On the weekend I took part in the annual CycloTour du Leman around lake Geneva starting in Lausanne and finishing in Lausanne again. As with most of these recent crazy plans I have had I did it because someone else suggested it and encouraged me to do it (and again I did it without enough training leading up to it). I joined a group of riders from team Sisu who were setting out to hold the front group and try to complete the whole lap of the lake in under 4 hours 30 mins. I had...

Recently I travelled to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro and to go on a safari. So although my trip was not at all bike related it did not take long to be reminded of how important the bike is to many people around the world. I (and many people I know) take our bikes for granted. Many of us will even have multiple bikes for different types of riding and different conditions. But for many people the bike is a luxury that helps improve their lives no end. While I was training for my mad ironman/triathlon season a few years ago...

Last week news broke about Tacx being acquired by Garmin. There are plenty of people in much better positions than me talking about this but I wanted to add my two cents worth to the discussion as well. As someone who both uses and promotes and sells both brands I have to say I am excited to see what this means. I love my Garmin Fenix 3 (not found a good enough reason to update it to the newest version yet) and my Tacx i-Vortex (although I have not been on it yet this winter). Both products have lasted me...

Follwoing on from the post about winter we have a review of a Tacx indoor training from a customer who bought one last season to train. I purchased the Tacx Satori smart trainer last winter as a way to get some kilometres in during the cold wet winter months. As a first time buyer I wanted to keep the price at a reasonable level. The Satori Smart arrived, hassle free and quick as usual from Michael, I had it unboxed and set up within 10 minutes with the bike attached. I downloaded the app to my smartphone to calibrate the...

Winter is here and for many (often myself) this means that the cycling season is over. I feel I have a little bit of an excuse as where I live there is snow on the ground for most of the winter, but really, it is no excuse. There are many thing you can get to make sure that winter cycling is doable, safe and even enjoyable. So, first thing you can do, and my prefered option, is to get an indoor trainer set up for the winter. This often requires both a reasonable investment in a trainer and space to...

This year I decided I would push myself and step up from the half Ironman distance and go the the full ironman (why do I do this to myself) Training started a full 6 months before the race. I got myself a training plan to follow that I felt I understood and could follow and got the wife to sign off on training so much. This was the hardest part as we had a 1 year old and our second was due during the training plan. http://www.220triathlon.com/downloads/6monthIronmanTrainingPlan.pdf At the start it was all go. Get my session in, do...

St-Cergue is a great little town in the Jura above Nyon and is perfectly located for many outdoor activities during the winter and the summer. With winter now over it is time to start cycling again and there are many trails and great roads to cycle on in the Jura around St-Cergue. One trail which I do enjoy to ride is the Old Roman Road down from St-Cergue to Nyon. View Larger Map This trail follows the Old Roman road and crosses the main road at a few places. There are still many...

Recently I had the pleasure of purchasing a Tacx i-Vortex to keep me going through the cold winters here in Switzerland. Below are a few observations and comments on the trainer. Firstly, it is a very simple kit to set up. We have 2 bikes of different sizes that are easily interchangeable. You just snap one bike out and set the new one in place. The control panel is also easy to move from one bike to the other with the multi width straps allowing it to fit any bike handlebar. TTS4 - The software is came with. To get...