It is a not unusual occurrence, while I toil up Uffington’s White Horse Hill on what I refer to as my daily mortification, for me to cross paths with another cyclist, not once but three times: twice – an overtake … Continue reading
My base camp at the foot of the Lambourn Downs (north side) is well placed for bike rides up to the Ridgeway – short bursts of exertion that raise the pulse rate in beautiful surroundings. There are more than a … Continue reading
Serendipity? An idle moment in Wantage, and upon what should I chance but Darwin On The Green, keenly – I am tempted to say insultingly – priced at £3.50. This is an anthology of essays brought together by HJ Weaver … Continue reading
In idle moments I have often googled golf and bicycle (or cycling). Almost nothing comes up, apart from a virtual debate about whether cycling is the new golf, the motion being that Masters of the Universe now do their … Continue reading
Waiting for the article to appear is a difficult time, especially when you have gone to bed with a publication for the first time, as was the case with me and The Sunday Times Travel Magazine. After the coupling, polite … Continue reading
Made my annual visit to the Dyfi Valley Bookshop in Machynlleth in case any of the 100-odd novels written by my great aunt Berta have fetched up there in the last 12 months; or (less likely, since he is much … Continue reading
So … just a short stage today for our cyclist heroes: a mere 168km to Alpe d’Huez finishing with 30km of ascent in two bits, totalling 2500 vertical metres of uphill at an average gradient of about 8% with 42 … Continue reading
@rosiesimpson writes rather a brilliant blog in the form – for the moment at least – of a wine guide to the Tour de France. I haven’t read enough of it to know how she handled the time trial at … Continue reading
As any fule kno, our world divides into two kinds of people: crocophiles and crocophobes. It is not a division down the middle, because the angry mass of phobes vastly outnumbers the oppressed minority of philes. Croc Monsieur I once … Continue reading
“A big picnic, with a cycling race attached,” is how Nadia of @foothillsfrance describes the Tour de France, from the spectator’s point of view. In July 2011 we met up with the Tour on our way back from cycling down … Continue reading