For most who have swung a leg over a top tube, cycling often represents the chance to get away from it all; to escape the pressures of life’s 9-5 and concentrate on turning the pedals, not necessarily with a destination in mind, but instead just enjoying the journey.

It’s about exploration – whether touring from pub to pub, scaling a col in the French Alps, or, like me, just taking a cursory glance at the map before setting off with no particular objective. 

I’ve just returned from a few days off in Southwold, a small quintessentially English seaside town on the north Suffolk coast.

Along with my girlfriend, I took the test Trek Madone 5.2. With only five minutes needed to pop the wheels out and have everything packed up in the car, it seemed rude not to.

And when it came to riding, rather than stuffing a map in my jersey pocket, as happened in years gone by, my iPhone’s mapping did the trick. I’d only planned a short ride so only needed a quick look, before setting out, to ensure I was due to head out in the right direction.  

So, in contrast to normally having to ride out from central London, Suffolk offered the rare opportunity to clip-in and, within a few minutes, be enjoying the smooth, ever-so-gently undulating lanes, crossing the A12 dual carriageway which slices through the county before following my nose. Just cycling, seeking out dead quiet, previously unknown roads, rounding each corner with no knowledge of what comes next and enjoying the early spring rainbow of colour across the fields, meadows and gardens.

I passed through Wangford, Uggeshall, Stoven and Redisham [You sure about these – ed.?] – all small agricultural hamlets or villages, with farmers going about their early spring business and cows staring intently as I rode past. ‘What are you looking at?’ their eyes asked.

Then I turned up towards Beccles and, after a quick look at the map to get my bearings, looped back through Covehithe, Mutford, Henstead, Willingham St. Mary, Wrentham and South Cove before arriving back in Southwold.

Only two hours or so on the bike but all new territory under warm spring sunshine. Taking cycling back to basics.