It’s taken a while to get started but start I have; The 35 Degrees: Tarifa to Nordkapp on a Bike Called Reggie is now in production and here’s an exclusive sneak preview of the very first chapter of the upcoming book…

“It may not have required great feats of physical effort, but in many senses a long journey had just finished. It was Thursday 9th April 2015 and I was standing on the blustery edge of the Isla de la Palomas less than a kilometre to the south of the surfing mecca that is Tarifa in southern Spain. My body was, for a few minutes at least, in the unique position of being host to the southernmost beating human heart on the continental mainland of Europe. I dare say there were probably a few rodents and perhaps even a snake or two scurrying around in the rocky undergrowth that separated me from the sea, but as far as homo sapiens go, I was Europe’s most southerly man. (Or woman.) Had I chosen to wade out a few metres into the Strait of Gibraltar I would have been floating at a point precisely 36 degrees north of the equator. The plan was to cycle from this southernmost point of Europe to the northernmost point at Nordkapp in Norway, a position on the planet that is precisely 71°10’21” (that’s degrees, minutes and seconds for those of you who never paid attention in Geography lessons at school) north of the equator. Give or take a few minutes (and unless I myself wasn’t paying attention in Maths), that’s a journey of 35°. Or 35 degrees, hence the title of this book. I’m glad we’ve got that sorted out at such an early stage.”

My uncle has been in touch regarding the use of Homo sapiens… Here’s an update: