The Routeburn Track in a day has been on my to-do list since Lillian and I attempted it 10 years ago but were stymied by poor weather. So when I managed to obtain a place in the Arc’teryx Routeburn Classic, a trail run that covers the track in a day, I was excited by the […]
The Volcanic Epic is only four years old but has already carved out a niche: excellent singletrack, beautiful surroundings, and racing that’s tough enough to be satisfying without tipping into full Cape Epic–style life choice questioning. I’ve competed in all four editions. The first was as a pair with Angus, as a prelude to riding […]
The Peaks Challenge has earned a reputation as one of the finest gran fondos in the world. It is often associated with searing heat in the valleys and with riders being so spent on the final climb, the notorious Back of Falls, that they are reduced to walking and pushing their bikes uphill. Comprising of […]
This is the second in my series on how not to train for an ultra-trail run! I so wanted to write about how I learnt from my mistakes of last year, aced my preparation, and ran a PB… but that was not to be. Last year, I started cramping about 20km into the race and […]
Even several days after the event, I was still on a high from Edition Zero. At 248km it was my longest bike ride ever, as well as my first gravel race in the spectacular and remote landscapes of the South Island. Strange things happen in one’s mind when the distances are that long. Whilst the […]
This visit to Hong Kong was one of a kind. Waiting in Japan in the days leading up to our flight we had been tracking the progress of “Super-Typhoon” Ragasa as it raced westwards. The target date for it to strike Hong Kong was the afternoon of our arrival. We landed in Chek Lap Kok […]
We have always wanted to go back to Japan ever since our year off work in 2015 when we spent 5 weeks travelling around by shinkansen, basing ourselves in a place for a few days and exploring by bike, before moving on. So when I found out that the 2025 Asia Pacific Stroke Conference was […]
In August 2025 we were back again for our second Tour of Samoa. It felt good to be rolling along, windows open, down the coast road from the airport to the capital city, Apia, and to once again become part of the Tour of Samoa family. Like all families it has its rituals and customs, […]
“Make sure you have enough warm clothing.”, “Expect to get wet through and be blasted by the wind”, and more worrying for me given I had skied an average of 1 day a year for the last 6 years, “I hope you have been been practicing skiing off-piste in poor visibility and flat light”. These […]
There’s something special about doing something for the first time. In particular the fact that, no matter how well you think you have prepared, there are so many things that you learn. The Tarawera T50 was my first ultra-marathon. In this post I cover my training for the event, how things panned out on race […]