As I wrote in the post about local cycling trips you don’t have to spend a lot of money on cycling adventures. This week I am doing support for the Chain Reaction Charity Ride from Melbourne to Sydney, which gives me a chance to follow and help 40 executives from Westpac, CFS, Westfield and Gadens […]
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This 2012 Haute Route report is by Reader Steve. Reader Steve is a bit of a madman. He travels the world for his work, runs his own custom cycling kit business and in just his second year of cycling, tackled a bunch of epic sportifs. Steve was kind enough to share his epic adventures through […]
Knowing how to choose an airline for a cycling trip isn’t just about choosing the lowest cost airfare; you’ll have to have a think about a few variables in order to choose the right airline. By knowing How to Choose an Airline you’ll avoid this situation: “I am very sorry sir, that will be $400 […]
How to Choose between the Alps and Pyrenees James in New Zealand Google IM’d me the other night wanting to know how to choose between the Alps and Pyrenees, and if the Alps or Pyrenees was better. James recently bought the Cycling in France Guide and was beginning to plan his trip. He had a […]
I had a recent request to review Sukkie, so put an email in to their contact email from their website and was promptly called by their founder Leon. We ended up chatting for an hour or so about Sukkie and I thought it would be awesome to bring his obvious enthusiasm, passion for his brand […]
It was hot and sultry (yesterday was dark and stormy, today, hot and sultry) out on the road today. You realised this was madness. Fun, yes, but madness. And, maaaaaan, was it ever brutal. Brutal and mad. Like a 10th century warlord. Is this what cycling was about? (Turns out, yes. Who knew?!) From the […]
For most people, gearing for Etape du Tour will be as simple as putting compacts on! I’ve done Etape enough times as a rider with pretty solid race fitness to tell you that compacts make sense. Here are my Etape du Tour reports from 2009, 2010 and 2011. And just to put the frighteners into […]
For most people, gearing for Haute Route will be a simple consideration – use compacts! There’s no point being a hero and rolling on full sized cranks (even with a 27). Sure you might look tough and it’s useful on the downhills (how much time can you make up on descents…hint: not as much as […]
Knowing how to avoid Overseas Prepaid Mobile Internet Problems involves a lot of research and some experience. Most long time readers of the site know I am obsessed with finding the best data and SIM card deals so you can have the internet on your smartphone when overseas so you can have a hassle free […]
With the new year now here, I thought it would be fun to consider a cycling holiday a little outside the square of the usual France and Euro focus by looking at Vietnam tours by bike in this guest post by Dave Elliot. One of the very best ways to get to grips with any […]
I get a lot of questions from the VeloNomad trip planning consulting clients about the ins and outs of watching a TDF stage and whilst the basic tenets of watching a stage irrespective of the year are the same, it’s worth looking at the specifics of 2013 Tour de France vantage points. Get this article […]
The 2013 Alps Haute Route Course has now been announced and boy am I jealous that I won’t be there (it’s number 1 on my sportif bucket list). How hard will the 2013 Alps Haute Route Course be? Ridiculous – 21000+ M of climbing, 866km, over 7 days. The 2013 Haute Route will start as […]
How to train with limited time I had an email from VeloNomad reader Rob the other day. Rob wanted to know how to train with the very limited time he has. Rob is 8 weeks into his first block of the VeloNomad Cycling Training Program but Rob lives in Canada where the days are short […]
How to know if a nutrition product works In this article I want to touch upon how to know if a nutrition product works for you. In particular I want to talk about hydration and electrolyte products as I live in a hilly, hot, humid area where long rides really drain you. As cyclists, many […]
Most readers of VeloNomad know I am obsessed by quality food and great nutrition (nutrition plan for cyclists, are you wasting money on supplements, nutrition myths) as it’s quality eating (yes and exercise) that helped me lose 25kg. Anyway, one of the things I really enjoy is cooking (especially the experimentation side) and recently I’ve […]
A heavy focus of VeloNomad is on Etape du Tour (with an increasing focus on Haute Route and Marmotte) and am important part of Etape du Tour is training for Etape. Most people can effectively train for cycling or a sportif like Etape du Tour using a heart rate targeting plan, but the most benefit […]
Whether you’re training for Etape, training for Haute Route (yikes), training for Marmotte or training for some other big sportif – probably involving lots of what normal people would call a stupid amount of riding up epic alpine mountain faces – the same basic training can be applied. I’ll talk mostly about Etape in this […]
For information on the next Etape du Tour, go to the VeloNomad Etape landing page. The 2013 Etape du Tour route announcement has caused a collective apoplexy amongst the Etapperati. “Sacre Bleu! It stinks!” “Mon dieu! It’s too short!” “Pooh-pooh, ziss stinks like a good French cheese! But in a bad way. (Sacre Bleu!)” Now […]
Finding cycling accommodation overseas can be particularly frustrating. You invariably have four options: Use a local travel agent Find a place via web search Wotif/Expedia/Booking.com/etc Wait until you’re there Let’s look at each option in more detail. Using a Local Agent Travel agents can be great in some situations, but my personal opinion is there […]
Wondering How to win Strava KOMs? To win Strava KOMs, ignore Strava KOMs. Timbo, VeloNomad head raconteur Now I realise this might cause a measure of apoplexy amongst readers, and catcalls of “The man’s daft!” as well as behind the scenes moves to prematurely and precipitously end my benevolent rule. But stick with me. Why […]
In the old days When I started cycling seriously and racing in 2009, I did no training. I could just naturally climb and race well. I started racing in 2009 and quickly moved from E to B grade. And then, disaster struck. I’d been drinking Bonsoy soy milk and got very ill (more about that […]
Knowing how to recover from long bike rides is really important if you’re doing Etape du Tour, Haute Route, Marmotte or some other sportif on your travels. Whilst it’s especially important to know how to recover properly each day during an event like Haute Route, it’s also important for “shorter” events like Marmotte, Etape du […]
I don’t know about you, but I love cross training for road cycling. Recently on a well trafficked Australian cycling website I made the comment that most cyclists would benefit from introducing some of (or even one of) mountain biking, swimming, running and weights into their training regime. Howled down in a cacophonous din of […]
It’s 5AM. The alarm goes off. It is cold outside. And dark. And sounds wet. Cold, dark and wet. “Great”, you think. Your better half is sleeping soundly and provides a very warm cocoon in which to envelope yourself. What are you going to do – ride or hide – GO… You’re staring at the […]
Local cycling trips don’t get attention sometimes; the allure, glitz and glamour of a big cycling trip – especially if it’s to France for the Tour or Italy for the Giro or Belgium for the Classics – is pretty hard to resist. However, it can be a frightfully expensive (but worthwhile) experience. I mean, it’s […]