With suitably melodramatic background music and available on demand in the UK from June 25th… From the filmmakers: “LE RIDE follows the story of the first English speaking team to ride in the toughest sporting event on earth, The Tour de France. In 1928 a small under-resourced, untested team from […]
In order to cycle the length of Japan (more details here), one of my priorities needs to be to get fit again. I’ve got plenty of time; 2020 is my planned departure date. Prior to all three of the long European cycles, I was cycling on a regular […]
A friend commented to me a few days ago that I seemed to be on a three-year cycle. Not a three-year ‘ride’, but a three-year ‘cycle’.
I often think that West Yorkshire – the county in which I now, once again, live – is a microcosm of Britain. Urban yet rural, modern yet old, beautiful yet ugly, cherished yet neglected… When I cycle, my commute to work, from near the village of Stainland to Square […]
In a stupendous example of failing to plan, after my talk on Friday evening and short cycle around Edinburg on Saturday morning, I was scratching my head as to what to do. Should I stay in Scotland, find somewhere to stay, do a little exploring on or off […]
The Australian film-maker Cameron Nichols featured on CyclingEurope.org back in September 2017 after having cycled the length of New Zealand and having produced a film about his adventure: Cycling The Long White Cloud. He’s been in contact regarding a new, rather different, film which makes for fun watching. […]
It was an all-too-brief visit to Edinburgh to speak at the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling at the weekend, but a thoroughly enjoyable one. The event is now in its sixth year and spans across 18 days in June – there are still plenty of things going on until […]
I now find myself with several ‘jobs’. Although no longer a full-time teacher, I continue to spend two or three days every week in schools. I visited one particular secondary today – Salendine Nook High near Huddersfield here in West Yorkshire – and found this. Worth sharing I […]
For those who like their cycling art just as much as their cycling facts and figures, this book could be for you: “Racing Bicycles: The Illustrated Story of Road Cycling“. “Everything you need to know about road cycling – the bikes, the races, the famous riders – in […]
Scotland is once again on my mind as, this coming weekend, I will be speaking at the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling (Friday, 6.30pm in the Pleasance Cabaret Bar – details and tickets here). The last time I visited the country was in 2014, shortly after the Commonwealth Games […]
It’s June 3rd, it’s World Bicycle Day and… it’s back! The Cycling Europe Podcast Episode 006 for June 2018 has just been published and awaits your ears to to turn in its direction and enjoy a bumper 73 minutes of cycling chat. This month you can… Relive last […]
The Cycle Touring Festival 2018 featuring Stephen Fabes, Libby Bowles, Sophie Esterer and Laura & Tim Moss, taking your bicycle on a train in northern England and William Manners, author of ‘Revolution: How The Bicycle Reinvented Modern Britain’.
The mini-series draws to a close with part five (links to parts one, two, three and four below) and a report from the upcoming Cycling Europe Podcast which will be published in its glorious entirety at the beginning of June. Trans Pennine Trains here in the north of […]
By Lee Dover Strength manifests itself in a number of ways, whether it be in strongman competitions or on the road. It’s not just squats and deadlifts which impress when showcasing this trait either, as speed, strength and stamina of insane magnitude can all make us pause and take […]
Well, it’s a world tour if you ignore the other 194 countries… More details below or by visiting the speaking page of CyclingEurope.org. 8th June 2018: Edinburgh Cycling Festival, Scotland 23rd June 2018: The York Rally, The Knavesmire, York 13th July 2018: Vélo Retro Festival, Ulverston, Cumbria 21st […]
Great news; these videos didn’t self-destruct on May 26th!
I mentioned in part one of the mini-series of posts that I had recently been asked to contribute my thoughts about travelling by train in Europe from the perspective of a cyclist for a report called The Great Train Comparison. The survey has now been published… …and the thoughts of […]
OK, perhaps not self-destruct but the videos will disappear on May 26th and they make for a good watch. There’s a good line in the French film Taxi 2 where one of the characters tells his girlfriend (who is keen on him arriving home to, well, ‘comfort’ here) […]
Here’s an interesting and important statement from Sustrans regarding the future of the National Cycle Network here in the UK. It’s worth a read: “The National Cycle Network (NCN) will undergo a major review of its walking and cycling routes to ensure they meet the highest design standards […]
The cycling-public transport mini-series of posts continues… It kicked off with my own story of how I managed to transport myself and Reggie the bike back from Nordkapp in August 2015 using an assortment of trains and ferries; that was Part One. Prompted by changes to their bicycle-carrying […]
I love the artwork for this. I’m sure the event is quite good too… “Montalcino’s long weekend will begin on Friday 25 and finish with the heroic ride on Sunday 27 May. Cyclists, enthusiasts and collectors of wonderful experiences from the Val d’Orcia and all over Europe will participate in […]
A heavy-duty bit of research has gone into this post. I hope someone finds it useful… Not so much about the ferries this time (if you want detailed information about taking your bicycle on a ferry there’s some useful advice here), it’s just the trains. If you read […]
Warning! There are some pretty pictures and videos in this post… …but I also need your opinions. Scroll to the foot of the post for more information… I don’t write murder mysteries. This is why I have no problem in revealing to anyone who hasn’t read Spain to Norway […]
Three years ago today, I trundled into Paris… …arriving in, well, triumph at the Arc de Triomphe late in the afternoon. Here’s how the story unfolded in ‘Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie‘: Having attempted to cycle several times along the Thames Valley into central London […]
So far we’ve got to number 10 in the list of my Top Fifteen Tips for Long-Distance Cycling… Do a trial run Never buy a one-person tent Don’t let the weather put you off If you see a mountain, cycle towards it Try to be lucky! Write about your […]
Three years ago today… Cycling along the Loire à Vélo / EuroVelo 6 / EuroVelo 3 (take your pick) in France.
I’m occasionally tweeted a picture of one of the books in far off locations. The latest addition to the collection is from Thomas Soininen – @dvlrnr – who is from Tallinn in Estonia. Here he is, book in hand, on a beach in Mexico. The books have travelled […]
They don’t call it Hardknott Pass for anything! With an energy-sapping gradient of one in three in places, only Rosedale Chimney in Yorkshire is anything like it. But having failed spectacularly once before, this time, I was determined to make it up in one go, without getting off […]
“Endurance athlete Sean Conway has set a new world record for the fastest, unsupported crossing of Europe by bicycle. Sean has broken the world record by 9 hours after cycling 3,980 miles (6,405 kilometres) in 24 days, 18 hours and 39 minutes. Sean cycled across Europe starting from […]
Here’s part two of the run down of Cycling Europe’s 15 Top Tips for Long-Distance Cycling as revealed at this year’s Cycle Touring Festival. You can read part one – tips 1 to 5 in detail – in this post on CyclingEurope.org but here’s a summary of what […]
Following last weekend’s Cycle Touring Festival in Clitheroe, this year’s Cycling Europe speaking tour moves on to… Edinburgh in June: I’ll be speaking on June 8th at 6.30pm in the Pleasance Cabaret Bar (!)… …and tickets can be purchased via the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling website. More generally, […]
For the past three years I’ve been honoured to give a talk at the Cycling Touring Festival in Clitheroe, Lancashire. It’s a wonderful, friendly event and this year was drenched in continuous sunshine from beginning to end. That aside, in each of those three years the festival has […]
You’re cycling down the road and you see something ahead of you on the tarmac. It’s not moving and appears somewhat flattened. Rubbish? Horse shit? A hub cap? You get a little closer and discover it’s none of these… it’s a hedgehog. Or rather it was. As the […]
Ready to be transported to a street in Egypt? Read on… The new podcast has actually been available to listen to for a few days here at CyclingEurope.org (via that button over there on the right or perhaps way down at the bottom if you’re on your phone) […]
What a good day… It’s been the fourth edition of Laura and Tim Moss’ Cycle Touring Festival in Clitheroe; I’ve been to three of them and it has been the best I’ve experienced so far. Great people, interesting stories and with my podcast hat on today was spent […]
One of my talks here at the Cycle Touring Festival was subtitled ’15 Top Tips for Long-Distance Cycle Touring’. I’ll post the list to CyclingEurope.org in the coming days. However, at number three in the list was ‘avoid flying with a bicycle’. Neil Wheadon, vet and cycle tour […]
One of the nicest things about the Cycle Touring Festival here in Clitheroe is the conversations that take place between the more formal sit-down-and-listen sessions. Earlier this evening I was approached by a chap called Robert, an academic at Reading University. We got chatting and it turns out […]
It’s that time of the year once again… I’m with my homies here in Clitheroe. Beautiful weather, interesting talk, nice food and decent beer. A quadruple whammy of goodness at the Cycle Touring Festival. I delivered two talks (‘Ten Years of Cycling Europe’ and ‘Podcasting on Tour’) and […]
Guest post by Michael Payne England is a beautiful country for cycling. Its famous countryside areas offer routes that are both challenging and picturesque, and in many cases you can also begin or end a cycling journey with a specific attraction or tourist destination. That way, you really […]
The great and the good of cycling out in force for the pre-event launch of this year’s Tour de Yorkshire; Welcome to Yorkshire’s Sir Gary Verity, the Tour de France’s Christian Prudhomme and La Vuelta’s Javier Guillén. Is that a sign that Spain’s big race might be coming […]
Not sure how many of days 1 to 4 upon which there will be comment on CyclingEurope.org but here I am on the eve of ‘Le Tour Yorkshire’ in Leeds. The (non-cycling) action kicks off at 6pm in Millennium Square with the usual razzmatazz associated with any big […]
Here’s the route of this year’s race combined with a few memories… Look out for more posts over the next few days on CyclingEurope.org from the heart of ‘Le Tour (…de Yorkshire)’!
Around the World with Tim Moss – ‘With The Sun on Our Right’, cycling the National Cycle Network routes 66 and 69 in Yorkshire, and sound effects…
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Cycling Europe website. It wasn’t called ‘Cycling Europe’ back in August 2008; it went by the rather more specific name of ‘Puglia 2010’ which made reference to the destination of my first trans-continental ride that was planned for the summer […]
I had one big job to do today and lots of little ones. The little ones have all been done, but the big one remains untouched… Such is life. More of the ‘big job’ in a few moments. One of the ‘little’ jobs was to erect the new […]
Guest post by Sasha Francis There really is a cycle route for everyone in the Lake District! Routes like The Lakes & Dales Loop cover some of the most beautiful parts of the landscape and as threatening as a 196-mile circular loop sounds, it’s easily broken down into […]
Three years ago today… I was nearing the end of the Spanish portion of my cycle from Tarifa to Nordkapp. Original post to CyclingEurope.org below the video (just look at that road surface!) & image.
An interesting take on cycling infrastructure in The Netherlands…
UPDATE: Tuesday 24th April 2018 I’ve gone for the Vango Force 10 Xenon UL 2+ (significantly reduced in price from Go Outdoors down to £222 with a bit of price matching and their offer to undercut any online price by 10%). Pity it’s green but there you go… Sunday […]
From the perspective of this seasoned continental cyclist, the best thing about a ferry is the fact that it isn’t an aeroplane. No hassle packing up the bike; just a case of riding over a ramp, finding a seat and relaxing while someone else does the hard work of […]
Regular readers of these posts will know that I quite often receive emails from people asking for information about cycling in Europe as occasionally I post my exchanges with such people on the website. In the case of Simon Ruddenklau, however, I didn’t. Perhaps it was a busy […]
Today you have a triple bill of media choice… CyclingEurope.org’s answer to the red button, albeit without a red button (or indeed any kind of button). If you’d like to be fully informed about my cycle from Huddersfield along route 69 (the ‘Birkby Bradley Greenway’ or ‘the place […]
In my experience, people are generally nice. Even if you travel to a country where, because of your pre-conceptions, you imagine that the people might not be so friendly, you are invariably proved wrong. In 2013 as I cycled ‘Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie‘, my […]
…or Crossing Europe On A Bike Called… Maggie? Perhaps not. Not on Maggie anyway. Sean Conway appears to have dumped poor Maggie for a newer model: Back in July 2017 Sean attempted to break the record for the fastest crossing of Europe by bicycle and it featured in this […]
The best thing about cycling to work is that work doesn’t start the moment you step into your car; it starts the moment you step off your bicycle… I usually do that here at The Piece Hall in Halifax, West Yorkshire, one of the country’s most surprising buildings.
Three years ago today… Three years! I desperately need a new long cycling journey to plan and execute.
Laura and Tim Moss spent 16 months cycling through 24 different countries around the world… …you can now read their book: With the Sun on Our Right – Cycling the world, meeting its people. More details on The Next Challenge website. Laura and Tim are the people behind The […]
Reflections on winter cycling, JOGLE with a twist, cycling motivation, Mercedes days, travelling in Spain and Germany, The HandleBards, the National Cycle Network in Yorkshire.
Yes, quite a long wait between episodes 3 and 4 but the April 2018 podcast is now available to download from iTunes or your preferred podcast provider. You can even listen to it directly from CyclingEurope.org – all the links can be found on the podcast page of CyclingEurope.org. […]
…well, Todmorden, at the far western extremity of Yorkshire and home via Mankinholes and the rather muddy canal side Route 66.
Ultimately, yes. I’ve postponed my plans for this weekend due to the weather forecast but the planning was not in vain. I am now much better prepared to shoot off for a few days of bike-packing than I was just a few days ago. Below is a record […]
This website is very nearly ten years old. Back in the early days(!) I used to answer many emails that I received on the website. In more recent years I haven’t done it so often but I’m going to do it now as this week I received two […]
Welcome to British Summer Time (or, indeed, Yorkshire Summer Time…) I never tire of watching this video: I made it as I cycled along this main road in the Dutch town of Vaals: I was close to the German border at the time, just a few kilometres from […]
It’s difficult to disagree with that, especially when it’s written about cycling and about one’s very own book. Here’s AJFrobisher’s full review of Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie as it appeared on Amazon.co.uk: “I cycle. I cycle a lot. 3,000 miles a year give or […]
A couple of European cycling-themed videos from Brut Nature FR, a French ‘new media’ company that seems to exist on social media but nowhere else. Anyway, I digress. Both are short and both worth watching; the first about the EuroVélo 6, the second about how the bicycle has […]
Now in its 4th year, the Cycle Touring Festival returns to Clitheroe in Lancashire over the May Bank Holiday weekend. It’s a wonderful few days of chat, food, films and beer… What’s not to like? Whether you’ve cycled around the world or just down to the shops, you’ll find […]
Scroll down for a free audio extract from ‘Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie’ Take 7 celebrities, 790 km, the fabulous scenery of northern Spain and a camera crew and behold! You’ve got a filmed travelogue to warm the winter nights (OK, it’s now spring but I […]
“C’est mieux que le bureau!” Indeed… one for the francophones. If you happen to be in Brussels this weekend, here’s something that you could do: Le Festival En Roue Libre 2018. The programme is here. If, like me, you’re going to be nowhere near Brussels (although you can […]
A package arrived this week from my publishers, Summersdale. See if you can spot something familiar is this video…
Bespoke features regularly on CyclingEurope.org – see these posts from the past – and it is now in its 8th year. As in most of the previous years, the event takes place in Bristol, just next to the main railway station, this year from April 20th to April […]
It’s nice to inspire others… Good luck Bob and bon voyage!
I was recently asked by the Calderdale branch of the Cyclists’ Touring Club, or CTC (or indeed ‘Cycling UK’) to give a speech at their annual prize-giving evening. As I had previously spoken to the group about my most recent journey (and book) from Spain to Norway, it […]
Well, that is the question… I was telephoned earlier this week by a chap called Jack: ‘Hi, I’m Jack from The Handlebars…‘ he said. I initially struggled to piece together what he was talking about; bicycles, plays, Romeo & Juliet… It then suddenly clicked; I’d misheard the name […]
When it comes to cycling, the Dutch know what they are talking about. The Netherlands has featured often on these pages although as a cyclist, I’ve only ever spent a day and a bit travelling in the country. Back in 2015, it was cycling day 42 of my […]
I find that by searching for ‘snow’ in the back catalogue of CyclingEurope.org posts, I’m not short of pretty photographs. From Oxfordshire, Yorkshire, Slovakia, France, Switzerland, Norway… There was even a film!
Cold? This might warm you up… …as might reading this; my 2nd (and favourite) book, Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie, where I cycled the length of the EuroVelo 8 from Greece to Portugal:
Yorkshire Summer Time starts on Sunday 25th March 2018. OK, so does British Summer Time, but bear with me… It finishes on Saturday 27th October 2018 and lasts for 217 days. The great thing about Yorkshire/British Summer Time is that it is handily located on the calendar when […]
I shouldn’t really mock the accent; it is, after all, my own… but this event – the first ever Cycle Expo in Yorkshire – from the 12th to the 14th October is something to look forward to. It will be taking place in Harrogate at the Yorkshire Event […]
‘…about the secret world of middle-aged men in Lycra.‘ I’m not sure, when I think about it, that I want to find out too much about the ‘secret’ lives of MAMILs, but this does look good and, if you happen to live anywhere within spitting (or perhaps more […]
As we probably all know (even if we’ve never had the chance to visit the country), Denmark is a great place to cycle. So is northern Germany, especially the one-time Danish territory of Schleswig-Holstein. The facilities on offer, the topology, the attitude of road users… it’s all, well, […]
Avid readers of CyclingEurope.org (I’m sure there must be one or two such people out there, no?) may remember this post from last March about my visit to the 2017 Sheffield Adventure Film Festival or SHAFF. Well, this week I have received an email about the 2018 festival […]
It was, at times, challenging on two wheels for me back in 2015; here’s someone cycling parts of Norway on one…
Well, not quite. More like losing my faith in the belief that cycling infrastructure here in the UK will ever improve. A report today from Cycling UK is headlined “Flatlining cycling numbers ‘failure by successive governments’” and it makes depressing reading. A few selected lowlights: In 1989 2% […]
From Sustrans: World record breaking cyclist Mark Beaumont is calling on families to take up the challenge of ‘Around the world in 10 days’ as part of Sustrans Big Pedal 2018 – a UK-wide event to get more young people cycling and scooting to school. The Big Pedal […]
The Adventure Junkies top 25 list is just out and CyclingEurope.org is up ten places at number 9: # BLOG SCORE 1 Bike Packing 268 2 Travelling Two 261 3 The Path Less Travelled 254 4 Tom’s Bike Trip 254 5 Rodadas 254 6 Bike Touring Pro 252 […]
This is all very reminiscent of planning past continental adventures, the only difference being that this one will be in my back yard of Yorkshire (read here to catch up on the plan). My maps have just arrived from Sustrans and they nearly cover all of Yorkshire. In […]
Second post of 2018. Second quote from a book – a different book – that I’m reading: “Cycling is a popular pastime in Yorkshire, especially in the industrial areas – there are no fewer than sixty clubs in West Yorkshire alone. Indeed, the county’s dedication to cycling led […]
I woke this morning to the sound the radio (that had been playing quietly all night although, having gone to bed beforehand, I have no recollection of hearing Big Ben at midnight). I stared around the room a little whilst at the same time trying to catch the […]
As 2017 draws to a close I take a few moments to look back over the 150 posts from the past 12 months on CyclingEurope.org. It started in reflective mood, looking forward to the publication of Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie in May. Here I […]
It’s been a quiet end-of-year here at CyclingEurope.org but it’s back to normal service in 2018, a year that marks the 10th anniversary of the site. Tempus fugit… The card, by the way, is courtesy of the Cambridge Cycle Campaign where I gave a talk earlier in the […]
Last week I was contacted by Nicholas Waite, a cyclist who is planning to travel from Tarifa to Nordkapp by bicycle in 2018. As with anyone attempting such a feat, he has done the wise thing and read my book: Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie […]
By Nancy Moss When looking to upgrade your bike for a more comfortable ride, cyclists will generally look to pedals, saddles and handlebars to make the difference as these are the three key touch points that connect you to your bike. Now while riders will generally spend a […]
…while I wait for the bus. Again. There are towns and cities across the globe; in the developed, developing and (probably even) the under-developed world where you can turn up at a bus / tram / train stop and, with a high degree of certainty, expect a simple […]
Cycling Plus is an admirable publication, even more so in November 2017 (issue 333) as ‘Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie‘ gets a mention…
Yes, it’s true… …however you write it, Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie and Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie are now available for Amazon Kindle for a mere 99 pence or 99 cents. (If you buy the paperbacks from Amazon you can download the […]
Some of you may have been there… look out for yourself if you were. The film does seem to link the two previous posts on CyclingEurope.org together quite nicely: the film-themed podcast and this morning’s cycle into the Peak District, just. Eroica Britannia is back in Derbyshire in […]
