Human speed is about truly experiencing the world around you. Walking, sailing and cycling let you see, hear, and feel a place in a way that driving never can. These slower methods of travel give you time to notice details - the way light hits a tree, the sounds of a neighborhood, the texture of the ocean. Public transit like trains and buses can also offer a more concious way to travel, letting you take in the scenery without the stress of driving. Cars, by contrast, trap you in a bubble of…
Well that was harder than I expected. Drained from yesterday, a little more climbing than expected and some routing challenges made for a slower journey than planned. The trip was noticeably less pleasant than the previous days, the roads busier, and more industrial areas. Signage and Komoot(the best app for cycling routes) routing was unusually lacking in places as well. In the end I was glad to…
Today was a transition day. From my campsite in the Peak District, across to near Knutsford, the halfway point to the Wirral where my brother’s wedding is. The route is fairly easy, hilly as you’d expect in the Peaks but then long downhill miles to the new campsite. I got up about 0800, a coat sleeve over my eyes improvising as a sleep mask to prevent the light disturbing me too much after a 0400…
Today was a lazy day. As lazy as you can be from a campsite that’s 4.2 miles from the local town, and 1.7 miles from the nearest pub. Short distances – but lots of hills. It has also been a day of bike problems, solutions and fingers crossed. I cycled into Bakewell, getting there just before 0900. It’s mostly downhill but with enough short hill sections to test the legs. Coffee at Summat, good…
Woke a couple of times in the night with a numb arm. Not over-inflating the mattress definitely helps and oddly it’s the arm in the air that’s numb, not the one beneath me. I’m going to put that down to old age. Anyway eventually got up at about 0730 when the light rain finally stopped enough to make it worth getting up. I sorted the tent out a bit, putting food, clothes, wash stuff in separate…
We came up North to see Billie Eilish at the Co-op Live. The concert was great and Billie is such a talent - even if there’s some more ‘club’ songs I don’t particularly enjoy. We came up by train as I planned to stay with my Dad and then go to the Peak District to do some bike packing. Our little Fiat e500 isn’t big enough to carry the bike so train it was (my preferred way of traveling anyway.)…
After a day of (electric) car travel, we’re back in Cambridge. I’m sitting in Bould Brother’s coffee shop, waiting to watch the new Superman film on IMAX! There’s a couple of hours to go so I thought I’d spend the time drinking coffee and writing up my thoughts from last week’s Channel Islands sail. 1. Mission accomplished We booked the trip a while back because we wanted to experience not just…
A lazy morning in comparison to the last few. We left the anchorage around 0900 and motored out of the stunning Alum Bay, raising the sails as we lost the protection of the bay and we struck out towards Hurst Castle. The wind was blowing a solid 14 knots but the wind indicator on the boat was not indicating that. Regardless, we had full sails up as we made 8 knots up the Solent, aided by the…
We woke at 0600, to leave at 0700, and the wind was good, not long after turning off the engines we were once again graced with a third visit from the dolphins. Hugo really earned his Dolphin Scout badge this trip. Sadly my Dolphin Photography badge was very much not earned this trip but hey, it was great to see them and I hope it’s the first of many encounters in our sailing. I did manage to…
Up at 0700 and Elpie went to the shops, I was slower getting going but went for coffee. Jersey is very civilised with at least a couple of coffee shops that open at 0700. After picking up one for Hugo and Suzanne as well I headed back and we cast off at 0800 as planned, for a 23nm sail to Sark, followed by a further 23nm to Alderney. The wind was light to start with but by 1000 we had the sails up…
Woke about 8am and went for coffee and banana bread at Dandy , a small shop but very good and a very welcome coffee. Today was an explore-by-land day. Elpie and I hired a couple of e-MTBs from Evolution Bikes a few hundred meters from the marina. E-bikes are the best way to explore, particularly if you have the range the bikes we hired did. At 15mph or less you have the time to look around and…