Different people measure the start of spring in different ways, so I expect there will be a fair few who dispute that spring is here. Sure, storms Dudley and Eunice hammered the UK this past week, but that doesn’t alter the fact that spring has arrived early. Look around you: the obvious signs, like daffodils […]
C2C to see what there is to see
Crossing England from sea to sea The island of Great Britain is longer than it is wide, meaning there are lots of opportunities to cycle a “coast to coast” of some sort, crossing the island (mostly) from east to west, or vice versa. There are many well-known cycle touring routes that cross northern England, with […]
Monthly challenge: February
I thought I’d spice things up a bit for you, by setting you a monthly challenge, starting this month. These challenges will vary considerable – some will involve cycling, and some will involve walking. Most would involve being outside, but certainly not all. Why should you do it? Simple: to add some fun to your […]
Is cycle touring right for you?
Do you remember the sense of freedom you had when you were a child, and you could hop on your bicycle and pedal off on adventures with your friends? Have you wondered if you can ever experience that same sense of freedom and enjoyment again? Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to […]
Can you hear the road is calling…
…and we must answer As I’m sat here, writing this, the weather is grim outside, with rain and 50 mph winds. Raindrops streak like tears down my office window, and all the birds have gone into hiding. Originally, I was planning on riding out to Dartmoor and camp overnight, but after a very fortunate escape […]
The Age Of Wonder
There is a whole wealth of debate to be had about the benefits (and there were at least a few) versus the evils (of which there were many) of the age of colonialism. This post is NOT that debate, though I will point out that one of the things that always stuck me about that […]
Cycle Touring – A Guide For Beginners
A beginner’s guide to cycle touring? I have a lot of posts about cycle touring, but thought it’d be helpful to have a Beginner’s Guide To Cycle Touring. Specifically, a sensible guide, that ordinary people (like me) can follow to help them start bicycle touring. Bike touring is for everyone, and I’d be delighted if my guide […]
What do you want?
Think carefully about what you really want I get it – you’re busy. You go to work, perhaps have family commitments and more. There’s always something demanding your time and attention, right? I do have some questions for you though, beginning with just this: what exactly is it that you want from life? Do you want a […]
Just One Day Less
Literally, just a single day less I’m not asking you to radically change your life, nor am I asking you to make supreme sacrifices. I’m not asking you to live in a cave (though actually, that could be quite cool!) What I am asking is for you to make a relatively small change. I’m asking for […]
Top Ten UK Bike Rides
Top ten lists are opinions, and you’ll never find a top ten list on any subject that everyone agrees with. This list is my opinion – you may have a different opinion, and that’s OK. In fact, I sincerely hope you’ll tell me about other rides that you consider to be better, in the comments. […]
What is a touring bicycle?
The cycling industry isn’t all noble, despite what the marketing might try and convince you of. Bicycle manufacturers are mainly large corporations, trading for profit, with dividend-hungry shareholders lining up, and it’s in their best interest (but not yours and mine) to have as many different, cross-incompatible products as possible available. And yes, that extends […]
The WillCycle Manifesto
All good organisations need a manifesto! Here’s mine! Life is short. Dreams fade. Reality intrudes. Everyday drudgery saps the very essence from your soul. Your 9 to 5 life is not living, as such – it’s merely existing. You wake up, get ready for work, go to work, work, go home, do some chores, watch […]
Book Review – Signs Of Life, by Stephen Fabes
Signs Of Life tells the story of when Stephen Fabes quit his job as a medical doctor to cycle around the world. Like any good travel journal, Fabes doesn’t simply give a blow-by-blow account of the journey, which took him six years to complete. In fact, there are entire countries he cycled through that almost don’t […]
Is cycle touring dangerous?
Will I die if I go cycle touring? Will I be run over, or murdered as I’m sleeping in my tent? Will I be attacked, robbed and possibly beaten? Is cycle touring dangerous? Let me start answering those questions by asking you how you define dangerous. Some things are obvious: walking up to a pride of hungry […]
January 2022 Giveaway
We all like a freebie, don’t we? Well, during 2022, I’m doing 12 freebies! That’s right – I’m doing ONE T-shirt giveaway per month. How to enter Entering is simple, but requires a Twitter account. Just follow WillCycle on Twitter, then browse through the T-shirt designs available and pick your favourite. Next, click the link […]
New year, new you? Bollocks to that!
Don’t you find it ridiculous how you’re expected to make New Year’s resolutions, as if the difference between 31st of December and 1st of January is enormous? Regular gym users groan, as during January the gyms will be filled with people who all signed up for lengthy gym contracts, yet stop going to gym after a […]
The 1st WillCycle Community Story
This will be a community-written story, and we will have 31 days to complete it. Here’s how it works: I’ve written a short bit, to get the story started. YOUR job is to write the next part of the story, and add that as a comment. At the end of each day, or possibly very […]
T-shirts and more
After a close-shave with a printing company that seems to be a horrific, and entirely untrustworthy bunch – see my post about Teezily and whatever you do, never do business with them – I have switched back to my old T-shirt printers. Yes, the prices are higher, and don’t include postage, but that seems fair, given […]
Damned Teezily!!
I am genuinely sorry, but I’ve had to pull the plug on the new T-shirt printer I recently moved to. They’re called Teezily, and I am now of the opinion that they are scam artists. It started with one order inexplicably having been cancelled, and when I questioned them, their exact reply was “Unfortunately our […]
Cheshire Ring – the beginning
The Cheshire Ring – for canal boaters The Cheshire Ring is well-known to canal boaters, forming a very rough triangle, and is made up from six different canals in Cheshire: the Ashton Canal, Peak Forest Canal, the Macclesfield Canal, the Trent and Mersey Canal, the Bridgewater Canal and finally, the Rochdale Canal. The Cheshire Ring […]