cycling
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Cycling London to Berlin, Day #2: Tooting to Harwich International
“Once you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life,” as my Dad once told me, quoting Samuel “L” Johnson out of Blackadder. He didn’t tell me this was a quote, of course. I found this out much later. And I didn’t know the full quote until now: “When a man is tired of London, he Read more
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Lewes to East Grinstead by bike, via Forest Row
I’ve gazed at the High Weald from the top of Ditchling Beacon many times, wondering when I’d finally make it there. And, like unlocking a new section of map in Tears of a Kingdom, that day finally came. The section along the coast from Worthing to Brighton I’ve already written about; so too the rather Read more
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Eigg to Oban: a tale of three ferries
I was up on Eigg for Lost Map’s Howlin’ Fling festival – you can read my review of it up on the Morning Star website [1]. This blog post is about what happened after I left, covered in midge bites and having enjoyed all the island’s many tourist activities (amazing music festival, rocky outcrop walk, Read more
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Brighton to Lewes (the scenic route)
“I shall again be coming to Lewes. But I may come over the Downs next time.” Those words were written last November, after cycling the recommended, direct route from Brighton, which takes one grimly along the edge of the thundering A27. The Downs route is more indirect but much, much nicer. First one cycles along Read more
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Cycling in Oxford: LTNs, active travel, and all that jazz
I returned from Oxford this week, saying an emotional farewell to a cat who will have already forgotten who I am. While I was there, the cat’s owner lent me an old Dawes road bike, which I used to pootle about the place and explore the place, with its river meadows, dreaming spires, and future Read more
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Visiting every county cricket ground #3: Hove
I had never been to the county ground in Hove, despite having lived in Brighton for a year. Sure, I’ve cycled past it. Circled it. Peeked in from the car park, longingly. But all these activities took place in the off season – my life, geographically inconsistent, never lined up with seeing the oldest county Read more
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Portsmouth – Ryde ferry: gateway to the 1950s
I woke up early today, and so decided to get the hovercraft to the Isle of Wight. People have been holding me back from travelling by hovercraft for too long. It’s time I ignored the haters and lived my best life. I arrived at the hoverport to find it closed. Google had told me the Read more
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Furious man in local newspaper
I’ve finally achieved my lifelong goal of looking angry in the local newspaper. Unfortunately I didn’t get to pose either with my armed folded or pointing at the thing that annoyed me, but perhaps that’s something to achieve before I’m fifty. I’m pretty happy with how I have been quoted, though it’s perhaps a shame Read more
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Cycling in Paris is much better than cycling in London
In 2020, Cyclist magazine wrote of London and Paris mayors both seeking re-election; and both talking a good game on their plans to revolutionise active travel in their respective capitals. Even then, it wasn’t a fair comparison. Paris’ socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo had already instigated a revolution. The ‘Plan Velo’ approach aims for a cycle Read more
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Crossing the Streams
In the 1984 docu-drama Ghostbusters, we were warned that crossing the streams could lead to catastrophe. The historic record shows things worked out fine in the end. In that spirit*, I’m sharing a couple of posts from instagram. I am still doing some videos about bad cycling and walking infrastructure, even though things are no Read more
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