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On the back of a splendid weeks skiing in the Chamonix area in March, Gerard and I said farewell to our respective better halves and set off south in my VW Caddy van laden with left over food and beer, skis and snowboards, various luggage and of course our bikes. Travelling through France on their motorway system may be expensive but I think its worth every sous. Speeding along with just one stop at a local truck stop for lunch we found our quaint little medieval house looking out over the river and castle of Sisteron by 2:30. A quick tour...

It’s always nice to show off a home you’re proud of to others. So to be able to take a gang of friends from the Ilkley Cycle Club over to ride some Wolds and climbs in the East Riding of Yorkshire was a real treat from me. Especially as the sun was out and the place really was looking it’s best. Meeting up at Allerthorpe Lake enabled us old ‘uns to put liquid in and let liquid out prior to setting off through Pocklington on the flat then rising up towards Great Givendale. A short spell to the bottom of...

Early October I was lucky enough to travel to the Sierra Nevada mountains with a group of cycling friends from the Ilkley Cycling Club. On the many pre trip pub planning meetings we plotted various routes that would suit all the differing types of riders on the trip. Then I read an article about an unsuccessful attempt to cycle something called Pico de Veleta. I confess, I had never heard of it save a passing comment by Simon Foy years ago saying the biggest climb in Europe was in Southern Spain. What’s not to love, so I immediately suggested this to...

My wife, Emma and I were recently invited to join a bunch of Yorkshire lads and lasses for a quick 4 days cycling on the cycling Mecca that is Mallorca. The March weather was a perfect 20 degrees with blue skies and the pace was easy. A far cry from last year when it was all I could do to keep the speedy guys in sight! One of my aims was to add some more Mallorca climbs to the collection. As such I managed to persuade Dan (not difficult) to plot a route that took in the Soller and Honor...

Hot off the proofing press. Seven new climbs with a focus on the South East. Still a bit of colour and text tweaking to be done, but Swains Lane, Box Hill, Toys Hill and Leith Hill form the initial batch for our fellows in and around the capital. As I loved riding up it, Pas de la Confession will be the latest addition to our French climbs. Hull Thursday CC hill climb Spout Hill will add to our East Riding collection and features pottery only those out east will understand! Finally, as Emma kept saying, ‘who wants to hang a...