Day 6. Pitlochry to Edinburgh.

Huzzah! We’ve made it! Our final destination is here! 🎶Oh Edinburgh, What a fine city thy are🎶 Seriously though, many people would probably consider this to be the most historical leg of our journey. After setting off from Pitlochry we met a couple of chaps, namely Mr Stanley Mills and Mr Stanley Luncarty, for elevenses before continuing south to Perth. (No not the Austrian one … Continue reading Day 6. Pitlochry to Edinburgh.

Day 5. Inverness To Pitlochry.

Today we were really out in the sticks. It was the Inverness to Pitlochry stage. We didn’t happen upon much civilisation and could enjoy the breathtaking scenery of the Scottish High Lands. We were also able to properly catch up with each other as we rolled along. When the popularity of travelling table tennis teams waned in the 80’s we had to give it up … Continue reading Day 5. Inverness To Pitlochry.

Day 4. Fort William to Inverness.

After cycling through the Great Glen today we arrived in the town of Inverness, but there was plenty to see on the way. By Jingos! What’s that in the water! Seriously though, just before we reached our destination we passed Lake Loch Ness. In terms of depth this lake is known to be the deepest body of water in Europe and lurking somewhere in there … Continue reading Day 4. Fort William to Inverness.

Day 3. Inveraray to Fort William.

After a day of many undulations in the terrain as well as some ups and downs we reached Fort William. The town sits at the bottom of Monte Ben Nevis. This massive structure, discovered by a local farmer in the late 60’s, is thought to be one of the tallest mountains of its kind in Britain. The winding road up it gained the nickname ‘Scotland’s … Continue reading Day 3. Inveraray to Fort William.

Day 2. Paisley to Inveraray.

Today was the toughest day of riding so far. We started off early, Hans feeling a bit groggy as usual, and headed first for the lovely Lake Loch Lomond. We stopped at Duck Bay Marina for elevenses and sat at the waterside to have a fun contest of ‘Spot as many makes of duck as you can’. Toby, being a keen twitcher, won hands down. … Continue reading Day 2. Paisley to Inveraray.

Tour of Scotland. Day 1. Paisley.

With many people stuck at home at the moment and looking for things to do, the famous cyclist and historian Giles Ripwell has kindly shared some of his work so you can try and fill out your days. While some might prefer spending time looking at funny videos of puffins, Giles has provided more serious material. He has opened up his dairy from his epic … Continue reading Tour of Scotland. Day 1. Paisley.

Ripwell Reports. Exclusive David Brailsford-Sir Interview.

Greetings from the Tour de d’Italia, or day I say it, Ciao! A few days ago it would have been שלום, but I will not go into that. I would like to say that the race heated up today, exploded into action, or it had a Giro classic flow to it but I wont bother. What I will say though is that I managed to locate … Continue reading Ripwell Reports. Exclusive David Brailsford-Sir Interview.

Ripwell Reports. The Final Nail In Wiggins’ Coughin?

“Time waits for no man, unless said man is in his retirement years. And said man can surely enjoy some peace and tranquility” as the old saying goes. Try telling that to a certain Mr Bradley Wiggins-Sir. In the year and a half since hanging up his bike to leisurely wile away his time at the regattadrome he has had none of the promised calm. … Continue reading Ripwell Reports. The Final Nail In Wiggins’ Coughin?

Ripwell Reports. Puffergate.

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The famous historian and cyclist, Giles Ripwell, tries to get to the bottom of the latest furore involving Team Sky.

Crikey! It seems that hardly a month has gone by in the last year and a bit where there hasn’t been some kind of scandal surrounding Team Sky, the United Kingdoms of Great Britain’s number one cycling outfit. What with the TUE’s, jiffy bags, testosterone patches, recovery injections, and stolen computers there are now more gates in Sky’s recent history than in the founder of Microsoft’s house during a family get together. All of these episodes have hurt Sky’s reputation but they have managed to carry on regardless and have had a rather successful season. However Puffergate, the newest hoo-ha, might cause Team Sky to discombobulate like your laptop after a Windows update.

But that’s enough of the computer based analogies and time to find out exactly what the devil has happened and what the future may hold for those concerned with what has happened.

Continue reading “Ripwell Reports. Puffergate.”

Ripwell Reports. What’s In The Jiffy Bag?

It has been almost three months since the Fancy Bears international hack team leaked the medical documents which showed Bradley Wiggins had received three highly questionable medical treatments during his days as a Grand Tour contender. It has been two months since the revelation of a potentially sinister package being transported across Europe by Team Sky employees. It seemed for a while that Wiggins and Sky’s worlds could come crashing down. The one man who could have helped the situation, David Brailsford, has remained fairly quiet, possibly wanting the whole thing to blow over. After a period of relative respite that tactic may have been working but things will start hotting up again as on Monday the 19th of December Brailsford will need to appear in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in Parliament.

With the story being quite a mess and so many unanswered questions I sent my undercover reporter, the well known historian and cyclist, Giles Ripwell on the case to summarise what has been going on and try to answer the what everyone wants to know.

Ripwell Reports. What’s In The Jiffy Bag?

It has been over a year since I last rubbed shoulders with the fellow going by the name of Mr Bradley Wiggins-Sir. I was riding for his side TEAM wiggins in the Tour de of Britain and remember having jolly good chats with him during the stages. Since then I hadn’t heard much from him. Apparently the British weather had finally got to much for him in his old age and he would only cycle on the indoors roads doing Olympic Pursuits. I thought he had forgotten his old pal Giles until he called me in July. He was very emotional and explained to me through sobs that the dastardly Mr Chris Froomes had won another yellow jersey. A couple of months later I heard from him again but this time he was in much better spirits. Jingos! He had won another Olympic gold medal and told me it was now Wiggo-Sir 5 FroomesDog 0. Since then, as you might have heard, he has been involved in a touch of controversy and I was sent on the case to find out was has been happening. I tried contacting him to see if he could give me any information but I was told that he’s only talking to his new best friend, some fellow going by the name of Mr Andrew Marr. So with Mr Wiggins-Sir gone quiet I had to figure out what has been happening myself.

The whole situation started in September when some Russian computer buffs started a fancy new website where you can go and look at medical files of athletes that have been in the Olympics. It caused quite a stir to begin with until everyone realised that most of the athletes medical information was stuff we already knew or contained information on drugs and medical practices which everyone has agreed for a while should be more tightly monitored. Unfortunately for Mr Bradley Wiggins-Sir his information was among that of a small group of people who’s information raised some alarm bells. Three of Wiggins-Sir’s courses of drugs looked highly suspicious and one of those was just before the Tour de France which he won against Mr Chris Froomes. I have complete faith in my good friend though and firmly believe that those drugs were taken for genuine medical reasons and not to enhance his performance. There would be no need for him to dishonestly take any drugs to win the race as I’ve been told of an unsavoury character calling himself Mr Sean Yaytes who would have brought harm to anyone trying to beat Mr Wiggins-Sir, including his team mate the scoundrel Mr Froomes.

Continue reading “Ripwell Reports. What’s In The Jiffy Bag?”