Tag Archives: Alastair Humphreys

Freewheeling France

Posted on November 26, 2011 | 1 Comment

A couple of months ago, the editor of the Freewheeling France website approached me with a view to me contributing an article about the Eurovelo network specifically in France. I did, and the article has now appeared! In fact, it has been split into two articles; one about the Eurovelos which pass through France, and a second which gives a brief summary of all 14 of the Eurovelos. The site is well worth investigating beyond my articles, especially the interviews that have been published with some familar faces to those of you who have been reading CyclingEurope.org for some time, notably Mark Beaumont & Alastair Humphreys.

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A Night Of Small Adventures?

Posted on September 10, 2011 | 3 Comments

On August 6th, 2009, I was cycling through the Yorkshire Dales on my pre-Eurovelo 5 shakedown trying to work out if I was suited to long-distance cycling. I wrote the following comments on the blog; “On passing through a pristine village called Airton, I stopped to enquire if there was a shop or pub and got chatting to the bloke I had asked. He told me that a chap called Alastair Humphreys lives in the village and that he had cycled around the World and written about it.” I’d never heard of Alastair Humphreys at the time but when I finished my cycle along the Pennine Cycleway, I looked him up and bought his book, Moods Of Future Joys. It recounts his journey around the World; he set off with the intention of cycling to Australia but then, ten years ago tomorrow, the events of September 11th intervened and his journey took a turn through Africa instead of across what was about to become a bit of a continental battlefield. He is still in the adventure business. His website describes him as an ‘adventurer, author & motivational speaker’ and his list of exploits puts my two cycle trips into perspective to say the least. Over the last few years, he has started to organise ‘Nights of Adventure‘ which I mentioned about six months ago in my post Calling All Adventurers. I should really attend one of the events as they sound not only very informative but also quite a lot of fun. Yesterday, Alastair Tweeted ‘Fighting to make the world less boring: @theadventurists will liven up #NightofAdventure #Bristol – http://goo.gl/jxFsP @danadventurists‘ to which I Tweeted back ‘@Al_Humphreys @theadventurists @danadventurists How about a #NightofSmallAdventures for those of us who can’t quite manage the big ones?’. And much to my surprise, Alastair sent me a message explaining that it was an idea he had been toying with for a while and that if I had any thoughts, I should get in touch with him. I’ve been pondering such a Night of Small Adventures all day… What do you all you fellow small-time adventurers out there think?

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Calling All Adventurers!

Posted on March 5, 2011 | 4 Comments

You wait all week for a blog post and then four come along all at once! Sorry for the flood but remember that I am a teacher and only function on other levels on a weekend…

An interesting nudge from Iain Harper earlier this week (see Iain’s own blog by clicking here). He had received an email from Alastair Humphreys (how did you manage that Iain?), the guy who cycled around the World in late 2001 taking two years and then wrote two books about the experience. He is now a motivational speaker and all round “adventurer”. If I am Vauxhall Conference, he is Barclays Premiership. Anyway, here is the email that Iain has received;

Hi there,

As a fellow cycling enthusiast I wonder if you’d be willing to help me drum up some people for an event I’m arranging in London. The premise is simple: a big room, a bar, and a room full of people dreaming of adventure or who have been on adventures. A chance to ask questions and answer questions: http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/2011/03/plan-expedition-2/

If you follow the link, Alastair gives quite a bit of extra information about the event which takes place on the 7th April at 6.30pm at the Royal Geographical Society (on the corner between the Albert Hall & Imperial College) in London. It’s tempting as I do fall into the bracket of both having done a little adventure (Eurovelo 5) and planning another one (Eurovelo 8). I would imagine that I would be outshone by bearded students planning to cross the Siberian plains on a space hopper but it’s worth considering. I wonder if Iain is interested is going along too?

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Posted in Cycling, Eurovelo 5, Eurovelo 8

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The sora gruppo with deore rear mech

Posted on February 18, 2010 | 3 Comments

Jim, my kind-of relation in Cumbria writes and adds to the bike and GPS tracking debates;

Hello again Andrew 

Been a while since I last visited your site and you seem to have been very busy! Couple of things.  

The Ridgeback Panorama. I have had the model down from that (the Voyage, steel 520 Reynolds, 8 speed sora) and have done about 7000 miles in 20 months on it as my cycle to work/ hack/ winter bike. Only bad bit has been the wheels. Rims are a bit soft and spokes break on the rear drive side. The sora gruppo with deore rear mech has been bombproof. It is comfortable and shares geometry with the Panorama but not in the same exotic steel. I have found the 8 speed set up O.K. and less trouble than 9 or 10. which was an initial worry as my others are 9 and 10 speed. As always with a bike if you can try before you buy. Mine could probably do with a shorter stem…. It has been my first proper tourer. Like you, hybrids worked well for touring, and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one.  

GPS. Love hate. Nokia sports tracker! Love, love, hate, love , piece of sh…….t, love. Bloody unreliable. maps. If you lose one it’s a bitch.  

Went to see Alistair Humphrys last week. Read his stuff if you haven’t already…..  

 Best of luck.  

 Jim

Thanks for that Jim. Very useful…..although I haven’t got a clue what a “sora gruppo with deore rear mech” is. I suppose that is why Google was invented. [Pause for an Internet search.] Which gives me this nice picture. Something to do with the mechanism that moves the chain from the little cogs to the big cogs? God! That is horribly untechnical. I need to buy a bike repair manual. Jim: please comment below and put me out of my misery!!

 

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Messages from friends and a Friend

Posted on February 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

I honestly don’t write this blog for anyone apart from myself and to begin with that was fortunate as no-one else read it. However, as Google began to pick me up and as links began to appear elsewhere on the Internet directing people to this blog, I have developed a small audience; the list here shows the locations that have logged on to the blog in the last seven hours alone. It keeps me writing. What is really nice is when people email me or post a comment on the blog.

One person who has been in contact for some time is Massimo Mazzone. He is a keen cyclist who lives on the Eurovelo 5 route in Italy, in Benevento, half-way between Rome and Brindisi. He commented on my first attempt at an itinerary: ”I’m happy that you will spend a rest day in Benevento, we’ll do our best for a warm (and refreshing) welcome! After Rome, it’s nice to stop in Fiuggi but you will face quite as steepy road to get to the town. The following day you must stop and overnight in Cassino, possibly near-by the famous abbey. Afterward Cassino – Benevento is a bit long leg but mainly flat and pleasant”. I love the word steepy – it doesn’t sound anywhere near as threatening as the more stark steep. Thanks for that Massimo. He has his own blog – read it here!

Todd Rygh, who had asked some interesting questions as why I am doing this rather than what and where. I posted my response below last week and he has emailed back the following: ”Thanks for the thoughtful response. I will take the time to read and digest and comment fully on the blog. And I will keep following your writing. Thanks for willingness to share your plans and thoughts. And, if you choose to go, please report on the meeting of the Pilgrims to Rome! Last year when I was living in the UK I went to the Confraternity of St. James meeting and found it useful for practical matters. (Granted, it was the walk to Santiago, but the two organizations share the same mind set, building and most of the same individuals.) Several small but important details about the experience–usually particular places to stay, off-beat things to see or people to meet–I would have never known without a word of advice.” Again, thanks for that Todd. Now that I have been re-assured by the organisation themselves that I won’t be thrown out simply because of my own lack of religious belief, I’ll pop along to the meeting on the 6th March. See earlier post for details.

I don’t mind who you are or where you live or what you believe or what you think; I’m just glad to have the audience. However, it is especially nice when the celebrities of the cycling world get in touch. So far three have been in contact; Mark Beaumont, who responded to my question on Facebook about his tent with a nice email, Alastair Humphries who picked up on a comment I had made on here about visiting his home village in North Yorkshire last summer and now Bernie Friend, author of Cycling Back to Happiness, the book that I am currently reading. Bernie decided to cycle the North Sea Cycle Route to conquer his fears of travel and I recently quoted his saddle sores advice on here via my Twitter feed. He emails:

Hello Andrew,
Glad you picked up on the advice about how to use your fruit most effectively out in the field.
Hope you don’t ever have to go “Pro” during your five weeks in the saddle.
Sounds like a great trip and I have found the website very entertaining.
Good luck with it all. You are going to have the time of your life.
Yours very envious,
Bernie

What a nice message! Thanks Bernie.

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Adventurer Update

Posted on December 21, 2009 | Leave a comment
It’s been a while since I have mentioned any of the cycling adventurers who have inspired me over the past 18 months or so….
Mark Beaumont: he is in Peru and still going strong. Not sure when he is due to arrive in Ushuaia, Argentina – his final destination. He has mastered the Internet communication thing by having a blog, Facebook page and updates on Twitter apart from his own website. He is inspiration number 1! Forgot to mention his Flickr site as well! I’ve nicked his most recent photograph – here he is eating some Christmas Cake from his mum! Not sure about the Red Dwarf-style appendage to his forehead…
Oli Broom: he is cycling to the Ashes in Australia and has just arrived in Istanbul. The map on his website indicates that he is now about to head south and avoid the dodgy bits Middle East by cycling through Syria, Jordan etc… and then Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. That’s an interesting if extremely long way to avoid the areas where you could get killed! He then gets back on the usual route of the long-distance cyclist by heading for India.
Alastair Humphries: he is the guy who is based in North Yorkshire and who I first heard mentioned when I cycled through his village – Airton – last summer. It’s not immediately apparent what he is doing from reading his website. Resting?
James Bowthorpe: he broke Mark Beaumont’s record for cycling around the World – he did it in 150 days – arriving back in London on 19th September. He has posted a couple of times since on his blog, the last time was on the 5th October. Perhaps he has just slipped back into normality…
Wonder if any of them follow this blog (Mark and Alastair have emailed me in the past). If you do, how about a more detailed, personailsed update for Puglia2010.com ?

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Sunny Saturday catch up

Posted on September 12, 2009 | Leave a comment

“Ian invited you to join the Facebook group “Bugger off Facebook, it’s warm outside…!!”.” That was the email from Facebook. I joined but did point out on the group that I was not in Australia and that my days are getting colder. Although not today! Bright sunshine and a blue sky!
A catch up on things Puglia 2010:
This came back from Christian Ensslin at Sustrans
Andrew,
many thanks for your enquiry. The EuroVelo routes are still very much under development as a continuously signed and marketed route. On the ground however many of the routes already exist. In the UK, you would need to follow National Cycle Network route 4 to London / Greenwich, and then EV5 follows the route of National Cycle Network route 1 from Greenwich to Dover. Both these routes are fully signed.
To get contacts for the other countries, it would probably easiest to speak to the European Cyclist Federation, see http://www.ecf.com/13_1 for their contact details. They should be able to give you either a full itinerary or at least contact details for cycling organisations that know the route in the other countries.
I hope this helps and good luck with your tour.
Thanks Christian but I actually knew all that already. Interesting, however, that he thinks that the ECF should be able to furnish full route details. No response from them yet although I did notice some Brussels activity on the Live Traffic Feed. Perhaps they are going to suggest that I visit this site to get some detailed information. That would be an accolade of recognition!
Massimo Mazzone has left a comment on my entry below where I mention contacting the ECF and others. He says:
I’m looking forward to reading what ECF is going to answer you. Anyway, at the moment there is 1 only general map about the whole routes. Nothing detailed but somehow helpful. It’s published by Galli Verlag and I think you can order it on-line.On the back of the map, about eurovelo 5, you can find short route description. You get that the main connected cities are: London – Canterbury – Dover; Calais – Sain Omer – Lille – Ronse – Brussels – Namur – Luxenbourg – Schengen – Strasbourg – Colmar – Basel – Aarau – Lucerne – St.Gotthard Pass – Chiasso – Como – Roma – Brindisi.For the Rome – Brindisi leg I will provide you all the details in short time. I hope that other associations will do the same for their areas.cheers, Mas
Again, thanks Massimo: I already have the map. It is interesting to note that I have managed to sort out the bit from Reading to London and from Rome to Brindisi (courtesy of Massimo) but the bit that would be the “Via Fancigena” bit (albeit via very different towns and cities) is the most elusive!
Finally, a comment from Alastair Humphreys following my entry on here about first hearing from him on my travels this summer:
Glad you didn’t get run over in my home village of Airton!!How’s the planning for the rest of the world coming along?Al
The rest of the World will have to wait until I get London to Rome sorted…. Would like to respond to his comment but not sure how to do that. If I make a comment myself, does it find its way to him?

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Brown leaves and shorter evenings

Posted on August 29, 2009 | Leave a comment
If you look back at the post I made on Friday 29th August 2008, it was the last one I made until April 2009. I suppose the initial enthusiasm of cycling to Italy had started to dim after the frenzied activity of August, the leaves had started to turn brown, the days a little bit shorter and then of course, I had to go back to work. I sincerely hope that this gap will not be repeated this year – I don’t think my trip could survive a gap of seven months: I would never get everything sorted.
Reading Alastair Humphreys book about cycling around the world last night in bed, I took comfort from the following paragraphs where he is talking about starting to tell everyone of his plans to cycle around the world:
The happy daydreaming could have been fine if I had kept it to myself. My travels were little more than “dreams in the dusty recesses of my mind.” But the moment I began expanding my plans over reassuringly expensive pints of Stella Artois in Oxford pubs, I was trapped. Make a tall claim to a friend and, no matter how successful the beer helps forgive and forget his nocturnal indiscretions, he will pitilessly remind you of your boasts, until eventually there is no escape. So, word got out, and gradually the idle dream became a hectic reality.
I cycled to the supermarket this morning, passing the Great Unwashed making there way to the Reading Festival on the banks of the Thames. I noticed that the leaves on the trees had started to turn brown, the days are undeniably shorter and I return to school on Tuesday. My enthusiasm, however, remains high. But having only really started to make my plans known to friends and family, I know how Alastair Humphreys felt.

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From Mark Beaumont to Alastair Humphreys

Posted on August 25, 2009 | 2 Comments
I’ve just about finished reading Mark Beaumont’s book The Man Who Cycled The World. It’s a cracking read and doesn’t fall into the trap of being a repetitive log of getting up, cycling, eating and then sleeping which, in effect, is what he did for 195 consecutive days. I was also a little bit anxious before starting to read it that, having watched his TV documentary last year (see below), I already knew the story. That wasn’t an issue either: I was aware, for example that he had problems in Louisiana; an accident and getting mugged on the same day, but the quality of his writing gave the whole series of events a vivid re-telling. I say “just about finsihed” as I have still to read the appendix written by his mother who remained at home sorting out problems and dealing with the admin of cycling around the World. That should give the whole adventure a contrasting perspective.
So from Mark Beaumont to Alastair Humphreys. I first heard this guy’s name earlier in the summer. I’ll quote from my diary:
“The road out of Settle was hell and I resorted to pushing – John’s quote of “never be too proud to push” was in the back of my mind. Once the hill was conquered, I was back into open moorland for a while until the route started to fall into Airton. What a beautiful village. I fancied something to eat or drink and asked a chap who looked like a local: he was and when I gestured to him and turned my bike around, he pointed out that I was about to get run over by a lorry. Thanks! He told me there was a café, but no pub as it was a dry, Quaker village. This got us chatting. Back one step: as I was cycling down into Airton, I had been thinking about how I could enlarge my Puglia 2010 trip to become a World 2020 trip, i.e. for each summer to do the next leg of what would eventually be a cycle journey around the World. I could even start the whole thing in Berwick-upon-Tweed and include this summer’s efforts (but that would require me to also do Derby to Reading as well at some point). Anyway, back to Airton… the man – he was actually a history teacher – told me that a chap called Alastair Humphreys lived in the village & that he had cycled around the World – in about 440 days I seem to remember, or was that 44,000 miles? How strange is that? Destiny perhaps.”
I don’t know too much about Alastair Humphreys apart from that. I’m not even sure that I have got my facts correct over his journey taking either 440 days or 44,000 miles. What I do now know is that he has written a book – in two parts – about his adventure. I’ve just purchased part one so I am about to find out a lot about the guy. The blurb on the back says that his journey took him 4 years which implies that the 440 days statistic is not correct. Anyway, his book, called Moods of Future Joys (which is at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to saying what it does on the tin compared to The Man Who Cycled The World), will hopefully give me all the answers. Either that or his website www.alastairhumphreys.com .

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Posted in Pennine Cycleway

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Malham and the World

Posted on August 6, 2009 | Leave a comment

My pub crawl of the Dales continues… although this being lunchtime I kept off the beer. Another beautiful ride, despite another section of pushing just after Settle. Over the tops I came up with the idea of not just cycling to Puglia next year but of cycling around the World, doing another section each summer. On passing through a pristine village called Airton, I stopped to enquire if there was a shop or pub and got chatting to the bloke I had asked. He told me that a chap called Alastair Humphreys lives in the village and that he had cycled around the World and written about it. He did it in over 400 days – a bit longer than Mark Beaumont! But a strange coincidence nevertheless…

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