Ordinarily with a cycling event I’ll turn up the night before, camp, do the ride, camp again, and get the train home the next morning. This was the draft plan for 2025’s Brother Big ‘Un ride in Kent, but events conspired and I just didn’t finish and get home from work until around 7.30 pm the night before. The good news was that I’d been lent an electric van to go with, so my thinking was I’d just drive in the morning and do the ride. This is a post about what I learned and observed in so doing.
Tag Archives: cyclinguk
Learnings and observations about doing a gravel ride fixed-gear with an Olympus OM Tough 6 camera, and why I returned it
I am very aware that the quality of the photos on this blog aren’t exactly something to call the Pulitzer nomination committee about, which I’m working on. To this end, I bought an ‘OM Tough TG-6’ camera for bringing on rides, with the idea being that it would improve the blog without leaving me constantly paranoid about the state of the gear. This is what I learned from doing so.
What I learned and observed doing the Dunwich Dynamo fixed – again
The first time was so nice, I had to do it twice. It didn’t hurt that my other bike had a cracked frame either. For the second year in a row I took the fixed gear commuter bike on the ride to Dunwich, and there were a few bits I jotted down you might beContinue reading “What I learned and observed doing the Dunwich Dynamo fixed – again”
What I learned and observed riding the 2025 ‘Surly 100’ in the Cotswolds
The Cotswolds is not a part of the land I’d much cycled in. Pasting in from Wikipedia, the name means literally “sheep enclosure in rolling hillsides.” It’s a great off-road cycling location that an experienced route-setter like Graham Foot knew how to get the best out of with this year’s Surly 100, a two-day ride that takes one out of town straight in to the hills, but on wisely-chosen trails that, while tough, are definitely rideable. I’ve written up what I’ve learned and observed over these two days and hope they’re helpful. A big thank you to Graham, and the wider team who made this event well worth the train trip.
What I learned from riding the Way of the Roses, from London
I’ve come back from Bridlington, the finish line of the ‘Way of the Roses,’ and have written up this short blog post I hope may be instructive to your future cycle trip plans, whether using this route or another. I’m doing my best to keep it helpful and concise. For your information, this trip was in mid-June 2025.
Calum On Wheels 