Cycling blog and skills coaching
Now into its second year, this Skipton-based event treats participants to a lumpy route through the Pennines with some pretty spectacular views. It’s also managed to keep an intimate, small-scale feel, which is surprising given the big name (and equally big legs) it’s attached to. Speaking to some of the team running the proceedings, I…
After the topographical and emotional rollercoaster that was stage two, the riders awoke on Sunday 7 June to what was, comparatively, a pretty chilled day out. Thing is, they already had 6,500 metres of climbing in their legs and had probably seen almost every centimetre of the 200km parcours so far. Luckily the storms had…
With the first stage under their belts, the 30-something riders at the Trois Etapes Giro woke on Saturday 6 June to a pretty epic day of riding ahead. The race manual detailed just under 100km of riding over a decidedly lumpy profile, which never really looked to flatten out. The total ascent statistic reinforced this, promising…
So first off, what is the Trois Etapes and why are they doing something linked to the Giro, a week after it’s finished? Set up four years ago, the Trois Etapes was created by an organisation called Cosaveli to create a pro-am experience for cyclists while raising money for numerous charities working on incredibly varied…
Spending my childhood in the Borough of Swindon (a ceremonial county of Wiltshire) is not something from my past that I actively volunteer when it comes to personal information. While I have nothing against it personally, there was an episode of Room 101 where a minor celebrity banished the whole town to the show’s shameful…
Waking up at 7.30am in a decidedly rainy South Derbyshire, I thought back to the optimistic submission of my card details and clicking of the ‘Enter’ button on the British Cycling website in order to get a place for the Beeston RC Nottingham University GP. Through breakfast and the trip to the campus, I religiously…
Somewhere during my Key Stage Three or GCSE years while sat in an English Language lesson, I was taught of the persuasive powers of three as a rhetorical device. While I probably went a bit overkill and used it in every piece of creative writing set as homework at the time, thinking that it would…
Set up in April 2014, The Racing Chance Foundation is a charity that has set out to provide the necessary infrastructure and support for women to take part in – and enjoy – competitive bike racing. While the racing calendar is looking ever more healthy when it comes to women’s events, the charity’s approach is…
The Cycletta series of women-only bike rides now boasts six events from Scotland down to the New Forest and a few locations in between. With Victoria Pendleton at the wheel of the marketing and PR push, the calendar of events (organised by the very experienced Human Race) seems to grow in popularity every year in…
If I’m reviewing something, it’s usually having covered a fair number of miles on the bike (in the case of a sportive) or the same really, but with calorific boosts every now and again (if we’re talking nutrition). In either case, it’s quite easy to go into detail and get carried away with the number of…