themanfromicon
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The Lanes – Spithandle Lane
On a late summers evening I’ve chased my shadow home along here. In the depths of winter I’ve entered one end of the lane in drizzle with a bunch of riders only to emerge from the other end, two and a half miles later, in snow and having lost one of our mini-peleton somewhere along…
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The Lanes – New Bridge Road
Within the Hundred of Pevensey Lowey within in the Rape of Pevensey, and containing yet smaller divisions – Horse Eye Level, Down Level, Manxey Level, Whelpley Level, Hooe Level – Pevensey Levels are a strange land. Reclaimed flatlands of soft clay sediments between the chalk hills of the South Downs to the south-east, and the…
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The Lanes – Spronketts Lane
This is less about a single lane than a network of lanes that transport you from the chalk downland hills to the clay lands of the weald, quiet narrow lanes bookended between the A23 and A281 and bisected by the A272. There are many of them, running north-south or east-west, no diagonals – Foxhole, Cross…
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The Lanes – Bostal Road
In 2013 and 2014 I wrote a series of pieces about Sussex lanes for Nowhere Fast CC. The old NWFCC site has been replaced by a new Tumblr site and I’m not sure if these will be accessable anymore, so I’m archiving them here and adding some new photos. First up, Bostal Road in Steyning……
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Diary of a Novice Randonneur, pt.7 – Tour des Trois Vallees
The sky overhead is crashing and sparking setting off car alarms and scaring the hell out of dogs. Rain is absolutely hammering down. It’s not ideal cycling weather. I’m heading to the pub to meet friends, but where most will sensibly stay at the pub all evening two of us, Nigel and myself, will head…
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I turn left at the bottom of the road…
…and I start to climb and climb and climb. From the river’s edge to meet the rising sun. Out of the shadows, layer upon layer of blue-green hills stretch away and morph into the sky. Out of the valley and onto the plateau, the horizon jagged like the torn edge of a piece of paper.…
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Diary of a Novice Randonneur, pt.6 – Not Quite The Spurn Head 400
I am in Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire to ride the Not Quite The Spurn Head 400 at the invitation of my friend Luke, and finally on the Singular Peregrine that had been bought with audaxing in mind but has taken a while longer to build than anticipated. Bikes are checked over, wine is drunk, and…
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Diary of a Novice Randonneur, pt.5 – Straight Outta Hackney
Just a cheeky little 200 to squeeze in before the 400 in a couple of weeks. After a fitful nap on the crack o’ sparrows train up from Brighton I hop off at London Bridge for a gentle spin up to the Salisbury Hotel in Harringay. The ride is organised by Audax Club Hackney, hence the…
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