From my front porch, I can see the surrounding North Downs. If I squint, I can also see a farm that breeds pheasants for its annual shoot, and every now and again when the shoot begins, some pheasants invariably escape. A pleasant side effect for my wife and I is that we now have wild pheasants in our garden. They are beautiful, lively birds and can become quite friendly. We have a resident male and female. Sadly, we never see any chicks. I reckon the local fox takes care of that. How anyone can justify killing such beautiful creatures is beyond me. I cannot link the word 'sport' with killing.
Anyhow, one early spring day not too long ago, I was up at 5 am for a ride through the Surrey countryside. I always cycle at this time of day. There are no cars on the road. Also, this early in the morning the sun is still low in the sky and when cycling on a westerly course, the shadows of the bike and me stretch many metres ahead. I don't know why more cyclists don't take advantage of these early spring days. It's glorious. The roads are clear and you can ride on A roads without any hassle. I can also finish my ride and be home well before lunch.
This story is from the August 2022 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 2022 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Objectives of desire
Ned ponders his affection for cycling on a ride from London to Minehead
ONE OF A KIND
Project One combines premium-quality customised bikes with an endless palette of colours and designs from the creative experts at Trek. It's a winning formula. Here's why...
Trek Checkpoint ALR 5 Driftless
£2,700 Aluminium bike-packing-friendly gravel bike
Gower Peninsula, Wales
A rider powers up the Cefn Bryn ridge on south Wales' Gower Peninsula.
Slow commotion
Downing Street targeting 20mph zones is attacking popular policy
Black Series Multistrada
£5,629 British designed, all-road speedster
Helmetcam militia
Hey, bad drivers! Want to be in the movies? Then smile as you close-pass us while on the phone
Rolling horizons
2018 Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas tells us about the joy of discovering new routes
ENTER THE DRAGON
It's one of the toughest sportives in the UK, but did climb-loving cycling author Simon Warren have the legs to slay the beast of a sportive route in 2023?
LOFTY GOALS
Higher, harder, longer... the road-sportive calendar gets ever more extreme. Here are 10 of the toughest single day rides to enter for 2024