On Monday January 20, we misplaced our pricey good friend Ed Hood, a person who for over 15 years helped construct and outline this website’s distinctive place on the planet of biking media. Ed suffered a extreme stroke in Feb. 2022, which sadly introduced an finish to his pursuit documenting his nice ardour for cycle sport. I requested the PEZ-Crew to share a number of recollections of our time with the good man.
Richard Pestes, Writer: The one time I had the privilege to Ed in individual was at the beginning of the 2010 Giro, stage 7 begin in Carrara – on a drizzly day because the Giro set off throughout Tuscany taking in a number of sectors of Strada Bianche. My 2nd daughter was 6 months outdated, so whereas prs. Pez was on maternity go away, we went to Italy. Naturally I dragged them alongside to see a Giro stage, and this was the day Ed and Martin took up the baton to cowl the following week of the race.
I all the time joked with Ed that I couldn’t perceive a phrase he stated – my ears weren’t conversant in his thick Scottish accent – however he was all the time so blissful – and grateful to be overlaying races, contained in the velvet rope, and genuinely loved the entry that our media credentials allowed, and in flip allowed him to satisfy, rub shoulders with, and get to know so a lot of biking’s solid of characters – from protagonists to bit gamers – he cherished all of it. Ed was actually certainly one of a form. We miss you Ed. – Pez
Ed started writing for PEZ in 2005, when he approached me with an concept to supply some protection of the Tour of Britain. He delivered on his phrase, and we by no means regarded again. His tales chasing the Giro, Tour, Vuelta, Classics and Worlds, and in winter the Sixes, are legendary, and gave us one thing the opposite biking media retailers might by no means duplicate or problem.
Ed on the Copenhagen Sixes taking care of Michael Morkov
His potential to suppose up inventive story concepts – rider interviews, previews, rants, and common musings about cycle sport was uncanny and matchless. He was an editor’s dream, even when we by no means knew what his subsequent story could be about, we all the time knew it might be entertaining, considerate, and stuffed with nuggets of knowledge solely somebody together with his pedigree might carry.
Within the midst of the chaos of le Tour, Ed knew how you can hold it actual – possible the one media ever to file a tales on the well-known Vacansoleil relaxation day “moules” events.
His well mannered and respectful method earned him a rolodex of professional biking’s illuminati that may be the envy of any journalist. I might solely guess as to its dimension, as a result of Ed’s modesty ensured he by no means bragged or title dropped about any of it.
In fact he’s far more than the journalist I’ve described above, however as a member of the PEZ-Crew, and the world’s biking media, Ed stays irreplaceable. There’s actually no different author in biking who did, or might do what Ed did.
Learn Ed’s 17+ years physique of labor creating biking tales:
Alastair Hamilton – Editor & EUROTRASH: Since Ed had his stroke two years in the past, I had been dreading receiving ‘that’ message. Earlier than the stroke Ed was stuffed with concepts, his enthusiasm knew no bounds, tales, articles, race evaluations – from nearly any angle would fly from his keyboard.
My first reminiscence of Ed was a two man group time trial, it will need to have been within the late 70’s. The beginning and end was simply outdoors Paisley, Scotland and it was the everyday early season chilly and damp climate. I don’t keep in mind the gap or who gained, however I keep in mind Ed and his accomplice on the end. His teammate was about half Ed’s dimension and energy output (that wasn’t a factor then) and he regarded like he had been tortured. Because the outcomes had been being learn out, I keep in mind Ed and his accomplice each opening a can of beer, I believed ‘that is somebody particular’.
Ed again within the day
Soar ahead about 30 years and I’m modifying Ed’s articles, interviews, roadside and race reviews. If I wanted one thing on a topic, Ed had it. A roadside from the Giro, Tour or Vuelta, it was there not lengthy after the stage completed, with photographs. If you must know or be reminded of one thing or somebody, Ed knew. Ed was ‘old-fashioned’ however he might see if one thing was good for the game or simply plain silly, and he would say so.
Each day I’d get a textual content or ten from Ed, not nearly biking, you title it and Ed had his angle. Nothing a lot obtained him down and he was all the time enthusiastic. A couple of years in the past he had a coronary heart by-pass operation, he stated: “I’ll be going within the hospital tomorrow, however I most likely write one thing from there.” It took him a number of days, however it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the following article got here by way of.
Ed was a terrific good friend to everybody, I can’t keep in mind him pondering dangerous of anybody, even on events when he ought to have. A gentleman and all spherical high bloke. He cherished to go to me right here in Spain and would go the native bar within the village, early within the morning, for a espresso and brandy and simply watch the comings and goings, I used to be all the time trying ahead to the following go to…
Goodbye my good friend, I miss you each day.
Stephen Cheung Ph.D. Toolbox Editor: Ed was an inspiration to all of us at Pez. It’s not an overstatement to say that he was the pulsing heartbeat at Pez – the one who most absolutely embodied our mission to put in writing what we wish to learn and to actually take us behind the scenes. Via the years, he introduced us so many distinctive tales and interviews. I think about myself fairly educated concerning the historical past of the game, however Ed had me beat by a number of dozen nation miles. And never solely did he know the historical past, he’s on a primary title foundation with them and introduced us interviews that you simply by no means learn wherever else. How large was his attain? I dwell within the small metropolis of St. Catharines and Steve Bauer, Karen Robust, and the late Gord Singleton are all lifetime members of my St. Catharines Biking Membership. However Ed – all the way in which from Edinburgh and who I don’t suppose has ever set foot on Canadian soil – interviewed all of them. Plus St. Catharines native and velodrome constructing legend Peter Junek!
His interviews had been all the time completely different from the run of the mill. No commonplace “give us the highlights” questions. It’s clear that Ed actually, actually had his background analysis dialed. Plus he had a knack for bringing out his interviewee’s actual persona. I by no means obtained the sense of him ever attempting to idolize or tear down anybody in his interviews. He simply introduced them to us in their very own phrases and methods.
Past his interviews, Ed actually introduced all of us behind the scenes. Not the highlights that you could see on TV, however the story about actually being there. The scent of the frites in Belgium, the sizzle from the grilling sausages on the Tour roadside, the temper from a small cafe atop the Poggio constructing because the peloton ratchets the tempo and depth to bursting ranges at Milan-San Remo.
Pez is a worldwide digital assortment of biking nuts, however I’ve managed to satisfy and even journey with most of our crew aside from Ed sadly. My fond recollections of Ed come from the ultimate years earlier than his 2022 stroke. After years of minimal to no biking, Ed was getting his legs over the bike once more. Understanding that I used to be the location’s cyclocross and gravel fanatic, Ed reached out to me about this entire gravel factor and whether or not a gravel e-bike was a strategy to get him driving once more. Over a lot of emails, I supplied him the ins and outs of what to contemplate, and heartily inspired him to make the leap. So my private favorite articles from Ed had been a few of his closing ones, the place he took us on native rides and advised us about his a part of Scotland in the way in which that may solely be found on two wheels. Behind the phrases and surroundings, what I cherished most was the sense of the child reawakening in Ed – as soon as once more discovering the enjoyment and freedom that the bike brings.
Truthful winds, Ed my good friend.
Chuck Peña – Tech Editor & Sock Guru: The biking world has misplaced a real legend with Ed’s passing. It’s honest to say that his articles had been a number of the greatest writing concerning the sport. They had been extra than simply reportage. He took you inside to see, really feel, and actually expertise the game and its many various personalities.
Like Stephen, I by no means had the good fortune to satisfy Ed in individual. However because of fashionable know-how, I used to be capable of spend time and get to know Ed virtually as if we had been really with one another. Buying and selling emails with Ed was like having espresso or a beer with him. Plenty of vigorous dialog over a variety of subjects. Package trend. Sock peak. Sun shades. Disc brakes. Digital shifting. Tubeless tires. Handlebar tape. Normally we’d be on reverse sides of the spectrum, however it was all the time pleasant and good-natured banter. We had been hundreds of miles away from one another, however felt like we had been sitting subsequent to one another on the bar in a pub.
In fact, we’d chat about racing and the state of racing. Ed was a fountain of information with a lot private expertise. And a deep sense of historical past of the game. I cherished speaking with him about racers from the previous and present state of racing — from racers earlier than our time like Coppi, the riders of our respective biking generations (Ed was born just some years than me however was within the biking sport nicely earlier than my time), and all the way in which as much as Pog. I think about myself somebody who is aware of a good bit about biking and bike racing, however Ed knew an order of magnitude extra and I all the time discovered one thing from Ed. And that one thing was not one thing I’d have discovered from studying a newspaper or journal article. It will be one thing I might solely study from Ed.
There are most likely two issues that stand out most to me about my time with Ed. The primary was actually studying about Six Days racing. With all his time trackside at so many various races, Ed was somebody who you might actually say “he was there.” When you’ve learn any of his articles concerning the Six Days, you’ll be able to hear the sound of the bikes on the boards and the scent of beer within the air. The opposite was ladies’s racing. Maybe a topic on which Ed and I had been on extra equal floor in that Ed was not identical knowledgeable he was about different features of biking and bike racing and I’m a giant fan and follower. We had some actually nice chats — even debates — and I all the time wished Ed had extra alternative to use his eager eye and fast wit to ladies’s biking to assist carry extra consideration to and assist develop the game.
However principally what I keep in mind about Ed — whether or not it was studying certainly one of his articles or buying and selling emails — is that he all the time made me smile and snicker.
I might say extra as a result of there was by no means working out of issues to speak about with Ed. However I’ll simply say that to say that Ed will likely be profoundly missed is past an understatement. Bon voyage, mon ami.
Alessandro Federico – Italian Bureau: The image was shot after Milan Sanremo 2007, in Sanremo. I don’t keep in mind a lot of that second, I can see a glass in entrance of me so we most likely had some good time speaking concerning the race simply gained by Oscar Freire. I’m fairly positive the Sanremo was Ed’s favourite one, he stated me that many occasions and he attended the race for therefore a few years. He all the time awakened very early that day, and we’ begin texting one another early too.
As a result of I’m 50, and I’m not anymore the younger man within the image, I’m unsure in the present day about who’s my good friend or not – nonetheless – trying this outdated body, I’m fairly positive certainly one of mine simply left.
Ed, I actually hope that the place you’re now, on a regular basis it’s Sanremo day.
Ale.
Leslie Reissner – Literary Editor: Though I had loved studying Ed’s tales I didn’t have the possibility to satisfy him till we obtained collectively in Berlin on the Six Day Races in January 2013. When residing in Germany, I attempted to attend the races there in addition to within the Netherlands however Berlin was all the time a spotlight for me. Ed supplied to point out me round at observe stage and was very beneficiant together with his time, on condition that he was taking care of two racers there. He launched me to Man East, an American rider, and it was insisted that I pose for a photograph sporting his cowboy hat! After years of watching the races, it was a thrill to be mixing it up with the professionals.
The Six Day Races had been a throwback to a distinct period of biking and Ed was sensible at capturing the ambiance–half athletic competitors, half spectacle (the stayers!), and whole occasion time. His travels to the races round Europe had been so nicely documented that it was such as you had been there too. Within the meantime the Six Days have diminished as there are fewer and fewer occasions–even Berlin presents solely a weekend now and Ed’s items, on reflection had been maybe the final hurrah for a particular time. Distinctive within the English-language world, I believe.
In addition to his Six Day accounts, Ed’s different nice power was in his interviews–and I believe he had the possibility to interview virtually everybody in some unspecified time in the future. As I found in my few makes an attempt for Pezcyclingnews, interviewing is an actual artwork and Ed will likely be tough to switch as he might draw out even notoriously reticent (that’s, most of them) professional racers and get them to say one thing fascinating.
Ed Hood was a terrific colleague and fairly the character right here at Pez and his presence has been missed, maybe heightened with reruns of his basic articles. Solely tailwinds for you now, Ed.
Matt Conn – A International Australian: Oh Ed. Please say it ain’t so!
My PEZ days had been all the time Ed-filled days and there weren’t many weeks the place we didn’t have a number of completely different electronic mail chats rolling alongside about racing, about Italy or Belgium, or simply about life normally.
Our solely in-person meet-up was at the beginning of Milan Sanremo in 2009 the place Ed and Martin handed by the beginning on their strategy to cowl the entire day. I used to be doing begin line interviews and it was enjoyable to stumble upon one another as we did our factor after which evaluate notes earlier than they shot off for an additional of Ed’s legendary Roadside Studies.
We’re all going to overlook Ed. His sense of humour and have to remind us always that as nice because the Tour Down Below is, it isn’t the actual begin of the highway season. That comes at Ghent- Ghent, which the uneducated amongst us mistakenly seek advice from as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Understanding that this was all the time a straightforward strategy to get an increase from Ed, it was usually my go-to if I wished to stir him.
It’s unhappy to suppose that there will likely be no extra cheeky electronic mail chains with Ed and his different nice mate Al, to be a part of anymore. Simply trying again by way of some outdated ones this week nonetheless, has jogged my memory simply how a lot Ed cherished biking, however particularly cherished sharing biking with anybody and everybody.
We’ll miss you “Amigo” and thanks for letting us be a part of the superb biking universe that you simply inhabited.
Gord Cameron – Scottish Bureau: Forward of my first solo journey to cowl the Tour de France for Pez, again in 2008, I used to be feeling fairly nervous concerning the magnitude of the race and how you can deal with all of it. The logistics, the driving, the exhaustion of weeks on the highway, the … politics of the entire thing. The dimensions of the forms that would instantly throw up a wall if there was any drawback with issuing credentials as soon as I’d organised the itinerary. Pez steered I simply get in contact with an outdated head, Mr Edmond Hood, to get some pointers.
Ed didn’t speak concerning the magnitude of the race, the logistics, the driving. He did speak concerning the politics of the entire thing. He talked about how you can navigate the diplomacy of coping with the organisers if the state of affairs arose, the tradition of the press room, the stress within the cage watching a stage end.
He talked concerning the fragile relationship that exists between the riders and the groups, on one hand, and the general public on the opposite. He talked concerning the privilege of sharing tales, of respecting confidences, of asking the suitable questions in the suitable method, of respectful, but probing, professionalism. He talked concerning the success of being ready to channel the ambiance to Pez’s readers world wide. He might steadiness the sound and the spectacle of the best races with the sombre moments when folks’s goals fell aside.
It’s simple to speak about Ed’s contacts ebook, which all of us envied, and the longevity of the relationships he’d shaped inside and across the biking bubble. That’s not what struck me about Ed once we spoke, or on the events we had dinner collectively.
Most significantly, Ed understood folks, and how you can talk. That’s what holds collectively his physique of labor, and it’s why he’ll be so missed by so many.<
Lastly – a number of phrases from Ed’s accomplice in life Marlene:
I used to be going to ask for those who might let folks know through the location that Ed had handed, and to thank them for all their curiosity and assist – I do know that it meant a terrific deal to Ed over time. Please thank everybody who donated to GoFundMe too – their generosity was superb. I’ve used a number of the cash for good issues for Ed, to make his life extra snug and aside from that he was amazed that individuals would really donate cash for him. He was all the time very humble about his expertise. I’m going to make use of a little bit of it to present Ed a terrific ship off. It is going to be a cremation however then a reception at a beautiful resort within the city which we predict numerous cyclists from this a part of the world to attend. I hope that you’ll approve, however I’m going to donate no matter is left to the Chest, Coronary heart and Stroke charity – it appears becoming contemplating Ed’s expertise.
Thanks a lot to your kindness and assist Richard – it has meant rather a lot to me, however I do know that Ed cherished having the ability to do all of the writing for the location and was very keen on you personally. For Ed, writing was like having the ability to scratch an enormous itch and he cherished the entire course of from the germ of an concept to seeing his work in print. And it was you who gave him that chance. Many thanks. Take excellent care, and go on my kindest needs to all.
– Marlene
Ed’s funeral will happen on Thursday sixth February 2025, 14:15PM, at Kirkcaldy Crematorium, Rosemount Avenue, Kirkcaldy, KY2 6HQ, Scotland, adopted by tea, espresso and a buffet on the close by Dean Park Lodge.
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