Welcome to Rob's World, the (cheesily titled) homepage of Robin Rainton.
Given I'm mainly too lazy/busy (take your pick) to write a full 'blog very often there's now a Microblog which I share to ... maybe a few other places don't share on social platforms anymore due to their enshittification.
Microblog... everyday ramblings interspersed with posts from trips and other activities.
Friday 29 May 2026
Today's ride: Beautiful Lac d'Estaing 
Wednesday 27 May 2026
Sunset apperos on the terrace... cheers! 
Wednesday 27 May 2026
Just for a change... Tourmalet happy snaps on the descent to Bareges (West) side. Another perfect day
Sunday 24 May 2026
Today's ride: another beautiful day up the Col d'Aspin
Saturday 23 May 2026
Bumping into friends at the local market. Coffee stop is good to watch the world go by & enjoy a few tasty treats
Thursday 21 May 2026
First Tourmalet of the year! Can't believe it's taken until mid-May to get up here, but... busy, busy & all that! 
Tuesday 19 May 2026
What's that you say? Chocolate filled croissants for only 79c? Oh, go on then!
Wednesday 13 May 2026
Short after-lunch stroll around Ainsa. What a lovely afternoon But that's all for now. So long Spain, hasta luego!
Wednesday 13 May 2026
Lunch in Ainsa. Our fave is closed so guess this place will just have to do Very nice sausage, chips & eggs. Nom!
Wednesday 13 May 2026
A closer look at Santuario de Torreciudad. I'll give them this: built in an amazing setting!
The below are collections of posts/images organised by trip or subject or other events. Click on the title or image to view each.
Krakow - Jun '26
Work in progress...
Spain - Apr/May '26
When a friend tells you they are planning a cycling long weekend in Caple... hmmmmmmm... what you gonna do!
Thanks to CEPC for letting me gatecrash their fun. Awesome few days riding with the crew on the Costa Blanca...
... before taking the slow road home along the coast & through the mountains. Was a great little Spring trip!
48 hours in San Sebastian - Jan '26
Birthday celebrations in our favourite culinary destination.
City Hopping Oct/Nov '25
When you need to be in the UK on a specific date, but your flight there is last of the summer schedule & can't book a return. Hmmmmm... what other route home might there be?
Fly Lourdes to London, Train to York then Edinburgh, fly to Vienna, train to Bratislava then Prague, fly to Rome then Lourdes.
We usually travel in the Happy Snail which can make visiting cities difficult. Great excuse to see a few capitals - York is the 'capital' of Yorkshire of course!
Not sure I would make a habit of this kind of thing, but for a couple of weeks this trip was lots of fun!
France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland - Aug/Sep '25
Our big trip for this year, with the goal to take in a couple new destinations - namely Croatia & Slovenia. But these are a long drive from home, so our journey there and back will all part of the adventure.
Quick stop in Provence, then a few nights in the Alps.
The Alps are where it really gets going for me with the first of many phenomenal cycling days. The riding on this trip was just out of this world. Sometimes I can't believe my luck, or what is still possible. Too many dream days out to re-list, just see below.
Continuing east and we pass the Italian lakes. They never disappoint & had another beautiful stopover by Garda. Then onto Croatia & Slovenia.
Croatia has some very cool & interesting coastal villages - love them! But the beaches as a whole were disappointing for me - far too rocky. Lucky we aren't really beach people 
Away from the coast, in the area we visited at least, lots of quiet, rolling countryside was wonderful. There's nothing like seeing more deer than people while out on your morning ride! Then Plitvice Lakes - wow!
Next, Slovenia. I found this place a real treat! Wine regions were beautiful & well kept, and as a cyclist loved the mountainous border with Italy & Austria. Then Lake Bled - deserves another wow!
Turning towards home, a short stop in Austria - you just had to have a dip when by camping by an Austrian lake, right? Into Switzerland for more riding and hiking - favourite walk of the trip for some, which is hardly surprising - it is Switzerland after all!
At this point we really should have gone straight to the Med. coast due to huge storms forecast in the Alps, but choosing that final hike in Switzerland over a day of driving meant staying further north than planned. Near Lake Como we took some happy snaps in the late afternoon sun, before sleep... & waking to chaos in the way of torrential rain, floods & traffic snarl ups that this brings - doh! You can't win them all, but we only had 2 days of bad weather the entire trip, so I'll take that!
... and besides, when the weather is bad we just drive to where it's not - ending the day back in sunshine on the Italian Riviera
On such a journey, I often feel guilty for blasting through parts of France that are wonderful in their own right so looked for at least a few of new spots. Menton. Col de Turini. Sommières. Loved them all! In fact loved it all - what a month!
