Rides - Matt's Website

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Rides

Adventures on two wheels – near, far and in between.

Two cyclists ride down a tarmac bike pathe in a heathland full of purple heather.

Riding Danishly

What connects cycling on a Jutlandic peninsula to an ascent of Mont Ventoux, and how does travelling by bike shape our understanding of where we ride?

Looking up to the canopy of a blackthorn tree in blossom, seen against a blue sky with a white cloud.

Ride the west wind

Taking inspiration from the Dutch and Italians, I name the wind that eases my way across Herefordshire.

Bike tyre tracks and footprints are visible on a sandy beach, with the silhouettes of people in the distance by the sea.

Along the foreshore

Moving through the liminal space where sea meets land, we’re immersed in a transitory world.

Looking up at a forest canopy, with the green leaves of the trees against the blue sky and white clouds.

Into the woods

In need of escape, I crammed my bike into the car and drove to the forest to think of nothing.

The silhouette of a cyclist riding along the canal towpath as it passes through a long tunnel.

So near and yet so far

An off-road ride through the Midlands reveals the land's unfulfilled potential for travelling by bike.

A grey bike with red and black panniers leans on a white beach hut surrounded by grass.

Ride to the sea

Why, at the end of a long day in half term, did we find ourselves cycling into a brutal headwind on the south coast?

The curved, wave-like metal roof of the Riverside Museum in Glasgow

Water, power and pedals

A stopover in Glasgow and a bike ride beyond the city reveal how climate change and slavery flow through our family history.

A grey bike leans against a concrete wall covered in multi-coloured graffiti, beyond which lies a narrow stone trail.

The last ride of summer

Late summer bike rides are tinged with urgent sadness; each one might be the last before wet weather sets in.

A black and white view of a flooded landscape dotted with trees, a range of hills in the background.

Riding through a drowned world

As the flood waters peaked again, I set off to ride through a landscape turned largely to liquid.

Cycling with Grandpa

Cycling with Grandpa

Spinning along the smooth gravel of the Peak District rail trails, three generations found our flow.

Two cyclists – one dressed in blue and the other in pink – pause at the top of a steep rocky track.

Finding peace in the Galloway Forest Park

We left fears, anxieties, work and chores far behind for a week exploring the forest around Glentrool.

A woman cycles through a forest pulling a bike trailer with a Golden Retriever puppy onboard.

The dog trailer days

We wanted to get our new puppy used to travelling by bike, so we hired a trailer. Spoiler alert: she loved it.

A bike leans on a signpost pointing to the Ridgeway byway in either direction, another track to the right.

A week of Wiltshire byways

Our leisurely exploration of this ancient landscape took us from the stones of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages to the concrete of the 1930s.

A bike leans on a National Cycle Network waymarker, a tree to one side and a loch in the background.

Big country for an old man

Racing the rain along the forest roads and quiet lanes of Galloway. (And hoping my family had saved me some biscuits.)

A child rides their bike on a winding trail through a pine forest, their green coat billowing behind them.

Glorious Glentrool gravel

Forest roads wound for miles across the hillsides – built for logging lorries but ideal for our needs. We'd found the perfect place for some family cycling.

A child cycles along a rough track in high country, grassy slopes on either side.

Elan Valley: the rough and the smooth

Not every family rough-stuff expedition we attempt goes smoothly but an October ride in the Elan Valley proved to be a hit, despite the conditions.

A ride through Dartmoor’s industrial past

A ride through Dartmoor’s industrial past

When a drive back from Cornwall took us past the start of the Granite Way in Okehampton, we stopped off for a ride with a unique perspective on Dartmoor.

A young boy in a blue t-shirt sits on a sandy beach, his yellow bike propped up in the sand behind him.

Swapping the car for the Camel

Our largely car-free week in Cornwall showed what’s possible when people have access to good cycling infrastructure.

A weekend in the forest

A weekend in the forest

Following a year in which Covid-19 had kept us close to home, a few days pedalling along tracks by the River Wye felt like a distant adventure.

A young boy in a blue t-shirt cycles away from the camera on a forest track.

Return to Mortimer Forest

It had been six months since we’d been to Mortimer Forest and it felt good to be back. Whenever we ride into the trees here we feel free.

A child in a blue t-shirt rides a bike away down a farm track.

Riding further (for fruit)

When the fruit farm’s website announced the ripening of the strawberries, we knew exactly where our family ride that Sunday would take us.

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 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 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.