Best day of the trip so far, mostly spent dawdling alongside the Loire. Which was pretty misty in the morning chill, but once away from Chalonnes, there were some fine views over the valley (pic). You can see why hot-air ballooning is big in these parts. One of our friends got married in a hot-air…
Author: Rob Ainsley
France 3: Vitré to Chalonnes-sur-Loire
Another long hot sunny day cycling through pleasant French countryside. You really get a feel for how rural the country, and its economy, is – you’re always being overtaken by tractors. And, if you cycle at my pace, joggers. There are quite a few chateaus too, in amongst the endless kilometres of corn and cow…
France 2: Pontorson to Vitré
A hot sunny day of quiet Normandy and Breton countryside. And a lot of English-looking farmland en route to Fougères this morning, though of course it could only be France because the cows were shrugging and the cars were giving me loads of room when they passed. It’s true, drivers, even HGVs, really do give…
France 1: St Malo to Pontorson
By ferry – especially when you’re cycling off it – is a great way to arrive in St Malo (pic). Its stern, grey, granitic old walled town centre is famous, though it holds unpleasant memories for me, and always looks to me like the backdrop to a harrowing black and white film set in World…
France 0: Portsmouth
The obvious way to get to St Malo with a bike is on the ferry from Portsmouth. The place reminds me a lot of my native Hull, being a gritty town with an underachieving football team and overachieving criminals, but with the major plus of being a port, ie a fast getaway to anywhere else….
Speyside 3: Straight to mouth
Final day of route research on the Speyside Trail, finishing at the mouth not far from Elgin. Which, incidentally, has a distillery.
Speyside 2: Spirit of cycling
Day of whisk… er, route research in distillery country. I mean, Speyside.
Speyside 1: Takes a lot of bottle
Excellent first day of route research on the Speyside Trail up in the Scottish Highlands.
Tan Hill Inn: Drink up
Yorkshire reckons it’s got the best of everything. All the stuff that counts anyway. France may do better philosophy, Germany engineering, and the Philippines know how to do nail bars. But for the best cricket, the best beer, the best scenery, the best people… well, it’s got to be the broad acres. (There are famously…
Beverley: Wolds apart
Beverley (picture), at the edge of the gentle Wolds, is one of our great secrets: a fine, characterful Georgian market town with its own brand of Yorkshireness. While it has plenty in common with the county’s other market towns such as Richmond – a fondness for turning potentially pedestrianised-showcase market squares into car parks, for…