The 1st WillCycle Community Story

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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 ... Read more

T-shirts and more

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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 ... Read more

Damned Teezily!!

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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 ... Read more

Cheshire Ring – the beginning

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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 ... Read more

Christmas

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Peace  on  earth  and  goodwill  to  all  mankind I make no secret of the fact that I’m not a big fan of Christmas. Sure, it’s great for younger kids, although you do need to question the sincerity of a religious festival that involves – by default – lying to children: “Why, of course Father Christmas ... Read more

WeCycle – Guided cycle camping

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Wild camping done right Wild camping is re-connecting with nature. It is camping somewhere away from facilities, in a wild place. It is stepping outside your comfort zone, to experience new things. Wild camping helps you escape the manic world in which we live, and find some inner calm. Dartmoor I base my guided WeCycle ... Read more

2021 in review

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2020 was a bastard! There’s no way of pretending it was anything else – so how did 2021 measure up? Obviously, ’21 remained dominated by COVID, and as I’m writing this, upward of 146 000 people have died from COVID in the UK alone this year. Undoubtedly vaccine rollouts have massively reduced deaths, but as ... 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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Money? You want money? Are you selling out?

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“Hey, Will, what’s with T-shirts and route guides for sale on your site? Have you sold out?” I’m glad you asked – grab a pew and I’ll explain.  No, however much I might love it to, my site will never bring in much more than a small amount of pocket money.  In fact, income from ... Read more

Cycloffee – city edition

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Cycloffee  is  like  a  treasure  hunt,  but  with  coffee  shops For full details of the original (and national) Cyclofee game, please read this post first. Not everyone will want, or be able to participate in a game that’s deliberately spread across the whole UK, and from the outset I figured there’d be room for city-based ... Read more

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

SheCycles – Sara

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This SheCycles post introduces you to Sara
Time for another SheCycles post! This time, I get to introduce you to the incredible Sara – she’s on Twitter as @SezRamos and on Instagram under the same name, so make sure you follow her. In case you still didn’t know, SheCycles is a growing series of posts that highlight a bunch of completely different, ... Read more

There’s a long, long trail a-winding…

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A  simple  question:  Which  is  the  UK’s  longest  traffic-free  cycle  path? The UK has quite a collection of traffic-free cycle paths. Some are better known than others, and some are far longer than others. Some have smooth tarred surfaces, while others have unsealed, and often muddy surfaces. Some are simply obviously better than others, but ... Read more

LEJOGLE Relay

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LEJOG is a British cycle touring rite of passage. It is short for Land’s End – John O’Groats, and refers to cycling between the two destinations. Prevailing winds mean most people start at the bottom and cycle up, but a fair number cycle it in the opposite direction, when it’s referred to as JOGLE. The ... Read more

Idle ramblings

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I have a very busy mind – it’s chaotic at times – and I’ve long known that cycling calms my mind, especially longer bike rides. It is for this reason I prefer to cycle outside – I ride for the pure enjoyment of it first, then for transport or leisure, and lastly for training. There’s ... Read more