A group of green laners, rough stuffers and folk of a relaxed persuasion based in Manchester
It’s been over a year since I last slept under the stars and I had an overwhelming desire to get back to it, the fact that the weather forecast was looking amazing helped. So I packed light, then repacked even lighter, just a bivvy bag, a sleeping mat, a pillow and a quilt, spare socks …
I’ve just spent the last month (more or less) riding bikes along the coastal roads of North West England. There’s a number of reasons for doing this, the main one being that this is an area that I’ve come to love over the last twenty five years of staying here ( in fact it seriously …
Tom and I drove over to Lancaster yesterday! Steve is out that way for a week or so, and as it's only an hour up the motorway from home, it would've been rude not too... The aim was to meet Steve at Glasson Dock (a gentle 30 min ride from base camp for him) in …
Occasionally I find myself trying, pushing hard on the pedals, looking at the speedo, breathing deeply ... it creeps up on me until something in my brain switches and I realise what I'm doing! And then I stop and get back to just enjoying riding along. Some background information here... I stopped racing bikes about …
Sunday night, if ever there was a night to avoid the telly its got to be Sunday, and as is my way I am listening to music and staring at maps. Maps that are kept at the caravan and are specific to this area. These maps have green covers and were known as pathfinders, and …
Yesterday was horrible, rain, hailstones, sleet and wind, wind that was strong enough to have the caravan rocking... Today's forecast said that it was going to be amazing! Woken by the geese to cool crisp blue skies, the forecast was correct and the day looked promising, the only downside was that the tides were against …
Day 4, the finale! The last cycling day of our Lancashire week. A plan to penetrate the Yorkshire Dales (a favourite area of mine, too rarely visited since moving away from North East England) has been sitting in bold on our unwritten agenda and we retired the previous evening with hope, ambition and fully charged …
Day 3, Blackpool! Today's ride theme was more urban than rural, more asphalt and flagstone, less gravel and grass. Our apogee was to be the North West's seaside resort behemoth we call Blackpool. I've only visited Blackpool once before on a similar autumn ride with Steve, and I wanted to go back as I felt …
Day 2 In Condor Green there's a deservedly popular cafe sitting on the Lune Estuary Footpath (a misleading title for this section of NCN 6). My first visit to Cafe d'Lune was a few years ago after a short ride through heavy October rain, and Jan and Bev's warm welcome and friendly banter means stopping …
Day 1 It's always good to receive an invite for some cycling on the North West coast with Steve, and soon after my "yes" I was driving down the M74/M6 anticipating the week ahead. A week fondly revisiting now familiar routes and places. And a particular cafe. More on that cafe another day. An evening …
