Derek Harpin, AKA Mack, is a Chain Gang regular. He’s also a keen cyclist and walker when at home in Godalming, and arranges loads of 1-day walks and rides. Recently there was a ride arranged in London, so I was…
Last weekend I got a bit of a shock. My cycling mate Andy, recently appointed as the Bike Doctor by Devon County Council, has signed us both up for the Dartmoor Challenge in May. As part of our preparation, Dr.…
A Tour for Lovers of Wine This was the 2nd tour that we designed. Running the Dordogne tour in 1997 awoke my interest in wine, and inevitably I started reading about the wines of Bordeaux, the greatest wine producing region…
One of My Favourite Cyclists I got a letter from one of my favourite ever Chain Gang cyclists earlier this week, Albert Ayton. Albert first joined us in 2000 at the age of 79 in the Dordogne. He’s an accomplished…
Good Reasons to Choose a Cycling Tour in The Loire Valley First off, the Loire Valley. It’s relatively flat, which usually means not such nice scenery, and certainly Provence, the Dordogne, Tuscany and Umbria are all more beautiful. But there…
If You’ve Never Travelled With Us, How Do You Know Which Bike Tour Is Best For You? Our first bike tour was based around the Dordogne, in France and as you might imagine, we tried to choose the best area…
In last month’s issue of ‘Pro Cycling’ there was a little snippet about Lance Armstrong, particularly about a 6-minute clip on YouTube. We all know about Lance on a bike. Back in the ‘90s we had 5 years of Miguel…
Last Saturday I had a real treat. A few days before I got a call out of the blue from Ranju, Sandeep’s other half, and we arranged to meet for lunch at Villandry (in London, not the chateau in the…
Tandem Bicycles I Hear You Ask? You May Have to Buy Your Own Years ago – and I really mean years ago, in 1979 – I cycled around Exeter with my brother Mike on a tandem bicycle, displaying placards for…
This is the time of year when I start following the cycling press. It’s the run-up to the classics of Belgium, Holland and Northern France, and it’s the first chance we get to run the rule over the runners and…
