700km. 41 hours. 40 minutes sleep. A solo ride from Madrid to Barcelona with heat, hallucinations, and the odd roadside nap. My account of the 2025 Pedalma Madrid to Barcelona: and why I keep coming back to rides like this.
Balancing Travel, Training, and Enjoyment The week started early – 3 AM on Monday, off to the airport for two intense work days in Amsterdam. I arrived back in La Ciotat very late Tuesday night, this meant Wednesday became a much-needed recovery day. Thursday, I hit the bike again with some high-intensity intervals; short bursts …
Hello, so I’m back in training! Looking at my performance management chart, you can see the last six months of training. Each of those little blue dots represents a session. Recently, there haven’t been many, as I took time off for quiet reflection after years of consistent multi-day training. Sometimes, a change really is as …
The PCR 2021 full route had a huge amount of elevation at 27,507m over 1995km derived mainly from rather short sharp 12-20%+ type gradients rather than long steady alpine style gradients. Certainly not the type of terrain that plays to my physical strengths.
Finally, 2020 delivered me an event to remember. Ultra Bike Pursuit 2020 – Tourmalet Hardcore Loop – 1100km 22,000m. Completed by yours truly in a surprisingly exact 111hr 11 min. 2020, the historic year of the great COVID-19 pandemic, a turning point for the world that shall surely be written about for decades to come. …
In my earlier post Operation Mont Ventoux I recounted my ride of the classic Bedouin route up Mont Ventoux in April 2018. I got the job done but all didn’t unfold quite as I might have wished. I knew then that I would be returning at some point. There are 3 road routes to choose from with …
As I write this the the 7th edition on the Transcontinental Race is underway but, sadly, I'm not riding in it.
I ride ultra endurance cycle events because I enjoy it, plain and simple. However, it is also clear that others enjoy reading about my adventures as well as following the races online as “dot watchers”. The supportive messages I receive are very welcome but its great to be able to offer people other ways to …
How would it be if I chose to approach life as if it was all an adventure that I'd truly chosen to undertake rather than one that I just somehow got lumbered with?
Yes, finally, it's on! I have a place in the race that inspired me to take up ultra endurance cycling back in September 2016.
The Transcontinental Race is the definitive self-supported bicycle race across Europe.
At the sharp end it is a beautifully hard bicycle race, simple in design but complex in execution. Factors of self reliance, logistics, navigation and judgement burden racers’ minds as well as their physiques. The strongest excel and redefine what we think possible while many experienced riders target only a finish.