And then, emerging from the tiny streets of a whitewashed sleeping village was a saviour in the form of a chainsmoking Spanish man that really did feel like a side-quest character in a video game…

I spoke to a very reputable cycling hotel recently who informed me that for cycling groups they offer ‘unlimited carbohydrates’ at breakfast and dinner. This is what we are talking about.

Get it right and it will pay dividends. Get it wrong, and you could be bonking halfway up a mountain with no one around and not a single doughnut in sight to sort you out…

You climb straight out of the door. Long, uninterrupted mountain roads with serious elevation gain. If your goal is to come home fitter, Tenerife delivers in a way few places can…

The climb is punchy, and you don’t get the unbroken views at the top like some other climbs, but you can buy a knock off Maradona shirt from the market stall there… 

And yet again, you turn a corner and this island absolutely takes your breath away…

Be wary, after you’ve already been climbing for a while and take the left turn in Arona, it will tell you there are still 40 kilometres left to climb…

If you’re looking for the next place to discover on two wheels, Nice could be just it…

It’s an island packed with everything from volcanoes and black sand beaches to lush forests and star-filled skies…

Try and get a tee-off time at Augusta. Try and book a game for you and your mates on Centre Court at Wimbledon. You get the idea, you’re probably never going to run out of the tunnel at the Bernabeau but you are, with a bit of planning, some training and a helmet and pair of shoes going to go and ride the most used climb in Grand Tour History…

I was able to draw on experience riding ultra-distance events in similar weather, not that it made it anymore pleasant. But the support, following and donations meant I had an extra level of motivation and desire to not pull out, or let people down…

As day breaks on a small, cobbled farm track in North East Belgium it is both nearly impossible to imagine, but also very easy to imagine, the thousands of screaming fans lining the road as the professional pelotons thunder up the hill and cut through the village of Kwaremont…

With quite a few clients travelling to the ultimate cycling holiday destination this Spring, it seemed fitting to put together an ‘ideal itinerary’ for a cycling hoiday in Mallorca. I’m sure this will cause controversy, and Sa Battalla being the best climb on the island is a hill I’m willing to die on…