WHAT IS ‘WHERE MY WHEELS GO' ALL ABOUT?
Hello! I’m Julian Kirwan-Taylor
The Life-long cyclist
Working a paper-round to buy my first bike is a bit of a cliche - but true. Delighted to replace my father’s huge, heavy, handed-down bike with one of my own, I rode off, aged 13, with a borrowed tent for four day’s exploration of Somerset.
My slight build made it unlikely I would make the rugby team, but as I could out-sprint all my friends uphill on a bicycle - and descend downhill in tearaway mode - I took up racing but my heart was never really in it. I was usually more interested in the scenery than fighting for the podium.
The fierce need to explore and see what was around every corner, along with the desire to make my own decisions and live with the consequences, resulted in a collection of just about every ordinance survey map of the British Isles. As I rode on the paths less travelled, my interest in history, architecture, geology, plants and trees, (birds came later) grew as I grew.
My bike and I have ridden many a trail in Europe and the Americas. We’ve ridden the dusty paths of Africa, and the chaotic roads of Asia, but now retired from life as a History and Philosophy teacher, I prefer to stay closer to home in London. What a city - especially in the winter - with magical light, the sacred river and the often austere stone buildings. And it must be said, a very nearly world-class cycling infrastructure. I love the pomp and majesty of the place as much as I love its edgelands. Beyond all else, it is Thames to which I return again and again, as it flows east to the estuary and into the sea.
“I ride to simply set my wheels where few other wheels have turned.”
Original traffic-free cycling routes
It’s probably the ‘teacher’ in me that drives me to share my passion for riding and exploring with you. That said, Where My Wheels Go is as much a personal archive as it is a practical guide.
Every route has been meticulously researched and ridden, often many times. I seek the traffic-free/traffic-light routes which lead towards less heralded landscapes.
We are part of the ‘slow cycling movement’
“The really precious things are thought and sight, not pace.” John Ruskin
Similar to taking a walk as opposed to going for a run, slow cycling focuses on the journey, allowing cyclists to explore their surroundings. The rides are not about speed, training or performance. Slow Cycling encourages us to stop and to look. To visit. To be curious.
All the routes come with with clear guidance along with contextual notes on geography, history and place. The routes use traffic-free/traffic-light paths, segregated lanes and back roads whenever possible. Maps are free and easy to download directly onto a cycling device or phone. Distances, surfaces are noted, while recommended cafés, pubs and places to stay are listed.
“We Poets of the proud old lineage
Who sing to find your hearts, we know not why, -
What shall we tell you? Tales, marvellous tales
Of ships and stars and isles where good men rest,
Where nevermore the rose of sunset pales,
And winds and shadows fall towards the West……..
……We travel not for trafficking alone:
By hotter winds our fiery hearts are fanned:
For lust of knowing what should not be known
We take the golden road to Samarkand.”
James Elroy Flecker, THE GOLDEN JOURNEY TO SAMARKAND
Contact Details
Julian Kirwan-Taylor. London. UK.