A big cycling trip is something of which I, and we, have dreamed for many years. Ever since spending three weeks pedalling through Scandinavia alone in 2009, before that listening to Alastair Humphreys talk about his four years of bike-based wan... Read more
We are now on the Croatian island of Hvar, a little way off the coast from Split. We have taken a few days rest in a small apartment as a belated birthday treat. Last time we wrote properly we were in Italy and, even then, I used the opportunity... Read more
Big Cycle Part 4: Italy, a set on Flickr. Here are our pictures from our ride through northern Italy – Milan, Verona, Venice. Photo Blogs This photo blog is part of a series from our round-the-world bike trip. Here’s the rest of the... Read more
Travelling around the world for a year or more on a bicycle requires some significant travel insurance. Ours has been generously provided by Adventurers Insurance. They provide tailor-made insurance for activities like ours and have offered a 10... Read more
“It’ll be easy”, he said. “They manage the gradients over there. You just have to sit back and spin your feet round”. These were the wise words from our friend Dave, who had previously cycled through the Alps on a r... Read more
The Alps felt like our first proper test. We knew we could cycle 50 miles a day several days in a row with a heavy bike but neither of us had ever cycled over a 2,000-metre pass before now. It wasn’t as hard as we thought it might be and n... Read more
We pass through a succession of tiny villages, each identical to the last. Mass times are displayed on entry to the village and we stop to rest under the trees in the central square, watched over by the mairie. The war memorial displays the red... Read more
Big Cycle Part 2: Paris to Basel, a set on Flickr. Here’s a collection of photographs taken from our cycle between Paris and Basel, largely along the glorious EuroVelo 6 cycle route. You can browse them on Flickr (which might be easier and... Read more
A sudden bumping, a thwack thwack sound, a sinking heart. I shout ahead to Tim to wait while I dismount and check. Yep, another puncture. Punctures are a pain at any time, but especially when your bike is loaded up with panniers. They mean disma... Read more
We have been cycling for just a couple of weeks and, of course, the people we meet along the way ask us where we are headed. In the first week, joined by friends who were pedalling with us to Paris, following the Avenue Verte cycle route which c... Read more
After a pleasant week’s pedalling south east from Paris, we have reached Switzerland via a 200yd stretch of Germany. We followed the wonderful EuroVelo 6 cycle route for much of the way – traffic free, smooth ground, flat following a... Read more
