Food, glorious food I have a confession to make: I’m not a foodie. In fact, sometimes I’m quite envious of people who seem to find far more pleasure in food than I ever would. To me, food is primarily fuel. As a result, I’m not a good source for recipes. However, the people I interact … Read more
The WillCycle Adventure Journal I’m excited to announce the WillCycle Adventure Journal. What’s an Adventure Journal, you ask? It’s a small book that you are meant to take with you on adventures, to make notes in. Some of my best thinking’s been done on the bike, and I expect that may be true for you, … Read more
Here are the entries to the WillCycle Adventure Fund. For obvious reasons, I’ve removed people’s names from the entries. Voting is now open, and on the 9th of May I’ll announce the winner. I will never repeat the WillCycle Adventure Fund, as entry numbers were disappointingly low. Still, we have a total of £95 raised … Read more
Top ten reasons to go cycle touring Everyone likes a List Of 10, right? Well, here are 10 Good Reasons To Go Cycle Touring The freedom! You get to experience the landscape in a far better way It’s very good for your physical and mental health It’s good for the planet It’s good for the … Read more
Excitement! The night before you set off on your first ever cycle wild camping trip on your own, you will probably be nervous. And more than a little excited! It’s a big thing you’re doing – stepping out of your comfort zone, and into the unknown. Of course, when we’re nervous, we’re most likely to … Read more
The Grand Union Canal I long wanted to cycle the full 144 miles of the Grand Union Canal. The plan was to set off from Paddington Basin, right next to Paddington station, then follow the Paddington branch of the Grand Union Canal (GUC for short). The reasoning was simple: though a branch of the GUC, … Read more
Travelling slowly Remember, even if you win the rat race, you remain a rat. Life comes at you fast, and that pace will only ever get faster. Yes, there’s a thrill to be had from ducking the knocks life throws your way in time, but there’s something even better: taking time out. Step out of … Read more
But REAL adventurers… There is this enduring image that people have that to be a real cycle tourer, you should at least have cycled around the world. Barefoot. On a unicycle. That is, of course, utter rubbish. Simply put, a cycle tourer is someone who went touring on their bicycle, regardless how long, or short their … Read more
What is wild-camping? Wild-camping is camping away from formal camp sites. In the UK, wild-camping is legal in almost all of Scotland, but against the law in England and Wales (with the exception of parts of Dartmoor), unless you have explicit permission from the landowner. Here’s where things get a bit complicated: yes, wild-camping is … Read more
We are all free. We are free to make up our own minds. We are free to make our own decisions. We are not free from the consequences of those decisions. For example, I’m free to try and rob a bank, even though that’s against the law. When I get caught afterwards (bank robbers always get caught) … Read more
Cycling around the world We all would love to go cycling around the world, but life has a way of putting obstacles in the way. Most of us will never go cycle touring around the world. You can choose to see that as a terrible thing, or you can accept the reality of the situation, … Read more
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 … Read more
Cold-weather camping I’ve been forced to delay a planned winter camping trip on Dartmoor by a combination of having to do out-of-hours work over several weekends, and the severe weather we’ve been having for a while. Seriously, going camping in such a remote spot as I was planning to, while there were 80+mph gales blowing, … Read more
“I learned the truth at seventeen That love was meant for beauty queens And high school girls with clear skinned smiles Who married young and then retired” These are the lyrics to a beautiful, if rather sad, song called At Seventeen, by an artist called Janis Ian. I included the YouTube video at the bottom. … Read more
I’m setting up the WillCycle Adventure Fund, which will be a crowdfunded annual award of (hopefully) £250. Applicants to the fund will need to submit their request as a comment to this post, detailing why they should receive the money. I will publish all the applications in a future post, and ask you to vote on your … Read more