Ed’s Letter
Ican barely contain my excitement. The 17th May deadline for easing travel restrictions is just around the corner (or has just passed, depending on when you get this magazine), so it’s time to pack my bike bag.
Then it’s simply a case of double-checking the Government website for any last-minute changes to the rules, assessing which countries are on the green list to avoid quarantine on return to the UK, cross-referencing them with countries that are actually accepting tourists, learning the specific Covid restrictions of those countries, having a Covid test, working out which Covid tests – lateral flow or PCR – are required before the return journey and again on re-entering the UK, arranging those Covid tests, finding somewhere to stay that hasn’t been booked solid until 2023, building in an extra six hours at the airport to allow for all the additional queueing… and go!
And then I just have to pray that there isn’t a third wave brought on by all the people like me trying to go on holiday for the first time in almost two years.
I’d suggest that it would be easier to stay in the UK for a holiday, but it seems that there isn’t so much as a disused telephone box available for booking between now and Christmas.
If you find yourself in the same situation as me – desperate to get away but somehow incapable of making arrangements thanks to a combination of confusion, frustration and dithering – then I can offer a small nugget of compensation. In each issue of Cyclist we provide a chance to escape without having to leave your sofa, and this month’s Big Ride is a case in point. South Africa is unlikely to be on the Government’s green list any time soon, but at least you can revel in its big skies, green mountains, exotic wildlife and dusty gravel tracks right here until the day comes to make the journey for real.
Whatever your plans are for this year – staying at home, going abroad, or remaining locked in your underground bunker until the all-clear siren sounds – we will continue to bring you the best cycling destinations that the world has to offer.