake but nowhere close to falling back to sleep. Busy day ahead. I do the normal routine; coffee, poached eggs on toast, and heading out the door. This week doesn’t hold five days of research, writing, lectures and seminars though. I’m going […]
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Colour in my skin
Seasonality is surely the best thing about the Mountains, about the northern latitudes than dip and dive between summer and winter with such little warning. For all the suspense and anticipation I place on the arrival of spring, cycling forces me to live in the moment. If its cold outside, I will put on my […]
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Perverse satisfaction
I hereby formally declare it is summer in Austria! What was the defining moment? Today I rode outside with bare legs. Finally, my awesomely white calves had a glimpse of the Alps, and they didn’t complain. After a winter of riding in cold weather, you’ve toughened to the elements, and there’s little that can stop […]
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Where does that go?
After plenty of time exploring the local roads, I’ve got a good feeling for the Inntal (Innsbruck valley). Each road ride fills another blank area of my map; the empty contours fill themselves with mental images of churches, bridges, rock faces and small villages. When I get home, the anonymous lines on maps now have […]
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Midweek photo dump
Life in Innsbruck isn’t half bad. I wonder/wander around this city each day with camera/phone/gopro in hand and snap away randomly at everything that takes my interest. Then those same photos sit on my hard drive and never see the light of day. I almost only write stories to accompany the special photos I take […]
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Long weekend by the lake
Recently, I was reminded of something I already knew, something that was floating in the back of my mind: Lake Garda is a mecca for cycling. Upon further investigation (read: my daily perusal of Google maps over coffee), I realised it wasn’t that far to go from Innsbruck. With a failure of other plans on […]
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Feeling the föhn
I love local weather. It really defines a place in a way that you have to be physically present to experience. No matter what you read in travel books or online guides, you cannot experience the weather. You need to smells the smells and feel the wind on your back. The warmth of the sun […]
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Use Your Hour
You have an hour. I know you do. No matter how busy your life, no matter where you are. In any city, or corner of the planet. You have an hour to spare. And you need to use it. Life is easily lost in a blur of “have to” and “Must” But spare that hour; […]