I’m disappointed but it was a hard slog. Only if you’ve tried to ride a bike through lumpy, uneven, unforgiving snow on a narrow trail and in in flat light will you understand what it’s like. Pushing or riding the bike bounces like a bucking broncho so you have to manhandle it back to its…

This is the stage I hate. Thinking of all the things I should have put in my drop bag and didn’t – why am I carrying that heavy brake tool and all that extra food? Fretting about sweating too much on the climbs and worrying about falling off at the start. But I commit this…

It was cold but not that cold so I was disappointed my toes were a bit chilly after only an hour. Need to try again with toe warmers. The other problem is my own fault. I should have checked my winter cycling trousers still fit before I left the UK! I didn’t bring my MTB…

The negative test result meant at last I could go OUT! Lovely to feel the cold air and the crunch of the snow under my feet. Even if it is only -5 degrees. Morning service at the Cathedral was inspiring, as was lunch with Dean Bert. Then a long walk to Canadian Tire (ok only…

I’ve made it to Whitehorse but I got called for a random PCR test on arrival in Vancouver so I am isolating in my hotel room until the results come through. But I’m here and so is the bike. And although I can’t go out I’ve got the window open so I can feel the…

Sunny, windy, near freezing and no one else around! A perfect morning for a kit test and one of my last training rides. Only averaged 6.5mph on soft sand and into the wind. A good reminder of what Yukon riding can feel like. But not nearly as cold!

Training and prep has been hard because of the will it/won’t it questions. Right now I’m not mentally or physically prepared. But this morning’s walk reminded me all we need is enough light to see the next step.

The 2022 Yukon Arctic Ultra is on (bar last minute covid hiccups) and I’m not prepared! I’m checking and sorting kit so it’s not too much of a scramble in Whitehorse. Today’s good news was my old stove, untouched in the attic for 2 years, fired up first time. And I managed a night ride…

I’ve been doing some training but, as always, not enough. Two very different training rides yesterday … In 12 hours the world was transformed. The evening ride brought back so many emotional memories – the crunch of snow under the tyres, the pistol-shot crack of ice breaking, the fear of what might be under the…

If the world had not changed with the COVID pandemic I would have been in the final preparations for my trip to the Yukon for the Yukon Arctic Ultra. I’m sad not to be going. But I have wonderful memories of the people, the wilderness trails, the biting cold and of some amazing experiences with…

Will the YAU take place in 2021? No one knows yet. But with 2 long distance triathlons cancelled over the summer and no ice miles this winter I need something to motivate me to get moving – so I’ve started training just in case the race is on. The very slight chill in the morning…

My race ended 100 miles in at Braeburn – and the tough trail conditions meant I’d pushed the bike most of that. The result of all the pushing was a large blister on my left heel – picture at the end so the sensitive can ignore it! I’d treated it earlier in the race as…