Cycling

I can't remember when I started to listen to podcasts. I am sure I was not an early adopter. It might have been around 2004 using iPodder on Linux with the first iPod and later an iPod Shuffle. Over the years I used various tools and devices to download podcasts and now have settled on Pocket Casts on Android. It has nice sync functionality between multiple devices and a useful web interface too. The web app is also useful to pull up the recently starred episodes for my Friday Links.I have a silly amount of subscriptions, the list below are the main ones which are still active and the ones I am still listen to regularly. ...

What is in my bag I am slow, but at least I am persistent. Four years ago I posted "What is in my bag. Part 1: Small Saddlebag", and I kind of promised to post about what I take on sportives / gran fondos. This is not that post, because I haven't taken part in any sportives for a while. Instead this is an update to the original post. I am still using the bag from the first post on my commuter bike. ...

TI99/4A Home Computer Early and short list today, as I am off tomorrow. Remote working seems to become a standard section now. It is interesting how the whole world is dealing with it and everybody having strong opinions about it. Plus the usual technology, bike lanes and random links. Technology ...

Last week I went on my first supported cycling trip. Supported means that there are cars carrying your luggage from one hotel to the next one. They provide you with food on the tour, space for spare clothes and help out when needed. They also take pictures and sort out random stuff that comes up. It was quite a spontaneous decision on my side and I had fixed dates for the holiday, so the choice of providers of these trips was limited. My first idea for a destination were the Dolomites, but this would have required flights and more organization on my side. In the end I went with Canigou Cycling, who conveniently provide a Barcelona Airport pick up service - or for me a pick up from home. The tour started in Sort, stayed a bit on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees west of Andorra. There was a rest day after three days and then we continued on the French side until returning to Spain on the last day. We hit some famous climbs: Col d'Aubisque, Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aspin and Col de Peyresourde. You can see the Strava activities below. The group consisted of ten riders and three support staff with two cars. We were mostly Germans plus two Americans. Amazingly I was nearly the youngest rider, not so amazingly I was not the fastest. In fact I took it quite easy over the days and enjoyed the scenery. We were quite lucky with the weather, having only one rainy day and the temperature was also perfect. The hotel selection was pretty good. Because I was traveling alone I always had a single room, which did cost a bit more. Dirk from Canigou Cycling did a good job and was always really friendly and helpful. The only thing I would improve would be the communication. If you spend this kind of money upfront, you really want to be more informed and see something happening on their facebook page and fast response to emails. I would do it again, though the next time I really would like to see the Dolomites and maybe go with Velodrom Bike Tours, who are based in Barcelona and I know already from their shop. I probably forgot something, just ask in the comment section. Route Sort - Taüll Taüll - Aínsa Aínsa - Sabiñánigo Sabiñánigo - Argelès-Gazost Argelès-Gazost - Arreau Arreau - Vielha Gallery

Last weekend I travelled to London for the Prudential RideLondon 100. It is a 100 miles (160km) sportive going through London and the Surrey Hills. This one is held on completely closed roads and is also the biggest sportive I have ever attended, with around 30000 cyclists on the road. I stayed in an Airbnb in Homerton, which I mainly choose because it was near the Olympic Park, where the start was. And it was good to be close, because I had there by 6:40 latest. You are assigned a colour and a starting wave. They stagger the waves to avoid congestion on the road. I think faster riders will also be in the earlier waves. I guess I was somewhere in the middle. It rained all night, so the roads were pretty wet, but the sun came out a bit later. The route went through London, past the sight seeing attraction like London Tower, the Thames, Richmond Park (saw one deer), Parliament, Big Ben and so on. I don’t have many photos, because I really didn’t stop a lot. This one is from the Surrey Hills at a food stop. ...