daytrip
-
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. Silhouettes of trees and church spires look one and the same. Follow La Béthune for an hour before turning onto the clay hills. Rollercoaster bends…
-
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 bike, no… sorry, 60 bloody quid. Sodding half term.” “I have a car. We could drive over?” “98 quid with car going overnight Saturday, coming…
-
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 metal roof of the station but the rain sounds like it’s getting harder. I zip up my waterproof jacket and pull up my buff. Four…
-
Bunking Off (Reprise)
One last continental fling before the clocks change, a ride half done before daylight. Guiding the girl on her way to Paris from Oxford to the Avenue Verte by the lakes. As our routes part company we wish her luck and disappear into the valley, into the silence of the darkness. Stopping, we search for…
-
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…
the man from icon 