Two years ago I took the big step and bought myself a proper bike computer (or a head unit), a Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt. This action felt like a rite of passage, progressing from being a casual cyclist to becoming a passionate data-driven amateur cyclist (define as you will). It promised the collection of large amounts... Continue Reading →
My plans for 2022 have taken a bit of a knock. Despite all my precautions and care, a few weeks ago I tested positive for COVID-19. I am triple vaccinated, and I suspect this is why I didn't suffer the full intensity of symptoms. Nevertheless, I was quarantined for two weeks and during this time... Continue Reading →
About a month ago, the Viennese bike shop Citybiker advertised "The Slovakia Experiment 2022", a rather mysterious event which involved a lot of cycling and Slovakia. My first big ride of 2022, I reached out to some friends who were interested in a long day in the saddle. The Komoot map for the "Extended Experiment"... Continue Reading →
What a year. The second full year of COVID, including several lockdowns and limited ability to meet people and travel. Still, things eased up compared to 2020. Here is a summary of what happened: Got myself a new road bike, the Cannondale CAAD 13. An unexpected purchase, but it is really nippy and light and... Continue Reading →
The keen eyed readers among you may find something strange in my recent posts. It started so ambitiously with my first post talking about my registration for Berlin-Munich. My first audax! My preparations started well, and this led to my second post talking about routing and strategy. Given that the audax was at the end... Continue Reading →
Why not running? Or swimming? Or croquet? I suppose anything really. I do have a day job and a fairly intense one at that - it's not quite your average 9 to 5. On top, I do try to have some form of a private life. This means my free time is fairly limited. Why do I spend this limited free time (a) cycling, and (b) writing a blog about cycling? To be honest, I really don't know. I suspect it's because it has changed my life.
It started off a surprisingly cold October morning. Things kicked off with a carbohydrate rich breakfast at my hotel in Mörbisch am See in Burgenland, Austria, where for some reason the breakfast tables were outside. After kitting up, I had a quick warm-up on the bike and then headed down to the start line, full... Continue Reading →
Thunder and lightning, very very frightening. That pretty much summarised the week running up to the promisingly named "Raiffeisen Power Radmarathon". Austria was catching the tail end of the storms which had only recently caused major flooding in Belgium and Germany. The weather forecast for the Saturday and Sunday was heavy rain with just a... Continue Reading →
The Donauradweg (Danube bike path) is a well established bike path in Austria running along the Danube river. Like many cycling enthusiasts, I recently decided to ride this - my journey would start at the St. Stephan’s cathedral in Passau (in Germany, on the border with Austria) to St. Stephan’s cathedral in Vienna - a... Continue Reading →
Earlier this year in March, the local lockdown rules had been eased and I was enjoying the warm spring sun, sitting outside with my better half in a nearby park and enjoying some fish and chips. Everyone around us was clearly enjoying the "lighter touch" lockdown and equally making the most of the fresh air... Continue Reading →
Funny what can happen in a year. I had just lost my brand new Giant Propel aero bike (yes, I'm still peeved off, can you tell?) and decided to get myself a cheap and cheerful replacement. It was a strange time in that, even back in March, the demand in bikes due to COVID-19 was... Continue Reading →
So, my registration has been confirmed. I've never planned or even ridden such a long route before, but thankfully the kind organisers at Berlin-Munich-Berlin (BMB) Radmarathon have already planned the routing between the checkpoints in detail and made the route files available on Komoot. One problem sorted. What do I need to do between now... Continue Reading →
MuddyTweed 