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Andrew

Tenerife: Day 1

Itโ€™s a slight departure for this esteemed organ of the cycling world to head off on a package tour but this week thatโ€™s exactly whatโ€™s happening; I have been invited by Jet2 Holidays to sample a bit of cycling on the Spanish island of Tenerife. โ€‹To say itโ€™s outside of my comfort zone would be a mild understatement – I am happiest with at least two panniers and a simple campsite at the end of the day – but Iโ€™m always up for something new so here goesโ€ฆ

The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 065 – Matthew Sturgeon โ€“ Cycling To Mainland Britainโ€™s Lighthouses

Matthew Sturgeon is an architect and cyclist from Ilkley in Yorkshire and heโ€™s onย  a mission to visit every one of mainland Britainโ€™s 186 lighthouses. Inspired by his late late wife Angela, who raised ยฃ40,000 for cancer research, Matthew is raising money for his A Bit Of A Break charity. It funds visits for cancer patients and their families to holiday properties around the UK. He started collecting his lighthouses with a ride along the Northumbrian coast and has now visited 100. But why lighthouses? Whatโ€™s his favourite lighthouse? What has been the most disappointing lighthouse? What has been the most difficult to cycle to? And what will be lighthouse number 186? Matthew tells his story to The Cycling Europe Podcastโ€ฆ

Episode 065: Matthew Sturgeon โ€“ Cycling To Mainland Britainโ€™s Lighthouses

Matthew Sturgeon is an architect and cyclist from Ilkley in Yorkshire and heโ€™s onย  a mission to visit every one of mainland Britainโ€™s 186 lighthouses. Inspired by his late late wife Angela, who raised ยฃ40,000 for cancer research, Matthew is raising money for his A Bit Of A Break charity. It funds visits for cancer patients and their families to holiday properties around the UK. He started collecting his lighthouses with a ride along the Northumbrian coast and has now visited 100. But why lighthouses? Whatโ€™s his favourite lighthouse? What has been the most disappointing lighthouse? What has been the most difficult to cycle to? And what will be lighthouse number 186? Matthew tells his story to The Cycling Europe Podcastโ€ฆ

high angle shot of person riding a bike

Staying Safe When Cycling On Roads

Over the past decade, the number of car fatalities has decreased by 23%, but cyclist fatalities have remained stable. In Europe, 9% of all road fatalities are cyclists, with the majority of these being on urban roads and, as such, cyclists must take all the precautions possible to avoid injury.

Gaslight Alert: “ยฃ200 Million To Improve Walking And Cycling Routes And Boost Local Economies”

Here we go again… The announcement of another pot of cash which will fund a handful of schemes across the country and have minimal impact on the lives of the majority of people in the country. Good for those who receive it but for those that don’t, simply gaslights us into thinking that the government are committed to transforming our country into one where active travel is the norm. (Remember Boris Johnson’s “golden age of cycling”?) There is a scheme near where I live in West Yorkshire – a disused railway that runs along the Ryburn Valley from Sowerby Bridge to Ripponden and Rishworth (see below) – that would be a great candidate for a slice of this cash but it’s unlikely to happen. Expect the money to be allocated predominantly in Tory ‘red wall’ constituencies. And when the beauty contest decisions are made later in the year, expect the same announcement to be made again. Meanwhile in The Netherlands they are putting their money where their mouth is (as they have being doing for decades) and have just opened an underwater bike parking facility in Amsterdam…

Susanna Thornton: “Hong Kong To London, A Big Bicycle Adventure”

After posting the latest episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast to YouTube yesterday, someone called Rat Whittleym commented asking “Have you watched Susanna Thornton on here? Very inspirational”. Sharon Merredew followed that up by posting “Would you be able to interview Susanna at some point? Sheโ€™s amazing.” I don’t think I had ever heard of Susanna Thornton before so I did an online search. She has a YouTube page – quite a simple one – with a number of cycling / bikepacking / cycle touring videos, many recounting tales of her travels on a Brompton. Her latest video was uploaded only yesterday and it looks back at a cycle she completed in 2006 which took her from Hong Kong where she had lived for some years to London where she had been offered a new role by the company she worked for.