I’m not going to lie. One of the great pleasures of being a cycling journalist is getting paid to ride other people’s bikes. Sure, there’s always a bit of mild anxiety about the ramifications of crashing them (something I’ve unfortunately done twice), but generally speaking it’s a pretty awesome privilege and one you never take … More Other people’s bikes & guide dogs
One journey ends, and another begins…or does it? As the hourglass sands of life slowly trickle down, you come to appreciate every passing year shares much in common with a long bicycle ride. The mere passing of time ensures the journey is always, ultimately, a linear one. But it is rarely a straight line. Rather … More One journey ends, another begins…
Look, I’m not poor. But nor am I rich. In a sport where holding on to the bunch is a key survival strategy this is proving something of a problem right now. You see, my current carbon steed is approaching 5 years old. It’s a great bike, versatile, comfortable to ride, fast(ish). We’ve travelled 30,000km+ together … More Keeping up with the peloton
Okay, first to admit I’m no engineer. But what does everyone make of this video? (The original post has now had almost 70,000 views and continues to draw a wide range of viewpoints.) This is an Elite Men’s CX race. Watch the rear wheel of the 4th rider, white kit on the inside. It seems … More CX Motor Man?
Sorry, but we’re struggling to understand the hype surrounding on-bike cameras. The way people in some quarters are talking about them you’d think strapping a GoPro to your stem or seat post is some kind of technological and financial holy grail, an exciting new income stream set to rescue the sport from the ongoing financial … More On-bike cameras? Hardly a revolution.
I guess I’m an okay climber. Certainly nowhere (remotely) near great. But not terrible, either. Barring very rare days when the moons enigmatically align, you’ll find me inconspicuously tucked somewhere in the middle of the bunch and Strava leader boards. It’s a similar story with my sprinting, descending and general bike handling. So, it was … More The steepest of challenges
Stage 6 of the 2015 Tour Down Under only finished at 3:30pm local time in Adelaide. But by 5pm it’s fair to say 85% of the team bikes were cleaned, broken down and packed, ready for transporting at the official team village opposite the Adelaide Hilton. By 8pm most will be at the airport, if … More The World Tour circus moves on…and quickly
Christmas in Australia is pretty awesome for a road cyclist. An extended break from work. Warm weather. Loads of daylight. And generally a lot less traffic. Unlike our northern hemisphere brethren who are typically cooped up in frigid garages or, at best, spin classes, we can hit the roads to our heart’s content day after … More Oh what pain it is to ride
Took the family up the road for the annual local Street Fair this morning. Amongst the usual assortment of overpriced rides, ‘chips on sticks’ and other sugary crap was something pretty clever I’d not seen before from an event company called Bike n Blend. Basically, it was a few guys with exercise bikes rigged up to blenders. They were offering free … More Ride a bike, make a smoothie
Carbon Addiction received a pretty disturbing email yesterday from regular follower Luigi about an Australian bike shop (name supplied) which apparently tried to pass off a resprayed demo frame to him as a new – and at $8,000+ very expensive – road bike recently. Rather ironically the cyclist they tried to take for a ride … More Taken for a ride…almost
Carbon Addiction 