Croissants and the City: Bournemouth to Nantes

Eleven days ago I was nervously staring at a small pile of panniers in the hallway wondering what on earth the next 15 months had in store? Now, just over a week later and I’m sat on a river bank eating a banana and watching a woman in overalls climb out of an elephant’s bottom.

Talking the talk; Podcasting and pushing boundaries!

I had a conversation recently about the joys of reflection and of looking back through the tunnel of time, especially in relation to cycle touring.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve found many times that it’s near impossible to process an experience when you’re actually involved in it, especially a big experience.

Being on a long, solo cycle tour is a perfect example as it often means that you’re dealing with many, many kinds of things at once, physical, practical, emotional, directional (!) and that’s way too much stimulation to make sense of. So, at the time, to get through, we do what we need to to make it through the day and fulfil our basic needs. Everything else, the small observations, the larger feelings, sort of just get filed on the ‘to think about later’ pile. 

But do we ever take time to fully revisit all those feelings and experiences, to bring them out in to the light again and examine them with the benefit of time and distance and if so, then how?

A brief interlude of cows

If you’re a fan of any kind of countryside activities, walking, horse riding, mountain biking, there’s a strong chance you’ll have come into contact with cows. Having hugely increased my quota of cross country mountain biking over the last year, I’ve noticed that cows have come to occupy quite a niche in my regular rides and not always in a good way!

The Bored Cyclist’s Guide to Surviving Lockdown

With current lockdown restrictions in the UK set to be in place for a while to come, I’m entirely grateful that we remain allowed to exercise outdoors, albeit with strong advice to ‘stay local’. For many cyclists however, especially those used to covering more miles on varied terrain, there can be tendency to feel a bit restricted, a bit stir crazy even. The list below is no instant fix, it is however a little selection of things that I have been trying/found helpful in attempting to remain motivated, fit and vaguely sane. They are also about having fun (hills excluded) and enjoying the ride. After all, that’s why we do it right?

Berlin Baby; Bike love and the city.

Berlin is a city that has been built for bikes or should I say rebuilt.

It’s a cityscape that has literally been re-shaped by its turbulent, recent past, but also one that has emerged from the rubble and been thoughtfully designed, very much with the future in mind.