Citroën: Mont Ventoux 1969 (And 2013…)
A short but rather beautiful animation from Citroën commemorating the Tour de France ‘broom wagon’ on Mont Ventoux.
Andrew
What Next For Geraint Thomas And Chris Froome?
By Ryan McDonald Watching the Tour de France without Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome in the peloton almost seems strange, and with neither being selected to form part of the Ineos Grenadiers team for La Grande Boucle, they are now looking ahead to the remaining Grand Tour events of 2020. […]
UK Capitals Tour Teaser
An upcoming episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast will tell the full story of my cycling trip around the four capitals of the United Kingdom during the Coronavirus summer of 2020. Here’s a short teaser to whet your appetite. It focuses upon the background to the journey and cycling day one from my home in West Yorkshire to Bolton Abbey at the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales. The full podcast telling the whole story of the capital-themed tour will be available later in the autumn.
Signs Of Life: To The Ends Of The Earth With A Doctor
Signs of Life is no ordinary cycling travelogue. In fact, to refer to it as a ‘cycling travelogue’ is probably doing it a significant disservice as the book is much, much more than that. The bicycle itself plays a secondary role in this six-year odyssey around the planet. If you are looking for tails of mechanical tribulations, inconveniently timed punctures or day-by-day breakdowns of kilometres cycled and towns visited, you might want to look elsewhere. Dr. Fabes’ approach is much more selective. How could it be anything otherwise when in one volume of writing such a long period needs to be addressed? That said, he manages to be selective without making the reader think they have been short changed. Many of the 75 countries are mentioned only in passing or not at all. Even one or two of the continents do not take up as much space as you might imagine, especially in the early years as he makes his way through Europe and Africa. This might have been a very long, very slow journey for author; it is anything but for the reader.
Sketching: The Piece Hall, Halifax
My intention when I cycled around the UK this summer was to do lots of sketching with my new notebook and pens. Alas that didn’t really happen but yesterday I took half an hour or so to whip out the book and get sketching nearer to home… …and […]
The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 024 – Dr. Stephen Fabes – Signs Of Life
In January 2010, Dr. Stephen Fabes set off on a bicycle tour around the World. He had quit his job working in the A&E department at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London and was to spend the next 6 years cycling nearly 90,000 km, visiting 75 countries in the process. His achievement puts almost all other cycle tours into the shade. The Cycling Europe Podcast met Stephen at Hyde Park Corner for a chat about his cycle and his book – Signs of Life – that has just been published by Profile Books.
Episode 024: Dr Stephen Fabes / Signs Of Life
In January 2010, Dr. Stephen Fabes set off on a bicycle tour around the World. He had quit his job working in the A&E department at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London and was to spend the next 6 years cycling nearly 90,000 km, visiting 75 countries in the process. His achievement puts almost all other cycle tours into the shade. The Cycling Europe Podcast met Stephen at Hyde Park Corner for a chat about his cycle and his book – Signs of Life – that has just been published by Profile Books.
The Great British Cycle Tour 2020: Days 19 – 28
If you are a lover of silent films, this will be a treat for you; the final instalment of The GReat British Cycle Tour 2020 videos. (It has no sound…) It’s longer than the previous ones covering ten days from Liverpool along the coast of north Wales to Anglesey and then across the principality via the Lon Las Cymru before a final sprint for the 4th and final capital, London…
Cycling Day 28: Reading To London
It started with a cycle to Edinburgh in July… and has ended with an arrival in London in early September. Via, of course, Belfast and Cardiff (and a couple of weeks back home in Yorkshire). The four capitals of the UK have been joined by a cycle touring […]
Cycling Day 27: Bath To Reading
It was 120 km, about half of which was along the Kennet & Avon Canal. Route 4 actually diverts away from the canal for a good stretch of the journey from Bath to Reading and the more consistent surface of the road was welcome. Then it was back […]
Cycling Day 26: Cardiff To Bath
A long, flat day… it started here in Cardiff: It finished at 9pm at the Youth Hostel in Bath. There was a transporter bridge: And a catch up with Paul Gentle in Bristol who joined me for the cycle along the old railway path to Bath where we […]
Cycling Day 25: Llanstephan (Near Glasbury) To Cardiff
In these stones horizons sing. There’s something upon which to ponder. I have arrived in Cardiff and that is the inscription written above the doors of the Millennium Centre, close to the finishing point of my cycling journey along the Lon Las Cymru. (Is there a bit of […]
Cycling Day 24: Llanidloes To Llanstephan (Near Glasbury)
Today was a pretty ride that never reached yesterday’s level of ‘spectacular’ although the Wye Valley is a very appealing place through which to cycle. And for most of the day, that is where I was. The route profile in the Cicerone guide was spot on; there’s no […]
Cycling Day 24: Morning In The Wye Valley
The sun is shining so here’s an early, visual, update…
Cycling Day 23: Dolgellau To Llanidloes
Having just looked at the two route profiles for the next two days of cycling to Cardiff in the Cicerone guide, I think today will go down as the most challenging stage of the Lon Las Cymru, certainly in a vertical sense. Around 1,000 metres of climbing; one […]
Cadair Idris: The Great Escape
Having just spent the night at the foot of Cadair Idris, perhaps it’s an appropriate time to repost this video from a couple of years ago when I climbed the mountain at dusk with a friend. We got lost and camped near the summit but only found the […]
Cycling Day 22: Caernarfon To Dolgellau
A soggy day but ultimately a rewarding one with some good quality and varied cycling. Hopefully Colin, Chris and Sarah are reading this. They are fellow cyclists and I chatted with them along the way. Colin was on his was home from tending to his boat but told […]
Cycling Day 21: Menai Bridge To Caernarfon…
…via the eastern part of Anglesey. After yesterday’s storm and my slightly truncated journey that stopped at the Victoria Hotel close to the Menai Suspension Bridge, I decided against a long ride to Holyhead and back for the sake of starting the cycle along the Lon alas Cymru […]
Cycling Day 20: Prestatyn To Menai Bridge
“Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to Bangor A beautiful day, We had lunch on the way and all for under a pound you know… “ Fiddler’s Dram / See footnote* Well the first half of the day – up to Llandudno – was great, but […]
Cycling Day 19: Liverpool To Prestatyn
Before the pedants point out that there was no ‘cycling day 18’, there was. It was just a shortish one when it came to cycling and I never wrote about it. It involved a cycle from the hotel in Belfast to the ferry, a cycle from Birkenhead ferry […]
The Great British Cycle Tour: Part Two Starts Here
Off we go again!
The Great British Cycle Tour 2020: Part Two
It starts tomorrow, part two that is. If you are oblivious to part one of the Great British Cycle Tour 2020 (it started as the more humble ‘Yorkshire to Edinburgh’) then you can catch up on the details of the trip so far by visiting this page of […]
“A Very Healthy But Eccentric Way To Travel Around The World”
Not my words but those of the one and only Peter Purves at the end of an interview with cyclist Ian Hibell in a 1975 edition of Blue Peter. My fellow Halifaxonian John Noakes is far more enthusiastic and asks the questions as he and Mr Hibell cycle […]
Bernal, The Man To Beat This Summer
Like so many other sporting events, this year’s staging of the Tour De France has been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and although at one point it looked as if cycling’s greatest spectacle would not be held in 2020, thankfully the show is set to go on.
Waiting For My Panniers To Arrive…
You’d think that in the summer of 2020 with all its ‘complications’, time to answer emails would be easy to find. And I dare say it is. Yet I have four emails sitting in my inbox to which I have yet to respond. All are cycling-related and I have no good excuse as to why I have been so tardy in replying to the people who wrote them. Some comments from the senders are worthy of sharing…
British Cycling Stars Froome And Thomas Need To Raise Their Game
By Beth Riley The 2020 Tour de France is almost upon us and following the consistent success of British cyclists over the last decade, the expectations for continued glory remain just as high as ever. Given the Criterium du Dauphine is often regarded as an indication of current […]
It’s Not Easy Being Green…
Caroline Burrows, the poet who is behind the “Verse Cycle” initiative which is involving her in writing a verse of poetry every day about the challenges and rewards or “being green”, has just penned her 331st verse. And I get a mention, which is very nice indeed.
The Great British Cycling Tour Returns – Definitely!
I’ve done it! In our COVID world of 2020, having no accommodation booked in advance is not the best option for a touring cyclist so I have spent a few days sorting out my overnight stays. As you can see it will be a mixture of Warmshowes, campsites, youth hostels and one night with a friend in my old stomping ground of Reading. Some cheap – very cheap! – train tickets have been purchased and all I need to do now is start pedalling…
Radio 4’s War On Two Wheels / Cycling UK’s Priority Campaign
“Lois Pryce argues that bicycles need to be reclaimed as simply a mundane means of transport – and cycling needs to be uncool again. As a passionate advocate of two-wheeled transport, whether it’s powered by an engine or her own legs, Lois is tired of disapproving looks. And she thinks that in the case of bicycles, it’s partly because cycling has turned into an identity. She wants to revert to the time it was just a way of getting around.”
The Great British Cycle Tour 2020 Returns (Hopefully…)
Two capitals remain; Cardiff and London and I am beginning to piece together a plan for an 10-stage cycle which would see me return to Liverpool (the point at which I paused in early August) on the train, cycle across the north of Wales to Holyhead on Anglesey where I would pick up the Lon Las Cymru cycle route to Cardiff and then head west along the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames (national cycle route 4) to my final destination, London.
Cycling Britain: The 1,200 Mile Picnic
If you have listened the the most recent episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast – episode 023 – you will have heard me chatting with the cycling writer Rob Ainsley. We met up a couple of weeks ago in North Yorkshire and after a day spent cycling from Bolton Abbey to Hawes (as part of my 2020 ‘Great British Cycle Tour’) sat in a pub in Hawes to chew over the interviews that I had conducted with the Guiness World Record breaker David Haywood’s cycle to the most countries in 7 days and James Brigg’s journey from ‘Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads’ because, well, he’s a fan of David Bowie and why not?!
Quarantine And Cycling
City cycling has been smoother thanks to less traffic and less people on the road. It’s also been good since it is now an ideal alternative to public transportation. If you have your own car, then that’s good, too.
Virtual Cycling Kit Boot Sale: UPDATE
I’m not looking for any payment for these items but they do need to go to a good home rather than in the bin… Any takers? Most come complete with fittings, straps, keys etc… I will post the small items if you are willing to cover the cost of postage. The larger items will need collecting.
Changing Disc Brake Pads… In 10 Tweets
A bit of a saga. Has taken most of the afternoon but I seem to have changed the pads, sorted the problems and retensioned the carbon belt. I sometimes wish I was far more mechanically minded. Perhaps I should learn to be… The responses can be read by visiting clicking on the tweets of course…
The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 023 – Cycle Tours With A Twist
Have you ever struggled to come up with an interesting, different, perhaps even unique idea for a long cycle ride? The Cycling Europe Podcast is coming to your rescue! In this feature-length episode of the podcast recorded on location in the Yorkshire Dales and the English Lake District, Andrew P. Sykes chats with fellow cycling writer and master of the innovative cycle ride Rob Ainsley, Guinness World Record breaker David Haywood and David Bowie fan James Briggs who all reflect upon their inspirational cycle tours with a twist. If this episode of the podcast doesn’t get you thinking about your own next ride, nothing will!
Episode 023: Rob Ainsley, David Heywood & James Briggs / Original Cycle Tours
Have you ever struggled to come up with an interesting, different, perhaps even unique idea for a long cycle ride? The Cycling Europe Podcast is coming to your rescue! In this feature-length episode of the podcast recorded on location in the Yorkshire Dales and the English Lake District, Andrew P. Sykes chats with fellow cycling writer and master of the innovative cycle ride Rob Ainsley, Guinness World Record breaker David Haywood and David Bowie fan James Briggs who all reflect upon their inspirational cycle tours with a twist. If this episode of the podcast doesn’t get you thinking about your own next ride, nothing will!
The Great British Cycle Tour: 3 Weeks, 3 Countries
So, as I head home to take stock, in summary… It’s been 18 days of cycling (so far) ranging from a mere 7 km from the port in Belfast to the hotel in the centre to about 180 km for that rain-drenched cycle from Edinburgh to Prestwick on […]
The Great British Cycle Tour 2020: Days 15 – 17
To be continued? Who knows? If you’d like to catch up, here are the previous instalments:
Cycling Day 17: Portrush To Belfast
If you follow the @CyclingEurope Twitter account, you may have seen the tweet I sent this morning from Portstewart, just a few kilometres along the coast from Portrush where I had stayed overnight in a B&B. I made the following comment: “Welcome to Portstewart. The end of the […]
Cycling Day 16: The Ballypatrick Forest To Portrush
There were points today when I was ready to jump on a train and head home (albeit on a train to Belfast, a ferry and either more trains or a long ride over several days… the points on this trip when abandonment would have been a simple affair […]
Cycling Day 15: Belfast To The Ballypatrick Forest
I crawled into my sleeping bag about 15 minutes ago in order to retain some heat. About 30 minutes prior to that, after a rather soggy end to the day, I erected the tent in the rain and quickly dived inside. It is continuing to rain and I […]
The Great British Cycle Tour 2020: Days 10 – 14
Slightly renamed… …and if you’d like to catch up, here are the previous instalments:
Rest Day 4: Belfast
Welcome to… Apparently it is owned by a property developer, which isn’t that surprising. I have spent the day wandering the city centre; from 11am on an organised ‘free’ walking tour with a couple from Hamburg, Germany although she was originally from Belfast. They were good company, as […]
Cycling Day 14: Dunragit (Scotland) To Belfast (Northern Ireland)
Was it really a ‘cycling day’? Not sure but what the heck; it did involve 7km… Craig (see cycling day 13) drove me and the bike the short distance to Cairnryan to catch the ferry to Belfast at 9:30. It was, of course(!) , raining but by the […]
Tour de France 2020: Dates, Stages And Favourites
The 107th Tour de France is just around the corner. Here, Peter Watton, from matched betting specialist OddsMonkey, shares all the essential info you need. When is the Tour de France 2020? The Tour de France 2020 is scheduled for 29 August to 20 September. The event was originally planned for 27 June to 19 July […]
Cycling Day 13: Culzean Castle To Dunragit
Let’s try this one again now that I have sorted out the phone issues… Yesterday, I quickly posted the following message before the phone died: “It seems unlikely that my iPhone will cope with the story of the day (see recent posts) but it was a 70 km […]
Cycling Day 12: Troon To Culzean Castle
Just don’t pronounce the ‘z’… Yesterday the issue had been the rain. Today the issue has been the iPhone. The two might be connected (but for goodness sake don’t tell Apple before I can get to an Apple Store…) I noticed last night in the swanky (too many […]
Cycling Day 11: Edinburgh To Troon
The story of the day is best summarised by the map and the elevation profile: The distance cycled was clearly more than I would normally do in one day; 178 km. You do need to bear in mind two things; the weather and the terrain. The weather? How […]
Rest Day 3: Edinburgh / Onward Planning
I’ve spent a nice day wandering the streets of the Scottish capital as Wanda has been taking a rest in our hotel room: We were watching the James Bond film ‘You Only Live Twice’ last night thinking about where we should have cycling; Japan… Anyway, the weather has […]
Cycling Day 10: Dunbar To Edinburgh
The cycling world is full of genuine, nice people. I know that you are already aware of this as you are probably one of those genuine, nice people. But it is worth pointing out from time to time. Any scroll through social media will reveal the darker side […]
Yorkshire To Edinburgh: Days 5 – 9
More video highlights from the journey so far…
Cycling Day 9: Berwick-Upon-Tweed (England) To Dunbar (Scotland)
Today was a day of epic vistas and as a picture says a thousand words, I’ll keep it short tonight. I was up ridiculously early. Perhaps it was the excitement of the prospect of packing away a dry tent. I celebrated by a cycling wander around Berwick, ending […]
Cycling Day 8: Bedrule (Scotland) To Berwick-Upon-Tweed (England)
Yesterday evening I posted this aspirational image to Instagram: The reality, as with much of what we see on social media, was very different. I woke up for the second day on the trot in a tent surrounded by water. I packed, once again, inside the tent and […]
Cycling Day 7: Twice Brewed (England) To Bedrule (Scotland)
Today was all a bit Bellinzona… That’s a reference to the 2010 cycle to the south of Italy. The Bellinzona day was, perhaps, the wettest day of the trip (although there were many other contenders – read the book for details…). I packed in the tent and emerged […]
Rest Day 2: Haltwhistle / Hadrian’s Wall
Today has been split into two parts and both have brought equal joy into my life. The morning was spent in Haltwhistle doing my laundry and a bit of shopping. The afternoon was spent exploring, very leisurely, Hadrian’s Wall. Back in 2015 I cycled through a place on […]
Cycling Day 6: Little Salkeld (Near Penrith) To Once Brewed (Near Haltwhistle)
I have memories from 2009 of struggling when it came to climbing Hartside Top from the east as I cycled south along the Pennine Cycleway. Today I attempted the climb from the other direction. The woman who ran last night’s campsite had informed me that the western side […]
Cycling Day 5: Rydal (Near Ambleside) To Little Salkeld (Near Penrith)
Perhaps I should stay in places that are actually near themselves… Anyway, moving on, which, after three nights at a Rydal Hall is what I did today. Yesterday finished like this: Today started with this… …and finished with a rather nice surprise. More of that in a few […]
Rest Day 1: Rydal Hall, Ambleside
This may simply be the only ‘rest day’. I suppose it depends what happens once I’ve arrived in Edinburgh. Much will, I suspect, depend upon the weather. (Sorry to mention it again…) It’s an interesting factor that I have rarely had to contend with before. Not the weather […]
Yorkshire To Edinburgh: Days 1 – 4
A brief video summary of the story so far…
Cycling Day 4: Ambleside To Ambleside…
…via a few hills. Today started like this: It is ending with me cowering in the tent from the rain wearing the only remaining items of dry clothing in my panniers. Today the weather has been far from kind. It has rained for perhaps 50% of the time. […]
Cycling Day 3: Hardraw (Near Hawes) To Rydal (Near Ambleside)
I’m going to have a go at writing this now rather than post spaghetti dinner as I imagine I will become rather sleepy after eating some food. I’ve already been forced to visit the pub (see earlier tweets…) so am well on the way to slumber. Or rather, […]
Cycling Day 2: Bolton Abbey To Hardraw (Near Hawes)
I’m now deep in the Yorkshire Dales… The day kicked off pretty wet and, although not persistent, the rain came and went throughout the day. Nothing too heavy but sufficient to make the day a wet one. Clouds clung to the hills (as you can see in the […]
Cycling Day 1: Stainland To Bolton Abbey
Let the cycle touring commence! But my goodness, it’s a bit chilly up here in the Yorkshire Dales this evening. At least it’s dry and has stayed dry pretty much all day. A few spots of rain as I made my way across Oxenhope Moor but apart from […]
Yorkshire To Edinburgh By Bicycle
The cycle touring summer of 2020 has been somewhat delayed by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown restrictions that were implemented in March. However, to a greater extent, limitations on travel have now been lifted and it seems an appropriate time to head off on the bike. If you read the post from a couple of days ago you will know that my plan is to head north from where I live in Pennine West Yorkshire in the direction of… Edinburgh. Here are some more details.
What’s The Remedy For Squeaking Disc Brakes?
Wanda, my 12-month -old Koga WorldTraveller bicycle currently has a squeaking front disc brake. I asked Twitter for a solution…
Man On Bike: “A Film About What Pushes Us Beyond”
A documentary film from Yorkshire – now available for all to see for free via Vimeo – about life, death, and bicycles; “a film about what pushes us beyond”.
Summer 2020: Plan B…
Plan A was, of course, to cycle the length of Japan. I should have arrived in the country today and be looking forward to cycling for around six weeks from north to south via Tokyo to take in the atmosphere of the Olympics. Next year? Perhaps… Time will tell. So it is on with Plan B which, until a few days ago, was a very vague “well, I’d like to go camping somewhere in the UK…”. The pesky Coronavirus has, of course, reached its tentacles into most aspects of our lives in recent months and ‘camping in the UK’ is one of them. Although many campsites have now reopened, many remain closed or open with limited capacity and facilities or, bearing in mind all the staycationers this summer, have no availability.
The Changing Face Of The Cycling Europe Podcast
Today – at this very moment – I should have been on a plane flying to Japan. Clearly I’m not. So how best to use my time? How about an update of the podcast artwork? Great idea! You’d think that going from the ‘before’ picture on the left to the new ‘after’ picture on the right would be a simple business…
Strike Up The Pipers! A Minute Of (Yorkshire) Sun…
Clutching at straws here but it was nice while it lasted yesterday afternoon in the Scammonden Valley. Hoping for more sun next week when, well, more of that later…
Ding Dong! The Sonorous Sound Of The Crane Bell, No?
Should you be so inclined, you can visit the CyclingEurope.org YouTube Channel and watch all of the videos. It would take you a while so you might be inclined to prioritise those that have been very popular… Bearing in mind the time and effort it can take to make some of the videos, might I recommend such epics as the recent masterpiece that is Scammonden: A Valley of Contrasts in all its 4K glory? Or perhaps one of the films from my 2019 cycling odyssey across northern Spain and Portugal? Or how about a hiking film from the ‘Hiking Europe’ collection? The Three Peaks… Of Borrowdale is a personal favourite but there are plenty of others from which to choose. Yet if you do just that…
Caroline Burrows: It’s Not Easy Being Green
I lived without a car for about 5 years when I lived in Reading and worked in Henley-on-Thames. I managed just fine but it was always – and it remains – a struggle to persuade most people that normal life is possible without having a car sitting outside your house. I remember the caretaker at the school in Henley asking me one morning if I was still cycling to work as if it was something out of which I would grow. It took a move to Yorkshire and a decision to become a supply teacher to persuade me to buy a car again but during lockdown I do wonder why I pay for an annual £350 service, hundreds of pounds of petrol, insurance, repairs…
CYCLOPS: Cycle Optimised Protected Signals
It’s certainly something I’ve never heard of before but an email has arrived from Transport for Greater Manchester telling me all about it. And from the picture provided, it looks like an impressive bit of transport engineering. Clearly it requires the drivers to play ball and not drive like maniacs but with things like this, perhaps in some places at least, we are slowly – very slowly – making progress towards what is the norm in some countries.
The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 022 – Women’s Festival Of Cycling
It may be flatter in The Netherlands but can that really explain why women set off on their bicycles 25-times more often than here in the UK? It seems unlikely. Cycling UK’s Women’s Festival of Cycling takes place from 11th-31st July. Its aim is to encourage more women to cycle and The Cycling Europe Podcast talks to Cycling UK’s Helen Cook about the thinking behind the event and what will be taking place. On July 11th the 4th list of ‘100 Women in Cycling’ will be published by Cycling UK. The podcast speaks to Susan Doram who appeared on the list in 2019 about her cycling journey from the company car to cycling the globe, via much, much more…
Episode 022: Helen Cook & Susan Doram / Women’s Festival Of Cycling
It may be flatter in The Netherlands but can that really explain why women set off on their bicycles 25-times more often than here in the UK? It seems unlikely. Cycling UK’s Women’s Festival of Cycling takes place from 11th-31st July. Its aim is to encourage more women to cycle and The Cycling Europe Podcast talks to Cycling UK’s Helen Cook about the thinking behind the event and what will be taking place. On July 11th the 4th list of ‘100 Women in Cycling’ will be published by Cycling UK. The podcast speaks to Susan Doram who appeared on the list in 2019 about her cycling journey from the company car to cycling the globe, via much, much more…
The Koga E-WorldTraveller Bicycle
I don’t have a great deal to say about this but the Koga E-WorldTraveller bicycle shown here is basically an e-bike version of Wanda, my Koga WorldTraveller Signature. Give me another 20 years and I might be investing but there are more and more eBikes on the road and it’s not just the older generation. I see quite a few younger people cycling them and it no longer seems incongruous. Better a young person on an eBike than in a car!
The Summer Of 2020: Camping Clarification Needed!
“From 4th July, provided that no more than two households stay together, people will be free to stay overnight in self-contained accommodation, including hotels and bed & breakfasts, as well as campsites as long as shared facilities are kept clean.”
I do wonder what this will mean for us cyclists.
Max’s Podcast Story: “The Best Yet”
I write the books and post things to this website because I enjoy doing so. It’s as simple as that. The same goes for the podcast which has now come of age following the release of episode 021 earlier this week. It is, however, rather humbling to receive the positive feedback that so many of you make the effort to give. Below are a few comments that I have been delighted to read this week. Thank you to everyone who has listened to the podcast and to all those people below, thank you for taking the time to get in touch. The latest instalment of The Cycling Europe Podcast investigates the epic cycle of Maximilian J. St. George at the start of the 20th Century. Max was the man who invented bikepacking about 100 years before bikepacking itself was invented… Or should that now be ‘re-invented’?
A Tale Of Two Cycles: It Was The Best Of Rides, It Was The Worst Of Rides…
With a nod to Charles Dickens, that just about sums up yesterday’s cold, rain-drenched ride from Tadcaster back home after collecting Wanda the WorldTraveller from her pit stop at CycleSense. One of those days when it would have been all but impossible to actually get off the bike, fumble with the phone with numbed fingers and take any photographs. So there is no photographic proof that the conditions were as bad as they were; you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Is The ‘Golden Age For Cycling’ Already Over?
As I have been doing ever since the lockdown started, today I went out for my daily exercise. It’s no longer my ‘permitted’ exercise as it seems that things are back to normal in terms of getting out and about, as long as we keep our 2 metres of distance. In the main, people seem to be sticking to that. This morning I set off on what would become a 20km walk to the Ryburn and Baitings reservoirs making the most of the warm day. There were a good number of people out and about despite it being Monday; I was certainly not alone. Then I looked online…
From The Jaws Of (Near) Disaster: The Tale Of Maximilian Is Told
Two weeks ago today, following a rather lethargic cycle around my local area here in the west of West Yorkshire, I was descending the short but steep hill near my house when suddenly my bike – Wanda WorldTraveller – stopped functioning as she should. I juddered across the road struggling to pull on at least one of the brakes, veered to the opposite side of the tarmac and ground to a halt against the kerb on the wrong side of the road. Mercifully it was a quiet Sunday afternoon and the incident only involved me, Wanda, the aforementioned kerb and my dented pride.
Episode 021: Maximilian J. St. George / Cycling Europe In 1908
This episode of the podcast is going to be slightly different. Rather than talking to a current cyclist, I’m going to be investigating the life of a cyclist from the past. You’ve probably never heard his name before and you’re even less likely to have heard his story. He was a German-born American called Maximilian J. St. George. His story is told via extracts from his book, Traveling Light or Cycling Europe on Fifty Cents a Day read by the actor Jeremy Walker with contributions from the historian Dr James Stout, the cycling writer Michael Hutchinson and two Romanian long-distance cyclists Lehel Benedek and Elod Keresszegi. It’s an epic take of an epic cycling journey from over 100 years ago by the original Mr. Cycling Europe…
The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 021 Teaser
Available to stream or download from 15.6.20. CyclingEurope.org/Podcast
Ceri Middleton: Bikepacking Across Spain In February
Ceri was one of the cyclists who submitted their photographs to the recent cycle touring photo competition and he even made it to the shortlisted final ten photographs. It was a cracking image (shown above). It was taken during a trip in February 2019 along the Ruta de la Plata in western Spain. In fact, his route from Seville to north-eastern Spain brought back good memories from my own cycling trip along a very similar route back in 2015 as I made my way from Spain to Norway…
Cycle Touring Photo Competition 2020: The Winners!
The voting has now closed and the votes have been counted. Many thanks to every one who submitted their photos and the hundreds of people who took the time to vote over the course of the past week. Thanks also to Cicerone Press and ECF EuroVelo for offering the prizes. But, without further ado… the winners are…
Happy World Bicycle Day 2020
Scammonden Valley… In 4K
You may remember a couple of months ago ago at the start of the lockdown period, I wrote a post for CyclingEurope.org about my local wanderings up and down the Scammonden Valley where I live here in West Yorkshire and how I had managed to discover some interesting nooks and crannies. At the time I thought I must make a video. And last weekend, I did just that.
Cycle Touring Photo Competition 2020: The Shortlist Public Vote
The judges have met, deliberated, discussed, debated and chosen their favourite ten photographs. If you made it into the top ten, congratulations! You have won a new EuroVelo map overview map that will be in the post before the end of the month. If you didn’t make the top ten, commiserations; there’s always next year… And it’s now time for the public to have their say to decide 1st, 2nd and 3rd places.
Cycle Touring Photo Competition 2020: The Winners Are…
The judges will now deliberate and come up with a shortlist of ten photographs. Those ten shortlisted winners will all win a brand new EuroVelo map. There will then be a public vote (a knock-out competition) that will start on Tuesday 2nd June – here on CyclingEurope.org, on Twitter and on Facebook with the votes being added together to determine the first, second and third placed photographs.
The Vango Force Ten MTN 2 Tent
I have a new tent, kindly supplied by OutdoorWorldDirect.co.uk. The tent was actually delivered a couple of months ago in anticipation of my now-cancelled trip to Japan this summer but I was hoping to erect it for the first time at the now-cancelled Cycle Touring Festival earlier this month. No one can cancel the sunny weather however and, courtesy of the farmer who lives next door, yesterday I finally erected the tent in one of his fields. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Vango Force Ten MTN 2 tent!
Episode 020: Ian Finlay / Cycling Around The World
When I started writing my first book – Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie – I never imagined that it would one day help encourage a man who I’d never met to chuck in his long-term job and start cycling around the World. But apparently it did. That man is Ian Finlay and in this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast he tells us about his journey so far through Europe, Asia and across Australia to New Zealand where, yet again, a certain virus put a spoke in his plans…
Cycle Touring Photography Competition 2020: Be Quick!
The deadline for entries is approaching fast… It could be you taking away one of the six Cicerone cycling guides of your choice that are up for grabs or one of the ten EuroVelo maps. Email your entries to: office@CyclingEurope.org by Sunday 31st Mat at 12 noon UK time. Good luck!
Is It Better To Cycle Indoors Or Outdoors?
Cycling is one of the best ways you can get in shape. It is a cardiovascular exercise that can be fun, challenging and should you wish, even competitive. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, cycling is perhaps the best thing you can do to legally get outside the house, keep your distance from others and enjoy the spring sunshine while reaping the exercise rewards. But on the flipside, you may prefer or be required to self-isolate at home, where you can make use of an indoor exercise bike.
The Cycle Touring Festival This Weekend! (No..?)
At last! It’s here! The weekend of the Cycle Touring Festival in Clitheroe. I’m really looking forward to… What? Really? Ah yes… It was cancelled. Mmm… That pesky Coronavirus thing. Bugger! What’s that? Oh yes, I remember… There was a ‘virtual’ replacement festival that took place in April instead. Of course there was…
The 4K Beauty Of Stainland Woods
One of those posts for the ‘nothing-to-do-with-cycling’ category but I have no hesitation in sharing with you this video that I made earlier today during my lockdown walk through the local woods. I am so grateful to live in a place that, within a few minutes of my […]
Heading East (And Back…) With Wanda
Today is promised to be the hottest day of the year so far. Yesterday was my longest ride of the year so far, albeit split into 3; 65 km from home in the west of West Yorkshire to Tadcaster, just over the border in North Yorkshire, 16 km to York and a final 10 km from Huddersfield station back home after a train ride back west. Why? Well, apart from the joy of the cycling, Wanda, the Koga World Traveller had been booked in for her first service at CycleSense in Tadcaster and I’m delighted to say she passed with flying colours. New brake pads, change of oil in the Rohloff hub and a few checks here and there… Good as new!
Desert Island Cycling
I noticed earlier today that Frank Burns had posted something to the Cycle Touring Festival Facebook page about the cycling travel writer Dervla Murphy having appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1993. She was 61 at the time and she chose as her book The Diary of Samuel Pepys and her luxury was ‘a still to distill berries etc… into drink’. Well, she is Irish after all. I’ve just listened to the whole programme whilst having a post-run bath and it’s highly recommended.
Episode 019: Abigail Melton & Lilith Cooper / Gears For Queers
It doesn’t matter who you happen to be, whether it’s Mark Beaumont, Josie Dew, Alastair Humphreys, Fred Bloggs or even (dare I say) Andrew P. Sykes, if you’re intent upon embarking on a long-distance cycling adventure of your own, at some point you need to move out of your comfort zone, push the bike out of the garden gate and set off cycling, however uncomfortable that may feel, initially at least. That’s what Abigail Melton and Lilith Cooper decided to do and they’ve just written about their experiences as first-time cycle tourists in a new book called Gears For Queers.
Cycle Touring Zine Callout
If you tune in to The Cycling Europe Podcast this weekend, you will discover a new episode – number 19 – in which ‘Gears For Queers’ – that’s Abigail Melton and Lilith Cooper – discuss their cycle as novice cyclists from Amsterdam to Montpellier in the south of France. They’ve written about their adventure in a new book that will be published in early June called (you guessed it…) Gears For Queers! If you listen to the chat on the podcast, you will hear mention of ‘Zines’ and specifically the Cycle Touring Festival Zine that Abi and Lilith are currently editing. They are looking for contributions and you have until May 23rd to get thinking and get creative.
EuroVelo Extra: The Facts And The Figures
The ECF have just published a ‘press pack’ of information about the EuroVelo network. Here are a few snippets. They complement perfectly what Ed Lancaster said on the The Cycling Europe Podcast that was published last week.
Paul Gentle’s Tarifa to Nordkapp 2020: France, Part 2
If you listened to Episode 015 of The Cycling Europe Podcast you will remember that Paul didn’t make it quite as far as Nordkapp, for fairly obvious reasons. But he did make it as far as Nice in France and will hopefully one day soon return to complete the journey. But here in the written world of these CyclingEurope.org posts (as opposed to the spoken world of podcasts), Paul has just arrived in France and is heading in the direction of Nice…
