A confession. Journalists don’t always welcome the opportunity to review self-published books.
Particularly when they are on sale with Amazon and have a dozen five star reviews – all written by the author’s friends.
Personally, I read two pages and if it doesn’t appeal then I will politely decline.
Which brings me to When Cycling Was Fun by Paul Donoghue. A guide to enjoying the Vale’s country pubs while getting plenty of fresh air on your bike. Not on Amazon.
Paul passed my two-page test and went on to pass my much tougher ‘make me laugh’ test.
He has a droll sense of humour and writes with a sharp eye and good humour on the changing fashions around cycling.
He wrote this guide some time ago and the fact that cycling groups have started to use it has prompted him to publish it. He’s acquiring his own fan club and I wish him all the best. To show it’s not just me, here’s a review by Richard Marks.
Philip Irwin
Paul Donoghue is an old-fashioned cyclist who is pedalling through the lovely Vale of Glamorgan on a vintage bike – following a passion for historic pubs and real beer.
Paul, from Wick, has been tracing the old ways in a bid to bring back true cyclists to the joys of quiet lanes and byways on two wheels. Lycra and aero-dynamic, carbon-framed racing machines are not for him.
His love of cycling in the slow lane – 45 years in the saddle – has led him to the authorship of a fun-filled pocket guide to a biking tour around 21 hostelries in the maze of the Vale’s green patchwork of countryside.
When Cycling Was Fun is a little gem, packed with local information and details of cycling routes away from A and B roads. The aim of the guide, he explains, is to encourage an ever-growing, speed- loving group of cyclists to back-pedal a while, and enjoy a pub visit on route.
He states: “The country pubs that I visited 45 years ago are still there, many of them substantially unchanged for hundreds of years- and each one unique. The quiet lanes are there too, where you may see a car or tractor every 20 minutes or so.
“You will see the same things I saw then, trees, birds and fields. You will hear – well nothing really, just a bird tweeting and cows and sheep. You can still do what people used to do – get on your bike, leave your worries behind, and cycle to a pub in the country.”
Paul has described two circular routes, both starting and ending at Llantwit Major – taking in a criss-cross network of villages on the way.
The book is on sale in Cowbridge bookshop and Nickleby’s Bookshop in Llantwit Major, as well as Llantwit Velo Café and many Vale pubs. It can also be ordered on line by visiting www.whencyclingwasfun.com.
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