Author: odetocycling
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Cycling my allegiance
An unusual once-in-a-lifetime overnight ride to Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace at a historic and profound moment in the new kingdom It was a fine dry evening in early autumn when I set off at 10pm. The ring-road seemed pretty normal for a Saturday. Some dickhead in a high-end white Mercedes has spun off the…
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Rocket Men
In my previous post I wrote about the joys of cycling along the many wagonways to be found in the North East of England. Here I begin a journey from one of the most historically important places in the development of the railway locomotive, and unearth a little of their men who put it on…
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The Magic that is Audax Time
“I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello, goodbye,’ I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” Time in normal day-to-day life can feel reliable and predictable. Even without looking at our watches (or maybe smartphones these days) we have a good sense of what the real time is. In the…
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There go my waggonwheels…
If you’re looking for off-road two-wheeled adventure, the North-East of England has a dense network of trails known as waggonways left behind by the industrial revolution providing miles of gripping and secluded tracks just waiting to be explored. The North-East of England hosts a rich tapestry of often hidden tracks and trails that the less…
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The Night Cyclist
While the rest of the world turns in to bed, the night-time pedaller is only just setting out with plans to cycle through the whole night. What drives this unusual behaviour? In the depths of the night, those hours long after most have turned in to bed and as many more before they again arise,…
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LE to NE
As BBC weather introduced a new extreme heat symbol to their weather maps, one randonneur set off to ride 900km from Land’s End to Tyneside A clear blue sky hung over the peninsular as I coasted the few short miles down to Land’s End. Kevin was waiting looking sharp and keen. His weightless titanium bike…
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5 positive things that the plague brought us
A British perspective A massive reduction in traffic Who would have thought in those distant days of Greta Thunberg and climate activists that we would now emerge into a world almost devoid of traffic? The skies that were filled with the deafening screech of jet engines, the dull roar of passing planes, the throbbing and…
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More of the same, sir?
And when all this is over, Will we just close the car door to that reassuring clunk, And join the endless stream of tail-lights into the bright neon night; And numberless jets leave vapour-trails across the hazy skies; And sickening pangolins and bats lie twitching in the sterilized luggage holds? “Bloody well hope so!”, breathed…
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Rainbows
Don’t you just love it when you stumble upon two things and they seem to connect? Sharing with you an old poem which was introduced to me by Poem-a-Day – it you’ve not yet subscribed I urge you to do so immediately, for we need the light of poetry in our lives as much as…
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Bluebells
Never had I seen bluebells as I’d seen that year – Way up Ladder Hill, the first turn – you’d have known the way. Like a carpet spread as far as the eye could see, Whilst new leaves came upon each tree. The light The dappled light Softly shaded below the evening sun The sweetest…
Ode to Cycling 