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My own Angliru: Cobo gearing
When Campagnolo decided to market a 12-30 Centaur cassette it was so beyond the normal boundaries it barely fitted the box (designed for at maximum, a 13-29). I had such a torrid time in the last section of the Mills Hills Read more
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Salmon in the Rain
Yesterday’s ride included some of the most torrential rain and hail I have seen. None of this crazy weather was predicted, and despite misgivings I chose to take my very best 80s ride, painted and built by Daniel Salmon. Crimped Read more
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Haunting Malcolm Elliott
Photographs are obvious catalysts for memory. They sometimes deliver more than one expects. Someone I follow on twitter posted some old pictures of the Kellogg’s 1988 Tour of Britain (which spookily include a blurred Jimmy Savile) today. I was there Read more
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Mills Hills Sportive: at last I enter an event (and finish too)
Over the last few years I have been failing to achieve even the modest riding objectives I aspire to. Despite the improved quality and quantity of my ‘training’ I haven’t completed a single organised ride; more accurately I haven’t started Read more
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Secret Race vs. Human Race: it’s all about Tyler Hamilton
I wrote the other day about why we should resist the tendency to focus on individuals in efforts to combat sporting fraud, especially doping. Instead, I argued, we should focus on the institutions and values that facilitate and encourage such Read more
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Doping scandals: lessons learnt?
Ben Johnson, BALCO, Festina: sport often learns the wrong lessons from doping scandals. It learnt that coming clean about your doping when caught screws you and leaves others just as dirty to win; that if you have the right drugs Read more