Horatio Holloway

Editor / Domestique

I’ve always been a cyclist at heart but a charity ride I took part in from Oxford to the Isle of Skye after leaving school made me a cyclist in my legs. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I bought a road bike three weeks before the trip and by the time we set off from Blenheim palace I had just about got to grips with the perils of clipless pedals. Not before falling foul of the obligatory ‘forgot to unclip’ topple over at a set of traffic lights in front of what felt like hundreds of people. 

Throughout the trip I seemed to get stronger and stronger. As my Vastus Medialis grew so did my love for the ride. I adored everything about it. The views, the people we met, the cold bits and even the very cold bits (it rained non stop North of Manchester). Ill equipped with no gloves, no peaked hat and not a clue about overshoes, I soaked it all in. Literally. It felt like adventure in its simplest sense. Not knowing what was around the corner and not caring, living in the moment on one particular hill spinning one particular cadence. 

Since that trip my love for two wheeled adventure has never dwindled. The following winter I learnt of overshoes, the next a structured training plan. I became a sponge, my pores open to any maintenance tip or bike setup hack. Three years of living in Brighton whilst studying worked wonders for my ftp if not my grades. Exploring the South Downs off road and racing for the Lindfield Coffee Works team on the roads were definite highlights. I am now based back in Oxford where I grew up and am always plotting my next adventure. Coffee is another of my interests. For more about that check out pinchflat.co.uk