Matt's Website (Page 4)

Sign in Subscribe

A track through woodland passes the brick pillars of a dismantled railway bridge.

In the tracks of the hop pickers

A ride along the remains of a railway line axed by Beeching and recolonised by nature.

A map spread out on the table with Swindon marked at the bottom of the photo and the rest out of focus.

The lost art of getting lost

Why should you always have to know where you are, and where you’re going?

A bike leans on the bench at the top of the hill, its red rear and white front lights bright in the darkness.

The magic of cycling at night

Until recently I didn’t see the appeal of riding at night, but I’m increasingly drawn to venturing out after hours.

A turquoise child's 20" Islabike leans against a brick wall.

Goodbye to all that: when a child outgrows their bike

We’ve just sold G’s bike. It’s not the first one he’s outgrown, and it won’t be the last. Yet it marks a moment in the journey through his childhood.

A gravel bike silhouetted against trees and hills at sunrise.

Ride on: cycling through a pandemic

I stood on the verge and photographed the sunrise-silhouettes of the trees and the ridge line of the hills. A moment of stillness in a world of upheaval.

A child cycles away from the camera up a forest track.

Riding the Forest of Dean ghost rails

For much of the ride we followed the routes of railway lines long gone and long forgotten. In their place: cycle paths and forests tracks.

A gravel bike on a rural canal bridge.

The joy of towpath gravel

With no proper infrastructure or access rights in England, I have to get creative when planning traffic-free rides.

A rusty signpost points along the Ridgeway National Trail, rolling green hills in the background.

The Ridgeway + Kennet & Avon Canal

I was on the Ridgeway – again. This time it was to ride a 240km car-free, off-road overnighter using the Kennet & Avon Canal to create a loop.

An adult and child cycle away from the camera along a cycle path in the Dutch dunes.

Going Dutch in Domburg

We pedalled away from our hostel – a converted thirteenth century castle – on the bike paths that run through the forest and nature reserve.

View of Cheddar town from above the gorge: houses among trees and a reservoir in the distance.

Strawberry Line overnighter

From our viewpoint above Cheddar Gorge, the town stretched out before us and we could see the hostel where we had spent the previous night.

A mountain bike stands on the loch side with Ben Nevis in the background.

Cycling the Caledonian Canal

Early in the year, and with local schools not yet on holiday, we had the white gravel towpath almost to ourselves.

A Nextbike hire bike alongside the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Falkirk wheeler

Who in their right mind would ride 76km on a heavy hire bike to see canal boats go up and down a lift?

A child on a bike, an adult walking and a dog are silhouetted on the wet sand of Porthcawl at low tide.

Family fatbiking in Porthcawl

You can go pretty much anywhere on a fatbike, but it's hard to beat riding in joyous circles on an empty beach in the weak winter sun.

Two Brompton bikes and a child's Islabike lean against a wall on the Bristol-Bath cycle path.

Bristol-Bath cycle path

“Ha, your bikes are smaller than mine,” chuckled G as J and I retrieved our Bromptons from the lockers outside Bristol Temple Meads Station.

A child rides along a path in a deep rock cutting on the Monsal Trail.

Monsal Trail bike and hike

We dived into Pizza Express, hungry after a day that had unexpectedly involved combining a family ride on the Monsal Trail with a hike back into Buxton.

A child rides their bike up a trail through a tree-lined section of the Elan Valley Trail on a sunny day.

Riding the Elan Valley Trail

The Elan Valley Trail, in the remote Cambrian Mountains, had been on our wish list for a while. There are few family cycle paths as spectacular.

The silhouette of an adult, a child and a dog on a lead walking on the canal towpath underneath a road bridge.

The slow train from Smethwick

Keen to escape rural mud after a wet winter, we caught the train into Birmingham for an urban wander and, for one of us, an unscheduled swim.

A mud-splattered mountain bike on the shingle beach at Cowes, Isle of Wight – with a ship in the background.

Tennyson Trail loop

The mountain bike I’d hired was in quite a state when I handed it back. And so was I. Storm Brian had taken its toll on the Tennyson Trail.

Benji the bear peaks out of a rucksack near Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight.

Freshwater family ride

Storm Brian was in full force as our ferry crossed the Solent. This was an inauspicious start to our holiday on the Isle of Wight.

A black road bike with two red water bottles stands on the grass beside Gospel Pass, the Black Moutnains stretching away into the distance.

Gospel Pass takeaway

Despite three punctures and some ill-advised fish and chips, the highest road pass in Wales didn't disappoint.

Bikes and trailer lean on a bench during a pub stop on the return from Gloucester Docks.

Toddler in tow

Our first overnight family bike ride mixed adventure and comfort into two happily exhausting days.