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.
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This story is from the August 2022 edition of Cycling Plus UK.
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Air Apparent - Pollution hasn't gone away. It's still there in every lungful, even if we can't see it in the air or on the news. But there are reasons to breathe easier, thanks to pioneering projects using cycling 'citizen scientists'. Rob Ainsley took part in one...
The toxic effects of pollution have been known about for years. 'Just two things of which you must beware: Don't drink the water and don't breathe the air!' sang 1960s satirist Tom Lehrer.Over recent decades, though, pollution has dropped down our list of things to worry about, thanks to ominously capitalised concerns such as Climate Change, AI, Global Conflict, Species Collapse, etc. That doesn't, unfortunately, mean the problem has expired. Air quality often exceeds safe limits, with far-reaching and crippling effects on our health.
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