Cycling adventures across Yorkshire, Britain and beyond
At last, life is returning to normal: trains delayed an hour by signal failure, just like the Before Times. I did a quick jaunt to Stevenage today, to investigate the very agreeable Spoke CC cycle cafe in Codicote just outside. And got very wet in the process: it pelted down with rain all day. The…
I learned with excitement yesterday that Bamford Clough – a hitherto obscure, steep, rough, unsurfaced byway taking to the skies from the village of Bamford in the Hope Valley – was tarmacked a few days ago, and is now a genuine road. A road with a signed gradient of 35%, no less, which makes it…
The Tour of Britain passed through the Staffordshire Peaks today. So did I, though rather slower. But with my pals Mark and Andy we cycled from Longnor through the micro-Dolomites by Earl Sterndale – a village, not a jazzman – and to Flash, the highest village in Britain. (Yes, higher than anything in Scotland: Wanlockhead…
Hills, follies, stately homes, guardian angels for my lift driver, Bakewell Tarts in Bakewell, and one of England’s most spectacular views: another day to cherish. No mist this morning: it was cloudless and warm as I left the tent at half seven, heading to Matlock north along the Cromford Canal’s decent towpath. I came off…
I found out what ‘doubly thankful’ means today, and it was nothing to do with finding a Co-op both open and with some reduced-price sushi, my usual post-ride twin-cause for celebration. It was a misty, chilly morning, but by the time I’d climbed up and over the hill between Crich and Belper, the sun had…
Just £2 for the train, £7/night for the campsite: the trip was cheap, but priceless. Thanks to Northern Railway’s Flash Sale – so called because it lasts a thousandth of a second but brightens up my entire day – I got from York to Sheffield for a quid, and thence to Alfreton for another quid….
England’s highest motorway; Britain’s biggest single-arch bridge; Europe’s deepest roadway cutting; a farm stranded in the middle of the M62. Welcome to Dean Head. It may sound like a 1980s Aussie cricketer – father, perhaps, of Travis – but for civil engineers this is one of Yorkshire’s most renowned places. It’s up in the Pennines…
I was in Aberystwyth for a photoshoot, so came a day early, intent on a ride in the hills. However, my plans to ride a circuit involving Nant-y-Moch Reservoirs was foiled by a road closure – the viaduct was completely out of action – and my backup plan of investigating a cycle cafe was also…
The final day of the Guided Tour involved a cycle cafe, more London canals, a cable car ride, and (for some) a wait mean time – well, it was Greenwich. Adrian had a mystery puncture in the morning – one of those that presents as a totally deflated unredeemable flat, but when you’ve gone to…
Today involved a lost dog and lost wife (both found), a scientific trial on the efficacy of toothpaste as an anti-histamine, a great park, and a great Italian restaurant. There was an incident in the morning. We were just enjoying our slap-up breakfast – well, actually, a paper bag with a yogurt and sandwich, because…