Will 
As any cyclist living in or near Plymouth can tell you, we’re spoilt for routes down here! A firm favourite, amongst fast club riders and more social cyclists, is a Tavistock – Princetown loop. My version of that is detailed below. The starting point will be Coypool, where there is ample free parking available. At … Read more
There is a German word, weltschmerz (literally world pain or world grief) that roughly translates as a general feeling of gloom with regards to life overall, and weltschmerz sometimes perfectly describes how I feel when I’ve been overwhelmed with negative things. In life, we magnify what we focus on, and it is a sad side effect … Read more
Close overtakes and police response Two things almost any cyclist will tell you is that they’ve had dangerous, close overtakes from drivers, and that reporting it to police more often than not results in nothing being done. As a result, many (most?) cyclists have very little faith in police actually enforcing the law and taking … Read more
After much anticipation, the day finally arrived on which D & C Police would launch their Operation Closepass! For those unfamiliar with this, it is a method of roads policing pioneered by the West Mids Police Roads Policing Unit, and basically involves a cop, in plain clothes, riding a bicycle up and down a stretch … Read more
After what seemed forever, Darkmoor 2017 finally arrived, and everything was looking good. Even the weather was cooperating, with very light, broken cloud cover, mild temperature and little to no wind.As per usual, I was early at Cap’n Jaspers, feeling slightly apprehensive and hoping at least one other person would be crazy enough to join … Read more
How I wish I was able to tell you that D & C Police had firm plans to implement West Mids Police’s brilliant (and sorely needed!) Close Pass Initiative. Sadly, the reality is quite different, despite what many other sources may have told you. Here’s how things currently stand: D & C Police have three … Read more
This is a story of a lottery. No, not that national lottery, but a post code lottery. Specifically, a post code lottery in which where you live determines whether or not, as a cyclist, you can expect to receive any justice from police. If you live in Devon or Cornwall you’re bang out of luck, … Read more
Several months ago I finally got round to rebuilding my bike’s front wheel around a Shimano hub dynamo and I fitted a dynamo front light. I’ve had a crash in May 2016, which injured my spine in three places, damaged my left thigh and left shoulder and resulted in a torn right calf muscle. As … Read more
If you live in Plymouth, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to gorgeous cycling routes. From coastal vistas to high moorland and much more are within reach, so it always surprises me that so many people cycle the same route again and again. To me (well, this is my blog after all) a good … Read more
Sometimes I despair when I realise how far we still have to go to get safe cycling conditions. On the 11th of October, a man called Quentin Willson posted the following tweet on Twitter: Great new cycle lane but where are the cyclists? pic.twitter.com/a1vhAAXxt2 — Quentin Willson (@QuentinWillson) October 10, 2016 The picture is of … Read more
UPDATE: You may want to read this newer blog post, about charging your devices while cycling For years I’ve been threatening to upgrade to a dynamo hub as the idea of generating the power you need to light your way yourself has always appealed to me. Add to that the fact that I enjoy all-night … Read more
Now you have the Bee Gees singing Staying Alive in the back of your mind, let’s look at perhaps extending that philosophy to cycling. Broadly speaking, and with many exceptions, cyclists tend to be split between the Vehicular Cycling (VC) crowd, and the Segregation bunch, and a great many epic online battles of words were … Read more
The Exmouth Exodus was started as either an alternative or an addition to the Dunwich Dynamo, with the Dun being the original through-the-night bike ride. I’ve only cycled the Exodus once before, back in 2014. In 2015 life got in the way, so I was determined to ride it again in 2016. Towards the end … Read more
