Tuesday 1st December 2020 My reluctance to venture out very far on my bike during the Covid-19 period has meant that I have generally only cycled out from Brindle. I decided to change this in December when I loaded the bike on the carrier and drove to Waddington on a cold, crisp day. The ride […]
To misquote Arkwright (Open all Hours), “It’s been a funny old year”, but sadly for most of us, 2020 profoundly lacked humour. The year started off fine, at least for me, but rapidly worsened as all my plans evaporated in March as I expect they did for most of us. I was reminded of the […]
Tuesday 8th September I readily admit it: I am risk averse. I wouldn’t say overly so, but the affliction is getting worse as I age. Perhaps I just have a good imagination, and I can always envisage what could go wrong. I’ve had four cycle touring trips cancelled this year, and although I’ve had offers […]
It’s at times like these I really feel sorry for the Queen. How on earth is she going to write her broadcast message after the year she’s just had? I’m thinking of that now, because I’m struggling to find a way to start my annual letter, not that I’ve had a bad year (far from […]
Saturday 12th October 2019 Less than a month after my last adventure which began in the Swiss Alps, I’m going back again. This trip is quite different, however, and not nearly so logistically challenging. The plan is to fly to Geneva, leave immediately (without spending a fortune in Swiss Francs on the price of a […]
Cycling from the source of the Rhine to the sea along the EuroVelo route 15 (EV15) cycle route which is one of many long distance cross-Europe cycle routes. Tuesday 3rd September 2019 Tomorrow I’m heading south with my bike packed in a box to start the longest ride of my life. I will drive to […]
I usually write a short account of any cycling trip that I take, but not usually for day-rides. However, my friend, Jim Solan, who accompanied me on this ride up Britain’s highest paved road. So below, is Jim’s account of that ride on 13th August 2019. (Jim’s a better writer than me, so I hope […]
Monday 5th August 2019 This trip was hatched after reading a book which described the development of the Experimental Aircraft Programme (the EAP) which was built in Lancashire in the early 80s. The aircraft first flew on 8th August 1986, the same day that I was interviewed for a job at British Aerospace where the […]
Monday 8th July 2019 Jim picked me up at 5.50 this morning to drive to Newark where Des and Phil were arriving by train. We took a few minutes to find our way out of town but once underway, we had three very good cycling days, with only an hour of heavy rain (and about […]
Monday 1st July 2019 Any day when it doesn’t rain is a good cycling day. Except, perhaps, when you need to head in a specific direction into a fierce headwind. Today, for instance. I was aiming for Liverpool via Southport and then down the coast, but a 25mph Westerly was doing all it could to […]