My First Winter

This morning I rode past a rabbit which was standing in the middle of a frost-laced A- road, staring blankly at the oncoming traffic. I didn't stop, I was far too cold and if I had stopped I would have felt like an idiot. The rabbit was probably suffering the effects of mixomatosis, but to all intents and purposes the little grey bag of fluffy bones looked frozen and suicidal. Standing there with a vacuum chill sucking the air out of its lungs, cars thundering past on both sides, staring fixedly along the white lines, the rabbit looked how part of me felt. This was my first experience of Winter on a bike, and it has left me uncomfortably numb.

Three Stone in Three Months

I really need to airbrush a chin into this photo

Three years ago I decided to get fit by riding a bicycle. It was so successful, that whilst on holiday in Cornwall, I typed about it. I sent it to Cycling Active as that was the magazine I had purchased from the Service Station. They liked it and trimmed it down to a bite-sized weight loss article. This is the full, unedited version.


If you like reading on the loo, make sure you need a really big poo before starting this one ....

Wiggle Dragon Ride 2011

"I am so cold... I am so cold... I am so cold..." Amazing really, after cycling for almost 3 years, I could get it so wrong....

Having chosen to wear a short sleeved jersey and bib-shorts for the Dragon Ride 2011, I was ill prepared for the downpour of rain half-way round the 200km route. I rode for several kilometres along downhill roads chanting this miserable mantra, interspersed with the occasional "F" word when the pace quickened and the temperature dropped.

Verenti Dragon Ride 2010

"So, we'll stick together as a trio for ninety miles and after that it's a free-for-all, yeah?" This was the agreement laid down by myself to my brother and my friend Neil prior to the Dragon Ride in Wales.

About ten minutes after finishing the ride, Neil and Rob weren't feeling the love for their betrayer.

We signed up to the 2010 Verenti Dragon Ride on midnight of boxing day 2009. Such is the popularity of this sportive, voted "UK's most popular Sportive" for a second year running, that the tickets were sold out in hours.

And then, between Christmas and June 2011, we started to train for the biggest ride of our lives; 190km of mountain climbs, 117miles of Welsh pain.

Fixed Ambitions

Wear the right gear and cold mornings can be a pleasure to ride.

 Riding to work on a bicycle through the warmer months is a healthy and enjoyable way to travel.  You tend to arrive at your desk smelling fragrant (if your work has shower facilities) and feeling wide awake.  And a well paced commute also justifies the odd dietary breach...

However, once the clocks change, the warmth bleeds away and the light fades. The fields become barren and colours congeal into greys and browns. And you get to work rattling with images of potholes looming out of the dark, cars kicking grit off the road, arctic winds and slushy puddles. But all these brutal experiences are tempered by the grim satisfaction that you’re as hard as nails.