Monthly Archives: July 2014

  • Cycling and drugs – The real story

    Cycling as a sport is associated with drugs. Tabloid journalists salivate at the merest hint of a cycling drugs story. Even if it is just a professional using prescribed medication to fight illness, with a therapeutic exemption form from the World governing body,  that's good enough to make the front pages. Competitive professional cycling, just…

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  • I never got a kiss at the ESB

    A Carrick man standing in the door and calling out before entering 'Are any of ye in handcuffs ?'. The reply came 'not all of us'. As the Carrick entourage entered a Scottish voice called out 'Did ye ever see Con Air ?'

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  • Bikegate and broken English

    Yesterday Alberto Contador crashed, broke his tibia, got back on a different bike and 20k later retired from the tour. Sad, but straightforward enough. This was a phenomenal display of courage and toughness to keep on riding which should be making the headlines but instead what happened to his bike is the real talking point.…

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  • Sunrise on Sa Calobra, the serpent of Mallorca

    Some days a bike brings you a taste of paradise that no car, bus or train could ever provide. Descending towards the ocean, for 10k on a deserted smooth Island road, as the sunrise turns the top of a white mountain orange, leaves a taste of paradise on your soul.   [iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Axzz6PejJeQ?feature=player_embedded"…

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  • Crisp Room at the Tour de France

    Grown up scepticism, telling yourself that it's just being realistic and facing up to the truth, places a dark cloud over the pure enjoyment of how a sensible adult watches modern sports, especially cycling and especially the Tour de France.

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