Conscious now of my army of spectators, I cycled on towards Sisteron, remembering ruefully that riding with a tracker comes with as many disadvantages as it does advantages. During last winter’s…
Transcontinental: Joining the dots
I lingered at the top of Ventoux for half an hour or so, savouring the glow and the malt loaf and enjoying the company of friends after so long on…
Transcontinental: Night on bald mountain
Ventoux needs little introduction, but in case you’re one of the few non-cyclists who read this blog, you should know that it’s one of the most iconic climbs of European cycling, notorious for…
Transcontinental: On the right track
For the first twelve hours of the ride (race, it’s a race, Chappell), I barely stopped smiling. Because, after all, cycling along quiet roads through the cool night air, with no…
A brief update
You’re probably wondering how it went, aren’t you? Unless you were following my Twitter account, in which case you’ll know that I pulled out on Day 8, after ending up…
Over-reaching myself
Do you ever realise you’ve become a very different person? And perhaps that you’d been this sort of person for quite a while, and everyone else was fully aware of it,…
On chasing men
Don’t ever get the impression I’ve got it all sorted. Just when you (I) think you’ve (I’ve) got life figured out, and it’s all plain sailing from here, you either…
The kit list to end all kit lists
Here’s a treat for all you gear nerds. A few weeks ago I found myself with a spare morning (or at least, the disinclination to fill it with anything more…
A cold snap
You won’t mind if I’m not strictly chronological about this, will you, dear readers? The problem is, the rhythms of cycle touring are such that one generally has a lot…
Of motels and chance encounters
I ended up staying in a motel when I got to Glennallen, for reasons I won’t go into here (mainly because I’ve vowed to avoid that old cycle touring cliche…