I went to Barnard Castle today to test my eyesight. Well, like with our friend Dom, the first part of that is true. And jolly nice it is, too. No wonder it was the place of choice for a lockdown birthday drive in the countryside. I didn’t knowingly break any rules in my visit today, […]
Category: Other
The C2C is rightly one of this country’s best know and most impressive long distance bike rides. There are a couple of possible start and end points, and various off-road options; but the route I have always followed in at least three previous rides is Whitehaven (on the coast of Cumbria) to Sunderland (at the […]
I very much doubt whether the Roman Emperor Hadrian ever had a cycle: but he now has a cycle way, and today I spent a fair amount of my time following it. I enjoyed another fantastic day of cycling through beautiful countryside, and then right through the middle of Newcastle, with more great weather, and […]
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Maps 84, 85 & 86 – the last of Scotland
Today I have once again reconnected with family who I haven’t seen very often over the years. We were up late chatting, so my post will be necessarily brief. Sorry about that. It was another day of great cycling. About 85 miles. Quiet roads, pleasant countryside, nice towns (Kirkcudbright, Castle Douglas, Dumfries, Annan, Brampton) and […]
Tonight I am staying in the lovely artists’ town of Kirkcudbright, in the region of Galloway, and it will be my very last night in Scotland before leaving it behind for the remainder of this cycling adventure. I feel mixed emotions about that. Sad, because I have got very used to Scotland since early May, […]
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And for the rest of the month…
I am finally through all of Scotland’s islands and crossing the country just got quicker. Or so I am finding. I have a break coming up in early September for a family holiday, so before then I am aiming to pack in a good number of maps. I should be in Whitby by the end […]
Among the many things I am enjoying about this big adventure is the chance to reconnect with people I haven’t seen for a very long time. If you go to enough parts of the country, there is a good chance you will cross paths. That is what happened today with members of my extended family […]
If I thought I had it good yesterday, it only got better today. For starters, the weather was perfect for cycling west to east. Mostly sunny, always dry, not too warm, a helpful breeze. I knew I had taken on a big day today and I didn’t make the earliest start; but I arrived in […]
The trouble with having maps only on a mobile phone – as excellent as that may be – is that you really can’t get an end to end view of a whole coast to coast trip like this one in the detail needed to plan it well. This is particularly a problem when you are […]
I am staying the night in the cottage where Robert Burns’ mother, Agnes Broun, was born in 1732. It has been somewhat modernised inside and makes a lovely little self-contained unit that I have all to myself. My bike is outside my door, sheltered under a parasol. I have a fridge full of goodies and, […]