Traffic-free Cycling Route Guide Ratings Explained

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Star-rated  traffic-free  cycle  routes As you may have noticed, I started grading the route guides I publish, using a star grading system. This grading system is to give an indication of family-friendliness of a route, which is a grading that will also help new adult cyclists, as well as less confident adult cyclists. Some routes ... Read more

Family-friendly Cycling on Drake’s Trail

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Drake’s Trail starts in Plymouth and at first mostly follows the course of the river Plym, eventually leading to Clearbrook, which is a village on the edge of Dartmoor. From Clearbrook, Drake’s Trail leads through Yelverton, on to the town of Tavistock, 19 miles later. Most of the route is built on a disused railway ... Read more

“Act as if our home is on fire. Because it is”

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“Act as if our home is on fire. Because it is” *These are the words of the incredible Greta Thunberg, a 16 yo climate activist from Sweden, who has single-handedly done more to highlight this extinction-level issue than most politicians combined. That in itself is a damning indication of just how miserably politicians are failing their ... Read more

New Devon Coast To Coast guide!

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I’m rather excited to share this with you! I’ve finished my Devon Coast To Coast guide, and it’s available right now! I’ve known for a long time I should write a detailed guide, similar to the far shorter Drake’s Trail guide on this blog, but covering the whole NCN 27 route. Several years ago I actually ... Read more

Mojo

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I had a crash just over two years ago. A driver suddenly turned in front of me from a side road, without stopping, and I crashed into the back of her car. I ended up with a spine injured in three places, a severely bruised left thigh, an injured left shoulder and a torn right ... Read more

DayCycle – Tavistock & Princetown Loop

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As any cyclist living in or near Plymouth can tell you, we’re spoilt for routes down here! A firm favourite, amongst fast club riders and more social cyclists, is a Tavistock – Princetown loop. My version of that is detailed below. The starting point will be Coypool, where there is ample free parking available. At ... Read more

Folder!

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Yes indeed! I got myself a folder. It belonged to a friend, who had it for a number of years, though only ever used it for a few short rides. She wanted to get rid of it, so for a small payment I gained a folding bike. The brand name is Airwalk – I’ve never ... Read more

Just go for a ride

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There is a German word, weltschmerz (literally world pain or world grief) that roughly translates as a general feeling of gloom with regards to life overall, and weltschmerz sometimes perfectly describes how I feel when I’ve been overwhelmed with negative things. In life, we magnify what we focus on, and it is a sad side effect ... Read more

When police fail you…

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Close  overtakes  and  police  response Two things almost any cyclist will tell you is that they’ve had dangerous, close overtakes from drivers, and that reporting it to police more often than not results in nothing being done. As a result, many (most?) cyclists have very little faith in police actually enforcing the law and taking ... Read more

Devon and Cornwall Police – Operation Closepass

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After much anticipation, the day finally arrived on which D & C Police would launch their Operation Closepass! For those unfamiliar with this, it is a method of roads policing pioneered by the West Mids Police Roads Policing Unit, and basically involves a cop, in plain clothes, riding a bicycle up and down a stretch ... Read more

Darkmoor 2017

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After what seemed forever, Darkmoor 2017 finally arrived, and everything was looking good. Even the weather was cooperating, with very light, broken cloud cover, mild temperature and little to no wind.As per usual, I was early at Cap’n Jaspers, feeling slightly apprehensive and hoping at least one other person would be crazy enough to join ... Read more

Devon and Cornwall Police Close Pass Initiative

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How I wish I was able to tell you that D & C Police had firm plans to implement West Mids Police’s brilliant (and sorely needed!) Close Pass Initiative. Sadly, the reality is quite different, despite what many other sources may have told you. Here’s how things currently stand: D & C Police have three ... Read more

Police Lottery

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This is a story of a lottery. No, not that national lottery, but a post code lottery. Specifically, a post code lottery in which where you live determines whether or not, as a cyclist, you can expect to receive any justice from police. If you live in Devon or Cornwall you’re bang out of luck, ... Read more

Dynamo update

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Several months ago I finally got round to rebuilding my bike’s front wheel around a Shimano hub dynamo and I fitted a dynamo front light. I’ve had a crash in May 2016, which injured my spine in three places, damaged my left thigh and left shoulder and resulted in a torn right calf muscle. As ... Read more

Sorry

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Dear Kids, I’m sorry. I have failed you. As a dad, my job is to try and make your lives as safe, secure, stable, happy and good as I can. I’ve tried to be a good role model (even if I can be a tad grumpy at times, and despite having worked WAY too long ... Read more