Josh Ibbett rides the Tour Divide
Dirty Reiver - by Elaine Burroughs
It was about the time I sold my campervan last year, that the little worm in my ear started plotting how I was going to spend the money I got for it. After all, we always need more bike stuff, it’s only the justification that takes some thought.
It’s safe to say that it didn’t take long for me to hatch both a plan, and an excuse for the plan.
2019 saw me turning 50, and in the usual panic and societally-induced need to do something stupid to mark the occasion, I found the obvious excuse...
PODIUM FOR JOSH AT BIKINGMAN OMAN
To add just that bit more difficulty, Josh decided to fly into Dubai and ride 515km to the race start over two rides. What's more, is he did the first 310km ride at an average speed of over 30kmh... Unreal... Oh and he also bagged the KOM on the brutal Jebel Shams climb during the race itself.
GROVE GRIND 100
To get you all in the mood, we thought we'd share this video of Grove Bike Co'sinaugural Grove Grind 100 over in Australia - a ride comprising of "100km of rough and raw fireroads around Sydney's Northern Beaches, the home of Grove Bike Co. Scorching temps, pounding sandstone, an arvo storm and locally-brewed beers from Nomad Brewing Co to round it all out - a cracking day indeed."
ON THE DROPS WITH STEVE BATE MBE
For a hobby taken up as a second choice, Steve happens to be quite handy on a bike. This guy covers ground like carpet, it's absolutely unreal. He recently rode 501km across Scotland in 22hrs and 20mins. Not bad for a guy who's rapidly losing what remaining vision he does have left. He's an inspirational rider and all-round decent bloke, who won't take no for an answer.
"Wild about Argyll" by Steve Bate
LESS THAN 1000KM TO GO IN ROUND-THE-WORLD RECORD
PROJECT24: EDINBURGH TO THE NORTH SEA
Stephen Bates is more than just a bike rider. He is an adventurer, World Champion, Olympian and being a vision impaired rider and inspiration to what is possible. Coming off his win at the recent World Championships in Vancouver, Canada on the Velodrome, Stephen decided to take on a more endurance-focused challenge. Here is his story riding from Edinburgh to the North Sea.
GRAVEL RIDING HEAVEN? ROB HARWOOD HEADS OUT TO WALES
ON THE DROPS WITH JOSH IBBETT
Adventure rider, Josh Ibbett, has now returned to the UK with us extending out a big warm 'welcome back to the team’! We can’t believe that it has taken so long for us to catch Josh for the dreaded On The Drops! probably because he has been on some col in the Pyrenees or in a Mexican desert…
ON THE DROPS INTERVIEW: Cal Nicklin
Cal has been with the Mason tribe since the early days. As Mason’s first full time employee, he has seen the company go from strength to strength. Spending time pedalling around Sussex on his road machine and mountain bike, Cal prefers to keep it real and simple with his riding... although on the morning commute with the rest of the Hunt guys, you wouldn’t be able to tell!
JOSH IBBETT: The Trans Canada Experience
It seems like yesterday that we featured world traveller and long distance cyclist, Josh Ibbett's last blog post. However, he is still out on the road and still heading along his planned route. There have been a few variations and at the time of writing, Josh has been in company with his partner Caroline. Heading south has given him time to reflect on his ride across the interior of Canada.
This time round, Josh's trip has taken a slight turn. The endless landscapes, which those from Canada, the US and Australia can easily relate too, have challenged the Englishman who is more familiar with geographically condensed Europe/UK. It sounds like the pure openness has taken its toll. And rightly so! But in typical Josh fashion, he had made the best of it and stayed true to his 'experience-the-world' mantra rather than riding for the sake of it.
The USA is big! Flying into to New York for my first ever visit to the United States was certainly an eye opening experience. The streets are bigger, the buildings are bigger, the cars are bigger and the portions are bigger! Flying in after a month in culture filled Spain it certainly was a shock.
Read on for more...