An ode to autumn

An ode to autumn

Events

An ode to autumn

Our ride series continues into the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

By Tom Owen (and John Keats)
The changing of the seasons is a never-ceasing wonder, and Brooks is not in the habit of letting the slow transformation of summer into autumn prevent us from riding outdoors. No, not even in the rainswept north of England. What began in the promise-laden days of spring with rides in Manchester and the New Forest, gave way to jaunts from Ascot, Cambridge and Ripon in the long and balmy days of summer. Most recently, we rode from Sheffield and Ambleside into their respective national parks and capped the series off with an urban escape from central London. Read on for reports and galleries from the final three stops on our 2025 Brooks On Tour series of picnic rides around England.
Ambleside, home to Ghyllside Cycles, is a busy and popular town for visitors to the Lake District. It’s easy to see why. Smack bang in the heart of Beatrix Potter country, it’s the epitome of English rural charm set against a rugged backdrop of towering fells. Kevin Garner from Ghyllside explained a bit more of the shop’s history. “Ghyllside Cycles will be 65 years old in 2026. As a shop we specialise in touring and adventure bikes with brands like Surly, Salsa, Ritchey and Reilly. We have a great spread of customers and at any point in time, always have a number of our customers on some impressive long-distance touring adventures, or taking part in ultra races.”
While there’s a vibrant local community of cyclists, Kevin says he also sees a lot of people from further afield come through the doors at Ghyllside. “Being based in the Lake District we have a large number of tourists visiting each year from around the world, so we have customers spread all over. Our regulars ride a great variety of bikes, with many being on steel or titanium custom builds to provide that unbeatable ride quality and long lasting durability for the Lakes conditions.” One-such international face actually joined the ride from Ghyllside: Zeger Dox, who is currently riding his folding bike (complete with Cambium saddle) as far south as he can – from a starting point in North Cape, Norway. We wish him all the luck in his onward travels. On the day of the ride, 15 brave souls set out from Ghyllside, undeterred by a foreboding weather forecast. Quickly onto the shores of Windermere, then north-west via Hawkshead to Tarn Hows. There, the party settled down for the now-customary scones-with-a-view. “We got very lucky with the rain,” says Kevin. “We managed to miss most of heavy stuff that was forecast. A highlight for me was the clearing of the rain as we sat by Tarn Hows, revealing the great views across the tarn and over to the mountains. Our customers really enjoyed the ride and social element, many enjoying the chance to meet other riders from the area.” See if you can spot yourself in the photos by Andrew Barlow. Although situated a little bit outside the centre of the city, A Different Gear is Sheffield’s destination bike shop of record – and well worth the minor detour out of town. “We're Sheffield's only community-owned bike shop,” says Angela Walker, cycling projects manager. “It was set up by and continues to be managed by the Heeley Trust, a local charity that specialises in asset-based community development work, so serving our local community is paramount in everything we do.” “We do all the usual stuff that bike shops do – sales, repairs and servicing – but we believe that cycling should be accessible and affordable for everyone so, with that in mind, we also run a bike recycling scheme, low-cost reconditioned bikes, a DIY bike kitchen and an e-bike loan scheme. Our staff are also qualified cycle instructors, so if you can't ride we can even teach you how!”
While Brooks’ picnic rides are designed always with the intention of accessibility for all cyclists, there is simply no ‘easy’ way to cycle out of the hilly city of Sheffield. As such, this was perhaps the toughest ride in the series this year – purely in terms of metres climbed. With all that said, the sun shone on the riders and a peaceful picnic vibe prevailed with no-one left behind. Walker explained more. “Our picnic ride headed out into the Peak District to highlight just how accessible the National Park is from our Sheffield base. In the spirit of providing something for everyone we put on two rides simultaneously – one on-road and one-off road – meeting up for a morning cafe stop at David Mellor's Cutlery Works in Hathersage and climbing together up to our picnic spot at the base of possibly the most famous of the Peak District's edges, Stanage Edge.” A final pause was taken for refreshments at the Norfolk Arms situated above the city, with each rider choosing their own route back down from the moors at their own pace. Enjoy the photos by Dan Monaghan. Condor Cycles was founded in 1948 and in the eight decades of its existence, the name Condor has become synonymous with London cycling. While perhaps best known for making beautiful bicycles under its own name, Condor’s store in central London is also a hub for the great panoply of cyclists in the city. “Being based in the heart of central London, we see every kind of cyclist come through our doors,” says Claire Beaumont, Condor’s marketing manager. “Some are Condor riders; others drop in for a new set of tyres or a bit of advice. We tend to focus on road, gravel, touring, and track bikes rather than mountain biking, but we carry plenty of crossover components.”
Naturally, Brooks and Condor share a history, as Beaumont explains. “Brooks saddles featured on our race team bikes in the 1950s & 1960s, and those bikes went on to compete in the 1967 and 1968 Tour de France. While our roots are in performance cycling, our range has evolved over the years to include bikes for every kind of journey. One of the first female travel writers, Anne Mustoe, rode a Condor Cadet touring bike on her adventures across Syria, the Silk Road, and southern Europe.” With a central London start – Condor has been located on Gray’s Inn Road in Camden ever since its founding – some deft route planning was required to get riders off the main roads as quickly as possible. “We usually head out on 100km-plus loops to Hertfordshire, Surrey or do laps in Regent’s Park, since Condor is so central and it takes a bit of riding just to get out into the quieter lanes,” says Beaumont. “But for this route, which was just under 40km, we decided to head east towards the redeveloped Olympic Park and use light trails & woodland to get away from the traffic quickly.”
After darting through the back streets and passing by the Olympic park, the ride made it out into Epping Forest – long-held as the best sport for London cyclists in search of adventure. “The ride was a lot of fun – and for many people, it was probably the first time they’d ridden on light trails,” says Beaumont. “It was great to show everyone a different side of London. “My personal highlight was watching the group snake across the cycling and pedestrian bridge over the motorway in a very urban setting and then suddenly dip down into the Roding Valley Meadows Nature Reserve, which is a fairly new 23 kilometres of traffic-free cycle route. It was the perfect reminder of how much variety London has to offer.” Take a look through Joe McGorty's fine photos.

A wander by Windermere

Reaching peak enjoyment

Escaping the metropolis

These rides concluded our picnic-paced tour of England for 2025. Brooks would like to thank all the shops who hosted, and everyone who participated in any of the rides. See you in 2026?