About me

Completing the Strava Festive 500 2013

Welcome to Today on my Bike!

My name is James Barlow and I'm a cycleholic...

Rather than keep my daily musings about the world of cycling in my head, I decided to start a blog about it. Maybe it should have been called Today in my Head instead! There will be a vast range of posts, from races I do, gear reviews, great places to ride, and general cycling related matters.

I hail from Rochdale originally, which being in the middle of the Pennines means some great rides, none of them flat, and very few of them dry! It also means that I'm familiar with some of the Tour de France Grand Depart locations in our noisy neighbour Yorkshire, which I'll certainly write about.  I now live in Leighton Buzzard, which is also quite a good place for cycling, being a few miles away from what seems to be a cycling hub of Milton Keynes. A little flatter, but plenty of time trials and crit races.

I'm usually a squash player, playing for my adopted county of Bedfordshire, and in leagues as far away as Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire on a weekly basis. I usually cycle over summer, or when injured, which is quite often! Fair weather riding went out of the window over Christmas, when a shoulder injury meant completing the Strava Festive 500 was necessary! Therefore, I've since been balancing the squash with a few early season races, with a view to competing a lot over summer. I love just riding over the summer, but my competitive edge was bound to come through at some point!

Aside from, being on a squash court or on a bike, I'm also in the midst of doing a PhD in Environmental Science/Engineering...but I shan't go into detail; if you like drainage then ask and thou shall be enlightened!

Feel free to get in touch, details on the Contact Me Page!

Enjoy!