Andrew Bowie

Tag: cycling

  • The art of the perfect tandem start

    —

    by

    Andrew
    in

    In this extract from her blog, Catherine Pringle explains the steps required for a perfect tandem start. She describes the role that trust plays in the process, and how things can sometimes go badly wrong. Of course, it’s all a ruse to distract attention from the fact that the tandem tour has come to a…

  • The five requirements for champagne cycle touring

    —

    by

    Andrew
    in

    Catherine Pringle, the protagonist in Peloton of Two, has been commissioned to write a series of confessional journalism articles and blog posts about her journey around France. In the blog extract below, she lists her essential elements for a perfect cycle journey by bicycle. As she is writing the entry in Epernay, and drinking some…

  • Paul de Vivie and his seven commandments for the wise cyclist

    Paul de Vivie and his seven commandments for the wise cyclist

    —

    by

    Andrew
    in

    Catherine Pringle is hardly the first cyclist to develop a set of rules for cycle touring. She is simply following in a long tradition that stretches back to Paul de Vivie, the Frenchman who first coined the term cyclotouriste. De Vivie (1853-1930), the founder in 1889 of the magazine Le Cycliste, was an early advocate…

  • Be careful where you take a toilet break on a cycle tour

    —

    by

    Andrew
    in

    Catherine Pringle, the protagonist in Peloton of Two, has been commissioned to write a series of confessional journalism articles and blog posts about her journey around France. In the extract below, she explores the pressing problem of finding the right place for a toilet break when you’re on a tandem tour, and why she is…

  • Catherine, Nick and the tandem arrive in Brittany

    —

    by

    Andrew
    in

    In this scene, which is not included in the final version of Peloton of Two, Catherine Pringle is standing on the deck of an overnight ferry as it approaches Roscoff harbour. She has just spent a sleepless night below deck after her first exhausting day on a tandem. (The hours awake in her bunk did…

  • How to plan a cycling accident

    —

    by

    Andrew
    in ,

    Accidents have a nasty habit of happening when you least expect them to. It’s true of life in general, but even more of a risk when you’re travelling by bicycle. I wouldn’t wish a cycling accident on anyone, and especially not on anyone who has just begun an adventure like a long-distance cycle tour. But…