Fingers Crossed?
Andrew
The 35 Degrees: The Map
Here’s the map (the first version at least). Feedback welcome.
The Three Peaks… Of Borrowdale
I’ve been distracted from the writing in the past couple of days. Here’s why:
“Cycling Is Big Business”
From the ECF, the European Cyclists’ Federation: “Featuring exclusive insights from professionals in the cycling sector as well as important data from our report on job creation in the European cycling economy, the #CyclingWorks video shows compelling arguments why investing in cycling pays off. Cycling is the transport sector […]
The 35 Degrees
EXCLUSIVE! The 35 Degrees: The Tenth Degree
The second exclusive extract from the upcoming book, The 35 Degrees: Tarifa to Nordkapp on a Bike Called Reggie which will hit the shelves later this year. As with the previous extract – the fifth degree – what you read below is, of course, subject to change but it hopefully gives […]
Life In The Yorkshire-Norwegian Media Spotlight
Earlier this week I received a call from the BBC. Now don’t get too excited as it wasn’t (yet) The One Show requesting that I become their cycling-travel expert. Perhaps one day… It was my friends at BBC Radio Leeds. If you remember, shortly before I set off […]
Cadair Idris: A Great Escape
…and here’s part two. (You will need to read the previous post if that makes no sense.) On Friday, at the invitation of a former teaching colleague and friend, I drove across to the west of Wales to climb a mountain. The plan was to climb during darkness, camp […]
How To Shoot Epic GoPro Videos
This post comes in two parts. Firstly, this very useful guide, courtesy of Currys PC World, all about how to make ‘epic’ GoPro videos… (part two coming up in a few minutes)
Meet The Cycling Author In May 2016…
…and probably his famous bike too. I’ll be talking at two events in May this year, on opposite sides of the Pennines. First up is this event at the Thompson-Jones Hall near Halifax in West Yorkshire on Saturday 7th May at 7pm: If you would like to reserve […]
The Yorkshire Schools Exploring Society: Borneo/Morocco 2017
If you know anyone who is aged 15 to 18 and who is currently in full-time education in Yorkshire, please pass on the details of these amazing expeditions that are now being organised by the Yorkshire Schools Exploring Society or YSES. The society has a long history of […]
Revolutions: Wandering And Wondering On A Sabbatical Year
Traveller and cyclist Pete Martin has written a new book and if you follow this link you can read an extended extract here on CyclingEurope.org. The publisher has provided the following below. For anyone travelling along Eurovelo 15, the Rhine Cycle Route, it’s probably worth a read. “This is an […]
World Book Day 2016
…and here is my favourite bit of shelf. The books say much about my life!
Cycling Holidays In Andalucia
By Geoff Cumming It is often said that the essence of Spain lies in the beautiful countryside, remarkable mountains, fascinating villages and the warmth and hospitality of the people of Andalucía. Cycling Andalucía, a small, friendly cycle touring company, has recently started offering cycle tours in the heart […]
EXCLUSIVE! The 35 Degrees: The Fifth Degree
It tends to go a bit quiet here on CyclingEurope.org as I’m writing the books but this should keep you occupied for a few minutes; the first exclusive(!) extract from the upcoming book, The 35 Degrees: Tarifa to Nordkapp on a Bike Called Reggie which will hit the shelves […]
Bicycle Traveler: Issue 10 Now Available (For Free!)
Here’s the link…
Norway, July 2015
Cycle Touring Festival 2016
Remember this? Perhaps some of you attended the event last year. I couldn’t as I was cycling somewhere in western Germany at the time, en route to Nordkapp. But the good news is that the event is back in 2016! Over the weekend of the 27th to the […]
Cycling Holidays In The Limousin
A few weeks ago I was contacted by Catherine and Jim who live in France. They invited me to visit their place in the Limousin but, alas, circumstances are not going to allow me to take them up on their offer. However, I did say that I would […]
Leeds Bicycle Film Club: The Kid With A Bike
From Ian Street of the Leeds Bicycle Film Club: Our February screening on 15 Feb will be the award winning The Kid With A Bike: Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, the deeply moving […]
The 35 Degrees: Tarifa to Nordkapp on a Bike Called Reggie
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 […]
Blazing Saddles Is Rising…
I had Reggie serviced after last summer’s Tarifa to Nordkapp cycle at my new local bike shop here in the Calder Valley, Blazing Saddles in Hebden Bridge. Alas, along with many other businesses in the valley towns of Elland, Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge, Blazing Saddles was […]
Henry Worsley
I heard this guy being interviewed on the radio last week and was struck by his quest to walk solo to the South Pole. A tragedy that he has died. When I was in Oslo last year I visited the The Fram Museum, an institution that tells the […]
Cycling… Japan
This caught my eye today. The maker of the video below – a chap called Jacob Laukaitis – emailed me earlier today with the link. For those of you who were paying attention last year, I did mention at some point after having cycled Tarifa to Nordkapp that the next […]
Still ‘Hot’!
It’s good to know that after all this time, Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie and Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie are still ‘hot’ in the eyes of Apple… We are in good company: Bryson, Palin, Beaumont, Kennedy, Orwell, Clarkson… Hopefully The 35 Degrees* […]
Vote For CyclingEurope.org!
We have been nominated for an award… (At last!). More details here. If you do vote for CyclingEurope.org, thanks.
Brandon Semenuk’s Stunning One-Shot Ride
This is not only astonishingly shot, but also very beautiful. Thanks to my German friend Claus in Stuttgart for pointing me in its direction. Enjoy! …and here is how they did it (there was I thinking it was a GoPro on a cheap drone…): I’m in the wrong job.
Our Little Valley…
Janapar – A Love Story
By Ian Street, Leeds Bicycle Film Club: We are going to kick off 2016 with Janapar an incredible story of adventure, love and enlightenment. Janapar is an award-winning true story, filmed over four years in thirty-two countries by one man on a bicycle. 23-year-old Tom Allen is all […]
2015/16…
2015 was a busy year… but here’s to 2016. Happy New Year!
Bike, The TV Channel!
If only I had SKY TV… Channel 464. Have you watched it? Seems to have a good variety of programming. Here’s the website and the Twitter feed. Here’s a reminder of my own latest contribution to the audio-visual world…
Year Round Essentials For Cycling
Last minute Christmas shopping? Here are some ideas from Halfords…
Challenges And Opportunities Of Yorkshire Hills: Part 2
This post will make more sense if you read the previous post – part 1 – first. Done that? Good. Then I’ll begin… I had certainly heard people mention Pennine Cycles before ever having discovered that it was the nearest dealer in Bianchi bicycles to where I now live in […]
Challenges And Opportunities Of Yorkshire Hills: Part 1
As the winter nights draw in (OK, for pedants, they have stopped doing that as we are now the 23rd December but you know what I mean…) and cycle touring in the northern hemisphere is left to the hardy adventure cyclists out there – I’m afraid to say that, […]
Danny MacAskill / Boneshaker
I was trying to find a link between these two cycling-related videos that appeared this week. Only when writing the title just now did the link become obvious; if you do what Danny MacAskill does… Of all MacAskill’s videos this is probably the most hair-raising. Worth 5 minutes of your […]
The Tour De Yorkshire 2016
Here are the stages… (More details here.)
“I Enjoyed Every Page Of The Trip – A Highly Recommended Read”
A couple of nice reviews for Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie (now only £8.99 in paperback!) in the past few days… Remember that signed copies of either or both books are available for Christmas presents. More details here. By L. Lane on 4 December 2015 The brilliant follow up […]
Bespoked 2016 – Europe’s Premier Handmade Bicycle Show
If you go to one bike show in 2016, I’d recommend this one. I went to the one held back in 2013. In 2014 it decamped from Bristol to the Olympic Velodrome in London. Not sure what happened in 2015 but it is certainly back in Bristol in 2016! […]
The 35 Degrees: Cycling Tarifa To Nordkapp – The Complete Photographic Collection
In their entirety, the photographs – yes, all of them! – are now available on the Cycling Europe on a Bike Called Reggie Facebook Page: Part 1: Spain Part 2: France Part 3: Belgium / The Netherlands Part 4: Germany Part 5: Denmark Part 6: Sweden Part 7: Norway […]
Norwegian American Weekly
What a great title for a newspaper. And in the next edition, I’m being interviewed! You can already read the article online. I do like the picture that they have chosen (and cropped, and perhaps even coloured?) to accompany the text. If I wasn’t already (quite rightly) committed […]
Sunday Morning Fiddling…
That’s not a euphemism. A few tweaks to the CyclingEurope.org homepage. Can anyone spot the changes?
The 2016 Prudentnial RideLondon 100 For Unicef
Pictures speak a thousand words… (…but here are a few anyway.) About Prudential ridelondon 100: Date: 31 July 2016 Location: London and Surrey Distance: 100 miles: 100 miles Description: Prudential RideLondon 100 is a cycle like no other. Starting in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the 100 mile race takes place exclusively […]
Andrew Neil Speaks Sense
A message for the Paris attackers from @afneil as he opens the show… #bbctw https://t.co/dYNQHQ3yGl — BBC This Week (@bbcthisweek) November 19, 2015 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Why?
Here’s the list, in pictorial form, of the current best sellers on Apple iBooks ‘Travel Writing’ section in the UK. Only two of the books on the list are, as far as I am aware, self-published. Since publication (in 2011 & 2014 respectively), those two self-published books have […]
The 35 Degrees: And We’re Off!
One of the greatest frustrations when writing Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie and subsequently Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie was the constant need to rearrange the windows on the laptop in order to see what I needed to refer to either online or elsewhere […]
Charging Gear While Cycling: Your Opinions Needed!
Last weekend I chatted on the phone to a student at Glasgow School of Art called Chiara. She had contacted me to talk about her plans to design an effective wind turbine for use on a bike while cycling. Here is a link to a survey that she has […]
Along The Med On A Bike Called Reggie: 100 Today! (Kind Of…)
Today has seen the posting of the 100th Amazon review for Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie.Below are reviews 97, 98, 99 and 100. Now, I really need to crack on with book 3… 5 Stars: Cracking Read By Book Addict on 8 November 2015 Couldn’t wait to start […]
Mark Beaumont: The North Coast 500
This brings back a few memories of my own cycle along the north and west of Scotland in 2014… “The North Coast 500 (NC500) has been hailed as Scotland’s version of Route 66 and contains over 500 miles of stunning coastal scenery, historic landmarks and thriving communities. Recently […]
Ride Of My Life: The Story Of The Bicycle
Originally posted on Leeds Bicycle Film Club by Ian Street “Amazingly my idea to have a monthly film night themed around the humble bike appears to be working and our November evening will be the thoroughly enjoyable documentary Ride of My Life: The Story of the Bicycle ‘Anyone […]
A Wonderful West Yorkshire Weekend
Tomorrow morning I return to the wonderful world of being a secondary school teacher. I left the classroom at the end of January in order to complete my litttle 8,000km cycle across the continent… But it’s now time to get back to work! My final weekend of under-employment […]
7 Of The UK’S Scariest Cycling Routes
By Phil Harvey With Halloween on the horizon, now is the perfect time to get your heart racing and your nerves on edge attempting these adrenalin pumping routes dotted around the UK. Recommended by the enthusiasts and experts at Formby Cycles, are you brave enough to try any […]
Bikmo Hits The Big Screen With 10 Epic Must-See Films This Halloween…
By Emily Dunlop With Halloween just around the corner, Bikmo Plus pay homage to the best horror films going, and the list just would not be complete without a thrilling cycling twist. The Shining Former Teacher turned Writer makes the foolish mistake of signing a contract to look […]
Spring 2016 Travel Bursary From Pannier
I’m not getting paid to post this by Pannier; I just think it’s a good idea! I don’t have plans for a long-distance cycle myself in 2016 (too busy writing a book!) but perhaps you do… “Pannier are excited to be offering two travel bursaries to travelling cyclists […]
The 35 Degrees: Teaser Trailer
OK, it won’t be a film (yet), but here’s a little teaser trailer (move over Star Wars and Spectre…) for the new book, The 35 Degrees: Heading North on a Bike Called Reggie…
Adventures In Ilkley, West Yorkshire
Reggie: Wheear ‘ast tha bin sin’ ah saw thee? Andrew: On Ilkley Moor, with my hat. The Mountain Equipment one that kept me warm in Norway. It’s a very fetching bright blue. Reggie: Wheear ‘ast tha bin sin’ ah saw thee, ah saw thee? Andrew: I just said; […]
The Decathlon Innovation Awards / The Aptonia Double Use System
A few weeks ago I received an invitation from Decathlon to attend the annual Decathlon Innovation Awards in Lille, France. Great! Well, in the end I had to withdraw as I had the slight matter of a job interview to attend last Friday… However, this is the product […]
The Tour De Yorkshire 2015
It’s been a quiet week at CyclingEurope.org; I’ve been busy getting a job! Anyway, I spotted this in an email that came from the organisers of the Tour de Yorkshire announcing the host towns for the 2016 race. Very pretty! (At the time I was somewhere in Spain/south […]
Heading North On A Bike Called Reggie: The Start!
Here it is… …the very first draft of the new book. Well, kind of. It is merely the posts that I wrote for CyclingEurope.org between setting off from southern Spain at the start of April to the moment I set foot on British soil again in early August […]
Useful Apps For Cyclists
By Thomas Carter Although the humble activity of cycling has been with us for around 200 years, the basic form of cycling hasn’t changed too dramatically. However, thanks to the digital revolution, there are now a many apps available to assist the modern cyclist. Navigation Despite the worldwide […]
The Bicycle Den, Hebden Bridge
I had a bacon butty at the Bicycle Den today… …and here is what the town centre looked like earlier in the beautiful early autumn day:
Felix Rides To Slovenia For Charity: Update
Felix Leckie (see the original post here) writes with an update about his cycle to and from Slovenia: Hi – For those of you who have sponsored me – Thank You! For those who haven’t heard what I got up to this summer with my dad then please […]
Another Post About Cycling Gear From, You Guessed It… Aldi!
There aren’t many material rewards to running this website; it is, at heart, a thinly-veiled vehicle for selling my books (What? You hadn’t noticed?!!) but I do hope that from time to time you find something of interest on these pages. That said, in the last couple of […]
Tarifa To Nordkapp In 66 Campsites
Between the nights of April 8th (Tarifa) and July 28th (Nordkapp), I was on the road for 111 days; 96 cycling days and 15 rest days. I stayed in at least 66 campsites for one or occasionally two nights. If you remember, I tried to post a picture via […]
Top 50 Bicycle Touring Blogs
Should you ever feel the need to wander elsewhere on the World Wide Web for your cycle touring information(!), this list produced by The Adventure Junkies is not a bad place to start. I hear the site at number 19 is worth a browse… TravellingTwo Bicycle Touring Pro […]
The Cycling Europe Film Festival!
Yesterday’s premiere of the film of the final 50km of this year’s cycle from Tarifa to Nordkapp reminds me that it isn’t my first foray into the world of film… Far from it! Here are a few I made earlier. Most are cycling-related, one isn’t: Cycling The Eurovelo […]
July 2015: Cycling Across The Island Of Nordkapp
A new short film… The final 50km or so of the epic 8,000km ride from Tarifa to Nordkapp. You may have seen bits of this before but not all of it, not in such high definition and certainly not with the added music! If you can’t spare 13 […]
Along The Med On A Bike Called Reggie: Review Round-Up
It’s been a while since I’ve gathered together recent reviews for Along The Med… (which is now just £8.99 in paperback, £1.99 on Kindle) but here are some that have been posted over the summer: A thoroughly engaging, well written account of an inspiring journey. (DB63) Inspiring and every […]
Exploration; Calderdale, The Arctic, The Mississippi…
Being temporarily somewhat underemployed – the supply teaching has yet to materialise to fill the gaps between procrastinating about writing book 3 – I have at least been afforded a bit of time to get out and see what’s happening in my new old home of Calderdale here in West […]
Bikmo Plus – Get Covered
Cycling Europe: Cakes Not Carbon, Pastries Not Petrol
A couple of weeks ago I received a text message from my cousin who was travelling through France by car. He had bumped into two cyclists who were in the process of crossing Europe – from Corfe Castle to Corfu – and he told them about this website. Their names […]
‘The Program’: New Trailer
If you are interested in cycling films and live near Leeds in West Yorkshire, you may be interested in the Leeds Bicycle Film Club that has recently been set up. More details on their website.
Halifax, West Yorkshire (Not Nova Scotia…)
Think of Halifax and most people think of a bank. Some (especially those online when using the hashtag #Halifax) assume we are talking Nova Scotia. When I think of Halifax I think of the place where I was born; the nearest large town to where I spent the first […]
Along the Med on a bike called Reggie: Andrew Sykes
Halifax Meets Paris, Copenhagen, Oslo (And 20 Other Places)
Today I am going to go and do in Halifax (the town where I was born) what I did earlier in the year in Gibraltar, Cadiz, Seville, Zafra, Salamanca, Zamora, Pamplona, Saumur, Tours, Orleans, Paris, Waterloo, Bremen, Hamburg, Mons Klint, Copenhagen, Helsingor, Gothenburg, Oslo, Trondheim, Tromso, Nordkapp and Bergen… …which, if you haven’t guessed, […]
Heading North On A Bike Called Reggie: First Thoughts…
Don’t get too excited – I haven’t yet started to write the thing – but I’ve just been trying to work out a structure for the new book. For the first two books I stuck to a format of a chapter per day. That worked well for book 1 and […]
Dear Andrew: Warts And All!
Last Monday I wrote a post entitled “September 1st 2015: Old Habits…” about my vague plans for my new working life here in Yorkshire. After reading what I wrote, Nigel McGillian made the following comment: “Andrew, well done on your decision to do what most of us would love to […]
Leeds Bicycle Film Club: “Rising From Ashes”
Hot on the heels of the first (sold out) event organised by Leeds cycling impresario Ian Street comes the follow up film, the documentary “Rising From Ashes“. I went along to the first night and it was thoroughly enjoyable evening; good film, good venue (The Reliance in Leeds), good […]
The Halifax Courier: Friday September 4th 2015
‘Triology’ is the local spelling of ‘trilogy’ by the way…
Cycle To Work Day: 3rd September 2015
By Benjamin Murray Cycle to Work day has been taking place today and it’s a superb way for employers to encourage their staff to be healthy and active! Getting involved Cycle to Work Day aims to increase the figure of 760,000 people in Britain who already regularly cycle to […]
September 1st 2015: Old Habits…
…die hard. The 1st September 2001 (or thereabouts) was the first time I experienced that first day back at school as a teacher. Today would have been my 15th first day back at school had I not taken the plunge and decided to quit my full-time teaching job […]
The Cycletrope By Tim Wheatley
This is fun! Here is Tim’s website and here is where you can find him on Twitter…
Bad News… Good News!
Whenever I post something about cycling – the previous post being a good example – I invariably receive at least one email or message or comment saying something along the lines of “All this cycling stuff is great Andrew but, quite frankly, I’d rather know more about the current […]
Sunday Cycling In The Calder Valley
This is once again my home territory and I have to say that on a day like today, with no wind to speak of and hazy sunshine, it compares very favourably indeed to anything that the continent can offer. My route took me from Blackley (the Yorkshire one) […]
Cycle To Work Day: Thursday 3rd September!
Full details on the Cycle To Work Day website…
Hardbrakers: From Budapest To Istanbul
“A bunch of young hipsters ride from Budapest to Istanbul…” That’s the first line uttered in the film and it tells you everything you need to know. I can only imagine that there gear is being carried by the camera crew. An interesting 30 minute watch as the […]
7 Top Tips For Choosing The Right Cycle Insurance
By Emily Dunlop of Bikmo Plus Make sure your kit is covered too Look for a cycle insurance policy which not only covers your bikes, but covers your kit and accessories too. It’s great to know your £5k Pinarello can be replaced after an incident, but what about the £250 […]
How To Go Green When You Travel
By Julie B. It does not always seem easy to be a green traveller, and it may appear almost impossible to journey around the world in an environmentally conscious way. But there are a few small changes you can make to your travels that can aid you in […]
For A Limited Period Only: Crossing Europe / Along The Med (On A Bike Called Reggie) Just £0.99 / $0.99 / €0.99
Did you follow Andrew as he cycled from Tarifa to Nordkapp earlier this summer? Are you yearning to read more tales about long days in the saddle? Well, for a very limited period, the ‘wonderful, witty, inspirational’ cycling travelogues ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie‘ and ‘Along […]
Leeds Bicycle Film Club: Academy Award™ Winning “Breaking Away”
Leeds Bicycle Film Club launches on Monday 24th August at The Reliance in Leeds! The first film to be shown is the 1979 cycling classic (and Oscar Academy Award™ winning) Breaking Away. I just bought my ticket from Eventbrite (only £4 + 89p admin fee!) so I’ll perhaps see you […]
“Really Good Read”
This is a very nice review for ‘Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie‘. Thanks Graham Hind!
Cycling From Tarifa To Nordkapp In 235 Blog Posts
Finally, here it is; the complete list of posts from this summer’s cycle from Tarifa to Nordkapp. In the reorganised framework of CyclingEurope.org you can find it under the ‘European Routes’ menu (Eurovelo 1) above and the listings for the individual countries can also be found in the […]
Reading And Writing Encouragement
Now back in the UK after my successful cycle from Tarifa to Nordkapp, at some point over the next few weeks (or more likely months) my mind will turn towards completing the European cycling trilogy of books that started with Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie and […]
Cycling Day T+11: Home…
Cycling Day T+11: The Final Morning
Another one of those nights of ‘rest’ rather than ‘sleep’ on the Pride of Rotterdam. Having completely forgotten that the clocks change upon arrival in the UK I was up and out of the cabin by 6:30am continental time, 5:30am British summer time. Two and a half hours […]
Cycling Day T+11: Yorkshire, England
I see land! British land; the spit of Flamborough Head at sunrise… CORRECTION! Spurn Point on the Humber! (Thank-you Mr. John Sykes of Elland.)
Cycling Day T+10: Hamburg HBF, Germany
A more organised second day of train travel (compared to the last-minute complexity of the trip from Hirtshals to Hamburg). Hamburg to Rotterdam by train – 3 of them – and then the ferry tonight at 9pm. That said, Deutsch Bahn decided to replace the first cycle-friendly IC […]
“Along The Med On A Bike Called Reggie” In A Library Near You…
From Kathryn, a librarian in Northumberland, on Twitter: “@kafylou: Did this display in work this week (a little late I know) the 1st book 2go was @CyclingEurope #ikidyounot #librarians”
Cycling Europe: The End Is Nigh
Back to the UK tomorrow evening…
Cycling Day T+8: A Return To Denmark (And Germany, I Hope…)
I thought this would be a complicated part of the journey home from Nordkapp, and so it is proving to be. It is only 11am but I am already on Danish train number 3… This is how it has so far panned out: Arrived in Hirtshal on the […]
Cycling Day T+8: Farvel Norge
After over five weeks of cycling and boating, it’s finally goodbye to Norway. I’ll be back one day (although perhaps not to Sortland…).
