Penwith Pootle
Hitting the eject button with a two-day micro-adventure close to home in the far west of Cornwall. Linking together a bunch of muddy tracks and trails with a night on the cliffs made for a perfect journey of (re)discovery. Read more »
Stories of person-powered life and adventures by bicycle and sea kayak, at home and further afield. Car-independent life in Cornwall, UK, and longer, thoughtful journeys by bike in mostly high and empty places. There is also street photography, if you like that sort of thing.
Recently
A September Riding Diary
A lovely month for riding as the light softens, shadows lengthen, and the signs of the changing seasons accelerate. With winter knocking on the door, and in the absence of prospects... Read more »
The Dummy Days of Summer
Life with my Surly Big Fat Dummy after two years of ownership, and a summer of exploring the boundaries of the kind of journeys that are reasonable on a big-tyred pedal-powered... Read more »
Favourites
Wayfarer Centenary Ride, and weekend
A weekend in north Wales with the Rough Stuff Fellowship, in honour of the centenary of Wayfarer's snow-bound crossing of the Berwyn Mountains. Read more »
via Tizi n’Tazazert…
It was a very definite sense of deja-vu. Not the first time I’d found myself sat by a fire beneath a wonderful starscape on... Read more »
The Wild West
Bolivian bikepacking - cross-country, via network of dirt roads and remote trails, from La-Paz to the Sajama volcano (6,542m / 21,463 ft) in the... Read more »
The Hindustan-Tibet Highway
Winding it's way northeast through the Himalayas of Himachel Pradesh, the rough, landslide-prone Hindustan-Tibet Highway is an engineering marvel and makes for a great... Read more »
Lauca, Isluga, y Coipasa
Bikepacking through the remote, desolate northern corner of Chile, via the Lauca and Volcan Isluga national parks, and on into southwest Bolivia via the... Read more »
Close to Home
Penwith Pootle
Hitting the eject button with a two-day micro-adventure close to home in the far west of Cornwall. Linking together a bunch of muddy tracks and trails with a night on the cliffs made for a perfect journey of (re)discovery. Read more »
A September Riding Diary
A lovely month for riding as the light softens, shadows lengthen, and the signs of the changing seasons accelerate. With winter knocking on the... Read more »
The Dummy Days of Summer
Life with my Surly Big Fat Dummy after two years of ownership, and a summer of exploring the boundaries of the kind of journeys... Read more »
North Penwith Cliffs
A mid-summer sea kayak micro adventure along the north coast of Penwith. Read more »
Dodman Point and Other Places
A local riding and paddling diary from the post-full-lockdown days of June. As the spring wildflowers fade and the dust turns to the mud... Read more »
On the Road Again
The Empty Quarter… Laraos to Huancavelica
Technically “The Empty Quarter” applies to the Rub’ al Khali desert on the Arabian Peninsula, however I’m going to use a little creative license and use it to describe the last few days on my bike from Laraos; it could equally apply to parts of Bolivia and the Puna de Atacama in northern Chile and Argentina so I reserve the right to use it again. As usual I’ll use pictures rather then a tedious narrative to … Read more »
Mostly Buenos Aires
Some street photography from Buenos Aires and Villa Mercedes to wrap up seven months of bicycle travel from Peru. Read more »
The End of the Road
A medium-sized provincial town deep in the heart of Argentina, about 700km west of Buenos Aires, may seem like an odd place to end... Read more »
Córdoba Streets
Thought I’d sling up a few impressions of Córdoba city. It’s alright; colourful, busy, good icecream. I’ll say goodbye to friends here this evening... Read more »
Cerro Aspero
To my mind one of the greatest things about a bicycle is the ease with which it enables new friendships and shared adventures. The... Read more »
Street Photography
Bikepacking with the Fuji X-System
An overview of the Fuji X-series camera gear I use for bikepacking adventures at home and overseas. Primarily motivated by street photography, my bag currently contains an X100F or an X-Pro 2 with a small selection of prime lenses. Read more »
Mostly Street
A new home for my portfolio of street photography from around the world. Mostly featuring the high Andes, there is however a sprinkling of... Read more »
Mostly Buenos Aires
Some street photography from Buenos Aires and Villa Mercedes to wrap up seven months of bicycle travel from Peru. Read more »
Córdoba Streets
Thought I’d sling up a few impressions of Córdoba city. It’s alright; colourful, busy, good icecream. I’ll say goodbye to friends here this evening... Read more »
Sea Kayaking
South to Mingulay and Beyond
A Hebridean sea kayak journey from the Isle of Barra south to Mingulay and Barra Head. Towering cliffs, cathedral-like caves, and camping on remote island beaches. Read more »
North Penwith Cliffs
A mid-summer sea kayak micro adventure along the north coast of Penwith. Read more »
Dolphins etc
It has been a while since I posted anything of a sea kayaking flavour; when I have been out... Read more »
Various
On reaching the mighty age of six my brother and I were given a small secondhand mono tape deck.... Read more »
Bikes and Gear
Surly Cross Check
It's been in the Surly Catalogue for more than 20 years, what possible relevance could the venerable Cross Check still have in a world of modern adventure and gravel bikes...? That would depend on you, here's mine. Read more »
Project: Big Fat Dummy Fenders
A workshop project to make a set of laminated wooden mudguards for my Surly Big Fat Dummy. Made from a blend of oak and smoked red gum with home-made brass and stainless steel fittings. They look cool and are a more sustainable solution than moulding composites. Read more »
Surly Big Fat Dummy
My Surly Big Fat Dummy.. a supertanker of a cargo bike that has proven to be way more fun loaded, and unloaded, than I could ever have imagined. Read more »
N+1 = Big Bro
Mk1 Brother Cycles Big Bro. A well thought-out rigid steel 29er for bikepacking and general trail duties, that supports the kind of old-fashioned standards that I enjoy fiddling with. Read more »
Spiti & Kinnaur
Spiti etc
Bikepacking through the stupendous Spiti Valley in the Indian Himalaya, as part of a two-wheeled exploration of the Spiti and Kinnaur Valleys. Read more »
Post-Himalayan Apathy…
It’s always ‘challenging’ returning home after a decent adventure but this time seems to have been, or rather ‘is’, particularly difficult. All I can... Read more »
A little bit of Delhi
I had a little bit of time in Delhi… I found street photography quite difficult. Despite the obvious potential it is the sort of... Read more »
The Hindustan-Tibet Highway
Winding it's way northeast through the Himalayas of Himachel Pradesh, the rough, landslide-prone Hindustan-Tibet Highway is an engineering marvel and makes for a great... Read more »
Transitions…
I’m really happy, got my Inner Line Permit. It had been on my mind a little because I kept hearing and reading all sorts... Read more »