It’s been half-term here in Calderdale. Wonderful. Plenty of time to relax, catch up with people and things, get in a bit of exercise (especially on the bike), read, clean the house, tinker with an upcoming presentation, watch TV, proof read the new book, chat to the publishers about […]
I’ve been asked to pass on this message from the charity Bipolar UK. Can you help them? Who we are: Bipolar UK is the national charity dedicated to supporting individuals and families affected by bipolar. Over a million people in the UK today have bipolar. We estimate that a […]
Some of you may remember that back in 2013 as I cycled from southern Greece to southern Portugal and shortly after arriving in France, I deviated slightly to the north north to meet a friend on a campsite in a small town called Villes-sur-Auzon. The reason? This is what […]
…and go for a ride.
…and more from ‘EwanRuns’ (one of the pupils at my school)
More beautiful watercolours from Maxine Dodd…
Great poster, let alone event… More details here. From the organisers; “Eroica Britannia, one of the most talked about events in the cycling and festival calendars has been hailed as one of this year’s most anticipated UK Family Festivals following an announcement that two iconic Headliners will be […]
Now available to book via School Speakers:
Welcome to 2017… and what an exciting year it should be. The new book – Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie – is out on May 11th and during April, May, June and beyond I’ll be up and down the country talking about the journey from […]
Mmm… A year that will go down in history for the wrong reasons although a year that, compared to 1350 (Black Death in Europe), 1914 and 1939, one that may soon be forgotten. Sense will prevail in European politics (although it may have us wondering why we went out of […]
Summersdale, the publishers of ‘Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie‘, have been in touch and, much to my delight, they would like to include some pictures in the new book. The absence of images from the first two books has been a complaint of many who have read […]
If my tentative plan to cycle from the top to the bottom of Japan in the summer of 2018 ever comes to fruition, it would be nice to do it on a new touring bike (sorry Reggie…). It would be equally nice to pay a return visit to […]
Well, it was the week before the week before Christmas but that makes less of a catchy title. I’ve just returned home after a week on the road; a mixture of business and pleasure. This was the main event of the week: That’s the Britannia Royal Navy College […]
An email from Welcome to Yorkshire, organisers of the Tour de Yorkshire: STAGE 1 on Friday 28th April will start in Bridlington and finish in Scarborough – 173km STAGE 2 on Saturday 29th April will start in Tadcaster and finish in Harrogate – 122.5km STAGE 3 on Sunday […]
News of the Eroica Britannia 2017 from the organisers…. “New Location, Record Ticket Sales, Harder Ride Routes! Eroica Britannia, the award winning 3-day family Festival and the gruelling World famous Bike Ride has today announced record breaking ticket sales, since going on sale less than a week ago […]
The first review of the translation of ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie‘ – ‘Attraverso l’Europe su una Bici di Nomme Reggie‘ – is in! “Ironico e sensibile, ma anche preciso e coraggioso senza apparire presuntuoso. Utilissima, per il lettore italiano, la visione del nostro Paese tramite gli […]
By Susan Reid World-record holding cyclist Ben Wood of Cross Hills has completed another gruelling cycling challenge – riding just over the equivalent height of Mount Everest in 24 hours and succeeding in raising over £6,000 for Candlelighters as a tribute to his best friend’s son who is […]
The Italian translation of ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie’ is now available to download as an eBook from Amazon, Apple iBooks and Kobo. «L’anno accademico doveva essere stato … Source: Attraverso L’Europa Su Una Bici Di Nome Reggie (2016)
Here’s news about a local cycling business that is helping build Yorkshire’s reputation as a world-class cycling destination: “Proud Yorkshireman and cyclist with 25 years’ experience, Charles Oxtoby set up Yorkshire Velo Tours in 2015, largely on the back of the visit of the Tour de France to […]
By Max Wegner Wearables or wearable technology devices are electronic gadgets that are designed to be easily and conveniently worn on the body. This technology typically offers scanning and sensory capability such as tracking of physiological function or biofeedback. A range of such devices can be seen on the […]
Did any of you see that my new book was published earlier this week? What? No? After all that hard toil along Europe’s cycle paths and effort invested at my computer in putting the story of a trans-continental cycle ride down on paper and you didn’t even notice? My marketing skills must […]
If you can get past Ben Fogle’s mis-pronunciation of ‘Sowerby’ (in fairness, only locals like me will spot that he is sounding the silent ‘w’), here’s an interesting watch on the ITV Hub which is available until the end of November (2016 that is if you happen to have […]
If you are near Reading on Monday 12th December or Portreath on Tuesday 13th December and would like to hear me speak about travelling from Tarifa to Nordkapp, this might be for you: Both events are FREE(!) and open to the public and both have Facebook ‘event pages’: […]
Under a rather gloomy sky, I took the new bike out for a proper spin yesterday – 55km – across all kinds of terrain. The observant of you will note the saddle has been changed – I bought a standard black Brooks earlier in the week – and […]
There has been a drip, drip… of information about the new book in recent weeks but I’m finally in a position to confirm the details in full. As you are probably aware, the book will be published by Summersdale next year. The date for publication has been set […]
I’ve triple checked and my diary is empty… Apart from the publication of STNOABCR (that’s ‘Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie‘…) by Summersdale! Available in all good bookshops (as well as a few rubbish ones). One day it might even be added to this list. Perhaps. […]
New edition of Bicycle Traveler Magazine available online now. Even if you don’t read the words, the photographs are wonderful! (And it’s free.)
A date for your diary if you happen to be near Reading on December 12th… “MEET ANDREW: FRENCH TEACHER, WRITER AND LONG-DISTANCE CYCLIST. NOW, MEET REGGIE, HIS BIKE. With two European cycling adventures already under his belt, Andrew was ready for a new challenge. Exchanging his job as […]
Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire: “We are delighted and honoured to announce that Yorkshire has been chosen to host the 2019 UCI Road World Championships. The sensational news was announced last night by UCI President Brian Cookson OBE live from Doha, Qatar which is […]
I’m still using the excuse that Reggie the Ridgeback Panorama is too heavy to use on a regular basis on the hills of Calderdale and West Yorkshire in general. It’s pathetic, I know, but there you go. When I lived in relatively flat Reading, Reggie was my ‘do-anything’ […]
Nice little video from Rapha… But do these guys ever chat? “For the launch of the new collection, three riders took a trip to northern Italy to explore the area surrounding the Messner Mountain Museums – Italian climber Reinhold Messner’s dedication to man’s encounter with mountains – in […]
An updated version of what you may have seen before. Can you spot the differences? But here’s something that you probably won’t have seen before; the map for the new book. Available in spring 2017 from all good bookshops…
An interesting angle on the new book; the most frequent 100 words (pre-publisher edit…).
There’s no getting away from the fact that it is now autumn. If you are a weather forecaster, it started weeks ago on September 1st. If you stick to the ‘old rules’, the autumn equinox was this week and in the next month or so the leaves will […]
The 218th review for Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie was posted on Amazon.co.uk yesterday. That’s exactly twice as many for Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie which now has 109 reviews. When it comes to the ratings, however, Along The Med is still in front […]
It’s been a quiet few days here on CyclingEurope.org as I have been busy editing down the draft manuscript of ‘Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie’ ready for submission to the publishers on October 3rd. I’m already on my second read through and I suspect there […]
I have mentioned Ian Street a few times on these pages in the past. He is the man behind the successful Leeds Bicycle Film Club (as heard on BBC Radio 4!) and his next project is… Pedalling Ideas. The clue is in the title of the event but here are […]
By Amy Shaw Winter is coming. But that doesn’t have to mean cycling hibernation for the next 6 months – the crisp morning air and crunch of leaves beneath tyres make it worth bracing the elements. Cycling in the upcoming winter months can mean riding at extreme intensities […]
From the sister site, apsykes.com…
I’m in the final throes of writing the new book and have arrived at the island of Andøya. This picture sums up cycling along the coast of northern Norway perfectly… I felt obliged to share it once again. (It originally appeared here.)
It was August 28th 2013 when I completed my cycle from southern Greece to southern Portugal. The full story here or the even fuller story here… And here are a few photographic memories. Full marks to anyone who can identify where they were taken; Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, […]
From the sister site…
I came across this article that I wrote for a bike insurance website last year when writing the new book, Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie, yesterday. It never appeared on CyclingEurope.org but here it is now… If you’re planning a long distance cycling trip, it’s important that […]
Here’s a post from 2014 about my visit to the Brompton factory in London. It was interesting to watch the documentary about building a Brompton bicycle this week on BBC1. Worth a look. Here’s the link.
A memorable final day of hiking; magnificent views of the Matterhorn after our final climb (and descent by train) of the trip… …preceded by an impromptu meeting with Theresa May, the new prime minister, in the morning. Here she is chatting to the senior walker of our […]
By Mark Shaw The Vélodyssée isn’t just long…it’s so long it stretches all the way to Devon! In fact, this incredible Atlantic coats cycling route extends for a full 1,245km, taking in glorious regions like Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Poitiou-Charentes and Aquitaine along the way. What’s more, with […]
It got really tough…
Don’t miss the video below the photographs!
It got tough. Snow, ice, steep mountains but ultimately good fun…
The weather has turned somewhat – I’m typing from the shelter of my tent with rain thundering down outside – but some spectacular hiking in France and Switzerland. Enjoy the photographs:
Reviews of the books are always welcome and here’s one that has taken the reviewer a considerable amount of time to write. I appreciate particularly the fair comments about the first two books being self-published and the downsides that come with that. It’s a timely opportunity to remind […]
From one of the stars of The 35 Degrees…
A quick, albeit temporary, escape from BREXIT Britain. Tomorrow I drive down to the Alps for two weeks of walking from Chamonix to Zermatt along the haute route… Watch this space.
Exactly one year ago today I arrived at Nordkapp, the northernmost point of Norway and continental Europe after a cycle of 7,776km. Here, for the first time in one post, the story of that final day – cycling day 96 – from Honningsvåg to Nordkapp:
Cycling day 95; the penultimate day on the road to Nordkapp, 365 days ago today…
Last year on July 26th I was almost there…
This film was shown on BBC2 this evening. Goodness knows why they hid it away at 10pm on a Sunday evening. It would have been better to show it at 8pm on Saturday night on BBC1. The trailer is below; the film itself available on the BBC iPlayer […]
Here’s a nice place for a cycle; Calderdale. Anyone know it? And here’s a wonderful short film about the area that’s just been made by Shibden Digital: If you don’t know the area yet, you will soon, especially when The Piece Hall and Square Chapel Centre for the Arts […]
Starting to think about my walking holiday in the Alps. I set off next Thursday, driving down to Geneva to join a group who will have arrived by plane. From there we go to Chamonix and walk the classic ‘Haute Route’ to Zermatt in Switzerland. More details here. […]
When I think back to last year’s cycle from Tarifa to Nordkapp, these are two of the photographs I think about most. they were taken near Tromsø in Norway on this day in 2015… Here they are again, unfiltered and filtered:
The sun has set over another academic year… For the second half of the 2015/16 school year I have been working at The Brooksbank School in Elland as a maths / French / cover teacher. It also happens to be the school that I attended myself, far too […]
6 years ago today, I pushed the bike out of my flat in Reading and set off on a cycle to southern Italy. Here’s how day 1 was blogged at the time: La Via Romeo Francigena / Eurovelo 5 The Send Off Party! Iconic Location No. 1: Windsor Castle […]
I was fortunate to cycle through Nice in August 2013 after having spent six weeks in the city during early 2000. A real tragedy in a beautiful city. When you watch the news today, don’t forget what it normally looks like. And make sure you visit one day.
Coming soon, the Italian translation of ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie‘. Here’s the prologue, translated by Enrico Antonio Mion: Prologo Vendono una maglietta con scritto che esistono tre ragioni per diventare insegnante: Natale, Pasqua e l’estate. Sebbene non concordi con questo sentimento cinico, vi è un […]
NOTE: THIS IS REBLOGGED FROM A THIRD PARTY WEBSITE. IT IS NOT THE INTENTION OF ANDREW SYKES TO CYCLE THIS ROUTE IN 2017. Eurovelo 12, The North Sea Cycle Route…
A review of things cycling in and around Leeds in the coming weeks and months…
This Thursday, 14th July 2016, the Tour de France once again points its riders in the direction of the summit of Mont Ventoux in the south of France. As I was cycling from Cape Sounio in southern Greece to Cape St. Vincent in southern Portugal in the hot […]
I’m loving these posts from Maxine Dodd. Very good indeed.
Back on this day in 2013, I was cycling through northern Greece heading for the border with Albania. Andy Murray had just won his first Wimbledon title…
(Updated July 2016) I have (obviously) not included the bike itself – a 2010 Ridgeback Panorama, the four Ortlieb Roller Plus Panniers or any clothing. Exped dry bags Waterproof Ortlieb map holder Robens Osprey 2 tent Mountain Equipment sleeping bag Decathlon sleeping bag line PowerMonkey Extreme rechargeable battery and […]
I’ve recently republished some of the posts I wrote during some of the cycles of the past few years. I was wondering if there had been a few days when I had been cycling in each of my five ‘cycling years’. Alas the answer is ‘no’… …but I find […]
These evoke memories of cycling in the area of Saumur last year en route to Nordkapp…
Another bicycle-meets-film event from Leeds’ greatest bicycle impresario… Mr Ian Street:
Today, for the first time in my eight-year blogging career I was asked to give someone face-to-face advice about running a successful ‘adventure’ website. The person concerned is Mike, a geography teacher at the school where I’ve been working since earlier in the year. This is one of […]
On this day, 2013…
Every so often a company called Vuelio creates a list of cycling blogs that they consider to be ‘influential’. Not sure how they quite work that out but the list has just been updated and, as before, CyclingEurope.org is in there at number 3. If you visit the […]
From Kevin Mayne of the European Cyclists’ Federation:
Now I’m already a fan of the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre but whilst looking up its exact specifications for the new book, I found this. Not sure I would dare…
Does it exist? Apparently so… I know this as last week I received an email from Ben Black of Beer 52 in Edinburgh. “I wondered if you would like to review our craft beer club – Beer52. It may seem like a digression from your normal posts, but […]
I’ve spent the last couple of hours examining the Copenhagen Bicycle Strategy 2011-2025 as part of my research for the new book. It’s enough to make your average British cyclist weep. Well worth a read but have tissues to hand… Draft extract from The 35 Degrees: Tarifa to Nordkapp on […]
A year ago today, en route to Nordkapp, Norway…
In preparation for the publication of the final book in the popular and acclaimed European cycling trilogy (The 35 Degrees: Tarifa to Nordkapp on a Bike Called Reggie, published in spring 2017 from Summersdale) until August 31st… CROSSING EUROPE… / ALONG THE MED… JUST £1.99 / $2.99 / €2.99 Latest Reviews for Crossing Europe on a […]
On this day three years ago…
The Tour de France 2016 is almost upon us and SIS have created an infographic that gives an insight into how the riders in Team Sky stayed fuelled during those long days in the saddle. I have to say my own approach as I cycled across Europe was […]
An updated promotion video for The 35 Degrees: Tarifa to Nordkapp on a Bike Called Reggie, published by Summersdale in spring 2017.
I’m a GoPro fan – see some of my videos here – so this caught my eye…
By Samantha Long It is one of cycling’s greatest conundrums; greater even than the matter of deciding who is the all-time best cyclist. Or what is the most challenging climb? Or where is the most spectacular ride in the world? The question in question is… A lovely relaxing […]
Just arrived home after a weekend visiting friends back in my old life in Reading… and discovered these items of great beauty on the doorstep. They have been sent by Laurence King Publishing and are very nice indeed; The Cyclist’s Bucket List, A Road Bike Journal and Le Tour […]
I only have one bike, a touring bike obviously, so when I saw a link to this article on the RoadCC website, I was immediately interested. What do you think? Why your next bike should be a touring bike—the most versatile bike type around#cyclinghttps://t.co/7oZLSs3AD9 pic.twitter.com/CXljTDttvG — road.cc (@roadcc) […]
Normal service is resumed… And to get us going how about a little reminiscing; 100 photos from last year’s cycle from Tarifa to Nordkapp. The 35 Degrees: Tarifa to Nordkapp on a Bike Called Reggie will be published by Summersdale in spring 2017. Available in all good bookshops […]
