Author: Will

The Swisscom Telecommunication tower at La Barillette high in the Jura mountains is visible far below from Geneva. One can also see the white bubble airplane radar tower atop the La Dôle peak. It’s thirteen wonderfully deserted kilometres to the summit up a beautiful, paved forest road. I try to use Strava to follow friends and acquaintances that do interesting rides. For La Barillette, every year I wait to see that a friend has reached the top, then I immediately visit. Usually, the route is not clear of snow until April. But it’s been a warm winter. My good friend…

My first ride since early August that didn’t start/end from home. I thought I’d choose a familiar old friend. This is a great loop of Lake Annecy via the bike path on the west side of the lake and via Col de la Forclaz de Montmin on the east. This is the climb where I first saw a Tour de France mountain stage …… back in 2004. I started on the north edge of the lake near Annecy. The key to the route is to immediately get onto the Annecy bike path that runs along the west side of the…

I think people read this blog mainly for ride ideas. But hopefully for the photos too. January was a fairly successful month of riding as my health continues to improve. Lots of local rides from home. A few favourite photos. Bottom line? I am jumping with joy to be riding again. Happy 2020.

Happy New Year! 2020 will be year sixteen of this blog. I feel exactly the same as I did last January when I wrote: I appreciate all the support from people last year when I considered ending the website given how the world has moved to social media. But I realised I’d keep writing this blog even with zero readers. Because for me it’s like a personal journal. At this point, I love cycling so much – and miss it so much when injured – that I don’t need an annual goal for motivation. But these silly annual challenges help…

Year 15 of this blog. Yikes. 2019 was a tough year, as I’ve been recovering from a crash since early August. BUT that is the last depressing sentence in this post – I am an optimist. I actually did OK versus my 2019 Cycling Challenge. Earlier, I posted a few of my favourite photos of the year, organised by month – see here. Here are the results versus my 2019 Cycling Challenge. Cycle 100 Different Cols OK, given the shortened year, I needed to count everything possible to “succeed.” But I believe I cycled up a handful more than one…

A few photos to remember 2019: January February March April May June July August September-November Injured 🙁 1st photo in 3 months: December Wooohooo! Happy New Year!

Hi. I just wanted to write a short post to thank everyone for so many kind emails, comments, messages, etc. since my crash. The fractures have healed well. My back and neck are still both a small mess but improving with therapy. I feel about 75% (that’s good news)! AND ….. I can ride again. The goal is to get healthy and ready for bigs rides by early spring.

I believe Colle del Nivolet is the most beautiful road bike cycling climb in the Alps. I have written about it several times. A few examples: 1. Colle del Nivolet – the famous side 2. Colle del Nivolet video: Unpaved both sides 3. Colle del Nivolet Via Pont (the back way) So in addition to my usual Alps cycling calendars (see here) – I’ve decided to make an entire calendar dedicated to this stunning Italian road. Unlike my standard calendars, this one includes photos older than the past 12 months. I’ve tried to include a few unique angles as well…

Busy doing your Christmas shopping? Looking for a 2020 alpine cycling calendar? Well, look no further. Here are three calendars with my favourite photos of 2019. The first: Cycling the Alps – Road Bike , the second: Cycling the Alps – Mountain/Gravel Bike, and third: Cows. EDIT: I have added a fourth calendar: All photos are of Colle del Nivolet – the most beautiful climb in the Alps. See here! A few quick points: All photos were taken by me in the past 12 months. I am making no money from this. The price is just what is charged by…

Last week, I was mountain biking on a small mountain near home. To bypass a rough stretch of gravel, I briefly rode alongside on a field. My wheel fell in a hole and my bike stopped. But I kept going, landing on my head. Oops. After X-rays, CT-Scans and an MRI it seems I have cracked vertebrae in both my neck and back. Neither are displaced and with some luck, it won’t be too serious. I will get scanned again in several weeks and hopefully be cleared to cycle again. My back and neck muscles/ligaments/etc are a painful mess, so…