http://blogs.independent.co.uk| Blogs from the Independent newspaper - news, views and features from the world's most free-thinking newspaper| Sun, 19 May 2013 14:03:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2| en hourly 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/07/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-grand-tours-like-the-giro-require-levels-of-organisation-that-are-utterly-mind-boggling/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/07/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-grand-tours-like-the-giro-require-levels-of-organisation-that-are-utterly-mind-boggling/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 16:30:37 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34736 The mechanics and I were chatting the other day, and we have unanimously decided that professional cycling is probably the least logistically friendly sport in the world.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/07/on-the-road-at-the-giro-ditalia-grand-tours-like-the-giro-require-levels-of-organisation-that-are-utterly-mind-boggling/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/03/on-the-road-again-i-figured-he-was-pretty-tired-of-people-congratulating-him-so-me-and-sir-bradley-wiggins-just-had-a-chat-about-the-race-ahead/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/03/on-the-road-again-i-figured-he-was-pretty-tired-of-people-congratulating-him-so-me-and-sir-bradley-wiggins-just-had-a-chat-about-the-race-ahead/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 15:27:06 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=34668 Giro d’Italia? What’s that? I hear you say. Well, for anyone who has thumbed past page one in the cycling-for-dummies handbook (no, that does not exist) it is the second most famous race in the world, only beaten by a certain Tour de France. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/05/03/on-the-road-again-i-figured-he-was-pretty-tired-of-people-congratulating-him-so-me-and-sir-bradley-wiggins-just-had-a-chat-about-the-race-ahead/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/19/the-road-to-the-north-face-ultr-trail-du-mont-blanc-sporting-heroes/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/19/the-road-to-the-north-face-ultr-trail-du-mont-blanc-sporting-heroes/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:46:48 +0000 Gail Edmans http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32667 Without wishing to come across as a weirdo stalker, if I could dedicate one room in my house to sporting heroes, I would plaster the walls with posters of John McEnroe, Rafa Nadal, Chrissie Wellington, Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong and Haile Gebrselassie, to name but a few. I have watched them, cried over them, cheered them, and to varying degrees, felt let down by them.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/19/the-road-to-the-north-face-ultr-trail-du-mont-blanc-sporting-heroes/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/08/injured-cyclists-must-use-their-rights/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/08/injured-cyclists-must-use-their-rights/#comments Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:49:41 +0000 Oliver Jeffcott http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=32393 The funeral of a married couple who were killed when they were knocked off their tandem bicycle in Bristol, and the recent vigil held by RoadPeace in memory of cyclists who have died in lorry accidents, have once more placed the issue of cyclist safety firmly in the spotlight. They also serve as a reminder of how important it is that cyclists understand and use their rights.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/02/08/injured-cyclists-must-use-their-rights/feed/ 154 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/11/14/doping-in-tennis-is-andy-murray-onto-something/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/11/14/doping-in-tennis-is-andy-murray-onto-something/#comments Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:00:38 +0000 Charles Reynolds http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=29885 While the revelations about doping in cycling are in many cases not new or particularly surprising, the spectacular fall of an athlete previously idolised by so many and the subsequent destruction of his ill-gotten legacy has had a huge impact on cycling and raised wider concerns about drug taking in other sports as well.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/11/14/doping-in-tennis-is-andy-murray-onto-something/feed/ 4 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/30/google-maps-brings-voice-guided-cycling-navigation-to-android/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/30/google-maps-brings-voice-guided-cycling-navigation-to-android/#comments Thu, 30 Aug 2012 14:30:41 +0000 Alex Masters http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=27988 Google Maps for Android now offers voice-guided, turn-by-turn cycling navigation in 12 countries, turning your Android smartphone into a full-featured cycling sat-nav]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/30/google-maps-brings-voice-guided-cycling-navigation-to-android/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/01/snoop-lion-wiggowednesday-gore-vidal-zara-phillips/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/01/snoop-lion-wiggowednesday-gore-vidal-zara-phillips/#comments Wed, 01 Aug 2012 08:30:40 +0000 Ellen E Jones http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26976 What's trending and why?]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/08/01/snoop-lion-wiggowednesday-gore-vidal-zara-phillips/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/23/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-and-team-sky-have-made-tour-de-france-history-its-been-emotional/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/23/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-and-team-sky-have-made-tour-de-france-history-its-been-emotional/#comments Mon, 23 Jul 2012 13:07:25 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=26688 Martin Ayres has spent the past three weeks on the road with Team Sky. With victory secured yesterday afternoon on the Champs Elysee, Martin looks back at a life changing experience. ]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/23/on-the-road-bradley-wiggins-and-team-sky-have-made-tour-de-france-history-its-been-emotional/feed/ 3 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/05/on-the-road-team-sky-can-make-history-on-tour-de-france/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/05/on-the-road-team-sky-can-make-history-on-tour-de-france/#comments Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:51:01 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25978 No one on Team Sky mentions it; let alone discusses it for fear of jinxing the whole thing, but I can tell it is there.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/05/on-the-road-team-sky-can-make-history-on-tour-de-france/feed/ 1 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/02/one-the-road-team-sky-are-more-formula-one-than-professional-cycling/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/02/one-the-road-team-sky-are-more-formula-one-than-professional-cycling/#comments Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:05:35 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25870 The team convoy was stuck in gridlocked traffic outside town when a policeman on a motorbike appeared out of thin air. On his lights went, and off we drove into Liege through a two thousand car guard-of-honour that had pulled onto either side of the road to allow us through.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/07/02/one-the-road-team-sky-are-more-formula-one-than-professional-cycling/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/on-the-road-the-riders-dont-appear-nervous-simply-excited-to-start-the-tour-de-france/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/on-the-road-the-riders-dont-appear-nervous-simply-excited-to-start-the-tour-de-france/#comments Thu, 28 Jun 2012 23:30:08 +0000 Martin Ayres http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=25756 Everyone refers to the Tour de France simply as ‘the Tour’. Many other races have the same prefix, but only one is sufficiently famous, epic, and so overwhelmingly difficult as to be referred to by it.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/29/on-the-road-the-riders-dont-appear-nervous-simply-excited-to-start-the-tour-de-france/feed/ 0 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/02/it-could-be-me-but-isnt-in-the-postcode-lottery/ http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/02/it-could-be-me-but-isnt-in-the-postcode-lottery/#comments Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:57:17 +0000 James Moore http://blogs.independent.co.uk/?p=24907 It had to happen eventually: in my efforts to recover from a spending a morning with an oil tanker on top of me I have come up against the postcode lottery. And my number is a losing one.]]> http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/06/02/it-could-be-me-but-isnt-in-the-postcode-lottery/feed/ 2