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The Highland Trail Race was absolutely amazing. With some stiff competition from strong riders, it was pretty sharp at the sharp end. Through a mix of luck, wisdom, stubbornness, and toughness, I managed to come out on top. Full emotional reporting to come, but kit-lists are easy to write while I still sort my . . . → Read More: Highland Trail Race – Kit It was one of those rides where everything came together. A ride where the little things that make you question the time and effort you put into riding are burnt away by the fire and intensity of it just being flat out fun. At 4pm, I was “working” but already thinking about the ride. The . . . → Read More: When it’s good, it’s good It never gets easier, you just go faster – Greg LeMond When you watch a rider who is that little bit faster than you, it seems like magic. Some sort of effortless, inevitable power is driving them on. Meanwhile, every pedal stroke of yours is dredged up from your guts. It’s tempting to think . . . → Read More: The Hard Road In an effort to stop the sleep of this blog, I’m going to start with some shorter posts and try to get back into the swing of things. I think that one of the most important things when bikepacking, snow-racing, or being in the outdoors at all is to be mindful. Be mindful of your . . . → Read More: How to pack a sleeping bag 10ms faster Rain was falling. It wasn’t hard rain, but it was remorseless. In the pre-dawn gloom, there was no chance of staying in the garage and waiting for the weather to blow over. The only comfort in putting my wet kit back on was to hit the trail as soon as possible and start generating heat. . . . → Read More: EWE Day 2 Resolve. A dedication to the task at hand and an unrelenting motion toward achieving the goal. A certain hardness, selfishness, and determination. The correct resolve is a pre-requisite before a big event. With the right resolve, all struggles pass, all obstacles are hopped, skipped, or torn asunder. With resolve comes patience. Always moving forward, there . . . → Read More: Resolve and EWE Day 1 It would be nice to think that I know what I’m doing with bikepacking by now. But every day’s a school day so there are various changing I’m making from my Grenzsteintrophy kit to my EWE kit. Things worked pretty well for me there, but there was definitely room for a little improvement: Gore Waterproof . . . → Read More: Readying for EWE All the usual chaos getting ready (full day’s work, fixing my car tyre, rescuing the cat from a fight, …) but the bike’s in the box and I’m ready to go over to Germany for the Grenzsteintrophy. The event is 750 miles down the old border between East and West Germany. It’s a revised route . . . → Read More: Ready for Grenzsteintrophy [singlepic id=181 w=320 h=240 float=] It’s hard to write interesting things about this kind of racing, so here’s the summary of my race in the 12hr solo at Bristol Bikefest: Great atmosphere. The race was fun. Then it was boring. Then it was painful. Then it was fun again. Then it was painful . . . → Read More: Bristol Bikefest 2012 While it was enjoyable to write about doing stuff instead of buying/owning stuff, looking at kit is a good way to slack off from work… Two things to look at at magazine sites: Privateer Blog article on what I couldn’t be without (essentially, two wheels, and you’re good to go!) Bikemagic Blog article on my . . . → Read More: Taking Over The Internet! |
