Itโs a slight departure for this esteemed organ of the cycling world to head off on a package tour but this week thatโs exactly whatโs happening; I have been invited by Jet2 Holidays to sample a bit of cycling on the Spanish island of Tenerife. โTo say itโs 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 Iโm always up for something new so here goesโฆ
Matthew Sturgeon is an architect and cyclist from Ilkley in Yorkshire and heโs onย a mission to visit every one of mainland Britainโs 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? Whatโs 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 Podcastโฆ
Matthew Sturgeon is an architect and cyclist from Ilkley in Yorkshire and heโs onย a mission to visit every one of mainland Britainโs 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? Whatโs 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 Podcastโฆ
Packing the right gear is the key to an enjoyableย cycle touring trip.ย On the one hand, not packing enough can put you in a tight spot when youโre on the road. And on the other, packing too much can weigh you down over long hour of exertion.ย
I often find that many cyclists do not make claims after theyโve had an accident because they worry it will be a lot of hassle for nothing. Even if theyโve sustained significant injuries, this concern can stop them from finding out more.
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.
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…
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? Sheโs 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.
