Will I recently moved, and as you can imagine, it was very hectic leading up to the day, and has been rather busy since.It was with some sense of sadness I said goodbye to the house where I’ve lived for the past 9 years. That’s the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere, and until we moved, my … Read more
Back in September 2012 I blogged about on-going roadworks in Plymouth, which while essential, made things far worse for cyclists than what was necessary. I emailed Plymouth’s Cycling Commisioner about this, with some suggestions of small changes that could have made things better for cyclists. She told me she’d put my suggestions to the relevant … Read more
On Tuesday, 23 October 2012, I was cycling along Embankment Road in Plymouth when I was overtaken by a Dial-a-Cab Plymouth taxi in a dangerous manner. Swearing under my breath, I let it slide, and further along, at the junction with Elliot Road, I filtered past the same Dial-a-Cab Plymouth mini-bus taxi (and some other vehicles) to get to … Read more
As I’ve said many times to just about anybody willing to listen (or just within earshot, even if unwilling to listen!) my hometown of Plymouth has the potential to be absolutely fantastic.Situated on one of the most stunning bits of coastline in the world, it has so much to offer to residents and visitors alike. … Read more
No, sadly this post isn’t about a forthcoming long-distance cycling holiday. Instead, it is about a book I recently read. I’ve never done a book review before, so forgive me if this one is a tad clumsy. This book is called Crossing Europe on a bike called Reggie and tells the story of Andrew Sykes‘ cycle … Read more
Winter is sneaking up on us, and it won’t be long before we have ice on pavements and cycle paths. Obviously we won’t have ice on most roads, as roads actually are gritted by the respective councils. In Plymouth, I want to set up a cycle gritter, which would basically mean a trailer towed behind … Read more
Last night’s Dark Side Ride was quite a break in format, in that it took place at a sensible hour, and the weather co-operated completely. The two previous rides took place during torrential downpours and gale-force winds driving the rain almost horizontally, so having a light breeze and perfectly clear skies was a very nice … Read more
This Saturday, starting at around 20h15, we’re having another Dark Side Ride. For those that don’t know, a Dark Side Ride is a bicycle ride in darkness. Previous rides all had a common theme: lashing down with rain and gale force winds. As a result, at my friend Simon’s insistence, I wasn’t allowed to pick … Read more
On Sunday I took the chance of cycling out to Yelverton and back again. There’s nothing unusual about that – in fact, I do that regularly, yet today’s ride was slightly out of the ordinary for several reasons, as I’ll explain in a minute. I would’ve liked to have gone further, but other, and more … Read more
Simon, the Olympic double gold medalist Simon Richardson is a cyclist, but no ordinary cyclist. Instead, he is a cyclist that has shown a remarkable tenacity to overcome enormous problems. In 2001, Simon was struck by a car that was being driven at 60mph. The impact of that crash broke his back in two places and … Read more
There is a story which tells that for many years, there used to be sign above Picadilly Circus saying “Either exports go up, or Britain goes down”. I’m no expert on London, and I’ve never seen the sign, but the sentiment is quite right. Regardless of what financiers and politicians may want you to believe, … Read more
On the 15th of September I cycled out to Yelverton, where my friend Simon lives. The Tour of Britain’s Devon stage was taking place on the day, and we had a cunning plan to ride out to Merrivale (a King of the Mountains stage) to watch the riders go by, and return to Yelverton via … Read more
There are new roadworks in Plymouth, at the junction of Laira Bridge Road and Finnigan Road, as well as on Laira Bridge itself. This is part of a larger, ongoing project to improve traffic flow (for motorised vehicles!) to and from the eastern side of Plymouth.The big picture is that a new town, Sherbourne, will … Read more
Yep, Ashmill bridge has been opened, which means the whole new section of NCN27, from Tavistock to Gem Bridge is open, and going by this morning’s experience, it’s rather popular! I lost count of the number of cyclists I saw. The really good thing is it included many very young cyclists, and many quite old … Read more
Having been on leave, I went out for a ride last Thursday, with the rough idea of heading out towards Tavistock, via Yelverton. First though, I had to drop a letter off near the river Tamar, which is pretty much on the other side of Plymouth, from my house.After having delivered the letter, I set … Read more