On paper this was our easiest day. Only 89kms and 2800m of vertical ascent. Easyyyyyy......! It turned out to be anything but that! We headed out earlier today, approx 9am. First challenge was the Col des Saises followed by Cornet de Roselend. I've never ridden Col des Saises before but the profile online looks moderate. Cormet de Roselend I have done twice before. I know this sucker well. Nobody else here, including the guides, has done this one before. I hav...

Well folks Day 1 of OFC Alps ride. We've been keeping the difficulty of today a secret so we didn't scare off the punters. For a first day it was going to be super tough. 110kms with 3296m of vertical ascent. We were late heading off, 10am which was a bit slack. Everybody stuffing around, fixing bikes, gelling the hair, trimming the mo! Just like 2013, it was bucketing with rain in the morning but it cleared up OK. First climb out of town was Col des Ge...

I have been looking forward to this Sunday for 6 months. Today we all come together from all points of the compass to celebrate the start of the OFC Alps Ride 2017. This morning I woke early again so I could devour breakfast and start packing up plus watch the Crows v Collingwood game from 7:20am. Fortunately the hotel WiFi was performing poorly so I couldn't really watch the footy and whats more, the Crows were just so bad. That gave me plenty of time t...

Pretty simple plot today, no bike...just walking. I wanted to check out the market in the middle of town and do a little shopping to stock up for the week ahead...ie. booze (beer and red), cheese, charcuterie. Weather looks promising, mainly sunny. Lets see! Woke this morning early again, weather looked good 26 degrees. No riding today, resting up for the big ride day on Monday. So down to the market this morning, have a browse and buy some good loca...

Forecast was for another warm day, 26deg and sunny in the afternoon but cloudy again in the morning. I was up early again this morning, 5:30am, not quite adjusted to the time difference yet. Headed off down the street to the closest Artisanal Boulongerie to get some fresh croissants for breakfast. Ultimately a great choice....the croissants were excellent (with a little butter and peach jam). Only plan I had for today was to get out on the bike again, r...