Rides - The Climbing Cyclist

October 1, 2017February 1, 2022

DD17: The 2017 Melbourne Dirty Dozen

DD17 was the sixth edition of the Melbourne Dirty Dozen. Held in Dromana for the first time (after three years in the Dandenongs and two in Warburton) the event started poorly, with a torrential downpour at the start. But the weather improved, and it turned into a truly magnificent day on the bike. Read more

September 11, 2017

Ol' Dirty 2017

Ol' Dirty by Hells 500 is always one of my favourite rides of the year. The 2017 edition, in all its mud-covered glory, was no exception. Here's how my day unfolded. Read more

November 14, 2016February 1, 2022

A ride down memory lane: Bike Camp revisited

Not all rides have great meaning to them. Much of the time it's about simply getting from A to B, or staying fit, or clearing your head. But sometimes there's a ride that stands out, that has a significance much greater than the distance covered or how fast your rode. A recent ride down memory lane with my mate Nick was one of those rides. Read more

September 21, 2016February 1, 2022

DD16: The 2016 Melbourne Dirty Dozen

DD16 was the fifth edition of the Melbourne Dirty Dozen, a recreational cycling event in which riders pit themselves against a baker's dozen of short but steep climbs. For this year's edition we returned to Warburton for what was arguably the hardest edition yet, not least because of constant rain throughout the day. Read more

August 31, 2016February 1, 2022

Ol' Dirty 2016

The fifth edition of Hells 500's Ol' Dirty took us into the Cathedral Ranges near Marysville for a day of steep climbs, rough roads, and yet another memorable lunch stop. Read more

August 25, 2016February 1, 2022

The Redback: Mountain bike racing in Alice Springs

The Redback is a four-day, six-stage mountain bike race in the central Australian town of Alice Springs. I went into the race thoroughly unprepared – in terms of my equipment and my training – but still managed to have a terrific time. Here's how my race unfolded. Read more

August 10, 2016August 11, 2016

Crashing in Austria, Le Tour and riding in London

After a quiet few months on the blog, there's quite a bit to catch up on, not least a crash in Austria, a trip to the Tour de France, and the chaos of riding around London. Read more

March 24, 2016May 2, 2016

Video: Bike racing in a multi-story carpark

A closed multi-story carpark, 100 cyclists, food, drinks and music – it was a great night at the inaugural Secure Parking Carpark climb. Read more

March 15, 2016February 1, 2022

Mountain biking at Mt. Buller and Mt. Stirling

The day after our Domestique 7 Peaks Ride at Mt. Buller, I headed out onto the famous MTB trails in the surrounding hills. My destination was the nearby peak of Mt. Stirling and while the mountain was only 10km away in a straight line, it was no mean feat to get there. Read more

March 9, 2016March 9, 2016

Domestique 7 Peaks Rides 2015/16: Mt. Buller

For the final Domestique 7 Peaks Ride of the summer, the crew headed out to the glorious Mt. Buller climb roughly three hours north-east of Melbourne. Several hundred riders took on the 16km ascent to the alpine resort on what was a beautifully warm autumn day. Read more

December 2, 2015February 1, 2022

Vertical K: seeing a different side to Mt. Donna Buang

I've climbed Mt. Donna Buang more times by bike than I care to remember but there's one way up I'd never experienced, until now. At Sunday's Vertical K event I 'ran' up the steep walking track to the summit of Donna while my brother Brendan rode up the main climb. The race was on. Read more

November 25, 2015November 27, 2015

The inaugural CyclingTips Giro della Donna

After many months of planning, the first-ever CyclingTips Giro della Donna was held last Sunday in perfect conditions. I was lucky enough to be able to do the ride while my CyclingTips colleagues were stuck working at the event village. Read more

November 9, 2015February 2, 2022

Bikepacking the Strzelecki Ranges

18 months after our first bikepacking trip my mate Nick and I set off to Western Gippsland for three days of riding and adventure. Here are a whole host of photos and some words from the trip. Read more