Cycling adventures across Yorkshire, Britain and beyond
As I cycle my own Yorkshire coast ride, I’m seeing plenty of publicity – in the form of posters and banners – for Route YC. It’s a set of road trips, no doubt inspired by the success of Scotland’s NC500, for cyclists and drivers to explore the Yorkshire coast. And, as it happened, in the…
Yorkshire thinks it has the biggest and best of everything, and that includes its stretch of coast. So this week I’m cycling the 120-ish miles where North and East Ridings meet the North Sea, from Redcar down to Spurn Head as close to the coast as I can, via rugged cliffs, fishing villages and seaside…
These are exciting times for Tile Map fans. The ceramic wall charts show the North East’s rail network circa 1910. Up to 2024, nine railway stations in Yorkshire had one on display, some original, some replicas (such as Hunmanby’s, installed in 2021). I cycled them all in 2023. Nine… until now. Because today Driffield unveiled…
Earlier this year I cycled between Britain’s biggest and smallest churches, Liverpool Cathedral and St Trillo’s, Colwyn Bay. (You can probably guess which is which.) So on this sunny day I couldn’t resist doing the Yorkshire equivalent, riding from its largest – York Minster – to the smallest, forty-odd miles to the east: the tiny…
York is not short of images. The Minster, the City Walls, the Shambles, the pubs, the TikTok tourists queueing three hours to buy a ghost-shaped pepperpot. But there are many lesser-celebrated, quirky things to marvel at. I list them on my Bizarre Sights Guide to York on this website. My favourite of the lot is…
Never say Nevers. I’d originally planned to ride all the way to Nevers, sixty-ish k further up the Loire, so had accomm and my transport back home booked there. But with another terrible weather forecast, and the prospect of riding all day into a sleety headwind with no great scenic reward, I decided that a…
Autumn turned up while I was asleep. This morning was misty and cold, and I had to warm my hands around my breakfast tea mug before they worked well enough to take down the tent. There’s an end-of-season feel: several campsites along the way shut early for the year because of rainy weather and dwindling…
Orléans looked splendid in this morning’s sunshine. The city’s most famous son is a daughter: Joan of Arc, defender of the French Nation, who played a big role in the Siege of Orléans in the 1400s. She is commemorated in many ways, such as a cannabis shop called the Marie Jeanne d’Arc CBD. I think…
Another easy-going day of level riverside riding. The Loire route is not for seekers of thrills and spills, though I did almost spill some of my coffee this morning in a Blois cafe. (As for pastries, I’d had those back at the tent, thanks to the morning bakery delivery service that’s common at French campsites.)…
Yesterday was heavy rain all day so I stayed in Tours and just cycled – well, aquaplaned mostly – round town, exploring the very decent bike infrastructure. This morning, with my new-found knowledge of the city’s layout, I splashed my way to the doctor to show off my impressive collection of insect bites, and colourfully…