Mike Simpson
blog
Havant near Portsmouth 21 years ago - I'm watching my friends romp away with the team win at the National Junior Cross Country Championships (the late, great and very wonderful Sam Haughian was 2nd with Ben Whitby in 3th and backed up by Clayton Bannon). I was due to run in the senior race that af
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Salt is being rubbed firmly into open wounds at the moment; the current situation of nursing an injury after a knee operation and really feeling the onset of being in my late forties is being compounded by losing a few local Strava KOMs (King of the Mountains).Strava is a lot of fun, I started using
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Someone recently asked me - ''Why don't you start running again?''
In my mind I'm laughing and thinking - you idiot, what a ridiculous question! You have no idea you buffoon! I'm not sure what I actually said out loud but the notion was dismissed instantly.
The following happened the
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An early teenage obsession with Clint Eastwood movies planted some pretty idiotic notions into my head. Most I grew out of pretty quickly but one remained. After multiple viewings of The Eiger Sanction, I deemed it a viable idea to one day do some mountaineering. I was realisic enough to und
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The carousel is on what is probably its 15th lap, five minutes ago it was full of suitcases of varying shapes and sizes, now there are just a couple left. I am on my own, approaching 11.30 at night, in the arrivals baggage reclaim of the tiny Asturius airport in northern Spain. A old Spanish lady
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Last Saturday was almost a brilliant day. Halfway through the National Cyclocross Championships in Shrewsbury, I was in 6th place and looking good to podium in the 45-49 cat, to match my bronze medal in the 40-49 cat from 2013. The conditions were pretty epic with more running required than usual,
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The '80 mile rule' was my staple. I conjured it up a few years ago. I would never finish a ride having ridden between 80 and 100 miles. If I'd happen to go over 80 mile by even just one mile. I would have to continue and complete over 100 miles. A few occasions it has been tough. I remember a race
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When you find that things are getting wild Don't you want days like these?
I was always going to have to restrict trips to the mountains this year; a little someone at home needs me! I did however manage to escape to the Swiss Alps for a few days last month. These trips are going to
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Many times I have been asked the question or a derivative of it; which is harder road or cyclocross, running or cycling, rowing or sculling, track running or cross country? The list could go on. As far as single (or one event) moments are concerned it has to be on the road (see this blog from the
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(Click on climb name for more details)
My Favourite Climbs
1) Col D'Esischie
A delightful place. I never saw a single vehicle when riding up this. I think I will retire and live here.
2) Muro Di Sormano
A wonderful road. Very steep, permanently closed to traffic, cycling graffiti on t
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I'm awake at 1am again, damn it just like last Monday. I really need more sleep. Cyclocross races only last less than an hour, why is this all so tiring? Let's recap. So last weekend was a double with a Central League race on the Saturday and then the Inter Area Champs in Chesterfield the following
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With four kilometres to go from the top of this climb, I have a decision to make. I am in heavy fog, visibility is minimal and it's late in the day. Although I am on a supported event, I am off the designated course, for as the day has gone so well I've had time to s
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There was nothing more I could do. Less than a kilometre to go is only a few minutes of riding but this is going to last an age. My tactics employed today had left nothing for this part of the race. Don't look back, don't look back,
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I have long come to terms with the low emotions associated with sport. The disappointments and the injuries. When you are young your dreams are off the chart, such high hopes, but there is that time when it dawns on you that it’s not all going to happens as you’d planned. Walking away fr
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There is a special time early in life, just after being let loose from parental supervision and before real life starts, with it's mortgages, bills, jobs and commitments. I'm talking about the age between say 15 and 22 years old.
The adventures, scraps and antics that time in life were sp
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So the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything in Douglas Adam's wonderful world was 42. On the Stelvio Pass on the Swiss/Italian border that number represents something else. Each of the many hairpins are numbered. When you reach 42 hairpins to go you are not
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The last thing I do at the end of a Cent Cols day is to write some brief notes about the day’s events. It is usually well after 11pm and with another early start looming, I am barely awake. A tough day in the saddle, followed by washing kit, eating, attending the next day briefing and preppi
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This situation is ridiculous; an hour ago I was on my last legs long out of food and feeling very depleted. Yet I am still pedalling ferociously looking for somewhere to stop. Nowhere has been open. I've past countless villages and there has been no opportunity to buy food. After 7 hours riding I&
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I really must remember to be more-vague when answering the ‘what did you do at the weekend?’ question, especially to non-cyclists. My reply today was met with a confused reaction. I think they a) thought I was lying and b) thought I was a freak.
My aim for Saturday was to ride a lap o
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Not all adventures need to be epic, some don’t need much planning or even need a weekend. Microadventures seems to be very popular now, in the past I’ve used a bivi bag a lot during hikes, it’s so much more fun than a tent and means you have so much less to carry. A bivi bag was
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