Posts in category Blog

Dragons, bicycles and life

When I recently mentioned on a forum that I’d “rescued” the frame for my new bike someone wrote: ” I think most of us are still reeling from the fact such a thing of beauty could in any way be rescued… it’s like the start of a fairy story, we want to know more, were there dragons involved…” So [...]

An unlikely journey : Visiting ”...

I’d booked the Ijmuiden-Newcastle ferry a week earlier and hadn’t been disappointed by the price. After another summer season working more than I’d like to I was ready to hit the road again. Lacking inspiration, funds and interest for a far away or long trip I went for something closer to home and the fact I hadn’t vis [...]

Winter Cycling in Canada

December 2013 I took the next step in my winter cycle touring experiment by heading to Canada to attempt to cycle the Trans Labrador highway. The Trans Lab claims to be one of the longest stretches of road in Canada without services. This winter had the coldest December in more than 10 years, bringing with it extreme winds and temperatures [...]

‘The Canadian’ A journey ...

I’ve always found something strangely romantic about long distance train journeys, slowly meandering across continents in a classic form of mass public transport. Trains bring a touch of class, comfort, space and a social aspect long lost in the modern world of cheap, fast, anti-social cattle transport we call aviation. I arrived on t [...]

Packing list for 10 weeks winter cycl...

So, with the lessons learned during the trip last winter and almost a year to think about this trip, here’s my new and improved gear list for 10 weeks cycling and camping at between -15 and -40. a-d Home made cooking box for efficient snow melting and cooking. Stove: Optimus nova plus incl spare pump + 2x XL fuel bottles MSR Titan p [...]

About growing up – A life in re...

“You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.” Abraham Lincoln At the age of three I’d decided that when a grew up I’d be a soldier. When the fire brigade came to put out a field fire at our country home when I was four , it was obvious that I should grow up to become a fireman. By the [...]

Winter cycle touring basic tips

“Don’t eat yellow snow.” Is the winter tip we all know. I posted lots of info, tips and trip winter trip reports >HERE<, but here is a summary of my tips on winter cycle touring. These tips are aimed as an introduction for people planning to cycle and camp in the extreme cold. I learned most of my lessons the hard way [...]

The confession : Icenutz pt 2

So everyone thought I was nutz to go cycling in Northern Europe last winter. So now the confession, that was infact just a test ride for bigger things….. Three weeks in Northern Scandanavia with shops and towns most days and a cycling partner was a nice “safe” way to learn the lessons needed to be learned for extreme winter [...]

Long term bicycle travel insurance

The long term bicycle trip insurance mine field! In preparation for my trip through Africa I spent a lot of time looking into travel insurance. I thought I’d be done in no time but all that small print proved to be a problem. The info below is aimed at my own trip, but just maybe its of some help to others. I will try to add to this inf [...]

Shane’s dirty dozen

As of this moment, I’d stack them up against any men in the Army. The Dirty Dozen (1967) I had planned to keep my blog alive this summer with the occasional guest post from some friends and cyclists I follow but instead went for an easy option for them (and therefore got some co-operations). I’ve asked a dozen( more of a baker& [...]

Carrying luggage on a Brompton foldin...

I’m sure many people like myself have wondered how to get enough luggage on a Brompton for a couple of weeks touring. Last weekend I went away for a few days with friends and was able to try out various options. Here Andrew of Travellingtwo has a bar bag, Radical design Brompton “Rack sack” and a Cougar 1 trailer to transpo [...]

What does a sabbatical cost?

How can you take so much time off work? How do you finance a big cycle touring trip? Is cycle touring expensive? Questions I get asked a lot. This morning I got another one of those “How do you do it?” emails from a blog reader. Now almost 18 months since I had my last day at work and more than €15,000 poorer, with a hint of work [...]