A week or so ago, I had a bike ride to deliver scrubs fabric to a friend who lives in Newport. Lockdown was making her feel redundant, so she had thrown herself into making scrubs for Addenbrooks. She had run out of fabric, so I dug out a lot of my Mum’s old sheets and duvet covers, and I’ve now pedalled twice to Newport (with cake). This makes me feel I am doing something useful as the Braintree fabric/cake delivery service! I started by riding along the Flitch Way, coming o

Saturday 23 May Loch Loyal-Golval 34 miles. Total 933 miles. From Loch Loyal the route heads north to Tongue. The name Tongue comes from an old Norse geographical term, for land shaped like a spit or tongue. Here this land is the end of the Kyle of Tongue glacier. Historically this area was a crossroads for the Picts, Gaels and Vikings. During the time of the Scottish clearances (when crofters were removed from the land in order for absentee landlords to put sheep in their p

Saturday 16 May Inverness- Easter Fearn 40 miles Total 852 miles From Inverness, I am no longer writing from memory of the LEJOG tour that Jim and I did in 2013. Back then, I had to return home a couple of days, for a dental appointment (new wires on my brace) and for my degree art show. Unfortunately I fell over in the garden and badly sprained my ankle, so it was “tour over” for me. From Inverness the route heads north, past the RSPB Tollies Red Kites Nature Reserve, to D

Sunday 10 May. Benderloch-Fort William 36 miles. Total 742 miles The road from Benderloch to Fort William (A828/A82) is narrow, with poor visibility as the route twists and turns along Loch Linnhe. When Jim and I rode it in 2013, the road was not busy, but most traffic overtook us despite there being double white lines along most of the road length. However according to the map now, from Barcaldine to South Creagan, there is a separate cycle route. At the bridge at South Cre

Saturday 2 May. Patna- Lochranza 43 miles. Total 638 miles From Patna, it is easy cycling across to Ayr, on the west coast of Scotland. Ayr has an affluent town centre, and local industry is centred around tourism (birthplace of Robert Burns), golf and Prestwick airport. The route from Ayr wends its way up to Troon via idyllic cycle paths across the local golf courses. After Troon, we returned to riding the roads, because the cycle path, idyllic though it was, ended up mean

Saturday 25 April Penrith-Annan 38 miles. Total 530 miles From Penrith, the route continues north, again on the A6, which is remarkably quiet with wide wild-flower filled verges, because the M6 takes all the traffic. After 18 miles pedalling, the route arrives at Carlisle, the county town of Cumbria. Carlisle has held city status since medieval times, via a grant endowed by the reigning monarch. Cities only had the association with having a cathedral, since the time of Henr