Earlier this week I received an email from WarmShowers, the accommodation sharing website aimed at cycle tourists, about their ‘forums’. Whenever I think of forums my mind turns back to the early days of the Internet when things were a little more ‘clunky’ than they are now. But they must still be a ‘thing’ and the fact that WarmShowers have them on their website would suggest that, actually, they are still widely used.
Here’s a nice film from Markus Stitz / Bikepacking Scotland featuring the landscapes of the north of England. The film follows Rupert Robinson who completed the route of All Points North in just over 60 hours. If you are familiar with the area, you’ll definitely recognise many of the places that the route of the long-distance cycling event – that took place in September 2021 – passes through. Well worth 17 minutes of your weekend.
Iโve been taking a break from the website and social media but before I return in early 2022, hereโs a short video about a recent trip to Scotland. In late November 2021 I attended a Cycling UK event in Stirling, where I had been asked to give a talk about โCycling Europeโ. It was the perfect excuse to embark upon a wee bit of winter cycling โ from Stirling to Edinburgh along the northern bank of the Firth of Forth โ with a little time to explore the two cities at either end of the routeโฆ
Britain offers some amazing places to explore on a bicycle, but there can be few locations within the UK that offer the remoteness, drama and sheer spectacle of the islands of The Outer Hebrides. The Hebridean Way takes cyclists from Vatersay in the south to the Butt of Lewis in the north: โ10 islands, 6 causeways, 2 ferries and 1 unforgettable adventureโ. The writer Andrew P. Sykes attempted the ride in the summer of 2021. This is his story.
In episode 038 of The Cycling Europe Podcast, Andrew Sykes spoke to a number of travellers about their experiences of cycling The Hebridean Way. Now itโs his turn to get onto his bicycle, Wanda, and cycle from Vatersay in the south to Lewis in the north along one of Britainโs most spectacular rides.ย In part 1 of this episode of the podcast he travelled from the island of Vatersay to the island of Berneray.ย In this second part of the podcast we see him complete his journey across the Isles of Harris and Lewis to the Butt of Lewis and the end of the Hebridean Way.
I was always planning to cycle to Skipton this weekend – I have lined up an exclusive* interview for The Cycling Europe Podcast with one of the unsung heroes of cycling touring and we are meeting at the local Morrisonโs at 10am tomorrow (apparently itโs half price for Cycling UK membersโฆ) – but it was only a passing thought a few weeks ago when I arranged the chat that I might cycle up to Skipton from my home near Halifax and camp overnight. At the gym this morning I thought about it again. When I got home in the early afternoon I thought about it yet again. At 1:15pm I made the decision to do it, by 2pm I had packed the bike and left the house and just after 2:30pm I was on the train from Halifax to Bradford.
