france – the man from icon

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 […]

randonneur

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. […]

randonneur

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 […]

cycling

Tour de Causse

Damn, my ears are cold. Freezing fog in the valley, ice forms on the brake levers. Skittery tyres in the corners… pssht, let a little bit of air out. Wheels […]

cycling

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 […]

cycling

2018 – Another Twelve Month Cycle

January February March April May June July August September October November December

cycling

Armastice 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 […]

cycling

Newhaven to Nyhavn

SATURDAY The smell of baking bread wafts through the air as I climb the hill away from the ferry. The streets are still and quiet. Beyond the light pollution stars […]

cycling

I’m Not Sure About This

I’ve had itchy pedals since I got back from the Alps in the summer. After five days of riding across Belgium and France (and a tiny bit of Switzerland) I […]

cycling

Flanders To The Alps: Notes On A Tour [Part 2]

Day 7 – Montriond and Morzine (18km) Snooze. Into Morzine […]

cycling

Flanders To The Alps: Notes On A Tour [Part 1]

Day 1 – Hastings, UK to Gent, Belgium (216km) Meet […]

touring

Seven hundred

Orange-pink cracks of light in the murky grey sky to the east contradict the weather forecast I saw the day before. This is good. If it lasts. The predicted headwind […]

france

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 […]

tcrno5

Transcontinental pt.I – Geraardsbergen to CP1

tcrno5

Scaling Up

I’ve written about mapping out rides before but plotting a route for the Transcontinental is bigger than any previous way finding I’ve needed to do by roughly a factor of […]

france

Five Sevenths

Half way up the hill out of town I spot a bench nestled under some trees. Shade, at last. I pull over, lean my bike against one end of the […]

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