Matt

Rides

An adult and child walk away down a forest track towards a growth of dark green conifers, with mountains in the distance.

Peace doesn’t always come easily to me, but it comes best when I’m exploring new places on foot or by bike. Our return to Glentrool was a chance to leave stresses behind and be present in the moment, absorbed for a week in this dark-skied forest.

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

There’s something different about the way my bike handles. It alternates between dragging me back on the hills and pushing me forward as we crest them. When we round a bend, I glance back to check the line I’m taking on the corner. There, behind me, is the reason for my caution: a bike trailer carrying our new Golden Retriever puppy, Lula. She's looking out contentedly.

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A bike leans against a graffitied concrete wall in an underpass.

I’m no lover of cities, yet I'm drawn to edgelands – those transitional spaces that are neither urban nor rural. Seek them out and you’ll find, laid bare, the threads connecting our built and natural worlds.

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A bike leans against a signpost pointing to the Ridgeway byway in either direction, with a track visible to the right of the photo.

It was a late August morning, the first of our holiday, and we were keen to get going. We retrieved our bikes from the cottage porch and set off on trails which – over the next few days – would take us to a street market, a neolithic tomb and the largest stone circle in the world.

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

This had to be the one. No. Maybe that one over there? Wrong again. Each time I decided a towering hill was the one guarding the head of the glen, signifying I was nearly home, my hopes were dashed. Eventually, I stopped torturing myself and just let the climbs come. The glen would appear in its own time, it couldn’t be rushed.

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

After settling into our little white cottage, we rode the path from the village down to the visitors’ centre. Off-road riding almost from the door. This was how things should be, this was going to be a good holiday.

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

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.

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Viewed from behind, a young boy in a blue shirt cycles over a viaduct on a sunny day – green trees in the distance.

When a drive back from Cornwall took us past the start of the Granite Way in Okehampton, it was the perfect chance for a ride that offers a unique perspective on Dartmoor.

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

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

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Three bikes lean against a wooden gate and fence in a forest.

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

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