Category: Adventure

Episode 074: Cathryn Ramsden / Dale Majors / Gavin McCulloch / Rich Jeffriesย 

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Cathryn Ramsden cycled with her husband and son from Calais to Annecy. Dale Majors has cycled with his wife and six young children on several long trips across Europe and in the US. Gavin McCulloch cycled to Moscow from Scotland in 1990. Rich Jeffries was reluctant to cycle across Belgium but loved it! In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast they share their experiences in bite-sized interviews and monologues. How do you persuade a 12-year-old boy to cycle hundreds of kilometres? How do you manage the logistics of travelling as a family group of eight? How do you feed yourself in Russia when the supermarkets are full of beetroot? And how do you overcome the urge to give Belgium a wide berth?ย 

Camping Along The Avenue Verte In France

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One part of last year’s Grand Tour around Europe that I was particularly impressed by was the French section of the Avenue Verte that links London with Paris. I didn’t, of course, start in London; I joined the route in Dieppe and then headed south towards the French capital. It had everything that you might want when it comes to cycle touring; off-road cycling along disused railway lines, interesting places to visit, beautiful countryside and even for me in the summer of 2022, amazing weather.

The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 073 – Leigh Timmis – The Race Of Truth

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Disillusioned by life in the post-graduation rat race of the film industry, Leigh Timmis set off on his bike and spent seven years cycling around the world. When he finally returned home to the UK, he didnโ€™t reach for his pipe and slippers. Far from itโ€ฆโ€œIn 2018, Leigh Timmis became the fastest person to cycle across Europe โ€“ in just 16 days, 10 hours and 45 minutes โ€“ breaking the previous world record by an astonishing 8 days and 17 hours. But when he set out to break the record, Leigh wasnโ€™t just trying to conquer the roadโ€ฆ Although test results showed that he already had the physical ability of an elite athlete, something was holding him back: his troubled mindโ€ฆ Cycling for 14 hours a day, from the west coast of Portugal to the edge of Siberia, he embarked on far more than just a physical journey. The Race of Truthย is the remarkable true story of personal transformation against the clock, and the astonishing feats we can accomplish when we face up to our deepest fears.โ€

Episode 073: Leigh Timmis – The Race Of Truth

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Disillusioned by life in the post-graduation rat race of the film industry, Leigh Timmis set off on his bike and spent seven years cycling around the world. When he finally returned home to the UK, he didn’t reach for his pipe and slippers. Far from it… “In 2018, Leigh Timmis became the fastest person to cycle across Europe โ€“ in just 16 days, 10 hours and 45 minutes โ€“ breaking the previous world record by an astonishing 8 days and 17 hours. But when he set out to break the record, Leigh wasnโ€™t just trying to conquer the road… Although test results showed that he already had the physical ability of an elite athlete, something was holding him back: his troubled mind… Cycling for 14 hours a day, from the west coast of Portugal to the edge of Siberia, he embarked on far more than just a physical journey. The Race of Truthย is the remarkable true story of personal transformation against the clock, and the astonishing feats we can accomplish when we face up to our deepest fears.”

“How Did You Remember That?”

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It’s a question I am occasionally asked. My quest to re-cycle the route of last year’s Grand Tour around Europe in written form continues… Today I will hopefully ‘arrive’ in La Rochelle. It was one of the longest days of cycling from Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie to La Rochelle on the west coast of France. 140km in total. At least the landscape was flat and it was a beautifully sunny day. This is the fourth book that I will have written about my travels on a bike. When I think back to writing that first book, it was very much a detective job as I didn’t record much information about the cycle from southern England to southern Italy in 2010; a few short web posts, a few photos, no video to speak of and not even a GPS track. Why would I bother? It wasn’t as if I was ever going to need all that detail again…

EXCLUSIVE: Le Grand Tour – Day 26

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In the writing of the book about last year’s Grand Tour of Europe, I’ve arrived in the west of France, at a small family-run campsite near the coastal town of La Bernerie-en-Retz. I occasionally post what I’ve written to the website and below you can read my account of day 26 of the journey that took place in late July 2022. I have to say that this fourth book is taking me far longer to write than the previous books, but that’s for good reasons rather than bad. I have no pressure with this one. I ticked the box of having a book published through official channels with ‘Spain to Norway…’ and have as yet made no effort whatsoever to find a publisher for this fourth instalment of my travels. As a result, I have no deadline to finish the first draft. It will happen later in the year, perhaps even in early 2024 but I do feel that the quality of what I am writing is benefiting from the lack of external pressure. You may ultimately agree or disagree… but you might have to wait until the spring of 2024 to find out. If you are a publisher, feel free to get in touch.

The Culzean Way

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Here’s an interesting email from the cyclist and filmmaker Marcus Stitz… I’ve featured his films on CyclingEurope.org before; he is based in Scotland and many of his films are about routes in Scotland but he also ventures further afield. The Culzean Way, however, is one of his Scottish films and when I saw the name I did think it sounded familiar. I’ve just realised why… Culzean Castle!

Cycle Magazine June / July 2023… And Le Grand Tour

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Welcome to June… and to the summer of 2023. Well, if the first is your definition of summer. There are several from which to choose. My focus over the next few months will be continue to write the first draft of my new book about last year’s ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. I’m now heading south along the Vรฉlodyssรฉe in the west of France (day 25 of around 60) so I should have that draft ready by the end of the summer. However, earlier this year I was approached by Dan Joyce, the editor of Cycling UK’s Cycle magazine, asking if would be able to contribute an article about last year’s cycle. That article has now been published and if you are a member of Cycling UK, you should have received your copy of the magazine in the last few days. It’s the June / July issue.