Ride all the OS mapsYou can’t get any further west in Wales than the peninsula that has Britain’s smallest city, St Davids, at its tip. It marks the start of my longest coast to coast crossing of the country: fully thirteen OS Landranger Maps from 157 to 169. A horizontal line from the cove of St Justinians, where the […]
I had everything worked out today and it was going to be a rare day off from the serious cycling. All I had to do was visit the seaside at Aldebrough, cycle back to the station in Saxmundham (no more than 15 miles in total) and then ride all of the trains I had booked […]
Today I had a morning meeting, then I cycled 96 miles, and then I was reunited with a second cousin whom I haven’t seen since we were children. Not for the first time in this adventure, I am discovering (and rediscovering) not only wonderful places; but also really great people in some unexpected places. It […]
One of the benefits of staying the night with a close relative is that you get very nicely looked after! I would like to thank Auntie Hilary and Dave for delaying their Sunday roast on my account and especially for the large helping of roast potatoes. I’m using a lot of energy during these big […]
A pattern seems to be emerging: I get up and have breakfast as early as I can, pack, faff about, and start cycling a bit later than intended. This is followed by a day of cycling through glorious countryside in beautiful weather, and then a final dash to reach my destination in the fading light, […]
After many hours on five different trains yesterday, a stopover in Cambridge, and a memorable ride through the iconic heart of London on very impressive cycle routes, I landed late in the evening in the very quiet, dark and (tonight) wet surroundings of Goodwick, a village situated on Fishguard Harbour at the end of the […]
This particular crossing of the country, as well as being quite long, is also unique in an OS map sense, because it fails to arrive at the east coast. I know – I think it’s weird, too; but there we are. If I carried on with my straight line eastwards I would end up in […]
Yesterday took me through the heavily populated West Midlands to Rugby, home of the famous public school where William Webb Ellis first picked up the football and ran with it, creating a new sport. Today promised a more rural day and hopefully less busy roads. The school dominates the centre of the town in an […]
There are days in this adventure when you cannot altogether avoid a large conurbation. One of the biggest anywhere is the West Midlands and it stands inconveniently in between Ludlow and Rugby, my two end points today. Finding a reasonable and acceptably direct cycle route between them was as tough a route planning challenge as […]
The next phase of my challenge within a challenge is unfolding as I write. Here is what I think will happen: Sunday 9th – Norwich to Fishguard by train Monday 10th – Near Fishguard to Builth Wells Tuesday 11th – Builth Wells to Studley – stay with Auntie Hilary Wednesday 12th – Studley to St […]