ONE MAN TWO WHEELS
FOUR YEARS 6,712 MILES David Hyde
ONE MAN TWO WHEELS
FOUR YEARS 6,712 MILES
DAVID HYDE
THANKS TO YOU ALL... © 2020: Studio Hyde, Winchester, UK
All of this cycling wouldn’t be possible without the
© Book design, text and photography: David Hyde
support of those around me. Most importantly, thanks
© Front cover illustration: Evelina Dee-Shapland © Back cover illustration: Jeanne Boden All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher.
to my wife Elaine, who allows me the freedom to take to two wheels whenever the opportunity arises. And then to my network of friends: Evelina Dee-Shapland, who always expresses an interest in my latest trip and who has illustrated the front cover of this book; Jeanne Boden, my very good friend for very many years who provides a base for my Belgian exploits and has illustrated the back cover; Wendy Hopper who always flies the flag for Wales; and finally Maddalena Dal Porto from Girolibero, who has organised my two wonderful Italian trips. Thank you all.
FOUR YEARS OF CYCLING
T
his is a photographic record of four years of cycling:
Why cycling?
from 23 November 2015 to 22 November 2019. It’s a
I suppose I’ve always been a cyclist, or at least since I first
visual diary of almost every ride I have taken during
learnt to ride when I was a seven-year-old. But I’ve been
that time. But it’s not a photography book: each picture has
through long spells in my life when I’ve done no cycling at
been taken on a mobile phone, and wherever possible my
all. But somehow I always come back to it.
aim has been to include the bike within the picture – most usually one of my own two bikes, but sometimes one that’s been borrowed or hired.
This current phase started in the spring of 2015 when I bought a Dutch bike, inspired by frequent visits to Gent in Belgium: the upright riding position appealed to a man
You can choose how to read this book, if at all – or maybe
getting on in years. And my intention was to ride this new
you’ll decide to just glance through it. There is a structure,
bike as often as I could, and to enjoy the cycling without
obviously, because each of the four years are documented
worrying about how far or how fast I might be travelling.
separately. There are no page numbers: but everything is laid out chronologically and each picture is captioned with the date it was taken.
But I soon became curious about the distances that I might be covering. So I bought a cycling app for my mobile phone which tracked my movements. Not the best app on
The vast majority of my rides start and finish from home,
the market, I realised after a few months. But during those
and these days my range extends to a 15-mile radius of
few months I gradually formulated a plan for recording my
Winchester. These local pictures are captioned with just the
rides: first with a better app; then by making a photographic
date. Rides from further afield have involved some form of
record of each ride. Which is why this book gets off to a
additional transport, either train or car (absolutely no planes:
gloomy start on 23 November 2015 – that’s when the plan
my carbon footprint is tiny!) – and these rides also include
properly came together. Oh, and along came a mountain
the location in the caption.
bike in the spring of 2016, to better deal with muddy tracks.
YEAR ONE: 2,080 MILES In which I cycled the Mawddach Trail in mid Wales. An 18-
A firm favourite in this first year of cycling was my July trip
mile round trip from Dolgellau to Barmouth and back. A
around Chichester Harbour, which included a trip on the
spectacular ride with glorious scenery along the whole route.
wonderful Itchenor Ferry. From Bosham it’s a walk to the
Then in May a 100-mile, three-day ride together with my sister Sally along the Kennet & Avon canal, from Bristol to Reading.
water’s edge and then a wave to the opposite shore to summon the ferry. What a way to travel.
All was plain sailing until Sally fell in the canal on day three!
Being beside the seaside is great, and if you can find cycling
Fortunately no ducks were harmed during the rescue.
routes nearby, then so much the better. Southampton Water
Before that though the flight of 16 locks at Caen Hill led us to our first night’s B&B in Devizes, to be greeted not only
is a good one, from the city centre, over the Itchen bridge, then following the shoreline to Hamble.
by the landlady, but a middle-aged couple and their very
Another is the Bournemouth shoreline, from Sandbanks to
friendly labrador dog. They were walking the length of the
Hengistbury Head (though despite being a national cycle
canal, they explained, but in the opposite direction to us.
route you can’t cycle along the promenade between 10am
We met them again the following morning when we shared
and 6pm in July and August – that certainly wouldn’t happen
the breakfast table. The husband mentioned that although
in Belgium or The Netherlands).
they walked together, his wife always followed on a 100 yards or so behind him and the dog, and that people were always asking them if they’d had a row. ‘No’ the husband would reply, ‘we just naturally fall into this routine’. ‘You mean you like being out of earshot’ I remarked. And the look on the wife’s face confirmed that if looks could kill I would be pushing up daisies pretty soon.
And finally, I’m pretty much used to being told off when I’m out cycling. It happens a lot when I’m cycling around Winchester – there seem to be rather a lot of self-righteous people living around these parts. But being told off on a gloomy October morning for having a front light that’s too bright just about takes the biscuit!
23 November 2015
4 December 2015
31 December 2015
16 January 2016
21 January 2016
20 December 2015
29 December 2015
13 January 2016
14 January 2016
23 January 2016
28 January 2016
4 February 2016
7 February 2016
O 23 February 2016
9 February 2016
12 February 2016
16 February 2016
17 February 2016
24 February 2016
26 February 2016
29 February 2016
4 March 2016
7 March 2016
11 March 2016
13 March 2016
14 March 2016
22 March 2016
25 March 2016
30 March 2016
8 April 2016
12 April 2016
13 April 2016
14 April 2016
16 April 2016
17 April 2016
19 April 2016
20 April 2016
23 April 2016
O 17 March 2016 Mawddach Trail, Barmouth, Wales
24 April 2016
25 April 2016 The New Forest, Hampshire
26 April 2016
27 April 2016
28 April 2016
1 May 2016
13 May 2016
14 May 2016
16 May 2016
17 May 2016 Kennet and Avon canal, Wiltshire
18 May 2016 Kennet and Avon canal, Wiltshire
19 May 2016 Hungerford, Berkshire
23 May 2016
24 May 2016
25 May 2016
26 May 2016
27 May 2016
29 May 2016
30 May 2016
3 June 2016
5 June 2016
6 June 2016
10 June 2016
12 June 2016
17 June 2016
21 June 2016
22 June 2016
26 June 2016
27 June 2016
30 June 2016
1 July 2016
5 July 2016
10 July 2016
15 July 2016
17 July 2016
18 July 2016
27 July 2016 P Chichester Harbour, West Sussex
20 July 2016
21 July 2016
23 July 2016
24 July 2016
25 July 2016
1 August 2016
2 August 2016
3 August 2016
4 August 2016
11 August 2016
12 August 2016
15 August 2016
16 August 2016
18 August 2016
21 August 2016
O 17 August 2016 Southampton Water
27 August 2016
29 August 2016
1 September 2016
4 September 2016
6 September 2016
7 September 2016
9 September 2016
11 September 2016
12 September 2016
13 September 2016
14 September 2016
15 September 2016
16 September 2016
18 September 2016
19 September 2016
23 September 2016
24 September 2016 Bournemouth, Dorset
25 September 2016
27 September 2016
29 September 2016
30 September 2016
2 October 2016
3 October 2016
4 October 2016
5 October 2016
10 October 2016
11 October 2016
12 October 2016
14 October 2016
18 October 2016
19 October 2016
21 October 2016
23 October 2016
27 October 2016
28 October 2016
29 October 2016
2 November 2016
5 November 2016
6 November 2016
10 November 2016
13 November 2016
19 November 2016
O 30 October 2016
YEAR TWO: 1,594 MILES It was back to the Mawddach Trail in May. If you get the
On to July, and two trips in short succession to the Meon
chance to try it yourself, a good stopping off point would be
Valley Trail. It’s a straight 10-mile, completely off-road route
the George III Hotel overlooking Penmaenpool Toll Bridge.
between West Meon and Wickham. So perfect for a really
Or do as I did: carry on to Barmouth and along Marine
good stretch there and back. It tends to be busier with
Parade to the Min-y-Mor Hotel for a cheese sandwich and a
walkers towards Wickham, but apart from that you pretty
pint (and all at way below Winchester prices).
much have the route to yourself.
The New Forest in June: I really ought to make the effort
For someone who aims to visit Gent in Belgium once or
to get to the New Forest more often. It’s hardly on the
twice a year, I can’t believe that I’m almost halfway through
doorstep, but it can be reached pretty easily by train or
this four years before I manage to get there. I have a route
car. And it’s mostly flat, which makes for easy cycling. The
that I always do at least once during every trip: 12 miles
one drawback is that the designated off-road routes are
along the River Scheldt to my favourite watering hole, Café
rather limited in length, so a half-day’s ride, for example,
‘t Sluis, close to Eke. Now I’m pretty used to the fact that
would necessitate quite a bit of road work. If you take the
most people in Gent do speak at least a little English, so I
train, Beaulieu Road station is a good setting off point – but
rarely have any problem in communicating with people. But
don’t get caught out as I did, for there are no return trains
go 12 miles out of town and you’re into Dutch-speaking-
between 1.38pm and 5.25pm. And whilst you would only
only (maybe even Flemish-only-speaking) territory. And I
have a one-and-a-bit-hour wait if you missed the 5.25pm,
completely dumbfounded to waitress at Café ‘t Sluis by
anything after that means a two-hour gap between trains. So
asking for a Duvel – pronouncing it ‘du’ followed by ‘vel’.
some forward planning might be required, whilst I’m more
Only later did I find out from my good friend Jeanne that
used to doing things spontaneously (by cycling on to Totton
the correct pronunciation is ‘douval’ (as in the name Dougal).
and picking up the train there, for instance).
I shan’t be making that mistake again.
26 November 2016
1 December 2016
5 December 2016
7 December 2016
29 December 2016
6 January 2017
O 8 December 2016
20 January 2017
5 February 2017
7 February 2017
12 February 2017
16 February 2017
24 February 2017
26 February 2017
28th February 2017
6 March 2017
7 March 2017
9 March 2017
10 March 2017
12 March 2017
15 March 2017
16 March 2017
17 March 2017
19 March 2017
30 March 2017
2 April 2017
5 April 2017
6 April 2017
7 April 2017
8 April 2017
10 April 2017
18 April 2017
19 April 2017
20 April 2017
26 April 2017
7 May 2017
9 May 2017
11 May 2017
19 May 2017 Mawddach Trail, Penmaenpool, Wales
22 May 2017
23 May 2017
24 May 2017
26 May 2017
O 27 April 2017
30 May 2017
31 May 2017
1 June 2017
11 June 2017
12 June 2017
13 June 2017
17 June 2017 The New Forest, Hampshire
20 June 2017
22 June 2017
25 June 2017
26 June 2017
2 July 2017
3 July 2017
4 July 2017 West Meon, Hampshire
5 July 2017
6 July 2017
7 July 2017
9 July 2017 Meon Valley Trail, Hampshire
12 July 2017
13 July 2017
16 July 2017
7 August 2017
11 August 2017
12 August 2017
13 August 2017
25 August 2017
26 August 2017
27 August 2017
28 August 2017
31 August 2017
1 September 2017
7 September 2017
10 September 2017
11 September 2017
12 September 2017
13 September 2017
O 19 August 2017
15 September 2017
18 September 2017
19 September 2017
24 September 2017 Gent, Belgium
26 September 2017 River Scheldt, near Gent, Belgium
27 September 2017 Afsnee, near Gent, Belgium
28 September 2017 Voorde, Flanders, Belgium
2 October 2017
3 October 2017
6 October 2017
7 October 2017
10 October 2017
O 29 September 2017 Gent, Belgium
14 October 2017
24 October 2017
25 October 2017
28 October 2017
31 October 2017
8 November 2017
10 November 2017
14 November 2017
16 November 2017
O 12 November 2017
9 November 2017
YEAR THREE: 1,627 MILES It was back to Gent again in April. Getting my beer order
agritourismo off to the left: La Primizia. Obviously set ready
spot on this time around.
for a large party – or parties. Long tables set as only you see
Then on to May and my first really big cycling adventure: from Bolzano to Venice in Italy (getting to Italy and back by train). A self-guided, 234-mile trip expertly organised by Girolibero, who provided the bike and directions, booked the hotels and transported my luggage. And so many highlights that the trip could warrant a book of its own (maybe one
in Italy, but they can do me a lunch of bread and cheeses. I never in my life believed that Mozzarella* could taste so wonderful. And bread and a selection of cheeses served with honey. Sounds crazy, but it works. Thinking that this might be my peak Italian dining experience.’ (*It wasn’t Mozzarella, but my first ever taste of Burrata.)
day). But for now I’ll tell you about the food (and the wine):
So unexpected and so wonderful an experience was this
for if there’s one thing for sure, you’re never going to go to
that I messaged Elaine to tell her all about it and sent her
Italy and be disappointed with the food and wine.
a picture of the scene. ‘I’m sat in the car in Tesco’s car park
So six days into my trip and it’s a Sunday and a relatively short stretch (31 miles) between Vicenza and Padova. Here are my notes from the time: ‘Easy cycling – feeling very
eating a Tesco sandwich’ she shot back. ‘THINK YOURSELF LUCKY’. I must admit that I did wonder whether divorce proceedings might follow!
much one with the bike. Lunch stop is difficult to work out.
And so back to earth. Back to cycling around Winchester.
Recommended stop is reached by 11am and seems mostly
Yes, with some favourite watering holes, but with English
to be closed for the day. Bar in the central square welcomes
hospitality, not Italian, more’s the pity. But still some
cyclists (with Girolibero bike displayed as a lure). Stop for
highlights to come: Southampton Water in June, but this
a beer, but dreadful “Eurovision” music drives me away.
time including the Hythe Ferry. And the Isle of Wight for a
So think I just need to press on to Padova. Then one hour
week in September, including the Red Squirrel Trail (this one
further on I happen to spot out of the corner of my eye an
with my sister Sally).
25 November 2017
26 November 2017
1 December 2017
4 December 2017
8 December 2017
31 December 2017
1 January 2018
10 January 2018
30 January 2018
2 February 2018
16 February 2018
18 February 2018
23 February 2018 The New Forest, Hampshire
13 March 2018
14 March 2018
21 March 2018
22 March 2018
25 March 2018
26 March 2018
5 April 2018
6 April 2018
13 April 2018 Gent, Belgium
14 April 2018 Merelbeke, Gent, Belgium
16 April 2018 Merelbeke, Gent, Belgium
O 7 March 2018
18 April 2018
22 April 2018
26 April 2018
27 April 2018
28 April 2018
4 May 2018
5 May 2018
7 May 2018
10 May 2018
12 May 2018
16 May 2018 Bolzano, Italy
16 May 2018 Bolzano, Italy
O 16 May 2018 Lake Caldaro, near Bolzano, Italy
16 May 2018 Trento, Italy
17 May 2018 The Adige Valley, Italy
17 May 2018 Loppio, Italy
17 May 2018 Nago-Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy
18 May 2018 Desenzano del Garda, Italy
18 May 2018 Sirmione, Lake Garda, Italy
18 May 2018 Towards Pozzolengo, Italy
19 May 2018 Verona, Italy
19 May 2018 Verona, Italy
19 May 2018 Towards Soave, Italy
19 May 2018 Vicenza, Italy
20 May 2018 Vicenza, Italy
O 18 May 2018 Sirmione, Lake Garda, Italy
20 May 2018 Towards Padova, Italy
21 May 2018 Towards Venice, Italy
27 May 2018
1 June 2018
2 June 2018
6 June 2018
7 June 2018
12 June 2018
17 June 2018
18 June 2018
19 June 2018 Southampton Water, Hampshire
24 June 2018
O 20 May 2018 Selvazzano Dentro, near Padova, Italy
20 June 2018
21 June 2018
22 June 2018
O 30 June 2018
1 July 2018
3 July 2018
5 July 2018 Near Basingstoke, Hampshire
11 July 2018
19 July 2018
21 July 2018
22 July 2018
23 July 2018
31 July 2018
2 August 2018
3 August 2018
8 August 2018
19 August 2018
20 August 2018
22 August 2018
25 August 2018
27 August 2018
29 August 2018
2 September 2018 Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight
3 September 2018 Chalk Ridge Challenge, Isle of Wight
10 September 2018
13 September 2018
18 September 2018
24 September 2018
O 6 September 2018 Shanklin Chine, Isle of Wight
25 September 2018
2 October 2018
5 October 2018
10 October 2018
18 October 2018
19 October 2018
21 October 2018
24 October 2018
28 October 2018
30 October 2018
6 November 2018
18 November 2018
O 3 October 2018 The Solent, Hampshire
YEAR FOUR: 1,411 MILES Well, two trips to Gent this year – in January and July. So
or two spoken words. We obviously have a very strong
this evens things up a bit, so now it’s four visits in four years.
accent which I’m told takes at least 20 years to lose. But I do
And I can still remember how to correctly pronounce Duvel.
find on my trips to Italy that my ears do gradually become
This has been an interesting year, because my overall
attuned to the nuances the longer I spend there.
mileage has been well down on previous years, yet my trips
Fast forward to my Po Delta trip and I’m particularly aware
away from home turf have taken me much further afield.
that I’m well off of the tourist trail here, and the chances of
In reality it’s been a year of two halves with lots going on
encountering another English tourist are pretty much zero.
between January and July. But work commitments in August
So on my last day of cycling (a mighty 72 miles) I’m tootling
and September, followed by unrelenting rain in October and
along a track alongside a lagoon, and I stop to give way to
November means that very little happened in the second
a group of eight or ten walkers coming from the opposite
half of the year.
direction. Pilgrims, I thought (the floppy cotton hats being
The big event was my second adventure in Italy, again organised by Girolibero and this time to the Po Delta, from Lake Garda to the Adriatic coast. It would be an
a bit of a giveaway). A lot of ‘buongiornos’ and ‘grazies’ follow. ‘Are you English?’ I ask. ‘Yes’ they said. ‘I thought so’ I replied, ‘I could tell by your accents!’.
enormous stretch of the imagination to say that I am fluent
And so back to Blighty and more cycling beside the seaside.
in Italian, but at least I know enough to (mostly) make myself
Stokes Bay first off, with a cycle route following the shoreline
understood. And unlike the Dutch language and my visits to
to Hamble (and a ferry ride away from my Southampton
Gent, I do at least know how to pronounce most things.
Water trip in year one).
But one of the mysteries is just how much an English person
Then a very blustery October ride from Southsea up to the
speaking Italian is immediately identifiable from just one
A27 and across to Hayling Island – and another ferry ride!
25 November 2018
8 December 2018
11 December 2018
17 December 2018
22 December 2018
28 December 2018
2 January 2019
7 January 2019 River Scheldt, near Gent, Belgium
9 January 2019 Eke, Nazareth, near Gent, Belgium
17 January 2019
20 January 2019
11 February 2019
14 February 2019
17 February 2019
21 February 2019
23 February 2019
27 February 2019
8 March 2019
11 March 2019
25 March 2019
1 April 2019
6 April 2019
11 April 2019
14 April 2019
O 21 March 2019 Neyland, Pembrokeshire, Wales
16 April 2019
21 April 2019
22 April 2019
23 April 2019
25 April 2019
27 April 2019
1 May 2019
4 May 2019
6 May 2019
13 May 2019
27 May 2019 Peschiera del Garda, Italy
28 May 2019 River Po, Revere, Italy
28 May 2019 Sirmide, Italy
29 May 2019 River Po, Italy
30 May 2019 Copparo, Italy O 18 April 2019
30 May 2019 River Po, Italy
1 June 2019 Po Delta, Italy
30 May 2019 Towards Ferrara, Italy
30 May 2019 Ferrara, Italy
31 May 2019 Leaving Ferrara, Italy
31 May 2019 Lago Tramonto, Italy
1 June 2019 Parco del Delta del Po, Italy
1 June 2019 Porto Garibaldi, Italy
1 June 2019 Comacchio, Italy
2 June 2019 Parco del Delta del Po, Italy
2 June 2019 Goro, Parco del Delta del Po, Italy
2 June 2019 Towards Mesola, Po di Goro, Italy
12 June 2019
20 June 2019 Meon Valley Trail
O 31 May 2019 Lago Tramonto, Italy
24 June 2019
26 June 2019
27 June 2019
28 June 2019
5 July 2019
6 July 2019
8 July 2019
10 July 2019
13 July 2019
17 July 2019
24 July 2019 Eke, Nazareth, near Gent, Belgium
31 July 2019
O 29 July 2019 Afsnee, near Gent, Belgium
8 August 2019
11 August 2019
18 August 2019
25 August 2019
28 August 2019 Stokes Bay, near Gosport, Hampshire
7 September 2019
8 September 2019
15 September 2019
17 September 2019
18 September 2019
19 September 2019
20 September 2019
1 September 2019 P
23 September 2019
2 October 2019
27 October 2019
29 October 2019 Hayling Island, Hampshire
7 November 2019
19 November 2019
12 October 2019
22 November 2019
19 October 2019
ONE MAN TWO WHEELS
FOUR YEARS 6,712 MILES
David cycling in the Po Delta p by Jeanne Boden
Front cover: ruota libero in Italia by Evelina Dee-Shapland