What could be more bracing than a cold shower in the morning? Now I know: it’s putting on yesterday’s washing that’s still wet, thanks to having forgotten to pack spare clothing. Still, once I’d got over that, I could get on my bike and get going. Except I couldn’t. My back tyre was flat, the…
Author: Rob Ainsley
Ireland 1: (Dublin to) Mizen Head to Glengarriff
Mizen Head (pic) isn’t actually the southernmost point in Ireland – that’s Brow Head, a couple of miles east – but it’s the traditional End Point of the island, so that’s where I was going to start. But first I had to get there. (I’m not a multitasker; I work linearly.) My ferry docked in…
Ireland 0: York to Dublin
I set off from my rented house in York pleased with myself. I’m an experienced cycle tourist. It comes automatically to me now to pack instinctively what I need, without being lumbered by what I don’t. What could possibly go wrong? Panniers full – well, actually surprisingly light, I couldn’t help thinking – I trundled…
TPT 4: Ferriby to Hornsea
I stayed at my mum’s in Ferriby, and those of you who who have done similar will smile at the memory of the hospitality blitzkrieg: mountains of food, oceans of wine. No mountains here of course – after Ferriby it’s the plain of Holderness, sprawling east to the North Sea, and the nearest you get…
TPT 3: Penistone to Ferriby
Downhill all the way from here of course… and a lot of miles along often very pleasant railtrails, with plenty of sunny weekend leisure riders when I did it. Well, except when you take a picture of course, when the flow of picturesque riders suddenly dries up. Past Doncaster everything is flat. There’s some pleasant…
TPT 2: Altrincham to Penistone
The first few miles of today’s ride I’d done last year, between Wheelton and Hathersage on my Cape Wrath to Dover ride. It was déja vu all over again: like then, I got lost thanks to works closures and missing signage. After Stockport it’s a bit hilly, with ups and downs. You go past this…
TPT 1: Southport to Altrincham
The Trans Pennine Trail stretches 215 mostly offroad miles or so from Southport, on the Irish Sea, to Hornsea, on the North Sea. I had a few days blank in my diary – roughly from now until 2053 – so despite indifferent weather, finances and career prospects, I couldn’t resist cycling it. There’s a very…
Camino 10: Monte de Gozo to Santiago de Compostela
Thanks to the clocks springing forward, it was still black outside at 8am when I had to leave the hostel. Misty, damp, half-drizzling: it was all a bit anti-climatic. Er, anti-climactic. Well, both, actually. I slipped downhill and along trafficky roads through dreary outskirts, and followed my nose to the cathedral square and my entrance-finale….
Camino 9: Ligonde to Monte de Gozo
The clocks went forward at 2am, when I was fast asleep. When I woke it was nearly seven, ie eight, technically chucking out time from the albergue, though there was no sign of that happening. Which was good, as it was pitch-dark outside and still showery-chilly. When it began to get light I started gingerly…
Camino 8: Triacastela to Ligonde
I had to wait outside the hostel until 8.30, by which time most of the hostelers gone, for the Saturday bloke to come and let my bike out of the garage, having talked his way through the exact purpose of each key in his copious bunch. The morning looked grey but dry. Samos had a…