Beautiful downhills in Tuscany, Dordogne, Bordeaux, all over. Yesterday, faced with unexpected sunshine, I set off on my bike. I followed part of the route we took on a CTC ride last Wednesday evening, except this time it was light and I could see. So I didn’t cycle through a huge pothole, I didn’t buckle… Read more
Well, he isn’t a Sir, but he should have been. One of my favourite Chain Gang cyclists, veteran of the Loire Valley, the Dordogne and Burgundy, sadly died last Friday. He’d been fighting cancer for some time, and lost. John was an Eastbourne Rover, and I met him with his friends Stuart, George and Mike… Read more
Just before Christmas, at the suggestion of my good friend Andy Sinclair (aka Dr Bike) I looked into a scheme which trains kids in Exeter’s schools to ride their bikes. It seems to be run by a combination of Sustrans, Exeter City Council and Devon County Council, so you already know that it starts out… Read more
One of my favourite places on any of The Chain Gang tours is Assisi. Leaving Bevagna on Thursday morning we visit Spello, and then we follow a brilliant, tiny back-road that brings us to Assisi, perched on the foothills of Mount Subasio. It is a striking looking place – from the direction of Perugia the… Read more
Of all the regions we explore on our bike tours, probably the most distinctive cuisine is on our Dordogne tour. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best food – that accolade probably goes to Umbria, or Tuscany, or possibly Provence. But the region which serves food which you don’t find anywhere else is the Dordogne…. Read more
Time For A Proper Ride Pete is coming to visit this weekend, but he was on the train and not due until lunch time. An old friend, Sarah, was also visiting, in Devon with her kayaking club, so I was up early to see Sarah off, and thought I’d take advantage of a few spare… Read more
A few days ago I went for a ride on Woodbury Common, an area of common land close to Exeter. It was grey and miserable, it started raining, and the only gloves I could find were thin jogging gloves. Much as I enjoyed the ride, I was damnded cold when I got back, my hands… Read more
Today I’ve got a few jobs on, and I want to schedule a little bit of each. Hotels in Tuscany and Umbria Firstly, I’ve got to confirm a bunch of hotel bookings, mostly in Italy, both Tuscany and Umbria. Bespoke groups in Umbria and the Dordogne Then I’ve got a handful of email enquiries to… Read more
On Sunday, having finally cleaned my bike enough to work, and fixed a puncture, I wanted to get out for a ride. We’ve had tons of snow all over the UK in the last week, which is rare for us. In Exeter, it’s mostly disappeared, but I hoped that if I went to higher ground… Read more
Last September I took delivery (finally!) of a Van Nicholas Amazon touring bike. The frame is unpainted titanium, it looks gorgeous. It was a replacement for a bike I’d had stolen, paid for by Prudential Insurance, God bless ‘em. I was tempted to get another road bike, but I can’t fit a rack to it,… Read more
The Chain Gang Cycle tours