“Why are we going on holiday to Turkey Dad?” “Well… Are you sitting comfortably? Then let me tell you about Babadağ.” Last year I tuned into the Tour of Turkey on Eurosport and I was like “WHAT the hell is this road? WHERE the hell is this road? I HAVE TO RIDE IT!” In an inspired move the race organisers had decided to stick at the end of stage three the killer climb, to end all killer climbs, up a mountain that goes by the name of Babadağ. Adrenaline junkie holiday makers in the towns of Fethiye and Ölüdeniz will already be well aware of this peak as it’s a famous destination for paraglide ..read more

2023 BEST LEGS. Track League, Thursday February 23rd. Having good legs and being in a position to make use of them is something that comes around only a couple of times a year but on this night at the Derby Velodrome it all came together. Taking a win in the points race, the tempo race and a third place in the scratch race was just exceptional for me. HARDEST RIDE. The Ronde Van Calderdale. It was BRUTAL. Utterly relentless. 13 cobbled climbs!! Legs cramped. Arms cramped. What a bloody brilliant event! It is a MUST RIDE EVERYONE! BEST EVENT. A tie between The Etape du Tour and The National H ..read more

My love affair with with this road began back in 1990 and it’s one of the primary reasons that 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs came to exist. My search for ever steeper ascents to ride and race up brought me here to take part in the George Higton Memorial hill climb. It was my first season riding open events and I was on an upward trajectory fitness wise getting faster every month.  
 On that first attempt I stopped the clock at 4.14.0 which was good enough to take the first junior prize and leave me 37 seconds behind the winner S.Hulme from the Manchester Wheelers. Winning first junior was g ..read more

Ha, I hear you scoff, BIGGEST STAGE, It’s not the Olympics pal! Well, you’re correct, it’s not the Olympics but likewise I’m not an Olympian, I’m your average Joe weekend warrior and in that context this is a big deal. The Etape is huge, 17,000 riders of all abilities all with one mission, to dream of being a Tour de France rider for a day. I’ve ridden five Marmots, two Maratonas and a whole host of other great events but never an Etape, never the BIG ONE. I always thought it was going to be too much of a faff starting and finishing in a different place, not to mention expensive, so I passed i ..read more

Last year my season goal was to see how fast I could ride my road bike over 100 miles. No deep section wheels, no aero frame, no hidden cables, not of that. Also I don’t do training, I don't have a coach, follow science, non of that either, I just ride my bike, sometimes hard, sometimes not hard. Last years challenge saw me clock a 4.14.56 for the 100 which left me 15 mins away from my dream but my endeavour resulted in me winning a huge trophy thanks to my membership of the North Midlands Veterans Time Trial Association. (Only one other rider rode a 100). At the prize giving there was a whole ..read more

BEST RIDE. 100 mile TT trial run. When I set off to see how fast I could ride 100 miles in the lanes of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire on May 15th I knew right away I had ‘diamonds in the legs’. On my road bike with two bottles and three gels I stopped the clock at four hours 19 minutes and then got all excited that I could actually break four hours in a race so entered the National 100 mile championships. HARDEST RIDE. The National 100 mile championships. This was exponentially harder than the trial run. On the same road bike with no aero kit but under race conditions over four laps of a r ..read more

I was keen to try a new event this year and get back to the high mountains after the lockdowns. I’ve done a load of Marmottes, a couple of Maratonas so took aim at the Alpenbrevet in Switzerland. There were 4 routes to choose from, Bronze 64km+2140m, Silver 108km+3200m, Gold 212km+5080m, and the bonkers Platinum 268km+7090m. Of course I was drawn to the Platinum route but then I woke from my nightmare and sensibly decided Gold would be just far enough. After all I didn’t want to put myself into such a state I couldn’t enjoy a beer in the evening. Travelling with two mates, Nick and Paul, it wa ..read more

OUT NOW and EXCLUSIVE to the 100 Climbs App comes the 100 CLIMBS X-LIST. Another 100 amazing British climbs for your delectation, packed full of stone cold classics just begging to be ridden. I spent last year doing the research and the list is a treasure trove of delights with some roads that are quite simply beyond imagination and others that are waiting to hurt your legs in ways you could never dream possible. These are the roads I’d missed or never had the time to reach before, the climbs that had flown under my radar and the climbs YOU have been begging me to ride over the years. Coverin ..read more

With this years event on Winnats Pass less than two weeks away I thought I’d write a retrospective of my relationship with the event as it’s been thirty years since I rode my first back in 1991. I’d started racing hill climbs in the Autumn of 1989 and by 1991 my results were good enough for me to dare enter what I saw as the biggest race on the domestic calendar. Hill climbing was my thing and I wanted to be on the big stage to see how I stacked up against all the real hitters. There was no chance I was going to affect the result of the title but regular top tens and a few podium places in sma ..read more

I saw someone else post a blog on their bike history so thought I’d do one of my own, and it got a bit out of hand. I have borrowed and ridden a few others but these are the ones that have been mine. Some feel as special as children, some were big mistakes but all have played a part in my life. There are pictures of most and over time I will try and find better pictures for all. Enjoy. 1. 1976. Trike. SOLD My first bike was a trike, it was blue and red and I remember very little else apart from that day my uncle said he might be able to fit an engine to it. He never did. 2. 1978. Green Raleig ..read more