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September Stats

Catching up on some of the numbers. In September I was inactive for the first 2 weeks, due to a family holiday in Slovenia. I returned to action by train and ferry on 14th Sept and by bike on 15th Sept, in the Isle of Man (OS map 95). That marked the start of a […]

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November Plans – On the Road Again!

The threatened train strikes have been cancelled and the weather, for several days at least, looks favourable. My bike has been in to see the lovely people at Alpkit in Hathersage and had a thorough overhaul. My brakes are working again! I have another new chain and more new cables. Everything is pointing towards restarting […]

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25 Bude to Hastings England (south) Other

Maps 190 to 192 – A Scary Halloween washout

My original idea, when I conceived this mad enterprise, was that I would ride until the clocks went back near the end of October. That was two days ago and in fact I have cycled on until the very end of the month, because the weather has obliged. So why not? Even with blue skies […]

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24 Westward Ho! to Folkestone England (south) Other

Maps 188 and 189 – Go Oast, Young Man

For the fourth consecutive day I was treated to glorious weather and amazing cycling. What a coast to coast journey this has been. It went beyond all expectations on both fronts. Today was like a summer day, warm enough for shorts and, if anything, too warm for much else! You would never believe this was […]

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24 Westward Ho! to Folkestone England (south) Other

Maps 185 to 187 – Stonehenge Inn to Capel: an English Feast

Across the road from the Stonehenge Inn is a miniature replica of the real thing. I have visited the famous big version before, once back in the days when you were allowed to get right up to the stones (you can’t any more); but if you want a really personal experience of an ancient stone […]

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Maps 182 to 184 – Avalon

It is very handy for the long distance adventure cyclist when all of the rain falls overnight. Thus it was that I set out from the charming small Somerset town of Wiveliscombe in a newly washed world, with the promise of another fine day of cycling. And so it proved. It would be hard to […]

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24 Westward Ho! to Folkestone Other

Maps 180 and 181 – Westward Ho!

If you are making trips from west to east, it seems only right that you should start one of these coast to coast journeys at Westward Ho! It’s all in the name. For starters, what other place can boast an exclamation mark in its correct spelling? So, having transported myself in the morning from Exeter, […]

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Maps 178 and 179 – Down to Margate

There are days on this adventure when I truly venture into unchartered territory, and today was one of those days. With the exception of one trip to Rochester as a child, everywhere was brand new to me. In truth, this was a day of 2 halves. I was not terribly enamoured with north Kent until […]

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October plans – part 4

I’m not doing the greatest job of keeping you all informed of my plans; but I’m not doing the greatest job of planning, either. I am at that stage in the adventure where everything is done ”just in time”. This is partly because of the unpredictability of the weather in late October, which – although […]

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Maps 176 and 177 – London and the Thames

One of the most frequently asked questions I get about my adventure is ”what will you do when you get to London?”. There were many possible ways to approach crossing the capital – and it had to be done – but in the end I made a success of it by adopting two solutions in […]