Since 2009 I hosted my blog on Blogger. Blogger is a decent platform that's served me well over the years, but as I'm starting to do more with my blog - as it evolves from just a blog, I needed more functionality.  Repeatedly, I came up against Bloggers inflexibility, and that's caused me to have to move my content to a new platform.  As a result, this will be the very last post I make here, and new content will exclusively be hosted over on the new platform. The new address is  www.willcycle.com Please note that the new site is not yet fully done. I will continue ..read more

Every year a bunch of people start cycling in the spring or the summer, and are determined to carry on cycling through winter. Every winter there are loads of cyclists who give up cycling. Let's have a look at what you can do to keep you riding through winter. Wet Let's deal with the elephant in the room straight away: British winters are wet. That's an inescapable fact. Wetness by itself is not the end of the world, but when combined with cold, it can rapidly get unpleasant, or downright dangerous. Hypothermia is a killer, so always think about escape options, in case things go w ..read more

We live in the Information Age, and most of us have instantly-available information at our fingertips, courtesy of the Internet. We also have more information available to us now than ever before, yet it seems we chose to primarily use the Internet to spread doom and gloom, with the occasional cute kitten video to lighten the mood every so often. Brexit, COVID, gas-crisis, fuel-shortages, wars, corruption, famine and climate change - it's enough to make anyone despondent! It's enough to make you want to go hide away in a dark corner, curled up into a ball, and never want to come out again ..read more

Time for a tongue-in-cheek look at foreigners cycle touring in the UK. Now the UK is exquisitely beautiful and it's no wonder it receives so many tourists. The main island itself is small, and is little over 800 miles from end to end, making it perfect for cycle touring. Indeed, one of the most iconic of British rides is the End To End. This ride either starts in the south (Land's End) and finishes in the north (John O'Groats) when it's abbreviated as LEJOG, or it starts in the north and finishes in the south, when it's referred to as JOGLE. There exists something called - somewhat optimisti ..read more

This past weekend I cycled Devon Coast To Coast again, along with my friend Caspar (follow him on Twitter - he's one of the good guys). I know the route very well - after all, I published what I genuinely believe to be the most detailed route guide available for it - but the route will never lose it's appeal to me. As per usual, I cycled in to Plymouth, to catch an early train to Exeter, where I met Caspar, and we took the Tarka Line to Barnstaple. That is such a scenic journey, and is worth it for that alone. Mine's a full-sized bike, so I require a bike reservation between Plymouth and Exe ..read more

Have a conversation with the vast majority of people, and you will very soon hear how everyone needs their car. You will be told detailed stories of how they use their cars to collect fridges, couches and more. So much so that I wouldn't at all be surprised if someone claimed they used their car to deliver elephants on a daily basis! It's true - some people really do need to drive. In a previous job, I had a number of colleagues working in Cornwall, and I rapidly learned that due to the affordable housing shortage there, it's normal for people to have to travel two or three to ..read more

I've posted about Redlake before - it's out on Dartmoor, and there's a disused china clay mine, which left behind three things of note: a large spoil heap, a pit that's long-since filled with water, forming a pond, and the remains on what used to be an old railway track. The name predates the mine, though most people now seem to think the pond is the "lake". It isn't, and the "lake" part of the name refers to the rather boggy landscape. There are a number of rivers that start in the general vicinity, including the Yealm, Erme, the Avon and the Plym (which gave its name to the city of Plymout ..read more

Cycle helmets are often a highly divisive topic, surrounded by a wealth of myths and misunderstandings. This post is NOT going to tell you whether or not you should wear a helmet. Instead, I will try to give you some clarity about cycle helmets. Back in 2014, I had a crash, and I still distinctly recall the sound my helmet made as it scraped along the tar. I also remember thinking at the time how glad I was that it wasn't my head scraping against the road surface. As a result, I believe unquestionably that cycle helmets offer protection. The only question is what level of protection. For th ..read more

A very common complaint about cycling is about pain or discomfort caused by the saddle. Let's get the obvious point out in the open right away: we are all different, and our bodies are different. What this means in practice is that a saddle that's extremely comfortable to you might be excruciating for me to use. That's the root of the problem. Even if all saddles were equal in quality (and they most certainly are not!) we still cannot escape the fact that our bodies are unique. Remember, on the average bicycle saddle, you don't sit on your bum, but rather on your "sitting bones", which are p ..read more

I'm highly sceptical about the entire "influencer" cottage industry. If you claim to be an "influencer", what I'm hearing is that your opinion is for sale, and at that point, I've lost all respect for you, and you've lost all credibility in my mind. I'm most certainly NOT an "influencer"!  What you will get from me is the truth, as I see it. No airs, no graces, and no pretending. If I know something, I'll tell you, and if I don't know, I'll admit it. I have received exactly two things to review, without having to pay for either. The first was Andrew P Sykes' first book, which I'm ..read more