The Old Ways and New Ways
Jump on a train west to Chichester to make the most of the forecast weather. Head for home with the wind on my back and scudding clouds and an intermittent […]
Ernest Journal issue no.9
I wrote something about the South Downs and familiarity of place through the repetition of commuting by bike for issue 9 of Ernest Journal. There a whole load of interesting […]
From the South Downs to North London
Saturday – Rule 5 Bikes Summer Send Off Meet up with friends at Freedom Bikes, sign on and collect brevet card…and a pen, as usual I’ve forgotten to bring one. […]
Easter Bivi
Easter weekend offroad pootle around the South Downs, Pevensey Level, the High Weald, and Winchelsea beach. Thanks Claire, Jim and Andy for the company and laughs (and Jo on […]
May Day
Awake before the alarm and sun rise. Fall out of bed, flick on the radio. The World Service, still too early for Radio 4. Thick black coffee, teaspoon of sugar. […]
Out of the Shadows
Paths past garden gates, those neglected places where stinging nettles and wild flowers thrive. Next to a railway line and over a stream that is obscured from view throughout […]
Reliability
From the regularity of the straight lines between the fields of the flatlands around Ripe into the twisting roller coaster of ancient ways of the High Weald. Rolling over sandstone […]
Hidden
Hidden Valley. That’s what they called it. Not everyone, just a few friends, some of the ones that ride mountain bikes. Not everyone knows about this place. Hidden Valley. It […]
Bookends
I love a commute that initially sets off deliberately in the wrong direction and then loops almost back home some time later, before reluctantly turning for work. Between me and […]
Rule 5 Bikes Summer Send-Off
For the last three years Paul who owns Brighton bike shop Rule 5 Bikes has organised a fifty(ish) mile RoadOffRoad ride to celebrate the end of summer. A mix of […]
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 (Not Quite) Midsummer 300
When I started to audax a few years back I came up with a 300km route that I planned to do on midsummer’s day – along the Sussex and southern […]
A Weekend on the Downs
Saturday on foot, Sunday on two wheels.
Doorstep Epic Plus
A few years my friends Jo, George, and Oli, joined Le Club des Cinglés du Mont Ventoux. Their stories from that day led me to attempt the feat last year. […]
Pleasant Valleys Sunday
Fancy a short cx ride tomorrow? Nothing serious, just pissing about. Sounds good, yeah. Tilt at Fiveways at 9.30 good for you? Yep. See you there dude. Where we gonna […]
Sussex Spring Classic 2017
The annual homage to the classics of northern Europe. There’s no shortage of farm tracks and bridleways around here so more Tro Bro Leon than Flanders or Roubaix (except no […]
