Articles and advice on cycling, technology, home efficiency and more - 2023

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These pages are written and managed by John & Julii Swindells, and we take every effort to ensure their accuracy, relevance and engagement. If you don't think this is the case at any point, please contact us and explain where you think that we're going wrong. Otherwise, happy browsing!

Eastern Cross round 9 (inc Regional Champs)

Cyclocross

The park was extremely muddy and slippery today, with lots of recent rain and freezing conditions overnight. Full results on the Eastern ...

St Ives Cross

Cyclocross

A great course at a new venue, with lots of lumps and soft grass to sap the legs. Well done St Ives CC! Results are available on the Eastern ...

Diss CC Supercross

Cyclocross

A really good new venue hosted by Diss CC and organised by Dave Wilby. This was at Old Buckenham Country Park, with the excellent OB Cafe ...

2023 Programme and Diary

Cycling Performance Programme 04 Nov 2023

November: My second RRTY completed! This audax challenge is about consistency, as you need to do at least one 200km ride for 12 consecutive ...

VC Revolution Cross

Cyclocross

Well done to David Hales and VC Revolution for finding and designing a challenging but well ride-able course on farmland in the very rural ...

Gazelles Stampede 5k race

Recreation

Thanks and well done to the Norfolk Gazelles for hosting an excellent morning of racing, including a junior 2k dash, an individual 5k race ...

Neil Pears Memorial Cross

Cyclocross

Very dry, fairly warm and with a fair headwind on the tarmac finish straight. Youth race Photos and video from the mid-morning youth ...

Watching the Tour of Britain in Ipswich

Cycling 07 Sep 2023

I happened to be in Ipswich on the day that the Tour of Britain passed through on their way out from Felixstowe, but was on my way to London ...

Paris-Brest-Paris 2023

Audax: long-distance cycling

Below is a table of some Strava athletes who are riding the 2023 edition of Paris-Brest-Paris. Their stats are updated here as soon as they ...

Trans-Con Race 2023

Cycling 12 Aug 2023

This year's edition runs from Belgium to Greece, with controls in the Italian Alps, southern Slovenia, southern Albania and northern Greece ...

Hornet in the sunshine

Animals 07 Aug 2023

Ladybirds having a bit of fun

Animals 22 Jul 2023

This pair of ladybirds was at it for several minutes! Seemed to be enjoying themselves.

An accessible kitchen shelf for the corner cupboard

Do It Yourself! 07 Jul 2023

Do you have one of those corner cupboards in the kitchen which is rather difficult to get to the back of? And you've looked at how expensive ...

Wroxham 5k race

Recreation

Over 700 runners took part in the Wroxham 5k on a warm Wednesday evening. The top 3 all ran under 15 minutes, and the first three females ...

La Marmotte Granfondo Alpes 2023

Cycling

Thousands of riders had a crack at the multiple mountain ascents on the Marmotte Alpes, and many succombed to the heat. I was in the early ...

Alex Moore Relay 2023

Recreation 11 Jun 2023

A hot morning of racing! One of the Bure Valley Harriers teams finished 2nd, plus another two in the top 10! Full results on TotalRaceTiming ...

Godric CC 10-mile time trial

Time Trialling

Super hot day (almost 30 degrees) so it was important to be well hydrated. I drank half a 750mL bottle just before the start, and drank another ...

Last ever Tour of Cambridgeshire

Cycling 04 Jun 2023

Here are my photos from the 2023 edition of ToC! Great to catch up with Anna and Wayne (founders of Rehook) before the start.

600k Ben Allen's Summer Outing

Audax: long-distance cycling

The weather couldn't have turned out better! Not only was it nice and sunny most of the time for the audax, back home it was quite chilly ...

Aylsham 10k race

Recreation 07 May 2023

Here are some photos and a short video from the 2023 edition of Aylsham 10k.







Michael managed 41:09 ...

Fakenham 5k race

Recreation 09 Apr 2023

Here are photos and video from the 5k race, focusing on the Bure Valley Harriers.

300k 3Down London - New Forest

Audax: long-distance cycling

I had planned this as a relaxed three days of riding down to the south coast and back, with stunning scenery of the New Forest as the highlight ...

Blickling Parkrun - 400th edition!

Recreation 25 Mar 2023

There was a better-than-ever atmosphere at the anniversary edition of Blickling Parkrun, and long-time volunteer extraordinaire Sarah Morter ...

Calculate your New-distance Eddington Number!

Cycling 16 Mar 2023

When you've connected your Strava account to swinny.net, we analyse each activity to figure out how many "new miles" or "new kilometres" you ...

My Strava Climbing Number

Free-to-use Strava Tools 11 Mar 2023

The Climbing Number is the greatest number of days that you've ridden amount of elevation gain.
So, if you've managed 100 or more days ...

Calculate your Climbing Number!

Cycling 10 Mar 2023

In physical activities, the Climbing Number is a progressive score that is based on the number of days that you've climbed that number of feet ...

Calculate your Eddington Number!

Cycling 09 Mar 2023

The Eddington Number is a strangely addictive score for cyclists, devised by British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington for ranking their achievements ...

200k Alfreton to Wrags

Audax: long-distance cycling

The East Midlands and Fens delivered dry roads and no rain, but it was fairly chilly and overcast. There were over 100 starters from Alfreton ...

West Suffolk February Cross

Cyclocross

Really pleasant, sunny day at West Stow! The ground was firm but not dry, making for fast cornering and not too much attrition from the various ...

Milton Cross

Cyclocross

A fabulous morning of racing on a technical course (muddy banks with lots of off-camber sections) in mild and sunny weather. Under-10s ...

Stow Scramble

Cyclocross

No wind and some sun, but this was a freezing cold morning! The ground was mostly frozen solid but loosening up on some of the grassy turns ...

230k mid-winter DIY audax

Audax: long-distance cycling 21 Jan 2023

This was a ride part of the way home from Somerset, starting just before sunrise and finishing around dusk. I was expecting it to be cold ...

Iceni Velo Cross

Cyclocross

A bright and mild start to the event was perfect for the youngsters, and the vet-50s race also stayed fairly pleasant. However, a heavy hailstorn ...