Does Your Wild Camping Pass The Test? 7 Things You Can Improve On Today

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What are the 7 common mistakes people make when wild camping? Wild camping is great. Just you, and nature all around you. Sheer  bliss! However, there are mistakes that many people make when wild camping. Do you do any of these? Remember, strictly speaking, and with the exception of around half of Dartmoor (and even that’s under ... Read more

The Wild Atlantic Way prep

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Cliffs of Moher, along the Wild Atlantic Way
Unsupported long-distance cycle touring With the end on 2023 rapidly approaching, I’m slowly preparing for cycling the bottom 700 miles of the Wild Atlantic Way in May ’23. The Wild Atlantic Way apparently is the longest signposted coastal route in the world (a record that’s simply begging to be beaten) and it gets its name ... Read more

Cycle camping

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What is cycle camping all about then? The clue, as they say, is in the name. Cycle camping is when you go camping, and you cycle to your camping spot, carrying all your camping gear on your bike. Different types of camping I’m South African and when we say “I’m going camping” we mean what ... Read more

Deerness Valley Railway Path cycle route

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Deerness Valley Railway Path overall cycle route rating: (Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of) The Deerness Valley Railway Path is another old railway line in County Durham that was repurposed as a traffic-free cycling and walking trail, after the railway closed in the mid sixties. ... Read more

Formartine and Buchan Way cycle route

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Formartine and Buchan Way overall cycle route rating: (Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of) The Formartine and Buchan Way follows a disused railway from Dyce (near Aberdeen) to Maud. At Maud, it branches, and you can opt to ride east to Peterhead, or continue ... Read more

Every adventure counts

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A  small  adventure  is  still  an  adventure We live in a hyper-competitive world, where (almost) everyone is constantly trying to outdo the next person. UK politicians are forever bleating about “world-beating” this and “world-beating” that. But you know what? It doesn’t have to be this way. Bigger isn’t always better, and even when it is, ... Read more

Alban Way cycle route

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Alban Way is a six mile long traffic-free cycle route along a disused railway line, linking St Albans with Hatfield. As is usually the case with routes along old railway lines, it’s very flat. The Alban Way cycle route overall rating: (Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to ... Read more

Gravel !

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Traffic-free  gravel  routes Lots of people (including me) enjoy gravel routes. Gravel cycling refers to a middle-ground between road cycling and mountain biking, and gravel bikes are generally dropped-bar bikes with chunky tyres. However, for gravel routes, I’m not at all fussed with the type of bike you’ll use to ride the routes. Instead, I’ll ... Read more

Rutland Water cycle route

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Rutland Water cycle route overall rating: (Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of) Rutland Water is an artificial reservoir, created in the 70’s. There is a mostly traffic-free cycle route that circles it, offering stunning views along the way. Though not extremely hilly, the route ... Read more

Nun’s Cross Trail cycle route

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Nun’s Cross Trail cycle route overall rating: (Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of) Nun’s Cross Trail runs from Norsworthy Bridge, Burrator to Princetown, 4.5 miles away. It is graded as a Red route, because there is a stretch where you’ll be riding uphill, over ... Read more

Princetown Railway traffic-free cycle route

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Princetown Railway cycle route overall rating: (Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of) The Princetown Railway used to run from Plymouth to Princetown. The route that’s described here starts in Princetown and heads to Burrator Reservoir. It is possible to make it an almost entirely ... Read more

Saltram Loop traffic-free cycle route

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Saltram Loop Cycle Route Overall Rating: (Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of) The Saltram Loop is a six mile, practically completely traffic-free circular route in Plymouth. It runs right through the Saltram Estate, using part of NCN 27, and is suitable for cycling with ... Read more

Crowd-sourcing traffic-free route guides

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YOUR  help  is  needed As you may know, I started creating route guides for traffic-free cycling routes in the UK. Though cycling infrastructure in the UK is overall generally quite poor, there are nevertheless some great traffic-free routes. But  Sustrans  already  covers  this,  don’t  they? Many of these traffic-free routes are part of the National ... Read more

Coffee Ride 2023

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No  reasons,  no  excuses,  no  pretences A Coffee Ride is just a bike ride, with one difference thrown in: somewhere along the ride, you’ll stop to brew your own coffee. That’s right, it’s not a coffee shop ride, but we also don’t want to get stuck on rules. I’m aware that leaves it quite woolly, and ... Read more

The Waskerley Way traffic-free cycle route

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Waskerley Way Cycle Route Overall Rating: (Colour explanation: blue = good, yellow indicates some warning, and red indicates issues to be aware of) The Waskerley Way is a former railway line which was the Stanhope and Tyne railway. It is part of NCN 7 which helps form the long distance Coast 2 Coast route, from ... Read more
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