Comments for roads of stone

Comment on 233. Isle of Wight 1: On Tennyson Down by Chris Brown

Chris Brown — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:53:55 +0000

We love Tennyson Down, it’s one of the nicest places to walk when we stay at our holiday cottage in Totland. We would particularly recommend walking up from Totland through Headon Warren to Tennyson Down, and then past the monument and down eastwards to Freshwater from where you can retrace your steps. This is a good long walk but is fantastic, especially if you manage to catch a sunset in the process.

Comment on 225. Running on Roman Road 2 – from Stane Street to Guildford by Sussex Roman

Sussex Roman — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 16:12:53 +0000

Found a few coins:
1) on most likely Roman route after Farley Temple towards Chilworth – 136 bc denari Romulus Remus wolf;
2) near Stane Street at Alfoldean Bridge – man reaching fig tree.

Comment on 241. Cuba 4: Cienfuegos – a pearl endures by R S

R S — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 18:21:55 +0000

‘The square is, quite simply, stunning.’
‘The heart of Cienfuegos is spectacular and iconic.’
All true enough, but surely much more interesting to tell of how you were taken in by a con man! Rather than churning out the old guide book cliches.
From a literary critic.

Comment on 223. Cycling on Surrey and Sussex hills – from White Down to Ditchling Beacon by Mike from Worthing Excelsior

Mike from Worthing Excelsior — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:13:18 +0000

Hi Roads,

Sounds like you’re very familiar with White Down. I couldn’t have told you that it divides into three steep climbs. For me it just seemed like one long savage grind. The Ranmore climb didn’t bother me at all on the sportive but it came right at the start when the legs were fresh. Having paced myself to get inside the gold award time I was feeling heavy legged by the time that I got to White Down. The 18% sign part way up was somewhat of a demotivator!

Coincidentally I rode Ditchling Beacon again this Monday. Bad idea. I was a grey day indeed. That in itself would have been no problem but as I climbed from Ditchling the mist got thicker and thicker. By the top everything (including me) was invisible. You couldn’t see the car park from the roadside. I rather wished that I was somewhere else and didn’t enjoy the return descent at all.

Comment on 223. Cycling on Surrey and Sussex hills – from White Down to Ditchling Beacon by Roads

Roads — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:34:00 +0000

Well done, Mike, and best wishes to Worthing Excelsior. It’s good to hear that White Down has a fearsome reputation as it always seems a challenge. The climb divides itself into three steeper pitches with a little respite in between — although it’s steepest near the beginning, naturally enough the hardest stretch is right before the top.

I stretched my gears on Box Hill after the announcement of the London 2012 Olympic Road Race course earlier this year. As you imply, it’s long but not especially steep. That said, the climb is wide enough for a major road race convoy, and the views along the way are worth the trip. On that trip I found the hill from Dorking up to Ranmore Common much tougher, but that came later in the ride and the legs were tiring out by then.

Comment on 223. Cycling on Surrey and Sussex hills – from White Down to Ditchling Beacon by Mike from Worthing Excelsior

Mike from Worthing Excelsior — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:39:29 +0000

Fully agree with that. I live in Sussex and am well used to the hills here. I also rode the Cycling Weekly Sportive and can confirm that White Down was an absolute pain. Especially, as you say, after all those miles and having just climbed Leith Hill. It took a lot of will power to keep on grinding out up there. I felt like it wasn’t going to end.

The only good news was that Box Hill then seemed like a mere gradual bump.

Comment on 127. Altiora peto, and other Latin lovers by Roads

Roads — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 07:24:59 +0000

Thanks, Mezza. Best wishes to the Sunshine State. My school was in Warwick, England — not all that far and yet a world away from Warwick, Queensland …

Comment on 127. Altiora peto, and other Latin lovers by Mezza

Mezza — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 01:34:11 +0000

altiora petentez was also my schools motto at STANTHORPE STATE PRIMARY queensland australia! awesome.

Comment on 243. Across two continents: Istanbul, Turkey by Roads

Roads — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:15:49 +0000

Hi Barbara. I’m sure you’ll enjoy a trip to Turkey. I don’t think it’s strictly possible to stand on Europe and Asia at the same time in Istanbul, unless you were to get out and walk across the bridge. I made a similar walk across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco once, but here I’m not sure I’d do the same as the traffic is relentless.

The best and most spectacular way to enjoy the crossing is on a ferry over the Bosphorus. The journey allows time to appreciate the view.

Comment on 243. Across two continents: Istanbul, Turkey by Barbara

Barbara — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:41:10 +0000

Enjoyed this article since I’m researching Turkey and hoping to visit next summer. This may be a silly question, but is it possible to stand on the two different continents while in Istanbul? Since it’s the only city that straddles both continents, seems like that would be a great thing to do there!