Saturday 13th May 2023 Today I had planned to be on day three of a five countries cycle tour, but black ice put paid to that ambition. Clearly we don’t have black ice in May, but in January we certainly did and it was then that I slid off my bike on a shady descent […]
It was a lovely, frosty morning on 16th January 2023 when I loaded my Dawes bike in my friend Michael Sutton’s van and we headed off to Hest Bank. We parked the van and set off at about 10:40 heading North on quiet roads alongside the coast. It was cold (probably two or three degrees […]
This year saw my second highest annual mileage recorded, boosted by one major tour of the Cotswolds plus several other cycling breaks including trips to Shrewsbury, North York moors, the Lake District and Weardale. The maps below show the routes I followed during the year. These show both the cycling routes as well as those […]
This has been a year of the UK short break. Geraldine and I decided last year that due to Covid travel complications, we would not go on a foreign holiday in 2021. This year, we reached the same decision for different reasons. The climate issues altered our view on flying and so we reviewed our […]
30th November 2022. I knew it’d be a chilly ride. Yesterday, the mercury never bothered to rise above 5°C, and it was foggy too, so I saw today’s forecast of 5 degrees and cloud as an improvement. Ever the optimist, I set off well-wrapped up to face the chill on a route generally South to […]
This wasn’t a cycle tour, but I include it since I was cycling in interesting areas and (generally) going out whatever the weather. Friday 11th November 2022. For the final time before Emily moves to Sheffield, I was enrolled on cat-sitting duties in Hazel Grove. To make the best use of the shorter days, I […]
10th October 2022 At the end of last month I was invited to attend a day at the Outward Bound centre in Aberdovey. This was a place that holds a special place in my heart after I went on a three week training course there, aged just 19. As an apprentice I was selected to […]
Monday 29th August 2022. It’s strange how things work out. In July, Jim asked several of us (in a WhatsApp group) whether we fancied going on a cycling trip to Mallorca. It was around the time that airports were experiencing severe delays and Covid cases were on the rise again, so I declined, as did […]
Wednesday 13th July 2022. I received a great book for Christmas which detailed a number of bike rides throughout the North of England. There are three routes in the North Lakes, so I thought it would be a good idea to link them together for a two day adventure. So that’s why I’m here. The […]
Monday 13th June 2022. After a very smooth drive down to Shirley*, West Midlands, I went for an un-panniered ride out to Shropshire to link up with a ride I did back in April from Shrewsbury. It’s all about linking up these red lines on a map for me! Except that this week, it’s a […]