Life In The Saddle

Life is short; and the wild is a vast and beautiful place. Bicycles have allowed me to explore and embrace many new wild places and adventures; but this year I came to the realisation that I should also turn to some new exciting sports – to widen my wild horizons. Open water swimming is my most recent endeavour…

Living on an island has always given me a fond association with the sea and open water. I was never much of a swimmer and never liked the confinement of swimming pools, but I have always been a keen sailor and sea kayaker. Now, living just a stone's throw from the beach, I decided that open water swimming could present a great cross-training sport.

With the cycling season coming to a close in autumn, I knew that if I was to dive into the world of open water wild swims, I would need some kit – namely a good swimming wetsuit, and protection for my extremities. I opted for the great value Zone3 Vision Wetsuit, wetsuit booties, and wetsuit gloves.

Kitted up… I headed out int…

I have used the Norrøna fjørå Long Sleeve MTB Jersey for everything but mountain biking: as a casual long sleeve tee, as a base layer under a winter jacket, even under a gilet when gravel biking in the high Dolomites mountains (okay, that is probably mountain biking) – in all of these pursuits, it has excelled.

Norrøna is a Norwegian brand, who are know for their superb quality outdoor sports apparel. The Long Sleeve Thermo Mountain Bike Jersey is one of their ventures into the bike world, and it shows great promise.

The fjørå Powerwool jersey itself is nothing extraordinary in terms of features – in essence it is a loose fitting long sleeve t-shirt, without any pockets or zippers. The exceptional aspect of the jersey comes from the fabric, which is Polartec's award-winning Powerwool. This soft blend of merino wool and synthetics creates an insulating layer that is highly flexible and versatile in use, while also being superbly durable.

Whether hiking up an Italian mountain or re…

Waterproof thermal cycling socks can be a great asset in the cold months of autumn and winter, especially on muddy and wet cyclocross and mountain bike rides. The new Bridgedale Waterproof Stormsock Thermal Socks are a great example.

Overshoes are ideal on the road, and even for most off-road pursuits; but their capabilities are diminished if you are required to dismount and walk through mud or water; in these environments you find water and mud seeps in between shoe and cover, and quickly soaks your socks and feet. The solution I have found is waterproof cycling socks – these allow you to walk through anything up to ankle deep puddles, and retain warm and dry feet.

The Bridgedale Stormsocks come in a variety of cuff lengths and thermal insulation levels; I have been testing the mid-range option; the Bridgedale Stormsock Midweight Boot, which is cut as a standard crew-length sock just above the ankle.

The socks are made of a three layer construction: with a soft Terry pad providing …

I first tested the Schwalbe G-One gravel tyres when they were released in 2016 – the original version was 700x35C in profile, and performed well on light gravel paths and hard-pack trails.

The new Schwalbe G-One Bite tyres are 700x40C and feature the micro-dot tread pattern 'pumped up'; they sit at the top of a three tier Schwalbe G-One range; promising a tyre suitable for more challenging trails and 'Gravel'.

I have been testing the new Schwalbe G-One Bite tyres on my Kona cyclocross bike; set up tubeless on tubeless specific rims. They mounted up easily using a compressor pump (I use the Lezyne Pressure Overdrive Pump).

Out on the trails, I have been pushing the Schwalbe G-One Bite to their limit – seeking out trails strewn with drops, fist-sized rocks, and tight berms. I was keen to see if the new larger volume G-One model was more resilient to pinch-flats caused by sudden impacts, as well as keen to test their capability on corners and off-camber descents.

My fin…