From the lovely north of England to……

Road trips and cycling pretty much go hand in hand. There’s nothing better than loading up the car with the bikes, looking for a good few squiggles on the map and heading to some great riding territory for a few days or a week. But when the chance comes your way to do it for a few months, well you’ve got to be pretty stupid to pass that chance up.

I’m writing this in one of the iconic cycling destinations for any mad cycling fanatic, Feltre in the Dolomites Italy. 2000 odd kilometers of road have been traversed in the old Citroen to get here, and so far it’s been well worth it.

Let me rewind a bit. I’m one of those mad keen cycling fanatics, passionate I like to call it. I’m also slightly addicted to traveling with my bike, to the extent that the majority of my money is spent on either bike stuff or traveling. I’ll also buy the odd bit of food to keep me going.

So when the summer finally spun round I knew it was about time I left the good old UK and head across the English Channel for what I like to call proper Europe for a chunk of time. I had a few rough ideas to get me started on the trip, places I wanted to revisit from previous trips and a few big events I wanted to race, watch or get a kicking at.

…Innsbruck Austria. First stop on the trip.

Events like the Sportful Gran Fondo in the amazing Dolomites of Italy, the Etape, a few days watching the Tour, a quick trip to Spain, cram a few races and crits in plus whatever else I could squeeze in and afford.

So for the next few weeks (or months depending on the cost of camping and fuel) I’ll be charing my trip here at the PBKblog, a weekly round up of the sights I’ve seen, races and events I’ve competed in, and the people I’ve met. I’ve got a good feeling about this, it’s a trip I’m sure any cyclist worth their shammy would love to take.

Coffee stops a regular thing on road trips.

So far it’s been amazing, driving from the north of England down through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Austria, finally arriving in Italy all so I could get here in time for, what is in my eyes, one of the amateur sports highlights of the year. The Castelli Feltre 24hr race. But that’s for another blog.

I’ll also bring you the odd blog on the equipment I’m using, the cars stocked up with an array of goodies. Bits like some lovely new Reynold Attack wheels, a few pieces of Castelli’s collection, energy and recovery food from a few manufactures and then there’s a couple of tyres that need to get a few miles or kilometers under them. I’ll report back on how they are holding up, what’s impressed me and if the energy foods staving off the dreaded bonk on these Gran Fondo’s.

I hope you’re going to enjoy it all, I’m only doing it so you guys can read about it…..honest.



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