“So anyway the season is starting soon I’m starting with the 10 on the G17 course down at Broadbridge I’m hoping for a PB I hate all those roundabouts getting up at 4.30 in the morning I love it you get it out of the way and the rest of the day is free to … Continue reading Cycling Monologues No 1 – The Time Triallist

“So anyway I’m doing this sportive in Wales it’s called the Dragon Ride it’s the toughest in Britain so they say I think there’s 30000 feet of climbing and one of the hills is 1 in 2 apparently I’ve done loads of them I did that Circuit of Kent one last September it was a … Continue reading Cycling Monologues No 6 – The Sportive Rider

The cycling community is like a family, bound together by a shared passion, shared experiences and unseen bonds. And each cycling club is its own little family. Bash had two of these other families – the Old Portlians and the Meridien. He joined the Old Portlians in 1996 and he was the key member involved … Continue reading Ian Bashford – an appreciation

Mannheim, Southern Germany, June 1817. Two years since Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, 195 years before a Briton will win the Tour de France. A group of well-to-do Germans are meeting after lunch. They drink schnapps and smoke cigars. The mood is jovial; the banter is German. They are listening to Beethoven who is playing … Continue reading The Invention of the Draisine

At the turn of 2016, the evenings drawing in but the weather unseasonably mild, my family moved to a new house in West Wickham. The previous owners had split up and moved away. On our first day in the new house we discovered a safe built into the wall in an upstairs cupboard. We opened … Continue reading The Secret Diary of an Indoor Cat

Once on the Pilgrim’s Way Angela picked up the pace. Her legs spun the pedals with practiced ease. She leaned forward, hands on the drops, feeling the wind flow through her helmet and over her short brown hair. She felt Eric pull along beside her; he seemed so much faster than her. Her heart was … Continue reading Brown Sauce

So anyway I got this new bike it’s a Trek Emonda which is like French for stripped because it’s the lightest production bike ever it weighs like 5 kilos all built up I got these Lightweight no really that’s what they’re called wheels they’re German but still the lightest production wheels ever made and I … Continue reading Cycling Monologues No 36 The Weight Fanatic

The Usual Suspects is a superb film directed by Bryan Singer and starring Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne and Chazz Palminteri. There is a now legendary character in the film called Keyser Sose – a brutal but mysterious villain who is key to the whole story. At one point one of the characters says – speaking … Continue reading Chris Froome is clean (probably)

The still dark sky was cold and damp as Harry Potter flew down from Hogwarts to Broadbridge Village Hall, his Cervelo P3 strapped to his broom-stick. He stamped his feet and blew on his cold hands but his new Castelli Gabba blocked out the wind and the icy air. ‘Nice Gabba,’ said Ron Weasley. ‘Wiggle?’ … Continue reading Harry Potter and the Prince of Tadros

Movistar was formed in 1959 by Gregory Peck, a noted actor and keen cyclist who won an Oscar in 1962 for his performance as a big game hunter in To Kill a Mockingbird. He was 17th in the Tour of Flanders in 1960 where he rode under the name Styn van Whitevan. Katusha is a … Continue reading What do those World Tour team sponsors actually do?