Gavin just got back from the shops at home in Stirling ….. and he emailed me this picture! Very cool – my second magazine front cover, after a mountain biking shot taken at Xterra UK (which became a duathlon!) back in September 2006. This shot was taken in South Africa whilst I was training in Stellenbosch. I […]

I had my first longer ride for quite some time today; 4+ hours…… it has been a good month or more since I crept into those digits. South Africa seems many moons ago! Faced with a choice of bike now (it’s a tough life) I opted for my AR1 (again!) as I am really loving […]

This morning I decided to skip the visit to the pool in favour of a splash in the open water. I don’t often swim in the sea – the only time I did it during the whole 3 months I was away in South Africa was to actually race. (When I say swim; I mean […]

The South African experience is drawing to a close. This time next week it will be ‘this way to depatures’.

I’m in East London now after flying up the coast from Cape Town yesterday morning. I travelled up with Blair, who as I said has been out here with me for a couple weeks plus my training buddy in Stellenbosch, Tim Don. Our bikes and gear all rolled off the bagage belt in one piece and […]

Saturday morning was spent watching, cheering and ‘seconding’ at this local, but extremely unique multisport event a bit further down the coast. The Totalsports Challenge (totalsports.co.za) comprises of 7 seperate disciplines, and equates to what must feel like an ironman – taking the winner, my good friend Dan Hugo (dghugo.com), well over 6 hours to […]

– I’ve seen my first South African spider – a Rain Spider I am told. I don’t really mind what it’s called, it just means i won’t go anywhere near the bathroom for the rest of the day!!

Wow! Baptism of fire, or something like that ….. Dan Hugo tells me there is ‘hill climb’ low key type affair being organised by his father, so I was more than happy to go along. Oh. My. Word. 14.7k, topping out at close to 1600m with a average gradient in the region of 8%. It […]

I arrived safe and sound with all my luggage (always a worry when travelling through Heathrow Terminal 5) early o clock on Sunday morning here in South Africa. It is wonderful to be back. Everything is just how I remember it to be and I have got right back into the swing of things, which […]

My downtime has all but reached its endpoint; I have been home in Stirling for nearly 2 weeks and in 2 more days I will boarding a BA flight to Cape Town, so that I can spend the next 3 months in Stellenbosch… I’m a lucky person.