I’m supposed to be planning this year’s boy’s tour… but I haven’t really had one of those “We must go HERE” moments. Should we go back to Portugal? Visit somewhere else in Spain? Go back to the Alps? I haven’t had a flash of inspiration. So I had a beer with Dale Caesar last night,  [Read full post…]

Back in Marlborough earlier this week, following up last week’s pitch. I got the gig, so I’ll be heading back and forth a bit in the next few months. This means I need to start exploring the back roads between Basing-grad and Marlborough. There has to be some great riding there – especially as I quite  [Read full post…]

I’m still filing away good roads to ride. Do keep the suggestions coming. But I also thought, I should make a list of places I need to visit. You know: bike meets and the like. I haven’t given it half as much thought as the roads. So far I’ve come up with: 1 British GP  [Read full post…]

My plan for a great year on two wheels is taking shape. Slowly. I’m starting with a list of roads I haven’t ridden for a while. Roads I think I need to revisit. Here’s my top 10. 1 The A87 Don’t need much of an excuse to ride to Skye – this is my favourite  [Read full post…]

I haven’t made a New Year’s Resolution – I’m too macho for that, clearly. But I have decided that I need to make more of an effort this year. More of an effort to take the path less trodden, to find more of those half-forgotten great roads I last visited a decade ago. To get  [Read full post…]

I got together with the boys (apart from Big Ears, who was working) for a beer last night. We picked out our favourite bits of the Portugal trip. They might help you if you’re thinking of going (and if you’re not, you should…) 1 The Sera da Estrela In a trip packed with amazing roads,  [Read full post…]

The last three days have been amazing. I don’t have the words to describe how good the riding is in Portugal. And not just Portugal. We’re back in Spain now, heading for the ferry, and the riding is just as good. Our day in the Serra da Estrela was fantastic. It’s a pretty small range of  [Read full post…]

I think that’s what the young people say. Two days ago, as we sat on the Algarve sipping beers, after riding what I thought was one of the best roads I’d ever ridden, the N267, Dale Caesar said the next few days were going to get better. Secretly, I thought that was impossible. I was  [Read full post…]

Here we are in the Algarve, on Portugal’s southern coast. I haven’t seen the sea yet – we’re walking into town in a bit, to have dinner overlooking the Atlantic apparently. The last two days have been great, though they’ve been long days. We’ve really covered some ground – but we haven’t been on a  [Read full post…]

That’s “Hello”  in Spanish and Portuguese. We’re now in Vila Real in Portugal after two already great days’ riding. We rolled off the ferry yesterday afternoon and headed straight into the Picos de Europa mountains. It’s the second time we’ve been here, but the roads were even emptier than last time. They’re just spectacular. One  [Read full post…]