Camping

Is cycle touring dangerous?

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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 … Read more

The death of wild-camping in the UK?

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wild-camping is simply the best

Wild-camping, at least in England and Wales, is strictly speaking against the law, unless done with the explicit consent of the landowner. Here’s where things immediately become murky: against the law is not the same as being a crime. In fact, under the law (at least in England and Wales) trespass is a civil offense, not a criminal offense.

What this means in practice is better explained with an example: Imagine you own a piece of land somewhere, and I trespass onto that land, for whatever reason (but I’m not breaking any other laws, and certainly not damaging anything on your land). In this scenario, your options are extremely limited. Basically, you can ask me to leave. If at that point, I humbly apologise, and start packing up, legally there is nothing further you can do. If you tried to frogmarch me off your land, I can charge you with assault, which is a crime, and if you break anything of mine, that may incur some extra charges.

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But baby it’s cold outside…

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Person walking in snow, as part of cold-weather camping

Tips for staying warm You might know your stuff when you go cycle touring and cycle camping in summer, but how do you stay warm in winter, while still going riding (and hopefully camping)?  Hypothermia can be a killer, so from the outset you need to be able to manage your plans, so you can … Read more

A suggested cycle touring pack list

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Happy cycle camping! A hand holding up a tin mug, with Happy Camper printed on it

Why  do  you  even  need  a  cycle  touring  pack  list? If you’ve read anything else on here, you will realise by now that I’m very enthusiastic about cycle touring. So much so, I have an entire category dedicated to cycle touring, and another dedicated to cycle camping. Of course not everyone who goes cycle touring … Read more

Frazer’s Tour – Part 3

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This is the last instalment of Frazer Goodwin’s guest posts, in which he recounts his adventurous 1 400km ride from Belgium to Sweden, and his return to Belgium. If you haven’t already done so, I suggest you read Part first, then read Part 2. Part 3 This summer I managed to cycle from Brussels to … Read more

Frazer’s Tour – Part 1

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This guest post is by Frazer Goodwin – he’s on Twitter as @FrazerGoodwin and you really should follow him. Frazer is English, but lives in Belgium. Enough from me, I’ll hand over to Frazer now.

Part One

“Aren’t you too old to travel that far on a bike?”

It’s a question I’ve been asked by both friends and family. But I have finally managed to complete a multiday bike ride I’ve been planning for years – a ride from my home in Brussels to my in-laws place in Sweden on an island north of Gothenburg. When I posted that I’d done it on Facebook, a good friend here in Brussels simply responded “Nuts”.

Well, I didn’t get to ride that far at 57years of age by just climbing on the bike and setting off. So this short series about my bikepacking will start with the planning and preparations I undertook before the next post details the trip itself and then a final one will review what I’ve learned and plan to do next…

I have been thinking of riding to the island off the Swedish west coast where my in-laws have a house for a couple of decades. It is after all where my wife and I married more than 20 years ago. I had planned the ride in detail for last year, but the pandemic kyboshed it then. I managed to turn it into a tour of the Netherlands to at least use some of the accommodation I’d already booked. And that trip provided me with a lot of insight about how both my bike-setup and I coped on a multi-day bikepacking trip.

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Devon Coast To Coast – A Travelling Ouballies Ride

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Devon  Coast  To  Coast,  aka  NCN  27 This past weekend I cycled Devon Coast To Coast again, along with my friend Caspar (follow him on Twitter – he’s one of the good guys). I know the route very well – after all, I published what I genuinely believe to be the most detailed route guide … Read more

And suddenly you’re free

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It’s the light that wakes you. Well, sometimes the birds, sometimes the weather and in my case, once a greenkeeper who started very early, but usually the light. Waking up under canvas is different to waking up at home. There’s no sense of urgency, no rush, no dread for what the day may hold. The … Read more

As the light dawns

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You open your eyes, not quite sure what time it is, and not bothered by it, either. You know it’s still early, so you lie there for a bit, looking at the tent above you, and listening to the sounds outside. The light breeze whispering through the nearby trees, the verbal battles fought by songbirds. … Read more

Kennet & Avon Canal – Traveling Ouballies ride

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Old Man Ride This past weekend, I went on a leisurely adventure, with three others. Caspar I’ve met before, and I know him from cycling advocacy especially in Devon, but also nationally. Simon’s a journalist at Road.cc and cycled the first part of my last Grand Union Canal ride. Tommy’s someone I know from Twitter, … Read more

Cycle touring in your 50s

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I distinctly remember going off into the African bush as a teenager, carrying an ex-army canvas backpack, containing water, food, and a few other bits and bobs, dressed in T-shirt, shorts and trainers. I had a sleeping bag, but usually didn’t bother taking it with, and I didn’t have a tent. Before nightfall, I’d find … Read more

Cycle camping with kids

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I got back into cycling because of my kids. When my eldest two were old enough, we got them bikes and I taught them to ride. They would ride up and down the pavement, and regularly I’d take them to the local park, a block or two away, but soon enough they were getting bored, … Read more

Real cycle adventurers fight monsters

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To be a real adventurer, you have to do things like solo trekking through the Amazon basin, scaling the ten tallest mountains of the world (dressed only in beach gear) or wrestling with crocodiles, right? In graphic terms, that belief – sadly quite widely held – is a steaming pile of bovine excrement, and I’ll … Read more

Come on baby, light my fire

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Mastery of fire was arguably the single most important human achievement. It vastly increased our species’ ability to survive and prosper, and to this day we are ultra-reliant on fire. It’s entirely possible that the device you’re using to read this was powered by electricity generated by either coal, or gas-powered power stations, and those … Read more

Kit Review – Aeropress Go

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Some things just belong together: Sampson & Dellilah, Cleopatra & Anthony, bread & butter, and of course, cycling & coffee. Cycling and coffee are a match made in heaven, as the number of cycling cafés can attest. In a perfect world, there will always be a great café, serving excellent coffee, right when you need … Read more