Cycling adventures across Yorkshire, Britain and beyond
Today was my gravel-bike day. Obviously my bike is a tourer, but it wouldn’t take much to convert it into a gravel bike. I’d just have to fit it with worse brakes, more difficult gears and less robust wheels, remove the rack and mudguards, swop the frame for aluminium, and charge myself five hundred quid…
Staffordshire, no bull: I was very happy to be back researching routes again today. Right in front of Stafford station is Victoria Park, and it looked very neat, fresh and attractive on this cloudless, warm spring morning. I probably didn’t: I’d had a 5am start in York. The River Sow runs through it, and overlooking…
My last day of route research in Swindon. The lazy, uninformed opinion of many is that the town is pretty rubbish for cycling and lacks any decent network. Well, let me tell you, I’ve actually come and investigated the place by cycling round it for four days. I came to the same conclusion.
Day 3 of cycle route research round Swindon way. I trusted the Met Office’s weather forecast of sun and dry, because I know they’re right 9 times out of 10. This was the tenth time though. It rained all day.
Day 2 of cycle route research round Swindon took me past four White Horses, none of them pubs, all of them hill figures. It’s a Thing round here.
Cycle route research today north of Swindon, which town is every bit as beautiful – and well-provisioned with good bike routes – as I expected. Not very, in other words.
Day 3 of cycle route research round Tunbridge Wells. I cycled through two different hamlets called Iden Green, each near a hamlet called Four Wents, also unrelated to each other. So you can guess the surreal theme of today’s route. Yes: fish.
Day 2 of my cycle route research round Tunbridge Wells involved visits to Sevenoaks, Four Elms, and One Tree Hill. So you can guess the day’s theme. Hills.
Cycle route research round Tunbridge Wells, and yes, this is necessary work.
Final day of route research, doing the loop round the coast of Arran.