Cycling adventures across Yorkshire, Britain and beyond
A lovely long, easy day of tailwind scooting along the LF9’s make-believe seashore, going through a variety-pack of flat Frisian landscapes: heathland, marsh, woods, new towns. It was about as wild and remote as the Netherlands gets… well, ‘wild and remote’ in the same sense that the Yorkshire Pennines can get ‘lush and tropical’. But…
I followed an imaginary coastline today: where the Netherlands would meet the North Sea if it hadn’t been for centuries of land reclamation. Given the recent few months of incessant rain and a fair bit of standing water still in fields, as in England, it wasn’t that hard to imagine. I started in Zwolle with…
Another day of banktop riding, with sunshine in the afternoon, following the meanders of the IJssel river on the LF3. I wasn’t due in Zwolle at my accommodation tonight until 7pm, giving me plenty of time to dawdle, which at the pace I cycle on my folder is just as well. After leaving the raucous…
A change of pace today, as I switched from direct, roadside commuter paths to a leisure route, the LF3. The change being from a slow pace to an even slower one. The first half of the day was on one of the most famous fast-commuting bike paths in the country, though: the F325 from Nijmegen…
Energised by a fine Dutch breakfast from my lovely Warmshowers hosts Jaap and Rie, I set off into a day-long headwind for the 45-mile-ish haul along roadside bike paths to Nijmegen. Dutch breakfasts evidently include eggs, bacon, rye bread, curranty bread rolls, and chocolate shavings. And coffee, and tea, and entertaining chat. I think I…
All the forecasts predicted different weather today. And none of them were right. In the event, it turned out grey in the morning, fine over lunchtime, and drizzly from the afternoon – but, pleasingly, with a helpful tailwind all day as I headed northeast along the Netherlands’ dreamily good cycle infrastructure. I headed out from…
So, I’m cycling the world’s most cycle-friendly End to End: the Netherlands, from the bottom-right-hand corner (at the triple-border-point with Belgium and Germany) to the northernmost extremity at Noordkaap, Uithuizen, up Groningen way. I stayed last night in Aachen, just over that triple-border, in Germany. Getting there was a straightforward one-day business, thanks to my…
Next month, for a magazine article, I’ll be cycling the Way of the Roses, 1970s style: on a vintage bike and with only kit from that era. No lycra, no gadgets. Today was a kind of test-cum-photoshoot – done with a 1970s 35mm SLR, in black and white, on a few train-assisted highlights of the…
A shorter day, and a princely one, but only because it was Rainier. At least it was almost all car-free and, like yesterday, involved a lot of promenade paths with me gazing at the water. Much of it this time landing on my head in the form of heavy showers. Anyway, after a quick bit…
Whenever I learn of extreme places – End to Ends, alphas and omegas, highests and lowests – I can’t help plotting a bike route between them. So when I found that Britain’s Biggest Church and Smallest Church are connected by endless miles of mostly car-free, pleasant promenade riding, I had to ride it. SEE THE…