That didn’t go to plan
Pull my phone from gilet pocket and tap WhatsApp. Aborted. Legs and head both gone. Heading back to Dieppe, should be there by 1pm. Three course lunch and beers? Hit […]
Randonneur Round The Year?
Whilst idly plotting some routes earlier I realised that the last two months I’ve done 200 kilometre rides in France, both of them logged as DIY by GPS audaxes. There’s […]
De la Med à la Manche – part II
Wednesday It’s pitch black when I wake up, I can hear rain outside. This isn’t surprising as it was forecast. I doze off again but my 6am alarm rouses me […]
De la Med à la Manche – part I
Saturday I tap the gear shift button. Nothing. Fucking fuck! I’ve just snagged the di2 cable in the seat clamp rebuilding the bike outside Montpelier airport and now I have […]
Normandicat
As soon as I start pedalling I relax. I know what I’m doing now. Riding bikes. Done loads of it. Cheered off by the organisers and volunteers we all turn […]
Bristol to London(ish)
Having volunteered at one of the London Wales London audax controls last year I had decided to help out at the arrivée in Chalfont St. Peter for this year’s LWL. […]
Seven Tractors
Almost-silence hangs in the mist. The only sounds are bird song and the gentle whirring of block and chain. The valley sides are obscured by layers of tracing paper haze. […]
The Route to the Silver Dollar Moment
Earlier this year I saw that The Orielles were going to be on tour in February. No Brighton show but there was one in Bristol on a Sunday night. Hmm, […]
Omloop van de West-Vlaanderen
“Half term next week so Newhaven ferry fully booked on Friday night and Saturday morning. Saturday night has space but price is higher than usual, 55 quid each return with […]
24 Hour Partir People
I can see the sea from the front door so heading south on the bike is not possible. I can choose any combination of east, west, north, but nothing to […]
Armistice Day 200
After storms on the south coast and a rough crossing we rumble down the ferry ramp into France in calm, dry weather. It’s really early, a bit after 4am local […]
Not Quite The Hailsham 600 (reprise)
I walk through the door of the empty café. It’s almost 11am, prime Sunday brunch time. “Hello, you’re our first customer”, the girl behind the counter greets me. She looks […]
Wander Wye
Friday Sitting on the train to London a small amount of trepidation floats around my mind. I’ve yet to complete a 600 kilometre audax having failed to complete the Hailsham […]
Further
I’ve always been attracted to landscape and distance rather than speed. I watch grand tours for the helicopter shots of roads winding around mountains, along valleys and across patchwork fields […]
Newhaven – Welcome to England
Rolling off the ferry at Newhaven it’s lashing down, absolute stair-rods. I get to the train station only to discover there are no trains this weekend. It may be the […]
Mayhem Weekender
Sometime after midnight on Monday morning in a 24 hour petrol station on the edge of Brighton Cashier: “Have you done the bike ride today?” [Sunday was the annual London […]
the man from icon 