I got to meet author Tim Moore up in Yorkshire over the weekend after listening to him talk about his latest book ‘Gironimo!’, in which he shares the highs and lows of his recreation of the “toughest Grand Tour in history” – the 1914 Giro d’Italia. Only 8 of the 81 starters completed this most gruelling of tests. Not one to do things by half, Moore elects to ... Read More
Latest Blog Entries
Graham Watson ‘Eyes on Le Tour’ photography exhibition.
—– STOP PRESS. The Whitecloth Gallery are having a silent auction of the prints shown in this exhibition. Check out the details here WHITECLOTH GALLERY and email liz.miles@whiteclothgallery.com to place your bid. Deadline is noon 21st July. PS – please don’t bid on Sizzling Feet.. I want it! TJP —– Cycling is a sport well suited to written reportage but Graham Watson’s ‘Eyes ... Read More
Yellow Fever – Tour de France Preview
With so much focus in this country on the Grand Départ it has been hard at times to remember that there will be a further 18 days of racing after the world’s biggest cycling cavalcade leaves our shores. I have been as guilty of this as anyone by focussing my thoughts almost entirely on the opening two stages in Yorkshire and the Stage 3 ... Read More
Peak Performance – L’Eroica Britannia - Festival & Ride Report
“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer fear for the human race” – H.G. Wells For quite some time I have thought that bicycles have semi-magical qualities. Riding one can make you happy when you are otherwise sad and they can make you believe that you are someone else – usually someone far better at riding a bike. They can make ... Read More
Stoller’s Départ – Douglas Cowie & Matthew Shaw
I am lucky to be old enough, and to have arrived in London just in time, to have enjoyed the considerable pleasures of the old Reading Room at the British Museum. The circular space at the centre of the Great Court, which attained almost sacred status to the Capital’s writers of yesteryear, was just about the most evocative place one could imagine to read ... Read More
Happy Birthday – Greg Lemond
Happy Birthday Greg – 26.06.1962 TdF Winner – 1986, ’89, ’90 World Champion 1983, ’89 One of the most popular Tour winners of all time, Greg Lemond’s epic battles with his team mate Bernard Hinault and then with the life-threatening injuries he suffered in a freak shooting incident to come back for his second and third Tour wins are truly the stuff of legend. Boyishly enthusiastic, good-looking and yet determined to bring ... Read More
Portrait of ‘The Cycling Podcast’ – with Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie & Daniel Friebe
It’s just after 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon in Hackney and Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe are looking for a bit of peace and quiet. The trouble is that around the busy East London streets of Broadway Market and London Fields school kids are heaving out onto the hot pavements and the nearby building sites that are sprouting up yet more flats ... Read More
Neo-Pro Life – Tao Geoghegan Hart – Interview
Nineteen year old British rider Tao Geoghegan-Hart experienced both the highs and lows of the top level of peloton life in the recent Tour of California. The Hackney-born neo-pro, riding his first season with Axel Merckx’s Bissell Development Team, found himself 4th on General Classification on Stage 1 after getting into the day’s successful break and gaining time bonuses at the intermediate sprints. A ... Read More
Climbs and Punishment – Book Review – Felix Lowe
For some reason books about epic cycle rides often struggle to maintain sight of the reason behind the particular journey. Caught up with geography, mileage and the inevitable misfortunes that happen along the way, we are quickly left to forget what the point of the epic ride was in the first place. Context is quickly abandoned in place of stories about encounters with mountains, deserts ... Read More
Happy Birthday – Eddy Merckx
Happy Birthday ‘Cannibal’ TdF Winner – 1969, ’70, ‘ 71, ’72, ’74 Giro d’Italia Winner – 1968, ’70, ‘ 72, ’73, ’74 Vuelta a Espana Winner – 1973 World Champion – 1967, ’71, ’74 Paris-Roubaix Winner – 1968, ’70, ’73 Milan-San Remo Winner – 1966, ’67, ’69, ’71, ’72, ’75, ’76 Winner at Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Flèche Wallone, Giro di Lombardia World Hour Record 1972 A uncompromising winning machine, Eddy Merckx bestrides professional cycling as an unassailable colossus. His palmares is without compare, his dedication to victory without parallel. Quite simply The Greatest of All ... Read More