The UniCyclist
Lucky, lucky you!
I was going to write about how happy I am that I've finally submitted my 20,000 word philosophy dissertation. But any form of gloating seems out of step with the general mood of Britain and Europe at the moment, even with Christmas just around the corner. Every day, the papers make another dire prediction of the misery that's on its way. Unbelievably, the Daily Mail was talking with glee the other morning about the coming European war as a result of the Euro's collapse. But the Mail has never...
Anyone want to meet up in Europe in 2012?
Sorry for the silence. For the last few weeks I've had my head in my philosophy dissertation. I've finally reached the 20,000 word count that I need. I'm pretty sure I've chosen the right words but, as Eric Morecambe said, not necessarily in the right order. The topic is highly fascinating intersubjective realism. Yes, I'll shut up now. Things are slowly being ticked off the To Do List. A couple of weeks ago I did the exam for MST209. I left the exam hall believing I'd...
And then there were three!
Last week, something truly beautiful appeared on UniCycle50's Facebook page. It was a message from Louise and it read: "This is all your fault. Me and a girlfriend are planning to do Europe from March next year whilst working and studying. We're starting with Lisbon then seeing where we end up." Wow, I thought, someone else believes this is a good idea too. When I first proposed the cycle-study combo, some people questioned my sanity. But I knew I was completely sane. As I've...
Time for a rest... or, not...
The long ride is over for 2011. The bike is safely stored in Spain awaiting my return in March next year, but the experience lives with me daily. I keep having flashbacks to the smiling faces I met, the amazing places I visited and the bizarre animals and organs I ate. There have almost been too many memories to process. They keep leaking out of my ears. 2011 was designed to be the easy year. The countries I saw were fairly unadventurous - the sorts of places...
A residential full of stars
Who would have thought that sleep deprivation could be so much fun? But maybe when you add into the mix a well-equipped observatory, loads of interesting astronomy projects, a gang of inspirational OU tutors and a new bunch of mates, it was obviously going to be a good time. Yes, I've just completed the SXR208 astronomy residential in Majorca. After heaving myself thousands of kilometres across Spain and Portugal in temperatures of 38C I was looking forward to some...
Death of a dream
"Death is everywhere," sang Depeche Mode back in the late 80s. "There are flies on the windscreen for a start." It wasn't one of their better songs, and they were on the slide by then. They probably weren't in such a good mood. I've got no windscreen but I've been surrounded by death over the last 24 hours. This morning I had to catch the ferry across the river Tejo from the centre of Lisbon to any road that wasn't a motorway and that would take me...
Sunshine, cycling and sweat
Spain is hot. It's currently about 36 degrees celcius, which is 97 if you prefer fahrenheit. That's a really stupid temperature in which to be cycling. And it's only going to get hotter. After I've visited Lisbon, I need to head further south to reach Gibraltar, and that takes me through Seville, the furnace of Spain. It's already 40-odd degrees down there. But doing this makes me appreciate things that I don't normally appreciate. You might be sat there with a nice cup of tea or coffee, but no...
A cyclist, a psycho, a traveller and his Tahitian lover
I met some of the friendliest people in the world a couple of days ago, and they were Frenchmen. Don't tell Al Murray. I'd been cycling through a fairly industrial bit of France. Campsites in France are scattered liberally about the place but I hadn't seen a sign for hours. The weather was warm and it would have been a shame to waste forty plus euros on a hotel on such a pleasant evening. Surely there was a campsite somewhere. I was feeling lucky. I picked a village at random and cycled into...
Maths + residential = friends
I didn't want to go to the maths residential. It was an unwelcome interruption, a distraction away from the bike ride and its lofty mountain roads and pretty, flower-filled alpine villages. Instead I would be going to grisly, drizzly Nottingham. Thanks, OU. But as the course was a requirement of both degrees I'm doing I couldn't escape it. Now it's over I'm so glad it was forced upon me. The residential, that is, not Nottingham. This might seem irrelevant but bear with me. I've mentioned on...
The funny world of the OU maths residential
I'm halfway through the OU maths residential in Nottingham. I've timed dissolving vitamins, played with a pendulum and measured oak trees. But mostly I've been distracted by the uncannily high percentage of maths students who look like famous comedians. It started at the kick off. One of the first guys I spoke to before the opening lecture was a nice bloke called Tom who looked the spitting image of Dara O'Briain and, even better, had an identical accent too. And then came the first...
About The UniCyclist
Hi, I'm Steven Primrose-Smith, otherwise known as The UniCyclist – one bloke, two wheels, two degree courses, one portable university and 50 capital cities. Nice to meet you!
I'm 40-year-old full-time student with The Open University and University of Wales, Lampeter. I got my first degree in 2008 in Philosophy and English from the OU and I'm currently planning my dissertation for an MA in philosophy with Lampeter as well as working through the necessary modules at the OU to get a degree in maths and another in physical science. The aim, once all these courses are done, is to be a well-rounded private tutor covering as many subjects as possible. But that's three years away. I might get squashed by a truck before then.
For 15 years I was a technical author and internet software developer, but other jobs that I've been paid for include (in order, from age 14): delivering newspapers, stocking supermarket shelves, working in a video shop cum off licence cum sunbed centre, playing a synthesizer (with one finger) in an awful band called The Slaves of Circumstance, buying electronic components, playing a synthesizer (now with two fingers) in an even worse band called Tuco Talks, graphic design, laying out newspapers, writing computer games, selling software online, knocking up websites, performing comedy, doing voices for radio ads, writing magazine articles, teaching people how to improve their computer skills, writing comedy sketches and, most recently, maths tutoring.
I did my first cycling tour in 1994 when I had a week on very windy Orkney. Shortly afterwards I was working in Austria and only did the occasional weekend tour although I had many a tipsy day-ride with friends out into the vineyards south of Graz. It wasn't until 2007 that I decided to get a bit more serious when I did an 11-day tour of western Andalusia. But the longest ride to date - in 2009 - was from the Isle of Man to the Costa del Sol, through the UK, France and Spain, lasting 32 days and covering 2,688 kilometres. It was that ride that gave me the idea for this one.
Other things I love doing include playing my guitar and keyboard (now with more than two fingers, but still not all of 'em), sailing, walking in the mountains, running, swimming and cooking.
This life is damn short, and it can be snatched away at any given moment. Whatever it is you want to do, just do it. Don't hang around. In other words, literally or metaphorically, get on your bike!
To find out more about the ride, including the rough route I'm planning to follow, or to donate money to the charities I'm cycling for, please have a look at my website at www.UniCycle50.com. And if you have any questions or would like to meet up, please email me at steven@unicycle50.com. See you on the road!
UniCyclist makes the headlines
Follow Steven's progress as he hits the headlines...
- Blood Pressure Association
- Blackburn Citizen
- The National Student
- Lancashire Evening Post
- BBC
- Milton Keynes Citizen
- Lancashire Telegraph
- Action For Animals
- Granada Regional News (video)
