What’s your favourite Grand Tour? Is it the glitz, glamour and massive publicity machine of the Tour de France? Perhaps you prefer the more informal Vuelta? For many a fan, and for many a professional rider, it’s the romance of the Maglia Rosa of the Giro d’Italia, not the Maillot Jaune, which gets the heart beating faster and the hairs to prick up on the back of the neck.
Read MoreRapha Man - A Tale of an Epic Ride in Richmond Park
Sunday morning, 5.58 AM and Julian’s awake already. He leans over to the bedside table to turn the alarm off which is due to start blaring at 6. Best not wake up Alissa. Julian sneaks out from under the covers and pads down the landing in his boxers, stifling an expletive as he steps on a piece of lego on the landing floor, then silently curses the detritus of kids’ Games kit and school bags that greets him as he gets down to the hallway of the double fronted Victorian house in Wandsworth. A quick look in the mirror to check his paunch, then he’s in the large open plan kitchen extension. Extra strong pod in the Nespresso machine, Granola and yoghurt, glass of orange juice. He warms his bum on the Aga and pushes the dog’s nose away from his crotch. All the while eyeing up the Pinarello hanging up on the black bull’s horns. He’s had it for 2 weeks now but can’t stop admiring it.
Read MoreThe London Bike Show 2016
Ride Velo visited the London Bike Show at the Excel Centre this weekend - not the most cycle-friendly location - but a great show once you'd braved the traffic and the high winds to get to the East London venue. Some of our favourite manufacturers and retailers were there, displaying their latest wares on Valentine's Day, and here Ride Velo shares the Velo Love:
Read MoreMaurice Burton's De Ver
A teenage boy wipes the steam from the bus window and peers out onto a grey 1960s street in Forest Hill, South London, on the way to his weekly school swimming lesson. His eye catches a bike abandoned in the front garden of a Victorian terraced house and he realises that he noticed the same one last week. A racing tourer that’s seen better days. But nothing a bit of a TLC wouldn’t put right. “I’ll go back after school,” he says to himself. “I’ll go back and see if the owner wants to get rid of it.”
Read MoreMediterranean Cycling Holidays
Last week Ride Velo looked at bucket list cycling holidays of a lifetime. This week we come back down to earth a little, exploring seaside and coastal holidays near the Mediterranean and along the Algarve. There is such an array to choose from, we've just picked out the best road cycling holidays for fairly able riders, but if you're into MTB, ebike or family holidays, don't stop reading now, as all the companies we've featured have a whole host of different trips to try and locations to experience. There really is something for everyone!
Read MoreBradley Wiggins - My Hour
“It’s just you on that track with 6,000 people who have come to see you succeed or fail.” The Hour Record, dating back to 1893. 60 minutes of individual, lonely effort around a velodrome, lap after lap, counting down each minute until the end, in the vainglorious attempt that you’ve travelled further than anyone else at the end of it all. Just you and a bike. A massive risk. No second place. Simply failure or a place in the record books while the world watches you. The hour record has to be the ultimate do or die sporting event. “My Hour” is Bradley Wiggins’ story of his successful bid to be the fastest cyclist over the course of one hour.
Read MoreHow Not to get Blown off Your Bike!
My gosh it's been windy! Typical autumnal weather I know but very frustrating when you're itching for a weekend ride. Ride Velo braved the elements yesterday with mixed results - Robbie had a great time chasing down the wind while I wimped out after nearly being blown off my bike on the South Circular road!
Read MoreThe Most Desirable Christmas Gifts for Cyclists
I'm going to start with the most awesome cycling products I've ever seen although some of you Generation X musos will already know about these. Kraftwerk are, of course, a German electronic pop group who are also keen cyclists. They released "Tour de France" back in 1983 and actually performed at the Grand Depart in Utrecht this summer, having done lots of cycling in between. What better credentials to release their own brand of cycling gear (from €30 for a T-shirt)? I should warn you that their online shop is paused until December 14th as the band are on tour. How rock and roll is that?? Just look at these and feel the love:
Read MoreDesign Museum's Homage to Cycling
I think it's fair to say that all of us who cycle get the same pleasures from the experience (and some of the pains too!) That feeling of freedom, the wind in our hair, being masters of our own destiny - to mention just a few of the positives. Bicycles can be beautiful, sleek and streamlined, or practical utility vehicles, but there is something about their geometry that makes us go weak at the knees and fosters an illogical passion for metal and rubber.
Read MoreItaly Crowned King of Style at Cycle Show 2015
See the Ride Velo Top 10 award winners from the NEC's Cycle Show 2015...
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