Starting my own merchandise has been a lot of fun. I love creating stuff and bringing it to the world. It’s part of the reason I’ve fallen so much in love with photography over the years. There’s a huge amount of satisfaction I get from having an idea, executing it, and then popping it online for the world to see. At the same time, I’ve… Read More »The challenge of launching products
‘Ard Rock was a last-minute decision for me. I have mentioned several times in past blog posts how I am absolutely not made for racing. My mindset is one with a competitive nature and I enjoy riding my bike as an escape. To race would lead to a slippery slope of itching for a better time. That’d lead to obsessing about training and nutrition and… Read More »‘Ard Rock Thoughts
The day started like any other. A Saturday with nothing unusual or abnormal except for the collection of bags by the back door; bags I’d packed the night before in my excitement for the trip. Although the day was the same as any other August Saturday, my weekend excitement levels were above their norm. It was the first multi-day bikepacking trip I’d go on. The… Read More »The First of many days
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a whole bunch of photos from Red Bull Hardline. This year’s event was closed to spectators but still open to riders and media. Thankfully, I managed to get into the event on that based on this very blog. Who knew that a little slice of internet dedicated to bikes would be suitable enough for a… Read More »Red Bull Hardline 2021
There’s nothing quite like New Bike Day. Opening the box to take a proper look at the bike I’ve ordered is always interesting and exciting. The anticipation of sitting on it and checking the size, tweaking the angles of the brake levers, sorting the bars… it’s always good fun. And then there’s riding it. I love taking a new bike onto the trails for the… Read More »Stif Squatch | New Bike Day
I’ve used a few Chrome Industries products over the years. Two of the bags which I still use now were originally sent through TotalMTB for a review and I’ve managed to hang on to them. Since Chrome focus on ‘urban cycling’, there’s no surprise that something I noted about the rucksacks were the lack of waist strap. In my mind, that’s absolutely vital for mountain… Read More »Doubletrack Bar Bag | Chrome Industries
I love creating stuff. Getting some merch together has been a bit of a long term goal of mine. I’ve very much wanted to create some interesting stuff in my own style for a while now. There’s just something about having an idea, getting the stuff together, and releasing it into the world. I find joy in that. Back in 2015 I designed the Contour… Read More »I Like Creating
I love camping. That feeling of being outside, having only what you need. It’s a great way of escaping and feeling like there’s an adventure regardless of how far away the campsite is. Combining camping and cycling is something I’ve wanted to do for a while but have never got round to until very recently. Scott – The Average Bikepacker to anyone online – was… Read More »Beginning Bikepacking
It had been a long time off the mountain bike. Prior to the ride recently, I think it was in December that I last managed to ride any trails on my trail bike. To put it plainly, there simply are no local mountain biking trails which were accessible during the last UK lockdown. Or at least none I could get to with the shorter daylight… Read More »Getting used to it.
Lockdown cycling has been tough. Especially this time. It’s been cold, wet and the shorter days have meant that it’s got to be a bit more accurately planned when your mates don’t have lights. Still, having a chance to get out on a bike at all makes me feel very grateful. Despite missing mountain biking so much that I’m now literally dreaming about it, having… Read More »A simple mistake. Twice.