Search results for ‘warmshowers’

Le Grand Tour: Day 4 – Ostend To Oye-Plage (94km)

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Is he still there? By the time you read this (posting is going to be delayed until Thursday morning due to the lack of a good mobile signal) he may well have been dragged out of Downing Street, kicking and screaming. Last night I had the pleasure of staying with a WarmShowers host in the outskirts of Ostend. He has lead the development of a co-housing project and he now lives on a large plot of land not far from the airport along with 17 other families – around 70 people in total – with separate homes but shared facilities. Itโ€™s a real village and it was wonderful to spend a few hours last night in their company talking about the development, the motivation for creating such a place and the practical advantages of doing so. (There are many – Iโ€™ll list them in the book!) I spent much of the evening chatting to a retired firefighter called Michel and the subject moved on to politics. I asked him what people in general thought of Boris Johnson in Belgium. โ€œA jokeโ€ was his responseโ€ฆย 

Le Grand Tour: T – 1 Month (Or Thereabouts…)

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So, with The Way of the Roses trip over, the podcast published and the film released, and the Platinum Jubilee events nearly finished, my mind is turning to this summer’s trip to the continent; a ferry to The Netherlands, turn right at the Hook of Holland, along the coast of The Netherlands and Belgium, around France, into Switzerland and back to Rotterdam via the Rhine.

Le Grand Tour: Day 16 – Roz-Sur-Couesnon / Forward Planning

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Last night on the campsite there were at least seven cyclists and another four walkers in the cycling-walking section. All except me have now left and I have been joined, so far, by just two cyclists. It will be interesting to see if people are, like me, staying put for the day and not travelling in light of the extreme temperature. That said, it clearly didnโ€™t dissuade any of my fellow campers last night. Perhaps it was something I saidโ€ฆ

Yorkshire To Edinburgh By Bicycle

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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.