Category: Route research

Today was a breeze. Literally. A huge tailwind westerly propelled me at speed along the Wall as if on an e-bike. I set out from my Carlisle guesthouse at first light, following paths through a park and past the town’s very own Leaning Tower. I somehow ended up following the walker’s path rather than the…

Hadrian’s Cycleway closely follows the very trails that the great Emperor himself never took during his visits to Britain. Hadrian was quite a character: cultured but ruthless, he consolidated the Empire with a largely peaceful tenure. He was also Spanish, adopted, gay, and bearded, which clearly some purists didn’t like – Roman Emperors had never…

I’m on a diet. A Roman-era diet. I’m following Hadrian’s Wall, eating and drinking only things that the construction-loving Emperor himself would have recognised. In short, this means no potatoes, tomatoes, chilli, avocado, pasta or other Age-of-Exploration stuff; but plenty of meat, fish and shellfish, crunchy salads, chunky stews, old-fashioned herbs, olives and fruit. And,…

I’ve always had a soft spot for Berwick-upon-Tweed. Like saddle soreness, perhaps. But today I was happy again to visit the splendidly walled border town at the end of a fabulous sunny day ride visiting another excellent cycle-cafe. The place in question was Lanterne Rouge, a friendly and lively magnet for local riders that often…

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….