Croatia

We spent a week chilling out on the Istrian peninsula in Croatia, swimming in the Adriatic sea and doing a bit of sightseeing. The countryside is a bit average but there are dozens of tiny villages to explore and the ones along the coast are quite beatiful. The Romans were quite prolific in the area and there are plenty of remains to visit including the incredible amphitheatre in Pula.

Food wasn't too interesting, but we had a fun few nights out including watching a rock cover band play on the shoreside of Vrsar fronted by two sisters who wailed and moshed their way from the Rolling Stones to Guns n' Roses while wearing super-tight jeans - alllriiiight!!!


Rominj - one of the nicest coastal villages along the West coast of Istria.


It was riddled with gorgeous tiny lanes to wonder around and get lost in.


The Roman amphitheatre in Pula .. "my name is Gladiator!"


It's quite amazing that the Amphitheatre has survived for 2100 years in such good condition - the Venetians wanted it knocked down, locals used the stones for building supplies and it has seen plenty of wars.


The Roman temple in the centre of town.

Hibernation

There is snow on the mountain peaks and it's getting pretty nipply at night which means it's nearly time to pack up the bikes for winter. Unfortunately it gets too cold, snowy and icy to keep riding seriously throughout the winter here, not to mention that the roads are always salted which totally trashes bicycles.

It's been an awesome summer though and I've managed to pack in over 4000km of riding since Easter.

Riding with my local club has been fun too, though the mid-ride cafe stops are a somewhat more boozy than I've previously experienced. Usually we get a good two to three hours in before stopping, at which point everyone orders a large beer to wash down their sausage and bread snack. Makes a change to coffee and cake anyway.


Today's ride: Hallein, Golling, Voglau, St. Koloman. 650m of climbing - sweet.


The bike geeks among you will be happy to know that I have been riding a single-speed to work each day. There are a couple of nuggety hills on the way but it's such a cool rig to ride that it is going to suck not getting to ride it until next April.


The hack bike.


Beautiful.. please note missing spokes and chainring bolt.

Red Bull X-Alps

Well, we made it. Working on the Red Bull X-Alps was an experience we'll never forget.

For those of you who didn't know, I have been working on this project since about December: it was basically an adventure race that starts on the Dachstein Glacier and finishes in Monaco. The athletes travel by either paragliding or hiking. www.redbullxalps.com has all the details. It took about 17days and we were on the road that whole time, drove a few thousand kilometres and camped in some pretty neat parts of the Alps.

Anyway, we got to follow the race in a camper and travelled with a couple of photographers and tandem paragliding pilots: Vitek from Czech, Olivier (France), Ralf (Austria) and Felix (Germany).

Overall, it was great, although a lot of work and we are still trying to catch up on sleep. We saw a lot of the Alps, met some very cool people from all over the world and we swam in the sea in Monaco, which was nice and warm. Highlights were the Swiss Alps and some very memorable drives through the night.

We crashed with Olivier at his chalet in Chamonix for a couple of nights of guitar playing and general merriment.

As for the camper van, well, we had more than a couple of little bumps, mainly my fault, I admit..

Ralf sleeping in his car

Our camper near Mont Blanc - the damage is on the other side

Katie on one of the many beautiful mountain passes in Switzerland

The view from where we free-camped in Monaco

Martin Müller, the third placed athlete landing near the beach in Monaco

Me on the beach in Monaco, looking a bit tired

These three are just a few of the 'official' photos, taken by the guys with the tandem pilots' help. This one near the Eiger, Switzerland and probably my favourite shot from the whole event

Chamonix valley

Olivier flying near Mont Blanc with his fisheye lens

Back in the UK

Spent the weekend near Bristol at the NASS - a sports and music festival. The event itself was a bit grubby. There was rubbish everywhere and the toilets were like some kind of apocalyptic scene. But the BMX competition that I was working on went off and the level of riding just amazing.



And we got to stay in a neat little village pub in a tiny place called Nunney with an ancient castle in the middle. Hanging out with two German filmographers Dominik and Thomas and the Dutch photographer Rutger was great. I'm really beginning to appreciate central Europe and all its quirks and cultures. I think they were slightly blown away at getting to crash in this perfect slice of English countryside.

More cycling fun

Yep, more cycling related activity. This time the Glockner Koenig mass bike ride/ race. Basically an uphill race 27km long, with 1800m climbing, the steepest section being 12% and incorporating 14 hairpins. In other words: world of pain!

This ride has been on the cards for a while since Mum and Dad did it a few years ago. Me and Dad rode this year and what a challenge! I managed to finish in 1hr 38min about 20 mins behind the winner and in 87th place out of 2020, and was felt totally spent. Dad wasn't too far behind in 3hr 13min.

Last few metres. The finish was amazing - 2445m above sea level with a fantastic view, way above the treeline.

Two knackered cyclists about to start a 27km descent.