I went looking for the world.
I found a bird with the same name.

Peregrine is Latin for pilgrim. It's the name of a bird that wanders the earth and comes back.

I left England in 2009 and spent seventeen years doing the same thing. Now I live where they nest, and most mornings I ride down to see them.

The ride Read the long version

The coast path, before most people are awake.

About me

A peregrine falcon flying past sea cliffs

Falco peregrinus, over the cliffs at Boca do Inferno. Never guaranteed. That's rather the point.

I grew up in Wednesbury, in the heart of the Black Country, where the industrial revolution started. Sunday evenings my mum and dad would put the travel programmes on, and I'd watch Michael Palin cross a border I'd never heard of and think: there's more than this.

I didn't come from money, so I waited a long time. In 2009 I finally left.

Since then it's been over fifty countries, climbing in the Himalayas, trekking volcanoes, and a lot of years without anywhere I'd call home. I wasn't lost. But I was wandering.

The peregrine falcon nests in the cliffs here. Peregrine is Latin for pilgrim. It's the name given to a bird that crosses the earth and finds its way back to the same rock.

I didn't plan that. I found the bird after I found the coast, and it took me a while to notice what the name meant.

I'm not finished travelling. But I can open my door, ride down to the Atlantic, and watch the fastest animal on earth do what it does. I never imagined this was possible.

The rides I run are the ones I do anyway. I'd just rather not do them alone.

The whole story

An e-bike leaning on a stone wall on the coast road above the Atlantic

Four people. One coast.

The e-bike takes the hills out of the equation, so we get the whole coast, up into Sintra, and to the viewpoints most people never reach. Peninha on a clear morning shows you the entire coastline in one turn of the head.

Four guests

Not because it's exclusive. Five is a group and four is a conversation.

Early starts

Fifty countries taught me the same thing every time: go early, go under your own power, and the place shows you something.

The falcon, if we're lucky

The fastest animal on earth nests twenty minutes from Lisbon. Most people drive straight past. I can't promise you a sighting, which is what makes it good when it happens.

Prints

I photograph them when I'm lucky. Those prints are available if you want one.

If you've ever looked at a screen and thought there's more than this, I know exactly where you're standing.

Four people at a time, most mornings, from Cascais up into Sintra and back down to the sea. Send me a note and tell me when you're around.