Cycle magazine taster April/May 2019

cycle THE MAGAZINE OF CYCLING UK

On test

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GENESIS VAGABOND & GIANT TOUGHROAD

TOURING EXPECTANTLY

450 miles through Denmark while pregnant

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How cycling changes lives for the better Pages 40-46

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CONTENTS 40

A short tour around the wonderful world of cycling

Welcome

07 This is Cycling UK

Local riding

Cycle Editor

To find any Member Group or Cycling UK affiliate, visit cyclinguk.org/groups or phone 01483 238301

Paul Tuohy on cycling’s health benefits; stopping urban developments from stifling cycling; Big Bike Revival report; transforming our streets; and more

16 My Bike Kate Whitaker’s electric-assist semi-recumbent tandem

18 Shop Window

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Previews of new products

20 Gear up Components, accessories, and books reviewed, with casual gear previewed

31 Letters Your feedback on Cycle and cycling

48 Weekender April’s Devon Dirt Challenge Ride

61 Cyclopedia Questions answered, topics explained

81 Travellers’ Tales Cycling UK members’ ride reports

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This issue 34 Touring expectantly Cycle touring Denmark six months pregnant

40 Pedal power!

Cycling isn’t just practical and fun – it changes lives

51 The enigmatic Code It’s time to revise the ambiguous Highway Code

54 A Hebridean Way

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Exploring Scotland’s Western Isles in spring

66 Beyond gravel

On the cover

Susan Robertson (p40) tries out a trike from Edinburgh ABC.

By Andy Caitlin

Big-wheeled all-rounders from Genesis and Giant

72 B’Twin Triban 500 A carbon-forked road bike for £350

75 Rear pannier racks A cross-section of carriers for touring and transport

CYCLING UK: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX E: cycling@cyclinguk.org W: cyclinguk.org T: 01483 238300. Cycle promotes the work of Cycling UK. Cycle’s circulation is approx.

51,000. Cycling UK is one of the UK’s largest cycling membership organisations, with approx. 65,000 members and affiliates Patron: Her Majesty the Queen President: Jon Snow Chief Executive: Paul Tuohy. Cyclists’ Touring Club, a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in England No 25185, registered as a charity in England and Wales Charity No 1147607 and in Scotland No SC042541. Registered office: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, GU2 9JX. CYCLE MAGAZINE: Editor: Dan Joyce E: cycle@jamespembrokemedia. co.uk Head of Design: Simon Goddard Designer: Katrina Ravn Contributing editor: Charlie Lyon Advertising: Jack Watts T: 0203 859 7099 E: jack.watts@jamespembrokemedia. co.uk Publisher: James Houston. Cycle is published six times per year on behalf of Cycling UK by James Pembroke Media, 90 Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BG. T: 01225 337777. Cycle is copyright Cycling UK, James Pembroke Media, and individual contributors. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from Cycling UK and James Pembroke Media is forbidden. Views expressed in the magazine are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the policies of Cycling UK. Advertising bookings are subject to availability, the terms and conditions of James Pembroke Media, and final approval by Cycling UK. Printed by: Precision Colour Printing, Haldane, Halesfield 1, Telford, TF7 4QQ. T: 01952 585585 Founded in 1878

Top to bottom: Andy Caitlin, Dave Bain, Dan Joyce, Alamy

Cycling changes everyone’s lives for the better – with the possible exception of those invested in the profits of the petrochemical and car industries. Too bad, oil barons!

When you ride a bike yourself, it’s good for your physical and mental health. It’s good for your independence, because it provides easily accessible personal mobility.

It’s good for your finances – at least when we’re talking about a transport bike – because the running costs are so small. The only activity that comes close the personal benefits cycling brings is walking. And while walking is fine, you can’t go as far as easily and it’s not as much fun.

When just one other person rides a bike instead of driving, irrespective of whether you cycle or not, the air you breathe is a little cleaner. Your environment is a little quieter. There’s potentially one car fewer in front of you in traffic jams and less competition for parking places. It’s slightly safer crossing the road or dropping the kids off at school.

Hospital and GP waiting times might be one person shorter, because cyclists suffer fewer sedentaryrelated illnesses.

The benefits to society and the environment might be almost imperceptible when one person starts cycling. Multiplied by tens, hundreds, thousands, or millions, it’s transformative. And even when only one person gets on a bike, it can still change a world: theirs.

DAN JOYCE

Every issue 04 Freewheeling

this is

More online Chester’s Fabulous Ladies provide advice on setting up a women’s cycling group:

16,102 potholes were

cyclinguk.org/fabulousladies

Cycle Superhighway, London.

With infrastructure, “if you build it (well!), they will come”

Bike Week

BLUEPRINT FOR BIKES

Left: Adrian Wills Right: Joolze Dymond

reported through our FillThatHole app last year

Women’s festival

100 WOMEN IN CYCLING Tell us about the women cyclists who have inspired you. We’ll release our 100 Women in Cycling list to mark the start of the Women’s Festival of Cycling, a month of women’s introductory rides and events during July. The list will include women who have inspired others to get pedalling, helped to break down barriers to cycling, or have given their time to help others cycle. Nominate now at: cyclinguk.org/100women.

This year’s Bike Week will focus on transport cycling and will coincide with a report from Cycling UK on why new urban developments must support cycling better

T

o complement Bike Week (8-16 June), Cycling UK will publish a new report investigating the effect on public health of new urban developments failing to include cycling provision. In far too many cases, new developments are being designed for car dependency at the detriment of the health of communities.

Duncan Dollimore, Head of Campaigns, said: “If we want people to ditch the car for short journeys and opt for active travel, then walking and cycling have to be easy and attractive choices. But we’re still building housing estates without active travel corridors to local shops, schools and amenities, instead of designing to give people a chance to change.”

The report will consider how to achieve a more joined-up approach, engage developers to consider active travel in wider community needs, and examine how small changes can enable active travel choices.

Bike Week, Cycling UK’s annual cycling awareness week, will also be inspiring more

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people to give cycling a go. Across the UK, hundreds of events will be taking place – watch the website bikeweek.org.uk for more details of what’s going on near you. We hope with your support we’ll add another 300,000 people to the 5.3million who already cycle at least once a week.

Helen Cook, Head of Engagement, explained: “Bike Week is a great opportunity to celebrate the social, health and environmental benefits of cycling. Throughout the week, we’ll be looking at all the different ways cycling can fit into people’s lives, whether it’s nipping around to a friend’s house for coffee, cycling to work or school, enjoying a leisurely ride with the family or tackling a cycling challenge. The important thing is to get out your bike, jump on and go and enjoy the ride!”

Find out more

Discover what’s going on in Bike Week and read about how to get involved: cyclinguk.org/bikeweek

Volunteering

Volunteer of the Year: who’s yours?

Show your appreciation for an amazing ride leader, event organiser, group Secretary, or campaigner who “goes the extra mile” by nominating them for our Volunteer of the Year Awards 2019. Nominations close 8 April and winners will be announced at our Big Bike Celebration in London on 15 June. To nominate, go to: cyclinguk. org/extramile.

Our Bike

Kate & Harriet Whitaker With an electric-assist semi-recumbent German tandem, Cycling UK member Kate Whitaker is able to enjoy fantastic days out with her daughter, Harriet

could retrofit the BionX system from the Pino.”

“Where Harriet sits on the trike, I can speak to her and keep an eye out for any problems.

At first, I was worried that she might put her hands in the spokes or disc brakes. She doesn’t have the understanding not to do that. So Get Cycling fabricated some wheel covers. I also have some straps that are used for people in wheelchairs who fling their arms about without control. With those, Harriet can move her hands up and across her body but can’t reach the wheels.

Independent pedalling

Since the trike doesn’t have to be balanced like a twowheeler, it’s easier for Kate to control now Harriet is bigger

T

he reason I’ve got this trike is because Harriet isn’t able to cycle on her own. She has a severe learning disability and epilepsy, which isn’t fully controlled. But she enjoys cycling, especially the social side of going to tea shops for cake.

And I wanted to keep cycling, so I was going to find a way to take her with me.

“Previously we had an electric-assist Hase Pino but I was having difficulty starting and stopping safely; Harriet’s 17 now and almost as big as me. I decided we needed something similar to the Pino but with two wheels at the front. I found one using Google: the Urban Fahrradbau Strada All Terrain, a German trike I came across on the website of a Madrid special needs bike shop.

“I don’t speak Spanish or German so I contacted Get Cycling in York, because I’d already been to see them to try some of their other cycles. They knew of the company and they’d been trying to get in touch with them about being an agent. So they imported it for me. I bought the non-electric assist version because Get Cycling said they

Tech Spec

URBAN FAHRRADBAU STRADA ALL TERRAIN Price: from £7,536 (without electric assistance) Frame: Precision steel tubing and chrome-moly, handmade in Germany.

Wheels: 20in front wheels, 26in rear with BionX rear hub motor.

Drivetrain: 3×9 with independent freewheels and electric assistance.

Steering & seating: axle steering with actuation via tie-rods. Recumbent front seat, standard rear.

Equipment: mudguards, wheel guards, rear rack.

From: Get Cycling in York, getcycling.org.uk

“The trike has a separate freewheel for Harriet so she can pedal or not. She’s quite capable of pedalling but usually chooses not to or pedals furiously backwards – which is exercise but not particularly useful! I’ve been trying out a clutch mechanism that allows me to make her pedal. It’s designed to slip if she resists too much. The idea was to get her pedalling more but I just end up pushing her legs around.

“The best thing about the trike, now Harriet’s a lot bigger and her balance isn’t brilliant, is that if we get into an awkward situation we can just stop. We’re not going to fall over – her weight’s contained within the triangle of the wheels. It’s a lot safer. It would be nice if it was lighter; it’s 40ish kilos. Being permitted to have better e-bike power packs and motors in the UK would help too.

“We ride monthly with Fylde Bicycle Belles.

I joined years ago when Harriet was small and came with me in a trailer. The Belles have been brilliant. The group was set up to encourage women who didn’t ride much to get out cycling, so they always wait for the slowest in the group. We have all day to go to one or two tea shops and cover up to 25-35 miles. It’s a social event as much as anything. Last summer, we did Blackpool ‘Ride the Lights’, which was brilliant. Harriet spent her time waving her arms around and laughing her head off.”

More online Kate took a video of Harriet on Ride the Lights, which you can watch on the website: cyclinguk.org/mybikeAM19

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Details Where: Denmark Start/finish: Hamburg in Germany to Skagen in Denmark Distance: 450mi Pictures: Laura and Tim Moss, Getty Images

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DENMARK

G R E AT R I D E S

TIM AND LAURA MOSS Cycle Touring Festival organisers Tim and Laura have cycled around the world, covering 13,000 miles in 16 months

Great Rides

TOURING EXPECTANTLY Three months before their son was born, Laura and Tim Moss embarked on a cycle-camping trip up the west coast of Denmark

O

ur plan was to cycle through Denmark on the North Sea Cycle Route, which weaves up the west coast of Jutland. We were drawn by the pastries, the 400-odd miles of largely traffic-free cycling on offer, and the flat topography. These factors were particularly important to us on this trip because I was six months pregnant.

I cycled throughout my pregnancy, right up until my due date and beyond. I found it easier than walking, because the weight was off my legs. It was one of the few times I felt almost normal, able to cruise along and forget for a moment that I was carrying around an infant and a couple of pints of amniotic fluid.

However, the extra cargo did mean our priorities were somewhat changed when it came to choosing a destination for our annual cycle tour.

Finding quiet roads and car-free routes felt more important than normal, as our risk threshold was lowered. Hills are also harder when pregnant: a combination of the extra weight and having to keep two hearts beating rather than one.

All of which drew our attention to Denmark’s west coast. The area is marketed as a childfriendly destination. We interpreted that as including children as yet unborn.

TICKETS TO RIDE Our journey started with a train to London, where we were greeted at King’s Cross

I cycled right up to my due date and beyond.

I found it easier than walking, because the weight was off my legs

by Harry and Megan in cardboard cutout form, celebrating their wedding day. Train staff marked the occasion by handing out tiny Union Jacks, which stayed on our bikes across Denmark.

This was followed by a Eurostar train to Brussels, where our arrival coincided with a gay pride event. We passed an evening roaming the streets, soaking up the vibe and eating waffles.

The next part of the journey was the big one: an overnight bus to Hamburg. We had heard good things about Flixbus and their bike-friendly policies but, as we stood on a dark backstreet at 1am holding tightly to our touring bikes, we began to have our doubts. Sure enough though, the bus turned up when the timetable said it would, the driver strapped our bikes to a rack on the back, and we slept all the way to northern Germany.

On first impressions, Northern Europe was everything we had hoped it would be. The terrain was flat, the banks of the Elbe were bustling, and it was pleasantly warm. The only problem came when evening fell and we realised that everywhere was closed. In northern Germany and Denmark, the Pentecost is a serious business; all the shops and restaurants close for the duration of the Whitsunday holiday.

Once we arrived in Denmark, the route followed the coast. We pedalled amidst sand dunes on a broad, empty trail. On our first night, we headed in search of the campsite marked on our map. Demarcated

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Feature

PEDAL POWER! CYCLING CHANGES LIVES. ROB AINSLEY SPOKE TO SOME OF THOSE EMPOWERED BY PEDALLING AND TO OTHERS, LIKE CYCLING UK GROUPS, WHO HELPED THEM GET THERE

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ROB AINSLEY Journalist Rob once cycled around the world to all places called Bath. He’s the author of the Bluffer’s Guide to Cycling.

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Feature

The enigmatic Code The Highway Code needs to be rewritten to protect vulnerable road users and promote active travel. Duncan Dollimore explains

Illustrations: Dave Bain

D

uring World War II, the focus of Alan Turing’s work at Bletchley was on cracking the ‘Enigma’ code, but what would the legendary decipherer have made of our code for road user behaviour?

I often hear people in road safety circles privately express the view that the Highway Code is largely irrelevant or that, with 307 rules plus annexes, it’s just too long; nobody reads it once they’ve passed their test and few people know the rules.

Of course, the rules aren’t irrelevant if your husband was a Rabbi killed crossing the road, only for the driver’s lawyer to quote the rules and blame him for being dressed in black robes rather than reflective clothing. Similarly, the rules matter when you’ve had your leg amputated after a lorry driver who fails to see you turns left and drives over you, only for the driver’s insurers to try to reduce your compensation by claiming

DUNCAN DOLLIMORE Head of Campaigns, Cycling UK

you shouldn’t have been cycling to the left of the lorry.

What you were or weren’t wearing, where you were in the road, and the decisions you made as a cyclist or pedestrian are suddenly examined through the prism of a Code that starts with the assertion that the need to be considerate to other road users applies to pedestrians and cyclists just as much as it does to drivers. In other words, that we all share the road and have equal responsibility towards each other.

That’s nonsense. It’s why Cycling UK has been campaigning and lobbying for a review of the Highway Code for so long – because it’s time the Highway Code acknowledged the hierarchy of responsibility different road users have according to the risk they present to others. The suggestion that an elderly lady slowly crossing the road, a visually impaired person, and a child walking or cycling to school somehow have the

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Biketest

Beyond gravel Gravel bikes aren’t the only do-it-all option. Editor Dan Joyce tests two big-wheeled alternatives: the Genesis Vagabond and the Giant ToughRoad SLR1

O

DAN JOYCE Cycle Editor

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ne bike that will go anywhere is an appealing idea, especially if you have limited space or funds. Thanks to the gravel bike (née cyclocross), the concept has been given something of a boost lately.

A typical gravel bike might have 700×38C tyres or, for the more modish, wider 650Bs. Wider makes sense for a bike that will go off-road, but why 650B? Why not – if, like most men and a good number of women, you're tall enough – have even bigger 700Cs? They roll better, especially off-road, and are likely to be compatible with more stuff in your bike cave. The extra weight and inertia isn't a big deal.

Both the bikes on test are designed around large volume 700C/29er tyres. They’re explicitly multipurpose machines.

The Genesis Vagabond is a ‘monstercross’ bike that has been around for a few years, ploughing the same idiosyncratic furrow as Salsa’s longerestablished Fargo. Genesis describe it as “a tourer, commuter, rufty tufty road bike, [it] will happily turn its hand to most disciplines with a simple tyre swap.”

Giant’s ToughRoad comes in two flavours: drop or flat bar. The latter comes with wider tyres – 50mm for the SLR1 versus 38mm for the equivalent drop-bar model, the GX SLR2 – as well as racks and a better spec. Giant say: “Fly through the city streets. Climb a rugged mountain pass. Ride some gravel or venture into the woods. Now you can do it all on one ride.”

Frame and fork With its tall head tube and big wheels, the Vagabond looks ungainly. It’s less a gravel or cyclocross bike than it is a drop-bar 29er with touring braze-ons.

The handlebar position is higher so that your hands on the drops can be in a similar position to where they would be on a flat bar’s grips. Off-road this gives a more secure handhold and better control of the brakes without a precipitously head-down riding position. It’s also nice for looking at the scenery on easy tracks

B E YO N D G R AV EL

BIKE TEST

First look

A steel ‘monstercross’ bike that combines a drop bar with MTB wheels and drivetrain

It’s less a gravel or cyclocross bike than it is a dropbar 29er with touring braze-ons

Tech Spec

GENESIS VAGABOND when your hands are on but no attachment points the hoods. elsewhere, so you’ll need to To squeeze in 29×2.1 do some simple DIY. tyres, the Vagabond's frame Compared to the is longer than most gravel Vagabond, Giant’s bikes, although not by ToughRoad SLR1 is more much; its top tube length than half a kilo lighter is in the ballpark for a overall despite racks front Medium. Toe room – just and rear. That’s because the enough to avoid overlap frame and fork aren’t steel with my size eights – comes but, respectively, aluminium more from the 55mm fork and carbon fibre (with an offset and a head angle aluminium steerer). Cables that’s ‘only’ 71 degrees. and hoses are tucked out The fork’s tyre clearance is of the way, the front brake Top: I took photos on the huge: a 29×3in front wheel hose going through the fork Cinder Track but rode on singletrack and tarmac too will fit. Shorter cranks and everything else hidden Middle: Insufficient front (e.g. 165mm) would then under the down tube derailleur clearance Bottom: A 29×3 tyre (Surly Dirt be needed to eliminate or mudguard and adjacent Wizard) fits the fork but needs minimise toe overlap. At trunking. Helicopter tape a wider rim than 622×19 the rear you can’t go bigger stuck on the head tube than the 2.1in tyre fitted should prevent wear there. unless you do something about the front The geometry of the ToughRoad mech, and not much bigger even then. is more hybrid than contemporary There are frame fittings for most mountain bike. But if the head angle things, including neat cable guides seems steep compared to today’s MTBs on the head tube – although I’d prefer and the riding position shorter and more fully covered cables for any bike that upright, it’s worth recalling that we were will go off-road. The fork has low-rider quite happy off-road on not-dissimilar rack mounts but not triple bosses for bikes until relatively recently. For bikepacking bags. The rear triangle cruising along, on road or off, it's fine. has dropout eyelets for a mudguard The ToughRoad’s seatpost uses an

Price: £1,099.99 (frameset £449.99) Sizes: S-XL (M tested) Weight: 12.43kg/27.35lb (M, no pedals) Frame & fork: Double-butted chrome-moly frame with 135mm QR dropouts and fittings for rack, mudguard, 3 bottles. Chromemoly fork with 100mm QR dropouts and fittings for rack and mudguard.

Wheels: 52-622 WTB Nano tyres, 622×19 Jalco XCD18 rims, 32x3 14g ss spokes, KT K-68 disc hubs.

Transmission: 175mm Samox AF12 chainset with 40-28 chainrings, Samox Dimensions in millimetres and degrees

660 566 790

72.5˚

69

445

617 71˚

54

460

738 55

BB-E24 bottom bracket, KMC X10 chain, Shimano Deore CS-HG50-10 11-36t cassette.

Microshift BS-M10 bar-end shifters, Shimano Deore FD-M618 front derailleur, Shimano Deore RD-M6000 SGS rear derailleur.

20 ratios, 23-106in Braking: Promax levers, TRP Spyre-C callipers, 160mm f&r.

Steering & seating: 440×31.8mm 16º flared drop bar, 100mm×15º stem, 1/8in semi-cartridge headset. Genesis Road Comfort saddle, 27.2×400mm Genesis seatpost.

Equipment: 2 bottle cages. genesisbikes.co.uk

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Advice

CYCLOPEDIA

Police are unlikely to charge a close-passing driver unless you have video evidence

Q & A

Left: Alamy

Questions answered, subjects explained – Cyclopedia is your bimonthly cycling reference guide where it is your word against theirs. The National Dash Cam Safety Portal (bit.ly/cycledashcamportal) that Cycling UK has promoted provides a way to upload this footage directly to police across the UK. ‘Close passing’ is a topical issue with Cycling UK. Highway Code Rule 163 gives the vague direction that drivers should give cyclists “as much room as when overtaking a car”. The last edition of Cycle featured the ‘Too Close for Comfort’ campaign, where West Midlands Police introduced a new initiative that is being championed by Cycling UK. The campaign aims to reduce the number of these incidents by increasing awareness of how much space is needed when drivers overtake cyclists.

Richard Gaffney

Legal

Dangerous drivers

Your Experts

Q

Recently an SUV close-passed a group of five us cycling together. The driver then tried to force me (riding point) off the road. I reported this to the police, with the correct registration number, a description of the lone driver, and supporting evidence from the other four eyewitnesses.

Four weeks after my report, the police received a completely different version of the incident from the driver, including that there were another three (imaginary) people in the vehicle. As it would be ‘four against five’ in terms of evidence for the CPS, no further action would be taken. Is this really the state of our justice system re. close-passing drivers?

Julian Bentley

A

Lack of evidence is quite often the reason why a lot of near miss or close pass cases cannot be taken further by the police. In this case, it is simply your word against the driver’s, and by extension your witnesses versus theirs.

This quite often does not satisfy the burden of proof required to bring about court action.

So what can you do about it? Using Cycling UK a bike- or helmet-mounted camera Forum can help. Such footage has been Need an answer to a used to bring successful prosecution question right now? proceedings.

If you have a recording Try our forum: forum. of an incident, it negates a situation cyclinguk.org

Pristine jockey wheels.

Get some if your bike’s look like throwing stars!

DR DOUG SALMON Cycling GP {Health}

Technical

Mech makeover

Q

The lower jockey wheel on the Shimano Deore rear derailleur on my tourer has collapsed. It seems impossible to remove and replace the jockey wheel. Is this right?

David Martin

RICHARD HALLETT Cycle’s Technical Editor {Technical}

RICHARD GAFFNEY Principal Lawyer, Slater + Gordon Lawyers {Legal}

A

Have you cleaned it? Joking aside, the jockey wheels are held in their cage by small countersunk screws with, usually, 3mm Allen heads which, if filled by silt and/ or transmission sludge, can be difficult to see.

Use a small, sharp pick to dig such matter out of the heads, which will allow you to insert the correct Allen key. The screws are assembled using a thread-locking compound, so expect to find them hard to shift initially. If replacing both, it is often easier to replace one at a time than to try to do both at once and find yourself struggling to position various small parts.

Richard Hallett

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TRAVELLERS’ TALES

This was Stephen’s first tour in 13 years

Spain & Portugal

Seville liberty Stephen Psallidas rediscovered the freedom of touring in Spain

Above: Taking a breather in Transylvania Below: Many roads were almost deserted

Eastern Europe

Riders of the storm Ben Edwards’s tour from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, to Kraków in Poland didn’t start smoothly…

F

inding a country the size of the Ukraine should be easy. It’s twice the size of the UK. But we were at a loss to locate the border crossing from Romania. There were no signs to help us. Luckily, we chanced upon the bridge over the River Tisza – and the route to the next leg of our adventure.

We were only three days into our two-week pedal around Eastern Europe, and had already had a wee bit to contend with. The first thing was a buckled back wheel, caused by baggage handlers at the airport of Cluj-Napoca in northern Romania.

Then a wonderful first day – biking along deserted country roads – was

interrupted by the most extreme hailstorm we had ever experienced.

Hailstones bruised our arms and legs; branches were ripped from trees!

As the storm drew to a close, we limped the last of that day’s 80km to our B&B in a town cloaked in darkness.

Dinner was by candlelight – very romantic!

The next day dawned bright and sunny. A 30km ride took us across a flat plain, past bucolic scenes not out of place in 19th-century England, to a beech-cloaked range of hills. Near the summit, we were stopped in our tracks by chainsaw-wielding workmen. There was no way through; it was blocked for 2km with fallen trees. It had been some storm the day before!

By mid-afternoon, we were back where we had started. Our next B&B, near the Ukrainian border, was 100km away. Thankfully, we found a drinking companion from the night before who conjured a man with a van who could drive us and our bikes to that night’s pension. We were back on track!

In May 2018, I rode a five-day, 450km cycle tour, heading in a big circle westwards from Seville. What an enjoyable trip it was, despite my initial lack of fitness!

The first day to Huelva was a straightforward run on the old main road, but the real adventure started on day two, when I turned onto remote and hilly rural dirt roads. I passed babbling brooks, cows, and sheep aplenty, and best of all, a trio of wild stags that thundered by just 100m in front of me.

After crossing into Portugal in style on a 750m zip-wire across the Guadiana River, day three saw me sweating to the medieval town of Mértola, and then on to an isolated farmstay in the National Park, where I was the only guest. The next day I re-entered Spain on more spectacular dirt roads, and stayed in a friendly ‘pueblo blanco’ (white hilltop town).

My final day was dominated by blasted red quarries, as well as tiny villages where I enjoyed chatting over a well-deserved beer or three! Rolling back into Seville, I was surprised to see the day’s total of 140km, with just short of 2,000m of ascent. I must have got fitter fast!

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