This is the beginning of the ultimate bicycle tour, from our home in Launceston to the coast of Ireland and then across into Europe and around the Baltic Sea. Before all that though, here are the bikes. Mine is the blue Thorn Raven, and is to be my steady steed for the next four months. We set off from our…
The last three days have been foggy in Bournemouth, many of us are starting to forget what the sun feels like. The first foggy day was spent revising, the second doing the exam, but today was for the first long ride of 2017! The first bit of the ride was to Wimborne Minster. I was slowly going up a hill…
If you have ever wandered across the moors, through fields or over woodland you have probably come across this mysterious substance. You may immediately have chosen not to think of where it came from, but ignore your imagination and read on… You will be surprised to hear that it has baffled people for centuries. Records date back to the 14th…
The fishing boat crests a new wave, and balances for a split second before crashing down into the trough. On deck, the two sailors desperately fight to keep the boat afloat whilst attempting to steer for the sheltered harbour. Its high walls signal safety from the wrath of the weather. Hours pass and still they struggle the waves pushing them…
My last long-distance cycle of 2016 was from Bournemouth to the Isle of Portland and back. I spotted it on the map and was instantly interested in visiting due to it being connected by a narrow strip of beach and road to the mainland and the cloudy history that surrounds Church Ope cove. The Isle is 4 miles (6 km)…
I was discussing a recent holiday with a colleague at work, and told him that tarping was a great way to camp on backpacking holidays. He nodded along a bit then changed the subject and the next day I showed him the photos from the holiday, his response: “oh so that’s what tarping is! I confess I wasn’t entirely sure…
On one of my cycle rides around Dorset during my university years I stumbled upon a most unusual thing. As I peddled along one of the Dorset lanes I spotted a tall tower atop one of the nearby hills. I cycled in a large loop around it, trying to figure out how to get closer. At one point stopping to…
When you first start working it doesn’t take long to decide that buses are a last, last, very much last resort and that walking can take too long. So what do you do? My suggestion is to start cycling to work! The main dangers for the commuting cyclist isn’t the cars as you may think. Most motorists in cities have…
I first realised that using my camera’s flash on close-up subjects had a nice result two years ago when photographing Coral Fungus, before then I had never really used it. I even scoffed at it as I had never taken a photo that improved upon using it. But now I am a little wiser and understand that the flash feature…
My entire week had been building up to this day, I had been specially avoided anything overly strenuous in preparation for a 70 mile cycle to Durdle Door with a friend from university. If you had told me two months ago that I would even be thinking about doing 70 miles in one go I would have frowned and said…