As we close out 2025, the PEZ CREW offers our Holiday Greeting. We sincerely thank you, our readers and sponsors for your support, and share a few thoughts for this Holiday Season. Cheers!
Richard Pestes – Publisher
Here we are rounding out our 24th year at PEZ – and while I’ve lost track of a lot of the details in the middle, I can still count on each year being a new set of experiences all in the name of chasing and reporting on “what’s cool in road cycling”. Sure – we’ve grown to include gravel and ‘cross – and it’s all riding.
As I wrote my post for this greeting one year ago – I had no plans to ride in Europe in ’25 – but that all changed after North America’s biggest industry gathering at Sea Otter where the idea of a visit to the MIPS headquarters in Stockholm grew into a multi-stop journey to visit two great bike hotels in Italy.
The Lidl-Trek team at dinner in the Hotel Residence Esplanade during the Giro.
First stop was the Hotel Residence Esplanade in Viareggio, where I saw three stages of the Giro, and did a couple of very tasty rides in the hills on the Tuscan coast. Then it was a cross the boot drive to the Adriatic coast and my first visit to the Oxygen Lifestyle Hotel in Rimini. Both are part of the Italy Bike Hotels group and worth checking out if you are thinking about where to ride next year.
Truffle Carbonara in Rimini
Back home in June the feverish search for Al’s replacement on the Crew led to a welcomed charge of fresh energy and voices from our new editors Mike Fee & Andy Rohrer (find more from them below). Thankfully Al agreed to stick around – he is the 2nd longest standing member of the OG PEZ crew – so he’s in too deep to get out now.
The beaches across the street from the Hotel Oxygen were still quiet in May – but a whole different story when I returned with my family in July.
Then in July – la familia PEZ flew to Milan for the family visit that included teaching my girls (now 19 & 16) how to travel by train. I took them back to the Oxygen for 3 days soaking up the summer heat and laying on the beach like a real Italian. I was happy (and relieved) when they agreed it was the best hotel of the trip.
Belgian stew, frites, and strong beer in Ypres
Finally – in September I received an invitation from Visit Flanders to explore the historic town of Ieper (Ypres) and its place as a WWI battleground (full report and video coming in ealy 2026) – a visit more around local culture, cuisine and some e-biking around the Flemish countryside.
Starting the Gialla Gran Fondo on the Misano MotoGP circuit was one hilight of my visit to Hotel Dory.
Being already in Europe, it was a no brainer to book another flight to Bologna for a stop at the Italian Bike Festival, and a few days of cycling at the excellent Hotel Dory, before training back up to Lake Garda to check out the Borgo Stazione Bike Inn, take in a local gravel ride, and enjoy a meal at my favorite Milanese restaurant before flying home. I was thoroughly travelled out, but rest assured the negronis were plentiful.
The village of Borghetto – on our gravel ride from Hotel Corte Cavalli near Lake Garda.
I’m already working on ’26 travel plans to discover more Italian bike hotels – but am looking forward to a quieter Christmas here at home with my family, and getting ready to climb back on the bike in January.
Buds’ weekend riding on Saltspring Island
A huge thanks for all the work of the mighty PEZ-Crew – and to the brands who’ve steeped up to support us with their advertising dollars that keep this site free and functioning, and of course to you readers who tune in and help us stay connected to this wonderful community or cyclists.
May happiness, peace and prosperity find you all in 2026.
Merry Christmas and have a great 2026, I hope your 2025 was good, mine was different. I stepped back from doing as much work on PEZ in June, that didn’t quite work out as that big French stage race in July needed race reports. Since then, apart from some editing and clothing/tech reviews; ‘The World has been my lobster’. Probably the original version of an ‘oyster’ is nearer the truth, or maybe a small ‘shrimp’. The plan to ‘get out on the bike more’ didn’t come to fruition due to one reason or another, I did ride more and Zwift again played a big part, but 2026 will be different…
A few people have asked me if I would still watch bike races now that I don’t have to? Duh! Of course, and now I don’t have to type at the same time.
At the moment cyclocross is a must at the weekends, which builds to the early season races and then the best time of the year: The Spring Classics. The Tour de France is the biggest race, but give me the Giro and especially la Vuelta ahead of the French race any time. Will Tadej Pogačar dominate? Probably. Does it take away from the excitement of the sport? No. The Slovenian can’t win every race (or stage) on the calendar, he won’t be on the start-line of every race, he doesn’t win every TT and doesn’t join in the bunch sprints. Then there is the ‘Break of the Day’, will it go all the way? Sometimes it does, you never know, but there is always a story. The excitement is still there and let’s face it, Pogačar seems a really nice guy and works hard for his deserved palmarès.
Vuelta’26 stage 9 will pass my house, will Pogačar be there?
2025 didn’t start too well as Ed Hood passed away in January. We all miss the big man so much and a day doesn’t pass that he is not in our thoughts.
All the best for the coming year and I’m sure it is going to be another great season on the road, probably for a certain Slovenian.
Looking forward to good health, sunny weather and smooth roads in 2026
Chuck Peña – Tech Editor & Sock Guru
Happy holidays (however you choose to celebrate them) to everyone out in PEZ-land! Thank you to all of you for your continued support. We appreciate that you’re willing to read what we write. Hopefully, it’s informative … perhaps entertaining … and maybe even amusing.
This year has been my first full calendar year living down at our house in the Lowcountry since being able to pack up my apartment in Babylon on the Potomac last July. Needless to say, my wife and daughter (and our dog) are happy that we’re all in one place.
Cycling-wise, 2025 has been a relatively “light” year for me. Due to a variety of circumstances, as I write I’ve only ridden about 2,400 real world miles (less than half my normal riding) and about 1,200 virtual miles (most of them on Zwift, but some on ROUVY). And being down in the Lowcountry, not a whole lot of elevation gain.
Would you believe I’ve only climbed a total of 6,000 feet??? Which I would do in a day if I was back up in Babylon on the Potomac and riding the Blue Ridge, Blue Mountain, Skyline Drive, or SkyMass. I don’t know that I still have my climbing legs, but my overall fitness level is surprisingly still pretty decent.
I manage to hang in and hang on on the take-no-prisoners group ride I do on Sundays on Hilton Head Island (where I get my dose of “climbing” in by going up and over the Cross Island Bridge in both directions — basically a quarter-mile at 4% average gradient and a whopping 52 feet of elevation gain!)
The Cross Island Bridge is my one and only hill
A few things worth writing about my riding this year …
Being at the pointy end of a fast-ish metric century on the Pedal Hilton Head Island charity bike ride (one of the perks is being able to ride through the Sea Pines Resort). The Hilton Head Cycling/Robson Forensic Cycling Team I ride with on Sundays was asked to ride at the front of the A-group to keep it from becoming a free-for-all (it helped that we had a police escort at the front and a follow van at the back of the group — about 50 or so riders).
HHC/RF mafia
Helping to organize and lead a 50-mile ride in Bluffton for the Major Taylor Lowcountry Cycling Club (they are based out of Charleston but we have a small contingent in Bluffton). We had a good turnout and great post-ride food at the then newly opened Ma Daisy’s Porch.
Bluffton peeps with our esteemed MTLC Madame President
Connecting with riders from Sun City (an active retirement community that I affectionately call “the compound”) to add some variety and spice to my weekend riding — including coffee rides to Buzz in Palmetto Bluff.
Getting some of the Sun City inmates out of the compound
But the real highlight of my riding was this episode on an HHC/RF Sunday ride in June. We were on Fish Haul Road maybe 5 miles from the finish. Moving along at a pretty good clip. I was lanterne rouge (not an unusual place for me). All of a sudden there was a bunch shouting and swerving and the group was no longer riding in a line but scattered across the road. I was following my friend, Mark, and when he swerved left I found myself about 3 feet from the business end of this fella with barely enough reaction time/room to avoid him. (The pic was taken by my friend, Ray, who was OTB of our grupetto. When we encountered the obstruction in question he was facing the other direction, i.e., towards us, and was half on the road, half off.)
Feed zone!
Off the bike, I’ve been working to fix the flaws in my golf swing so I can hold my own when I play with my daughter (even more than riding, my favorite activity is father-daughter golf). This is what I have to deal with playing golf with her:
Enjoy what’s left of 2025 and wishing all of you the very best — both on and off the bike — in 2026!
At this time of year it is satisfying to look back and consider what has happened in one’s life over the last twelve months. It seems like only yesterday that I was putting together an ambitious list of all the great things I was going to do. In addition to finally (finally!) getting serious about weight training and doing more swimming, I had ideas about where I would ride on my bike.
There would be a new attempt on that 300 km randonneur ride I bailed out of a decade ago after being caught in massive thunderstorms after 190 kms, missing out on the remaining 110 kms of downhill riding with the prevailing wind. A dawn-to-dusk ride as suggested by GCN. More regular rides in Gatineau Park, maybe even doing five of those 100 kms circuits in a week. Using my vintage bikes more often too. Riding the Ironman 70.3 bike route in Muskoka (the old one, with all the hills).
In February I attended the Salon du Velo in Montreal and became all fired up about riding more in Quebec, collecting brochures for routes like the P’tit Train du Nord, and looking at more rides in Ontario as my plans to ride in Virginia in Spring were put on hold. This is becoming easier to do as municipalities in both provinces have become very active in promoting cycling. Soon I had a file folder full of suggested routes and, yes, I even rode some of them.
Most memorable was my 170 km excursion along the “PPJ Cyclopark” rail trail along the Ottawa River. No enthusiast for gravel riding, once a year I do make an attempt to get off asphalt. Setting out on a beautiful day from Shawville, Quebec, I enjoyed the ride on the crushed gravel trail.
There was forest to my right and the river, past some more trees, to the right. There were chipmunks everywhere, a skunk scuttled away in the daylight, a deer stopped to look at me when I was taking a sandwich break, and for almost a half-kilometer a fox loped ahead of me on the trail before realizing I was there. When I heard some branches breaking off to the side I expected another deer and was mightily surprised when a fully grown black bear ran across the trail directly in front of me, so close that I was looking down at the yellowish fur on its muzzle. Luckily the bear was in a hurry to get where it was going but on reflection afterwards I realized I had been lucky there was no collision. This was something new in my cycling experience and something I am in no hurry to repeat.
Then in September came one of the highlights of the year for me as I went to the Montreal Grand Prix Cycliste for the first time. There I met up with the nice people from Van Rysel and had an excellent day as their guest. In spite of the race only being two hours’ drive or train ride from my home, I had never managed to attend it in the past. This time I not only saw the race but got driven around the course in a huge SUV. With next year’s World Road Championships taking place on most of the same course it was a great preview for 2026. Won’t miss that one with Pogi and the whole circus coming back.
I find that as the years pass I am happy enough riding by myself generally. However, my plan to ride my vintage bikes more often meant that I met a lot of other cyclists. I found that by changing from the old toe clip pedals to modern clipless ones I was using the old steel rides frequently and people were keen to ask about the bikes. One memorable occasion had an older rider on a very expensive carbon bike getting all excited about my 1981 Peugeot PX10/E, a bike I bought for l’Eroica in 2011 that cost me 200 Euros. I was reminded once again that the bike is less important than the experience but it is still fun to cosplay Johan Museeuw when you have a Colnago C40!
So in the end most of my to-do list of activities and rides is still to-be-done. Still managed around 12,000 kms on the bikes, with 5,000 of that indoors on Rouvy. Some physical issues interfered with weight training, my local pool has been closed for eight months for renovation and that 300 km brevet still waits but I will keep trying in 2026. Maybe even do something crazy like the Flandrien Challenge before I get too rickety to try it (or too smart to realize how brutally hard it will be!).
I wish all our Pez readers and my colleagues the joys of the open road ahead and all the best for the holidays and the new year.
Leslie Reissner
Literary Editor
Stephen Cheung – Toolbox Editor & Groadie
2025 sees me somehow on my fourth sabbatical, marking my 28th year as an university prof along with more than 150 scientific papers and 4 books about human physiology. Like my last sabbatical, we’re spending it out in my happy place of Kelowna near the Canadian Rockies, getting stuck in on some exciting new research. Kelowna is also the place where I find I can be active in so many different ways both on the bike and off.
On the bike, I’ve jumped at the chance to ride my MTB on super fun and challenging trails, along with awesome gravel and paved rides.
Off the bike, I live right next to Lake Okanagan and the Kelowna Paddle Centre, so I’ve added outrigger canoeing to my steady diet of climbing, running, and hiking. Now it’s finally snowboarding, Nordic skiing and snowshoeing season. Basically, there’s no excuse not to be active around here, and I’m taking full advantage of this outdoor playground to the point where I left the indoor trainer back home.
So while my personal interest continues to move further away from road racing or even road riding, I remain deeply in love with physical activity and the science behind humans at exercise. We’ll be continuing to bring you the insider’s view on the latest science of fitness and exercise in Toolbox in 2026.
2025 also saw another big bikepacking adventure with my band of brothers from across Canada, this time 6 days deep in the rainforest of northern Vancouver Island. We cashed in all our bad weather credits from Iceland 2024, as we somehow didn’t get a drop of rain. Only steep and jagged forest service roads, unexpected tree fall obstacles, jaw-dropping views, and endless fond memories. It’s a reminder that the bike is the greatest vehicle for adventure and exploration, and also the importance of sharing great time with friends.
All the professional and personal fun was great, but absolutely nothing beats the joy of celebrating the wedding of our son Zach and our new daughter Kir this August! (And yes, that suit I bought at the end of my PhD 28 years ago to go job-hunting – still fits!)
May you all have a terrific holiday season and wonderful adventures in 2026.
Scott Steele – Toolbox Contributor
The defining theme of my year has been adjusting to dad-life. My wife and I welcomed our first son in November 2024 and much of this year has been about recalibrating expectations, juggling priorities, and reconnecting with the simple reasons I started riding in the first place.
As our little guy has settled into a bit of a routine and is finally sleeping better, I’ve been able to turn my attention towards rebuilding my fitness. I have appreciated the training flexibility that Xert offers in combination with the social & competitive outlet of Zwift. This fall, I dove head-first into virtual racing and quickly discovered how much I “enjoy” those hard, uncomfortable efforts that racing seems to extract better than anything else! I’ve also enjoyed the camaraderie and support of my virtual teammates who continually push me to show up and keep improving!
Although I won’t quite make my 12,000 km annual distance goal, I did complete my second annual “Mid Summer Epic” ride – a self-imposed tradition where I design an A to B ride spanning at least 200 kms. Over the past two years, it’s become an anchor point of my summer training and as a reminder that these big, memorable rides don’t need a formal event signup, nor do these epic rides need to disappear when life gets busy. I’m already starting to dream up ambition ideas for the 2026 edition.
I hope you’ve found my contributions this year insightful, helpful, or at least interesting – thank you for reading along!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Mike Fee – EUROTrash Editor
I’ve searched for a way — some criteria — to decide whether my 2025 cycling highlight was riding bikes in Uganda or following the World Championships in Rwanda. To no avail, though, so I’ll cop out and say that my fondest cycling memory of this year is having learned just how powerful a bicycle can be in Africa.
We learned that every day as we pedaled Hero bikes — sturdy, heavy, tools for conveying people and materials — from Jinja to a clinic in rural Uganda, nearly 250 miles away. Over four days I developed aching knees, a barking lower back and a furious saddle sore, but far more lasting an appreciation for the importance of the bicycle in a society like Northern Uganda.
In that world, bicycles unlock doors and extend horizons; they bear firewood, full Jerry cans, livestock, and children; they bring students to school, young professionals to work, and loved ones together.
Were there moments when I wished I was riding a sweet, light gravel rig? Definitely — but opting not to ride a bike that virtually everyone we met would have been elated to pedal didn’t seem right; my journeymates and I relished a very different kind of challenge.
But bicycles in Africa don’t just convey and equip; they also inspire. Along the side of a cobbled hill in Kigali, we roared as loudly as we could, shoulder to shoulder with Rwandans and Africans from across the continent: We all cheered for every cyclist, whether she or he hailed from Slovenia, Rwanda, Canada, Eritrea, or Haiti.
And then, after the last rider had crossed the line in the Men’s Road Race, and after medals had been hung from the necks of Pogačar, Evenepoel and Healy, a DJ fired up thumping, modern African music; the Rwandans and their continent-mates danced for hours, well after I’d walked back to my hotel; I could hear the music into the evening.
So my highlight is one broad, collective memory of the power and relevance of a bicycle in Africa.
Andy Rohrer – GEARBreak and Gravel Editor
2025 has been quite the year for me. I retired from the U.S. Army after 26 years of service. We also had to adjust back to living in the States after living in Europe for nearly 10 years, the last five on the east side of Brussels. We moved back to my hometown in West Michigan, and I quickly (re)learned that riding in the U.S. is not like in Europe. Then in November, I begrudgingly embraced “riding” indoors—wind and rain don’t bother me, but snow and ice create some unique challenges.
It was certainly bittersweet to leave Europe. The ease of getting to Spain to ride for a week, or head to the Alps to climb an Alpine Pass, or just bumping down to France to wind through the Vosges is going to be missed. At least I have some fantastic memories, some made in the last few months living there. In January, I had the chance to go back to Stuttgart and ride on the hills with some old friends. We had lived there from 2015-2020.
I rode a few cyclosportifs around the Spring Classics, mit mein kumpel Dan coming over to Belgium from Germany for Gent Wevelgem.
We ticked Gran Canaria off the bucket list for five days in April. Naturally, I took my bike and rode to the summit of Pico de las Nieves.
I conquered a few more Cotacols later in the spring with my pal Chris. Finally, I rode in the Ardennes one last time with Haecky…
Three days later, I “retired”…and we moved home.
In that process, Chuck put me in touch with Rich. Discussions were had, decisions were made, and Rich brought me onto the team. The last 6 months have been far busier than I expected “retirement” would be. Not only did I take over GEARBreak, along with reviewing various items of kit and equipment, I was also hired to run a non-profit here in Michigan. It’s focus on cycling advocacy and education, as it relates to road safety and trail access for the mountain biking community, has propelled me into the cycling community in a positive way.
Michigan is a state of immense natural beauty. We are very proud of our natural environment, and we have a rich culture of outdoor activity: camping, hiking, biking, hunting, horseback riding. It is endless. But we are also a state that in many ways is culturally dominated by the United States auto industry. The non-profit advocacy work is endless, but it also immensely rewarding.
Coincidentally, as I was preparing to return, a fellow that I met by trading several KOMs with several years ago while home on leave, and whom I started following on Strava, put me in touch with an amateur (and mostly self-funded) cycling team. Three days home, and they dialed me up and invited me for a ride. They ripped my legs off, threw some kit on me, and now I’m one of their supported riders.
Speaking of supported riders…gravel and gravel racing is naturally a big part of the Michigan cycling scene. With one of the largest gravel races in the world every April—Barry-Roubaix—and estimates north of 36,000 miles of gravel roads in the state, gravel is a key part of many Michigander cyclist’s identity. With “Barry” anchoring the Michigan Gravel Race Series, which has links to the non-profit I lead, and a race I have traveled home to ride many times over the years, I am beyond stoked to be home and finally get to ride it without jet lag in 2026! Not to mention, actually challenging the MGRS series next year.
It is exciting to be home and getting reacquainted with riding here, where it all started for me long before I joined the Army. I only see lots of great things in my future, and am sincerely grateful to Rich and the team for bringing me on here at PezCycling. Thanks for reading along, here’s to a healthy and productive 2026!
John Thomson – Photographer of Bike Races and Catwalks
I am writing this Christmas message as I am watching the cross race in Mol on my TV and wishing I was there to shoot MvdP without his glasses on. But I had a very good year with pictures at the Tour de France, Olympics, Flanders and Roubaix. And with great admiration for the riders who battle and come back from adversity like they do, in the most beautifully photographable sport in the world. Wishing all PEZ readers a very Merry Christmas and don’t forget that “Christmas is the only time of year in which one can sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of socks.”
Alex Winniki – Performance Dietician & ToolBox Contributor
Happy holidays to all the cycling enthusiasts out there. Like many of you, I love looking ahead and plotting next year’s goals to stay motivated through the shorter, colder winter days. What’s just as important to me, though, is taking time to reflect on and unpack the previous year’s exploits.
2025 was an ambitious year for me. As a former roadie, I’d never had a full off-road season, and year after year I find myself falling more in love with mountain biking. Moving to Greenville, South Carolina in recent years has given me close proximity to DuPont and Pisgah National Forests, along with ~30 miles of singletrack within a 30-minute bike ride of my new home. That made it all the easier to fall in love with singletrack and further explore the off-road scene. In typical endurance-athlete fashion, I tried to find some of the hardest events I possibly could with this newfound interest.
The two I settled on were the Cohutta 100 MTB race in Tennessee and the Trans North Georgia Adventure. I was thoroughly humbled by both, which made them the absolute highlights of my year.
Cohutta is roughly 30 miles of singletrack, with another 70 miles tacked on after that — all of which is basically epic gravel climbing. Starting the race with a 32-lb trail bike and way too much food and fluid on me proved to be a fantastically rookie mistake. The 13,000 feet of elevation gain progressively beat me into submission and reminded me of the weight penalty throughout the 8 hours and 13 minutes it took to finish. Good enough for 9th overall… but at what cost.
After consuming ~117 g of carbs per hour for 7 hours — most of it at tempo pace — I bonked my soul out of my body. I thought the next aid station was coming up sooner than it actually was and bonked between aids, leaving me on death’s door, literally staring at the road in front of me for any sign of a gel that might have fallen out of an unsuspecting rider’s pocket. I found nothing, but limped to the final aid station three miles downhill from the finish, downed three gels to revive myself, and crawled to the finish line.
This race was a rude awakening to the world of ultra-endurance and the depths of fatigue required to earn a result in that space.
Can’t wait to link back up next April.
Similar in spirit but worlds apart, the Trans North Georgia Adventure was the hardest thing I’ve ever done — while Cohutta may be the deepest I’ve ever gone.
After brewery-hopping my way through mild spring weather on the Trans Western North Carolina bikepacking route, I figured TNGA would be a similar fun adventure, just with a grand depart and some camaraderie.
What I found instead was 95-degree Georgia heat, relentless mountains, much more singletrack, and my first real test of bikepack racing. I had zero intention of racing this thing — I was there to take in the scenery and enjoy the ride, both of which I did. But as the route unfolded in front of me, I realized it would be foolish to spend any more time on course than necessary. Once again humbled by the course and the effort needed to conquer (or survive) it — and inspired by the fellow cyclists crazy enough to line up alongside me — I loved the experience.
Four days with minimal phone usage, almost zero music or podcasts, purged my brain of anything other than logistics for food and sleep, and gave me a deep appreciation for my wife, my dog, and my bed. They’re the best.
I think this ride has me sold on doing at least one or two soul-search rides each year. I’m not sure I’ll be lining up for TNGA next year, as it’s a bit too close to Marji Gesick — which I’ll be fresh meat for. That said, I’m already on the lookout for the next adventure since I can’t make it to DOOM in March.
Here’s to a 2026 filled with adventure, friends, and challenges. Wishing you all the best in your own adventures.
Scott Steele – Sports Scientist & ToolBox Contributor
The defining theme of my year has been adjusting to dad-life. My wife and I welcomed our first son in November 2024 and much of this year has been about recalibrating expectations, juggling priorities, and reconnecting with the simple reasons I started riding in the first place.
As our little guy has settled into a bit of a routine and is finally sleeping better, I’ve been able to turn my attention towards rebuilding my fitness. I have appreciated the training flexibility that Xert offers in combination with the social & competitive outlet of Zwift. This fall, I dove head-first into virtual racing and quickly discovered how much I “enjoy” those hard, uncomfortable efforts that racing seems to extract better than anything else! I’ve also enjoyed the camaraderie and support of my virtual teammates who continually push me to show up and keep improving.
Although I won’t quite make my 12,000 km annual distance goal, I did complete my second annual “Mid Summer Epic” ride – a self-imposed tradition where I design an A to B ride spanning at least 200 kms. Over the past two years, it’s become an anchor point of my summer training and as a reminder that these big, memorable rides don’t need a formal event signup, nor do these epic rides need to disappear when life gets busy. I’m already starting to dream up ambition ideas for the 2026 edition.
I hope you’ve found my contributions this year insightful, helpful, or at least interesting – thank you for reading along!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Scott Steele
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