off the beaten track

The freedom and adventure that a bicycle offers has always been, for me, one of its greatest attractions. While on a day-to-day basis my bike is first and foremost my mode of transport, it's the pull of the wild, with its rarified air, unrelenting gradients and lack of any safety net that really stokes the fire. In the same way that I'm drawn to legendary tales of alpinists, rock climbers and big-wave surfers, it's cycling sans normality that excites me the most. Harsh conditions. Big mountains. Grit, gravel, mud and dirt. Away from the streets and lanes and traffic that form the well-ridden map of my very normal cycling experience. I promise myself that I'm going to visit these places. Create a new map. Maybe I will. So I'm still constantly drawn to these tales, to these images, to these experiences. Like these photos here and here from Rapha's trip to Norway.  You may dislike the idea behind imagery that tries to sell you a £200 jacket. You may dislike the brand for their romanticism, for their perceived pretensions. But whatever your thoughts on Rapha, these images make me want to ride my bike. To ride a cross bike for the first time, in the mud and rain and wind.  And that can only be a good thing. For me. And, I guess, for the brand selling £200 jackets too.

ottavio bottecchia

bicycle diaries

I need to get a copy of David Byrne's latest book, it looks likes a great read. Here's a short Q&A with David, aptly describing why the bike is the best way to get around.

oregon manifest design challenge and race

The Constructor's Design Challenge and Race – Great looking bikes, with amazing solutions to everyday quandaries like having to carry stuff, seeing in the dark and how to lock your bike safely. And to prove that the bikes indeed work, they then raced them for 77 miles, up hill and down dale, picking up said stuff as they went. Looks like they had a ball...

TdF 2010

A quick glance at the 2010 parcours is enough to get even the most apathetic of us excited.  A little flavour of the Classics to get things started and then some beautiful, brutal days in the Pyrenees, including two visits to the Col du Tourmalet, with the second visit a mountain top finish. One for the climbers for sure but mostly one for the fans. 

coppi e soldani

The 1950 edition of the Giro di Lombardia was the year that Renzo Soldani broke Coppi's stranglehold on the race, ending his run of four straight victories. Having to deal with a level crossing didn't seem to faze either rider; Coppi's style as perfect as ever. Soldani's career was a strange one. A rapid rise to prominence followed by an even quicker descent into obscurity, finally calling it quits in 1955, with his last victory the 1951 Sassari-Cagliari. He was 30 years old.

r.i.p fvb

Remember the great stuff...

saronnial elegance

No one wore - or wears - a biretta quite like Beppe Sarroni.

fair dinkum

A two-week jaunt to Spain meant I've been slack on the postings but I did manage to catch the Worlds on the BBC. Cadel Evans is another of those bike riders who seems to always divide opinion - wheelsucking whinger to some, a dogged fighter to others - but I was really glad to see him finally triumph in a race of significance. Certainly he can no longer be accused of lacking the cojones to go all out for victory. His attack was everything an attack should and needs to be. Well-timed. Sustained. And with an element of surprise. How else are you going to beat Cunego, Sanchez, Cancellara, Kolobnev, Rodriguez and Valverde? I should have listened to my girlfriend and put a few bob on him.