Mike Hall - Ride in Peace

"I have hosts of friends, but not more than half a dozen the news of whose death would spoil my breakfast." - Lord MacAulay

Woken earlier than normal today thanks to a reminder for a dental appointment, I groped for my 'phone beside the bed and couldn't quite believe what I was reading. I was back in May 1994, with a sick feeling in my stomach, for the loss of a man I never even met.

By Cm2white - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46001961

Mike Hall and Ayrton Senna were both extraordinary men. Both died at almost my age, doing something they loved, doing it flat-out, at the top of their game, and in days where they had expressed concerns about safety.

On reading with disbelief of Mike's death, hit by a car near Canberra, Australia, in a part of the world where cyclists  are by all accounts pretty poorly esteemed, I was reminded of the moment, sat in the back of my parents' car on the way back from church all those years ago, I heard the radio news announce that Senna had died. It couldn't be true - he was one of the greatest. He was only 35. He was an inspiration. It wasn't right.

There are those that have died during heroic feats of human endeavour, where the risk of their activity was created by nature - but Mike was doing something we do. He was riding his bike. He was better at it and more dedicated to it than most of us can hope to be, but it really hit home that this was a man-made danger to which he had succumbed. An avoidable loss.

Today's devastating news cuts to the heart of the long-distance cycling community - our community. As a family we offer our condolences to Mike's family, and to his friends and ours who today mourn his untimely loss. A fund has been set up to support his family, and the love and respect from the cycling community towards one of their own, a true one-off, is palpable. He lived life to the full and inspired so many.

Mike Hall won the 2012 'Round the World Cycle Race' in 91 days, 18 hours. He went on to win other ultra-cycling races, and to organise them. He was chasing the leader of the Indian Pacific Wheel Race when he was killed. 

As the dentist drilled my teeth earlier, I heard the Divine Comedy on the radio. "You have got to love what you do". We have the consolation that Mike, like Senna, did just that - and he leaves as his legacy a challenge that we should do the same - and do it to the full.

I wasn't privileged to have met Mike Hall, but I didn't have any breakfast this morning.

That smile. Ride in Peace Mike Hall. RIP pic.twitter.com/TlFyTG3i4d

— Sean Conway (@Conway_Sean) March 31, 2017

7 great reasons to take your family bothying

It's been a long time coming but following the girls' foray into bikepacking, we broke new ground at the weekend with a trip to a bothy in Mid-Wales with our girls Ruth (4) and Rhoda (2). What an experience! It's something we want to share.

What's a bothy?

The term originates in Gaelic and these days a bothy is generally taken to refer to a shelter (often in the way of old crofters' cottages or estate huts) in a wild place, which is available for the use of passing travellers. The vast majority are in Scotland but there are a few in Northern England and in Wales, lots of which are cared for by the Mountain Bothy Association. We visited one of two belonging to the Elan Valley Trust.

A bothy isn't likely to impress Lenny Henry. You're going to have to bring your own sleeping gear. And cooking gear. And lighting. And make a fire. Oh, and you'll probably need to take water with you, and a trip to the toilet may involve a spade and a bit of a walk...

Hold on, though, - that's wild camping with the benefit of four walls, a roof and guaranteed permission! Here's why we think any adventure-loving family should give 'bothying' a shot:

1. It's free!

So many opportunities to do things in the wilds actually come at a cost. Even campsite prices seem to be rising steadily, often calculated in such a way as to penalise families travelling light and bright, who aren't turning up with a Chelsea tractor, a tent the size of Belgium, more Christmas lights than Oxford Street and a shrunk down, folding and ultimately dismal version of every appliance and item of furniture found in their home. 

You've got to get to your chosen bothy, but that goes for any outing. You've got to eat and keep warm, but you'd have to do that at home. Fundamentally, using a bothy needn't cost you anything. How many forms of under cover accommodation can claim that?

2. They're always open

Not only are bothies free to use, they're a reliable place to stay the night - particularly at a time of year when campsites are closed and the weather even less dependable than normal. Just be prepared to share with whoever has had the same idea as you! We had the bothy to ourselves on a Saturday night, and judging by entries in the 'bothy book' it looked like most visitors had enjoyed a similar stay, but we reckon you could have slept twenty in the bothy we visited, without trouble. Of course, you might find a bothy equally welcoming and useful as a lunch stop during a day in the wild.

3. The adventure begins at home

I've always reckoned that the best adventures begin with map sheets spread across the lounge floor, or multiple browser tabs open on the computer, at least one of which is Google maps telling you the distance from your home to somewhere exciting.

A very distinct part of bothying is that the onus is on you to find them, not only when you go, but beforehand! Locations used to be protected by almost masonic-like secrecy, but no longer! Nevertheless there's still a school of thought that says that these wonderful places should be kept for those who will cherish them. If you want to try this bothying lark badly enough, and take the trouble to do some basic research online, you'll find all the information you need for a wonderful adventure. Then, you just need to decide how you're going to get there! For a first trip, we would recommend choosing somewhere relatively low-risk - some bothies are surprisingly close to public roads - and be sure before you set out that you have the tools and skills to navigate to your destination.

4. There's less to pack - and you already have the gear

It's always great to discover a new activity for which you (not to mention the children) don't need to go out and buy a load of stuff up front. The great news is, if you camp as a family, you already have what you need - you just leave the tent at home and throw in a few candles instead. Boom. For us, that's a significant weight saving on our bikes. Ruth and Rhoda took the opportunity to test out their new Alpkit 'Cloud Covers' which reduced the bulk still further. There are a few consumables to consider, but the equipment you'll want, you are sure to already own and be familiar with if you camp as a family, with or without bikes.

With a bit of research you can get an idea as to whether you will want to take fuel with you for heat. Some bothies have a ready supply of wood nearby, but by no means all. We chose a bothy which we could get relatively close to with the car, so took in a 10kg bag of coal as insurance. It turned out we didn't need it and as a result, subsequent visitors will get a pleasant surprise and a warm night, too!

5. The weather doesn't matter (so much!)

We can't promise that the bothy you visit won't be draughty. We won't tell you that the night won't be a cold one, and getting there will be an adventure in itself, and subject to the great outdoors, but four walls and a roof is a major game-changer when the weather is marginal - or downright awful.  We went all-out to test this theory by going to Wales in February, in the back end of the mighty storm 'Doris', with a forecast for it to blow a hoolie and persist with rain. Camping would have been miserable. Anything else would have been too urban and too expensive. The bothy was brilliant.

6. Peace and quiet - remember that?

Mrs Large (the elephant) should have visited a bothy - although the book might well have ended up being called 'We're going on a bothy hunt'. If you want solitude, you will find it in the back end of nowhere, especially at times when others are dissuaded from going there. One of the main rewards for the schlep to a remote bothy is getting away from it all. To step outside your front door at a time when the world is still busy, and to see - and hear - absolutely nothing artificial, is priceless to us.  We put the girls to bed and sat with a roaring fire on, totally undisturbed, before retiring for the night without having to lock up.

7. Have a unique adventure

How often do you stay somewhere that is a destination in itself? Every bothy is different, not just in setting and geographical location, but the structures themselves, the rudimentary facilities they offer, and indeed the fellow travellers you may meet there. There is a bothy to suit every taste - some are little more than a hut, a few have toilets and running water. Some are many miles from the nearest road, set in rugged mountains or on desolate moorland; others enjoy their own beach and view of the coast, and a good few are accessible to adventurous families.

Where to find your first bothy, then? Well, that's easier than it used to be. The Mountain Bothy Association decided not so long ago to start publishing the locations of their bothies, and some super books have emerged in recent times. We really like "The Scottish Bothy Bible" by Geoff Allan (review coming up!), and an enchanting film from Alastair Humphreys which our children have loved for some time.

We're already looking for an opportunity to go bothying again, with our bikes and Ruth's new bikepacking setup. We've been tipped off about one or two interesting options in Scotland. Be sure to bookmark our blog and follow us on social media to find out more, and if you've got a question, or you've got a bothying story to share, please do so in the comments below!

Going with the flow - Bikepacking for pre-schoolers

"Daddy, look!"

More than a little alarmed by the accompanying ripping sound, I darted out of the kitchen wondering what on earth was going on, only to find Ruth in the hall trying to velcro her big brother's bikepacking bags to her 16" Islabike. Too much 'Mountain Bikes and Bothy Nights' on YouTube...

In trying to help her complete the 'play' task she'd started, it became tantalisingly apparent that yes, Thomas Ivor's top tube bag did fit nicely in the Cnoc 16's frame, and yes, you could strap a drybag to the handlebars without impeding the function of the brakes... and good grief! The seat pack fits under her saddle, too!

Before any of us knew it, we had stuffed some down jackets in the bags and were out at the bandstand, little Ruth lapping with tremendous fervour. A little boy on a kick scooter tried to race her, and that was it - she was off like a miniature, female, cycle touring Jeremy Clarkson.

I've written before about giving little children opportunities that others might think beyond them, but a bit like the cadence sensor when I taught Thomas Ivor to change gear, this one came as if from nowhere. It's only last June when Ruth was helping to hold her big brother's bike when 'King Louis' was being measured for a frame bag, and here we were witnessing another seminal moment. I mean, why shouldn't a little girl of just turned four have a set of bikepacking bags?

The next day we found ourselves in Newthorpe once more, and this time it was 'Merida's turn (it would seem so to have been named!) for 'the treatment' (see below for spec list).

Self evidently, it would be pointless spending a significant amount of money on a lightweight bike only to hand a child a load of weight to slow them down, or to impede their recently-learned steering, pedalling or braking, but the three bags come to a total of less than 450 grammes, and so far they've largely been filled with feathers, in the form of the down jacket she would otherwise be wearing, and her sleeping bag. At that, along with her spare inner tube, Ruth's bike still only weighs about 7kg - that's still only half the weight of a 16"-wheeled bike-shaped-behemoth from Halfords, before you add the tinsel tassels on the handlebars and the 'Tiny Tears' threatening to fall out of the basket. That's before you consider that many children of four years old are still using the 'S-word'...

Children love carrying something on their bike, especially when everyone else is. Family life is a team sport, and they feed off feeling like they are an integral part of the mission. In this case, Ruth has decided that now she has the bags, she wants to go 'bothying' even more than she did before (which was a LOT), so we've had the maps out and have a plan in development. When we tour longer distances, we'll still use her trailerbike to make sure we cover the ground and stay safe on the road, at which she will have a pair of panniers on her rear rack, once more feeling like she's part of the team. She can probably use her 'frame bag' off her Cnoc as a top tube bag on her trailer bike.

A ride out today, five miles or so, with Daddy on foot and Rhoda on her balance bike, has proved that the Cnoc remains stable, handles fine, and most of all that the little girl at the helm of what looks every inch a touring machine is exceptionally proud of herself, to the point of stopping to tell everyone coming the other way that she was carrying her sleeping bag!

We had a little play with our new Alpkit Krakau stove as well today, and had a hot snack next to the river, on the edge of the woodland where Mummy and Daddy went canoe camping last summer.


A very productive couple of days, which we never saw coming! Above all, a lesson in 'going with the flow'; of letting the children lead when it comes to their adventures and their kit - because if they, like you, don't enjoy it, you probably should be doing something else.

Ruth's Islabikes Cnoc 16 luggage:

Bar bag: Alpkit Airlok Extra Dry Bag (£12) with Dual Straps (£5) - contains Alpkit 'Cloud Cover' down-filled blanket for sleeping in.
'Frame bag': An upturned Alpkit Small Fuel Pod (now discontinued and replaced with a slightly different shape. Luckily found one in their bargain bin for £12 which fits perfectly!) - contains spare inner tube, and possibly a favourite pebble.
Seat pack: Alpkit Small Koala (was called the 'Wombat' originally - review here) - £70 (some in the bargain bin with minor imperfections for £40 if you don't mind grey or yellow at the time of writing!) - contains Spotty Otter Drift Down II combo jacket.

Total Cost of luggage: £99

That's less than the cost of two nights in a Premier Inn - excitement aside, by your third night in the bothy, you're quids in!

We've been expecting you!

A special welcome to Family ByCycle if you've found your way here from Thomas Ivor's interview for Islabikes' Cycle Touring article this week!

We love cycling, we love adventures with our children, and the two go together wonderfully, whether you're taking your four year old on a gruelling three mile traffic free expedition to the supermarket, or lugging your brood across a country with a trailer and a drybag full of nappies. We've taught, trained and toured with several Islabikes, from the Rothan balance bike, through the Cnocs and Beinns to the Luaths - we even have two much-loved Islabikes trailer bikes in our touring arsenal.

You can follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and find out more about us by clicking here - or perhaps start with a video? Here's a selection to get you started, with cyclists small and, er, smaller...

The Transcaucasian Trail - a trip to the Royal Geographical Society

Thomas Ivor and I had the privilege of a night out at the Royal Geographical Society one Wednesday. It began with a tweet about free tickets and ended with a Twitter exchange with the Georgian ambassador!

Warm welcome from #Georgia to dear Thomas @thomas_ivor to explore Transcaucasian Trial! @theTCTrail @RGS_IBG

— Tamar Beruchashvili (@tberuch) February 3, 2017

Tom Allen is a Fellow of the RGS, a bike tourist and adventurer of some repute and will be no stranger to many of our readers. I've enjoyed reading and watching the film of his round the world bike ride before now. If you've not watched 'Janapar', you must!

Tom happened to tweet that there were free tickets on offer for a lecture about his most recent project, the Transcaucasian Trail, supported by the Land Rover bursary - and cut a long story short, we knew that Thomas Ivor had a difficult morning in prospect and was due something to look forward to.

Now, you have to be 14 to be a young member of the RGS, so this was an opportunity too good to pass up - and the subject matter was fascinating.

"What will it be like?" asked Thomas Ivor.

"Leather and wood, I reckon", said I.

I wasn't wrong, but oh, the fold-out note-taking desks in the seats were a thing of joy to a little boy!

The project is an exciting one - the lecture was streamed and I will let it speak for itself! It's a part of the world so many of us in Britain know so little about, and both the landscape and the people look great. Tom explained, answering a question from Thomas Ivor, that he very much hopes to develop a version of the trail which can be tackled on two wheels.

This sort of stuff doesn't make it onto the curriculum in many state primary schools, in all fairness, and the free tickets allowed a trip to London to participate, without busting the budget. A surprising number of folk greeted us afterwards having seen Thomas Ivor at Yestival, the Cycle Touring Festival and elsewhere, and we had some super conversations which further inspired the lad. It was a real credit to such an august society, amongst so many high achievers, the way many of them went out of their way to offer their encouragement and interest to a little boy who aspires to follow them. We were even privileged to speak with the President of the RGS!

The final act of the night was our departure through the old front entrance to the RGS, passing the boards honouring medal winners. We paused to point out names we knew. I found Michael Palin, Neil Armstrong, Scott and Shackleton. Thomas Ivor (in fairness, at nearer his own height!) found Thesiger - a third nod of the night to the 'Empty Quarter' having bumped into Leon McCarron and spent time viewing Mark Evans' exhibition in the foyer.

Who knows where we might leave those doors bound for, some day in the future? That's an exciting prospect!

Here's the lecture we enjoyed, and I hope you do, too. Be sure to visit the Transcaucasian Trail website - especially if you are interested in volunteering your skills or resources to support the creation of an exciting new corner of the world to go exploring. We'd like to thank Tom Allen and his team, the RGS and Land Rover for their hard word on the trail, and a great night out.

Expectant parents

We are delighted to announce we are expecting a new addition to the family! Due on 28th. To be delivered by @IslaRowntree #BikesAreFamily pic.twitter.com/GG57m7Fn2k

— Family ByCycle (@FamilyByCycle) January 23, 2017

Ruth's birthday this weekend and with it comes the next stage on her cycling journey in the form of a new member of our wheeled family. We just hope she can tell the difference between the 14 and the 16!

Snow Day!

Snow is falling on Darkest Northants today, and it really isn't the kind of day you'd want to be taking your children out on their bikes. I'm charging the GoPro and trying to remember where the sledge went in the basement, instead!

Nevertheless, Thomas Ivor will be putting in a few miles today, without leaving the lounge. Here's his little guide to riding on a Turbo Trainer...


Putting a child on the trainer is really not as hardcore or complicated as it sounds. With a suitable rear skewer (you're likely to need to use the old-fashioned looking one that comes with your trainer) we found our Elite trainer to be capable of taking his previous bike, the Islabikes Beinn 20.

Riding on the spot is a bit boring at the best of times, but the television comes to the rescue and we are fans of the videos by GCN which actually involve climbing a hill on the screen - some days Thomas Ivor just watches cycling videos and has a spin to turn his legs, rather than going all-out on a specific training session.

Lots of people get very jumpy, or even accusatory, about parents measuring data with children, but what you do with the data is the key thing! My own scepticism went out of the window when we proved that a cadence meter is an ideal way to teach a child with an interest in maths, how to use their gears. In the case of the turbo, a cadence meter is a very useful thing to have on the bike, to make sure the rider isn't labouring slowly under too much load. This is all the more important with young knees and feet. A heart rate monitor allows me at a glance to enter the room and know how hard Thomas Ivor is working, not because I am about to crack the whip but because children are not good at 'perceived effort' - for a child to be able to see and act on the numbers to know if they are working too hard, and for a parent to be able to supervise and guide that bit of learning, is a valuable lesson in my book. So much of cycle touring is about knowing your body and the capabilities of your group, and tailoring your endeavours to meet that, from the initial planning to decisions you make during a ride. Bluetooth meters are now available quite cheaply - Thomas Ivor's speed and cadence sensor was £14:99 at Lidl and heart rate monitors were recently on sale at another well known German supermarket.

So, whilst we hope we might be out taking advantage of virgin snow in the park, before the rest of the town's kids even get out of school today, the pedals have still turned, away from the chaos of slippery roads and incompetent drivers. One day we would love to devise a scaled down tool to allow children like little Rhoda to pedal their bikes indoors, too...