I suppose it’s the time of year that long-distance cyclists worth their salt come out of relative hibernation and start setting off on great adventures. Apart from me… And that’s a fact that makes me a bit jealous of the three people who I am about to mention who are all off on their travels soon. In fact, two of them have already set off.

I’ve mentioned all three of them on here before; Barbara Frost, ‘Specialized Guy’ & Chris Gruar. Barbara sets off at the end of the month (she is the ‘go soon’) and is going to be cycling from Rome to Reading in Berkshire via the Italian and French Rivieras, Lyon, Paris & Calais. Although she is a pensioner (only just!) she’s an experienced cyclist having completed various ‘challenges’ as she calls them including an eventful journey from Lands End to John O’Groats a couple of years ago. I had dinner with Barbara and her husband last night and she is certainly all prepared for the ride. She is due back in the UK towards the end of May. Her website – GoingTheDistance1 – is here.

‘Specialized Guy’ set off a couple of days ago. I’m not actually sure what his proper name is and to make life even more complicated, he also goes by the pseudonym ‘The Cycle Guy’ – that’s the URL of his website which is curiously named ‘Obsessive Compulsive Cycling Disorder’. Not sure if that’s a curable disease or not… I tend to keep in contact with ‘specialized guy’ via Twitter and so can you if you follow this link. In his own words; “From 1st April, 2012, I will embark on a wwoofing adventure along the Eurovelo routes of Europe.” ‘Woofing’, if you are unaware (I was until I first bumped into him in the virtual world) is the art of working on worldwide organic farms – see this site for more details – which is what he will be doing throughout Europe. It will be interesting to see what route he eventually traces.

Chris Gruar is in a different league of cycle-touring. An Australian teacher, he has just set off from his adopted home in Leeds where he was working in a local school, to cycle all the way back to Australia in aid of cancer research. His website – Cycling4Cancer – is here. I take my hat off to all three of these cyclists but especially to Chris; what an adventure! He sums it up very well in the interview below with BBC Radio Leeds that was broadcast earlier this week. I wish all three of them bon voyage and I’ll be reporting upon their progress here at CyclingEurope.org over the course of the next few months.