I’m not usually in the habit of publishing verbatim a press release that has been sent in my direction but I’m going to make an exception. I’ve received an email from Lithuania Travel with some suggested cycling routes in Lithuania and the seven-point list is below. The furthest I’ve travelled in that direction on the bike is Copenhagen or, off the bike, Berlin, Czechia and Slovakia. I’ve never visited Poland or any of the countries to the east but clicking on the links in the list below, I am seduced by the landscape. More reminiscent of Scandinavia than anything ‘eastern bloc’.
Historically, cycling has not featured too much in the world of online gaming, mainly due to it being quite difficult to recreate the thrills and spills of road racing or long distance touring on PC or console. However, as that begins to change thanks to more immersive experiences and virtual reality apps, we thought it was time to take a look at the online games that are really beginning to harness the passion people have for two-wheeled pursuits. Here are some of the games out there in the online ether which are on trend and have decided to put cycling in the spotlight.
A few days ago I had the opportunity of hosting Markus’ talk at The Cycle Touring Festival. Following his presentation, I asked him if I could interview him for The Cycling Europe Podcast and I’m delighted to report that he said ‘yes’ and this afternoon I did just that…
Earlier today I had the privilege of introducing and later questioning the editor of Cycling UK’s Cycle Magazine, Dan Joyce, at the Cycle Touring Festival. Dan gave a talk about touring bikes. You can actually watch the presentation and question-answer session on the Cycle Touring Festival Facebook page (although you’ll need to sign in to Facebook and be a member of the Cycle Touring Festival group). Some of those attending the session asked if we could make the presentation that Dan used available as it contained a wealth of information. Well, here it is, as a video. You may need to pause the video to read all the slides. Each slide appears for 10 seconds. Enjoy! (Again…)
The virtual Cycle Touring Festival has got off to a good start – perhaps you have already ‘attended’ some of the events – and the programme continues throughout this week. There’s a full run-down of the live events in this post on CyclingEurope.org in which I made a passing reference to the ‘other events’ that form part of the festival. One of those is a programme of films and I’m slowly making my way through the listings. So far I’ve watched the following three films, each of which are very different in their style.
This weekend sees the start of the 2021 Cycle Touring Festival. It’s virtual once again so you can listen to the speakers and watch the films from the comfort of your own living room. You do need to register however for each of the sessions (delivered via Zoom) and you can full details on how to do that by visiting the Cycle Touring Festival website. My contribution this year will be mainly in the form of a short talk in the first session at 8pm on Friday 12th February. The theme is ‘touring in a time of COVID’ and I’ll be discussing the motivation behind setting off last summer to cycle to the four capital cities of the UK as well as the journey itself. Below are a few screenshots to whet your appetite. Look forward to seeing some of you there.
