‘Obsessive’ isn’t overstating my love of cycling! Some of my happiest memories are from my early childhood bounding around on my Raleigh Grifter in Youngs Park in Paignton – my parents ran a small hotel close to Goodrington Sands.
When I was 16, with a couple of mates and zero forward planning we set off from Devon to Reading Station to cycle from there to watch the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Progress was slow, our lack of preparation and the misplaced confidence on finding suitable places to pitch our tent (Shalford Park near the centre of Guildford on day 1 and then a private garden near Oxted on day 2 – the latter at least with permission!) putting us in a fair degree of danger and at the mercy of strangers. But we came to no harm and got there in good time to see Nikki Lauda win during his championship winning season of 1984.
My planning is a little better these days – to the extent that I now spend more time planning cycle trips than I do actually on the bike itself, something I really should try to redress!
I’ll use this section to share routes I’ve discovered and ridden with my wife Sue and my good friend, Nic. Hopefully, once the situation starts to improve after this dreadful COVID 19 virus, we can start to plan some more adventures!