Riding the highest surfaced road in Britain Cumbria by MuddyGoose - August 5, 20170 For a hill loving, road cyclist these are the ultimate aims. To ride the highest road, to climb the longest climb, to achieve your maximum elevation gain, to test yourself on the steepest of gradients. It's the love of pushing yourself, of achieving the next level of difficulty that drives us on. Well the road that winds it's way up to the top of Great Dun Fell offers all of this and gives us an excellent surface, almost entirely free of cars on top. 1232
A day on the road bike in the Yorkshire Dales Yorkshire by MuddyGoose - July 31, 20170 One of the advantages of trying to climb as many of the 100 UK Climbs as possible is that you end up riding in many different parts of the UK. The Yorkshire Dales is somewhere that I might choose to ride in any case but my 'hunt for climbs' partly dictated my route on this occasion. Having already climbed Buttertubs Pass and Lamps Moss, this route focused on Tan Hill, Oxnop Scar and The Stang. Turning this into the first day of a two day trip I managed to convince two mates to come along for the ride. 1181
A few Scottish miles, Part 3 – Glasgow & Edinburgh Edinburgh Glasgow by MuddyGoose - July 25, 2017July 26, 20170 It was a whole week that I spent working in Scotland and so to maintain my fitness for the Tour of Cambridgeshire I had decided to get in as much cycling as possible. Ahead of time I had expected it to be more but I think I'd forgotten about the time that would be needed travelling between places at the end of the day; Aberdeen to St Andrews and St Andrews to Glasgow are decent length drives in the evening after work! Fortunately being May there had been plenty of early morning/evening light and so I was able to get a good few efforts in. Including an evening in Glasgow and a morning in Edinburgh. 1184
A few Scottish miles, Part 2 – St Andrews Fife by MuddyGoose - July 18, 2017July 25, 20170 It's been a long time since my Part 1 post, but I'm of the opinion that it doesn't make this any less relevant or readable, so part 2 is here and it describes my early morning ride from St Andrews Premier Inn on the Tuesday morning of my week working up in Scotland. Monday up in Aberdeen didn't lend itself to getting out on the bike, so after Sunday's ride up and over the Mennock Pass, Tuesday morning saw me taking to the relatively flat roads of Fife. 1166
A few Scottish miles, Part 1 – Mennock Pass South Lanarkshire by MuddyGoose - May 26, 2017July 25, 20170 Any work trip up north has it's positive side, in that I can pack my bike and get some northern miles in during the evenings (and sometimes pre-breakfast too). So a tour of Scotland doing exhibitions from Aberdeen down to Edinburgh meant the bike just had to come too! 1147
New Seatpost – Fizik Cyrano R5 Review Product Reviews by MuddyGoose - April 11, 20171 So you fancy an upgrade for your bike? What's it going to be? New wheels, new groupset, saddle, even tyres. It's unlikely to be a seatpost. Of course from time to time you have a need, in my case the saddle clamp on the old one wasn't holding in position anymore; it kept slipping, leaving me mid-ride with a saddle pointing it's nose to the sky. Hence a little research, a bit of shopping around for the best price and finally an order placed for the Fizik Cyrano R5 Seatpost. 1126
How does my bike fit, Guru? Views & Opinion by MuddyGoose - February 9, 20170 There's always a guru in all walks of life. Someone who'll tell you how things should be, give you that little bit of insight that you just didn't have before. In the case of the Guru Bike Fit system, I'm not sure if I should apply the name 'guru' to the system or the operator! 1070
Winter Riding Advice – 2. Staying Safe in Winter Conditions Views & Opinion by MuddyGoose - December 23, 20160 OK, so you've got your kit and you're wrapped up just nicely to keep out the elements and maintain the heat you'll be producing. Let's hit the roads and get some winter training under our tyres ahead of the 2017 season. Through the village or town is fine but as soon as you hit the country roads, everything is suddenly looking pretty icy. What now? Bail, turn around and go home disappointed? Ride really slowly completing the planned route but on tenterhooks? Not necessarily, often you can have a good ride in bad conditions. 1025
Winter Riding Advice – 1. Keeping Warm Views & Opinion by MuddyGoose - December 10, 20160 Maybe you're a fan of riding alone indoors sweating away on a noisy turbo trainer; if so then this isn't for you. Personally I'd much rather carry on riding outside with my friends on real roads. After all here in the UK we still get some really nice sunny days during winter (it's not all rain and dark cloud) and don't forget the clear starry skies on a frosty evening. So here's my 10 ways to stay warm on the bike this winter! 1007
Norfolk 250 – The big one is in the bag! East Anglia by MuddyGoose - July 11, 2016January 7, 20172 With 160 miles as my previous biggest ride, 250 was quite a significant jump up. But I was confident that I could do it, even if it meant waking at 2:05 in the morning! So off went the alarm and up I jumped surprisingly awake and definitely ready for the day ahead. I don't know quite how I managed to be so sprightly at that time in the morning but it was a really good start. 824