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…
At some stage pretty much every season, usually involving Paul Sherwen, you’ll hear the term ‘Rainbow Curse’ uttered. It supposedly relates to the unconscionable burden that weighs down all UCI World Champions in the year immediately following their glorious triumph, railroading their season. Well, it’s complete bollocks. As we all know the irrepressible Peter Sagan is … More The myth of the Rainbow Curse
As anyone over about the age of fifty will no doubt remember, the structure of cycling was once decidedly different to what it is today. Around the world the Amateur and Pro ranks were run as two distinctly – and often fiercely – separate entities, a situation that lead to no end of friction and … More Pros vs Amateurs: The great divide
If you follow the Tour de France, you already know Dieter ‘Didi’ Senft. Maybe not by name, but certainly by sight. He’s the bearded nut-job we see pretty much every year by the roadside dressed as El Diablo. Since making his first appearance at the 1993 Tour, in his own eccentric way Senft has now … More Better the Deiter you know
Forget skin suit. There have been plenty of cyclists who’ve gone the birthday suit over the years, usually in the interest of publicity. In more recent times Britain’s former Track World and Olympic Champion Victoria Pendleton has revealed all for the cameras on several occasions, including a pre-2012 London Olympics shoot for GQ magazine. While … More RAW POWER
Great win overnight by BMC’s Greg Van Avermaert, outsprinting the reigning World Champion Peter Sagan for the win in the 2016 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. But even greater than his race is surely his prize… a small child in a bear suit?! If you’d like to see some of the other stranger trophies in world cycling, … More Lions, salamis and small children
Few cyclists tempt fate by talking about it. But the simple fact remains the longer we ride – and the more time we spend on our bikes – the more likely it is we will fall off the bloody things and hurt ourselves. Having now coming off far more times than I care to remember, including a recent race fall from which I’m still recovering, … More The six laws of crashing
It’s always amazing what you find when researching. Stumbled across the following Letter to the Editor which appeared in The (Adelaide) Advertiser newspaper back on Saturday 6 June 1908. 107 years ago but the debate still sounds pretty familiar. LAWLESS CYCLISTS. To the Editor. Sir -“Wm. H. Allen’s” attack on “lawless cyclists” is enough to disgust … More Lawless Cyclists, circa 1908
Late last year, while on assignment in northern NSW for Bicycling Australia magazine, I had the great pleasure of spending a pleasant morning with Moree cycling doyen Sonny Clissold. Some of our chat made it into the magazine. But a lot of great yarns about the country cycling scene didn’t. Rather than be lost forever, figured … More Off the beaten track: Sonny Clissold interview
Introducing: Tsgabu Grmay As the first major race of the season, the Tour Down Under typically ushers in a new wave of debutant World Tour riders each year. But in 2015 it’s perhaps a little bit more special than usual. For when the teams roll out from Tanunda on Tuesday morning in the Barossa Valley, Italian … More Ethiopian pioneer to debut in Adelaide
Carbon Addiction 