Introducing The Travelling Ouballies

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The Travelling What? In South Africa, a slang (and somewhat derogatory) Afrikaans word for a man significantly older than yourself is “ouballie”, which is pronounced “oh – bully”, with “bully” to rhyme with “Scully”. Obviously, there was a rather excellent band, called The Travelling Wilburys. Given that I’m South African, like the music of The ... Read more

Coffee – nectar of the gods

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In life, there are two kinds of people: those who choose to drink coffee, and those that don’t. I’ firmly in the former category, and a good coffee is one of life’s essentials to me. Coffee is a rich source of caffeine, which is common knowledge. Perhaps less commonly known is what caffeine does to our ... Read more

Cycle touring in a new age

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COVID has changed the world, probably in a permanent way, but there are bigger changes on the horizon. I am of course referring to man-made Climate Change, which is undeniably real and terrifying. The heart of the matter is transport-related emissions need to radically fall, and that has clear, and direct implications for how we ... Read more

Back to basics: Navigation

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“The  sun  never  sets  on  the  British  Empire” To a degree, the story of navigation is the story of the British Empire. Don’t believe me? Well, read on! Today, maps from around the world use a system of longitudes and latitudes. These are imaginary lines all over the earth, with longitudes running from the north ... Read more

Book review – Slow Coast Home, by Josie Dew

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  This book came highly recommended, and it was with much anticipation that I started reading it. What struck me immediately is that the author is the kind of person I like: she’s not overly organised, prefers wild-camping, and feels at home while cycle touring. Consistently, throughout the book, Dew’s irrepressible sense of humour shines ... Read more

The rules of being a tourist

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In the summer of 2019, I was cycling along Drake’s Trail. It was a beautiful day, I had time on my hands, and just a rough idea to cycle out to Okehampton, and back, also riding on the Granite Way. Just as I passed through Yelverton, there are a set of double gates on the ... Read more

SheCycles – Niamh Lewis

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I’m delighted to bring you yet another SheCycles post. In case you didn’t know, SheCycles is a series of posts in which a range of different female cyclists answer the same questions, in their own words. You should read all the SheCycles posts, by clicking this link. This post introduces Niamh Lewis – she’s on ... Read more

Camping gear

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“Oh no! You can’t go camping with that! You need to buy reliable kit, with a tent costing at least…” Ever heard someone go off like that? I have. Here’s the thing: you need an £800, expedition-grade 1-person tent only if you’re going on an expedition where your life could depend on your tent not failing. ... Read more

Darkmoor – the finale

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Back in 2012, I heard about the Dunwich Dynamo for the first time. In case you didn’t know, the Dynamo is an all-night bike ride, from London, to a tiny hamlet called Dunwich, in Suffolk. With my kids still being young at the time, there was no chance of me doing that ride, but I ... Read more

HeCycles?

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If you’re upset because I do a SheCycles series of posts, but not a HeCycles series, we need to talk. Sexism remains a common element in the world, and in the UK, women are on average paid just over 80% the wages men receive for the same job. As the Sarah Everard tragedy showed, and ... Read more

A time of hope and dreams

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Despair  is  everywhere COVID. War in Gaza. Climate change. Crime. Austerity. Crumbs, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. It’s easy to feel like everything’s going wrong. Here’s the thing, though: what you focus on will seem bigger, and more important. I’m not for a moment suggesting all is well with the world – far from it ... Read more

SheCycles – Robyn Jankel

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In this latest SheCycles post, we get to know Robyn Jankel, in her own words. If you’re unfamiliar with SheCycles, it’s a serious of posts in which we’re introduced to a range of perfectly normal, completely different and absolutely awesome women, in their own words. Click here to read all the SheCycles posts. That’s enough ... Read more

Some more thoughts on navigation

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I’m an unashamed, proud map-geek, and I generally find navigation easy to do. I also provide digital route guides for a growing number of routes. Over the bank holiday weekend at the end of May, I went cycling the Grand Union Canal, along with a friend of mine, Dom (@Tdr1nka on Twitter). I’ve spent considerable ... Read more

So you want to cycle the Grand Union Canal?

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Want to know what to expect when cycling the Grand Union Canal? Time for a rethink? I’m all for encouraging people to go on bike rides, but in this case I’ll advise you to change your mind. Why? Let me explain… If you went cycling on the Tarka Trail, in gorgeous north Devon, you’d be ... Read more

I can’t change anything! I’m just a single person

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One of the objections you’ll often hear about climate change is “But I’m just one person – nothing I do will make any difference”. You may even have used that excuse yourself, and if you did, you probably believed it, too. Let’s fix that, right here, right now, shall we? You are not just a leaf ... Read more