John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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7 comments
Great idea. I could possibly add a Harrow-on-the-Hill to Dollis Hill, or a Harrow - Hanger Lane - Chiswick Park, or North Harrow - Northolt - Hayes.
Current Battersea to Clapham North is a bit worthless
Obi Wan: "I have a bad feeling about this."
Interesting routes getting plotted and it is notable how many of them avoid the superhighways.....
I was going to ride in just to make a point - would have been the first time since my accident. However, 50mph winds forecast mean that I shall be working from home. It's a good idea though - worth doing when there isn't a strike on.
It's a nice idea, but annoyingly the strike coincides with a weather forecast of heavy rain and 50mph gusts. I don't think many will be sold on the benefits of cycling after that!
Depends if you can rig a rain poncho so that it catches the breeze so you can sail by...
Yep, extra traffic jams and cold rain driving hard against you is enough to put all but the hardiest off. Might be a bit quieter tomorrow.