I buy sourdough on a Thursday. Always have, for years now. It has become one of those small anchors in the week, the kind of ritual you barely notice until it is missing. The bakery is only a five minute drive into town, but I make an occasion of it. Park the car, walk the…
62km, one very tight bike bag, and the long way home. Up early, no leisurely hotel breakfast today. That could wait until the road provided something. The mission was simple enough, 62km to Brussels, Eurostar to St Pancras, train to Hassocks, and the final 5km home on the Brompton. In theory, three hours of easy…
Bruges wakes up quietly, and if you’re smart enough to be out in it before the tourists arrive, it rewards you handsomely. Lucy has always loved this, seeing a city rub its eyes and stretch, and I have to admit she’s right. There is something about empty cobblestones and soft morning light that no guidebook…
Blue skies, Belgian cycle paths, and a hotel upgrade. This is more like it. Some days just deliver. Everything I’d hoped for when I planned this trip, the blue skies, light winds, good trails, people out enjoying themselves, beautiful canals, interesting things around every corner. After the brutality of Days 2 and 3, Day 4…
128km, sideways rain, and a Brompton in the bath. The forecast said rain all morning. It was right, and then some. The first 20km felt like 50. The wind was relentless, the rain was horizontal, and there was nowhere to stop, nothing to duck into, just open Norman countryside rolling on in every direction. On…
100km, 750m of climbing, and 50km of rain. The adventure gets real. Breakfast first. A little bit of everything, and a quiet piece of cake slipped into the pocket for later. No apologies. Just outside Dieppe I joined the Avenue Verte, a dedicated cycle path that threads south through Normandy towards Paris. Flat, safe, largely…
The warm-up. The goodbye. The silly small bike. The last week was a blur. Work, emails, deadlines, the usual noise that fills every corner of a busy business life. If I’m honest, I’d barely had a moment to think about this adventure, the one I’d been planning for weeks, until this morning, when I finally…
I had assumed my first Field Note would be about the Brompton adventure to Brussels – a slightly mad 500km+ ride from home to Belgium on a small folding bike, beginning in just over a week. And it probably still will be. But then last Thursday happened. A day with my son, Alex. A birthday…