A collection of races, sportives, audaxes or time trials that I might have done.
It also includes any riding in new places home & abroad, as well as the indoor world of Zwift.
La Ronde Picarde was planned as the last big ride of 2017 and the last little trip away with the bikes. The plan was to do the long 180km route and see if we could tick off Hannah’s first century ride. Taking place in Northern France and centring around Abbeville, La Ronde Picarde would take …
The final warm-up before tackling La Ronde Picarde a week later, the Mad Summer Hare was to provide a good challenge. It’s the first time that this sportive has taken place but it’s a sister sportive to the Mad March Hare which I tackled in 2016 and very wetly in 2017. The Mad Summer Hare …
I was supposed to be going on holiday cycling from Berlin to Copenhagen for a week but because of Ryanair refusing to take the bikes onboard, I was suddenly free. Hannah had signed up for a cheeky weekend in Yorkshire with a 100km Wiggle sportive out from Thirsk. I got an invitation to tag along. …
Rapha Rising is a challenge on the Strava website to climb a certain amount of metres across a set number of days. Riders from across the world can take part, complete the climbing and then send off to receive a woven roundel to mark the completion of their efforts. The Rapha Rising is similar to …
This was to be my first time trial in a little while, having busied myself with sportives and managing to overdo things and strain a knee after the Civil Service races. It was also another couple of firsts. My first go on the K33/10D circuit just south of Alcester in Warwickshire and my first time …
One of the perks of working in the Civil Service (for non-UK people, think employee of the state) is that they have a sports club for members. They run a lot of days for various experiences, like my recent venture onto the velodrome. One of those is also a National Championships run on the cycle …
The Ride Staffs sportive took place on 2nd July 2017. Starting from Chillington Hall, a large country house between Wolverhampton and Telford, riders were sent on their way for 70 miles around Staffordshire. This was my first sportive since the recent Dragon Ride and the main goal was to ensure that Hannah made it round …
2017 is the first year that I have been riding time trials. Starting off with some club time trials, I’ve also started competing in Open Time Trials against lots of other people. I started off with the Coventry CC ride and followed it up with the Walsall RCC one shortly afterwards. The Springfield Financial Open …
I’ve been wanting to have a play on a velodrome for awhile, especially after going to the World Championships last year. I did have some worries however. Riding a bike without brakes removes one safety net and the banking, which always looks massive when you’re not on it. When we got to Derby Velodrome and …
The Dragon Ride had been identified as a keystone of my cycling in 2017. Several club members had come up with the idea of doing it earlier in the year, it seemed like a good next goal after heading to Belgium in the Spring. The route would leave Port Talbot and take us up into …