With the Tour des Combins half of my trip wrapped up, it was time to continue along the Tour de Mont Blanc route and make my way back to Chamonix. Just three big climbs remained, and two more borders to cross. The good news was that I’d found some rhythm after such an overwhelming start. … More Alps Epic Part 2: Tour du Mont Blanc (06/09/23-15/09-23)
It’s a while since I’ve written anything here! In fact, it’s a while since I’ve written anything full stop. This will probably be the least action the blog has seen since I started it in 2015 (8 years ago!), but that’s partly because this year has involved the least cycling in quite some time. It’s … More Alps Epic Part 1: Tour des Combins (02/09/23-06/09/23)
A pattern has emerged in the last few years. I get to around September, see the first leaves start to fall and panic that I haven’t squeezed in enough adventures over the summer months. Forgetting that the British weather does actually start to become quite dodgy by autumn, I then book in one last escapade … More Old Chalk Way: Following The Greater Ridgeway Coast-to-Coast (29/09/22-04/10/22)
Something strange was happening to my body, a symptom I hadn’t ever experienced before on a bike ride. My tongue had seemed to swell, turning white with blisters lining the sides of it. My tonsils were swollen, and I had ulcers inside my mouth. Eating hurt. I wasn’t sure how worried I should be – … More Round Denmark Bike Race: Part 2 (13/07/22-15/07/22)
I’m going to rewind the clock a bit to provide context for this blog… After I finished the Transcontinental Race in 2019, I was keen to do another ultra-endurance (or whatever you want to call it) bikepacking race. The question was, which one? I thought about the things I hadn’t enjoyed with the TCR, and … More Round Denmark Bike Race: Part 1 (10/07/22-13/07/22)
It was raining the day I rode into Dublin. The type of incessant drizzle that makes any town feel a little depressing. I picked up a flat white from one of the many fancy cafes at the edge of St Stephen’s Green and settled on a park bench with enough tree cover to protect me … More Britain & Ireland Part 3: Along Lon Las Cymru (Dublin to Hungerford 06/05/22-11/05/22)
There was something quite charming about Cork. I arrived at a budget hostel in the early afternoon and had the rest of the day to wander through town. The sun was out, which helped. I picked up a brochure for a self-guided walking tour and strolled through town, along the river, past the university campus … More Britain and Ireland Part 2: The Thomastown Curse (Cork to Dublin 26/04/22-06/05/22)
My month in Morocco had been amazing – and I wouldn’t have changed anything about it – but for my next ride I wanted to do something completely opposite. I had time for a 3-week trip, which meant anywhere would be possible, but I settled for somewhere closer to home. A country that I’ve always … More Britain and Ireland Part 1: All Roads Lead to Fishguard (Bournemouth to Cork 21/04/22-26/04/22)
I had a full day off in Zagora to let my body recover from the crash. The only problem was that my body wasn’t really recovering. My road rash wasn’t worrying me too much (even if getting changed for bed was uncomfortable), but my knee was really buggered from the crash. I was also quite … More Morocco Part 3: The Anti-Atlas (Zagora to Agadir 21/03/22-31/03/22)
The landscape really started to change heading further towards the mountains from Ifrane. Orchards and farmland were replaced by dense cedar forests under low grey clouds. The roadside company was changing too. I saw something rustling in the trees, and then a macaque suddenly popped out. Slowly more appeared, and before long there was a … More Morocco Part 2: From The High Atlas into Desert (Ifrane to Zagora 13/03/22-20/03/22)
JKB's Bike Ride 