Cycling adventures across Yorkshire, Britain and beyond
Two days riding round one of the cyclingest cities in the world, with no mermaids in sight. (Obviously she’d use a handcycle, which should present no problems on the Danish capital’s generously wide bike paths.) Despite our trains from Hamburg depositing us in Copenhagen two hours late, we still had time to explore the centre…
A day mostly on trains, which showed that Dutch and German services can be just as delayed as British ones. (Well, they’re the same owners, so maybe no surprise there.) There’s delay repay over here, but as we’re Interrailing, even if we got back what we paid that would be nothing. Anyway, we’re en route…
Baarle is a jigsaw puzzle of a town, with some pieces in Netherlands and some in Belgium. Various border disputes over the last century or two (resolved in the European High Court) have resulted in a fractal geography where there are lots of detached bits of one country in the other, some too small to…
I’m Interrailing with a folding bike for a few weeks with my pal Nigel. Thanks to a special offer earlier this year, I snapped up a two-month free pass for trains around Europe for 327 euros. That’s about £285, which is less than my average monthly energy bill these days. Sadly sleepers aren’t included, which…
My friend Mark Wedgwood is on a remarkable journey right now: cycling all 204 OS Landranger maps, in order. It’s a 7,000-mile odyssey that will take him everywhere in Britain. To exotic, far-flung places even I’ve never been, like St Kilda, or Skegness. He’s blogging about his journey at ridealltheosmaps.co.uk, and Instagramming on @ridealltheosmaps. Today…
Three of Britain’s most decisive and pivotal battles were each fought a short bike ride from York, which probably explains it. I’ve previously ridden to Stamford Bridge, where in 1066 England beat the Norwegians before losing to the French at Hastings three weeks later. And I’ve been to Towton, a turning point in the Wars…
Britain’s de facto second city (sorry, Brummies) was utterly terrible for cycling until recently. Now though – thanks to some determined installations of segregated cycle lanes – it’s much better. Compared to the best large cities. Which means it’s only slightly terrible. To be fair – which would be a departure for me, granted –…
En route home from the Isle of Wight, I found Portsmouth surprisingly difficult to tear myself away from. Though that was largely because a station fire knocked out the trains for four hours. But spare time in a city is never a problem with a bike, so I spent the hiatus enjoyably exploring the city’s…
No wonder, in this era of neoliberal capitalism, red squirrels are struggling. Their old ways of social equality and communally-owned hazelnuts have been pushed aside by the aggressive, exploitative, money-making urgency of the greys. However, on the Isle of Wight, like amiable old lefties with control of some niche council, the reds still cling on….
The round-the-island cycle route is the keynote bike ride of the diamond-shaped island off the south coast. And it is indeed a gem. Because it’s got many faces. And it’s hard. It’s sixty-odd miles of ups and down giving some splendid views and scenery along the way, but it also misses a trick or two…