Prudential RideLondon 100 - 2013
Good friends Cliff, Colin and I rode in the first Ride London event:
Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100
Over 25,000 amateur cyclists start in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, then cycle through the capital and onto Surrey's country roads and the Surrey Hills before a finish on The Mall in central London.
We were lucky enough to get a place in the first event back in 2013 where over 16,000 riders took part.
I rode the 100 miles in an incredible 4 hours 37 mins and 52 seconds and came in just over a minute and a half behind British athlete and double olympic gold medalist James Cracknell (the first celebrity rider over the line).
Out of over 16,000 riders, we were in the top 760 and 3 and half hours quicker than (then Mayor of London and now Prime Minister) Boris Johnson!
My Current Bike Collection
A selection of commuting, racing and utterly lovely vintage bicycles.
Concorde Colombo (Columbus Steel tube frame)
Litespeed Vortex (Hand made from Titanium in Chattanooga, Tennessee)
Van Nicholas Chinook (Titanium tube frame)
My favourite spot on Alpe d'Huez
Racing - La Ronde Picarde 2019
Around 2000 riders take part in this annual race in the Picardie region of Northern France. Always a treat to have ridden fast enough in the previous year's race to be awarded a place in the 'priority' pen to lead out at the front of the race.
While there's not a huge amount of climbing involved, it's a fast ride that stretches out to 184km (that's around 114 miles in old money). My best time (in 2012) was 5 hours 42 minutes, earning me a Gold 'Brevet d'Or' place.
Racing - La Ronde Picarde 2018
Racing - La Ronde Picarde 2017 (in the pouring rain!)
Racing - La Ronde Picarde 2016
Racing - Fausto Coppi 2018
Around 2800 riders take part in this annual race in Italy. Starting from Cuneo, the Grand Fondo race is 177km (110 miles) long with 4125m of climbing.
Racing - La Marmotte 2012
The ultimate challenge for the amateur rider! Described as one of the toughest sportives in Europe with a total distance of 174.5km and 5,750 metres of climbing in the day. The day starts in Bourg d'Oisans, with around 7,500 riders gathering in the centre of the town. The mountain climbs include Col du Glandon, then Col du Télégraphe, then a tough 14km of climbing to the top of Galibier. After a long descent and another 48km of riding, there's just Alpe d'Huez to conquer and you're done.
2012 was my best ever year and I managed to complete the ride fast enough to be awarded Gold. A very, very happy day holding that certificate - Brevet d'Or.
