Tag: Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie

‘Le Grand Tour’: The Audiobook

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Over the years, many people have asked why there isn’t an audio book version of any of the books I have written. Well, I’d love to say that I had the time, resources and technical know-how required to embark upon such a feat. I can cope with making podcasts which don’t require stringent adherence to technical standards and in which my ropey diction can be forgiven (hopefully) by the listeners. But an audio book? I have tried on occasions to record something but I’m no Stephen Fry. The attempts have been quickly abandoned. However, I have news…

Re: Cycling (And Books)

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Happy New Year! I’ve just returned from feeding my brother’s cats. He’s in Australia at the moment and the journey to his house – invariably made on foot or on the bike (but admittedly all too often in the car…) – gets me out of the house in the deep mid-winter. I shan’t dwell upon the fact that at the start of my return walk I was viciously attacked in the right eye by a lethal wreath of holly (ultimately it came off worse than I did) and focus on what I’ve just spent the past hour and a bit listening to as I wandered home: BBC Radio 3.

The Cycling Europe Podcast: Episode 070 – Crossing Europe On A Bike Called Reggie – Part 1

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“The academic year must have been a difficult one as when the summer holidays arrived, secondary school teacher Andrew Sykes was happy to do as little as possible. But while sitting on his sofa watching the exploits of the cyclists at the Great Wall of China at the Beijing Olympics, he realised the error of his ways and resolved to put a bit more adventure into his life. Two years later, accompanied by his faithful companion Reggie (his bike) but only a rudimentary plan, Andrew set off for a trans-continental cycling adventure that would take him along the route of the Via Francigena and the Eurovelo 5 all the way from his home in southern England to Brindisi in the south of Italy. There were highs and lows, rain and shine, joy and despair and they are all recounted here in a light-hearted, brisk style.”

L’Enfer Du Nord / The Hell Of The North

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The Paris-Roubaix cycle race has been postponed until later in the year. No surprise there bearing in mind the new lockdown just announced in France. Cobbles are an (almost) every day part of cycling here in the Calder Valley of Yorkshire. My bones have been shaken on a regular basis in recent years since my return to God’s Own County. Perhaps they should have just moved it to the north of England rather than waiting until the autumn of 2021… I wrote about the Paris-Roubaix in Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie.

A Short History Of Cycling Maps*

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When it comes to the mapping of my various cycles, things have come a long way in the past decade. Today a great leap forward took place and here it is in all its 4k glory (if you have a monitor, tablet, phone or TV that is up for the challenge). Sit back and enjoy The Great British Cycle Tour of 2020 animated map.

The Virtual Cycle Touring Festival: This Weekend!

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Earlier this month I talked about the annual Cycle Touring Festival going virtual for 2020 and the time is almost here! The festival kicks off later today (Friday) and continues over this coming weekend of the 25th and 26th April. Laura and Tim Moss, who have organised the festival every year since 2015, have done a magnificent job in putting together, once again, an eclectic, interesting and potentially inspiring programme of events.

An Encounter With An Outspoken Cyclist

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I’m not so outspoken although the ridiculous shooting-yourself-in-the-foot nonsense that is Brexit gets my blood boiling and my current issues with Vodafone have me using creative language that would shock your grandmother, and then there’s the idiots who park on cycle lanes* and the pavement – often both… […]

A Summer Of Cycling (And Cruising…)

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So, summer has arrived. Well, meteorological summer. Pedants who insist on sticking with the astronomical one (which starts on June 21st) will still have to live in spring for a few more weeks but the rest of us are already basking in the sunshine… (That’s how it works, […]

To Be A Pilgrim… (Or Not)

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In the last couple of days I’ve been catching up with the new series of ‘Pilgrimage‘ on BBC Two. The programmes document the journey of a small group of celebrities as they walk some of the stretches of the ancient path from Canterbury to Rome, the Via Francigena. […]

Return To The Rhine In 2019?

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Welcome to Andermatt… Alas I’m not there at the moment. Although if I were, I dare say it wouldn’t look like it did in August 2010 when the picture above was taken. I suspect it might be somewhat whiter. I was, of course, en route for southern Italy […]

Crossing Europe… Via Mexico

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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 […]

You Wait Ages For A Review…

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…then three – one for each book – come along all at once! Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie: “Five stars as it kept me smiling throughout, written simply but in a compelling style that made me want to get on my bike, forget Strava and just […]

A Short Trip To… Brussels

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I’ve spent much of the past three years thinking about cycling from southern Spain to northern Norway; planning the journey, completing the journey, recovering from the journey, writing the book about the journey and, more recently, marketing the book about the journey. (What? You hadn’t noticed?) The next […]

“Bicycle Inspiration Reinvented”

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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 […]

Summers Past, Summer Future…

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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 […]

Summer Book Sale! £1.99 / $2.99 / €2.99

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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 […]

Still ‘Hot’!

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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* […]

Norwegian American Weekly

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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 […]

Why?

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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!

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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 […]

September 1st 2015: Old Habits…

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…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 […]

Bad News… Good News!

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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 […]

Reading And Writing Encouragement

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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 […]

Breaking Book News…

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I am delighted to announce that ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie‘ has now broken into the highly competitive Indian book market. It is currently the number 1 cycling eBook available on Amazon.in!  (OK, I admit it, it’s sold one copy but it’s a start…) Meanwhile back […]

Gremlins Strike!

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Guru Singh – ‘Singh of the Mountains‘ – is challenging himself to cycle over the Alps in aid of Cancer Research. Despite his cold, I’m delighted to say that ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie‘ and ‘Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie‘ are helping to […]

2015: Time For A (Big) Change

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When it comes to writing pieces for this website, September is always a lean month. I’ve just been looking back at the number of posts made every month and since 2009 when CyclingEurope.org burst into life on the world wide web (albeit under the much less catchy soubriquet […]

Sykes’ Standpoint – My First Column!

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I live in Reading, Berkshire and I’m a member of the Reading Cycle Campaign. I wrote the following for their current newsletter: “The Cycle Campaign asked me a couple of months ago if I’d be interested in contributing something to the newsletter and here is my first piece. […]

Night Of The Long Rides, Leeds, May 29th

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Free tickets for this event in Leeds (starring me!) available from Eventbrite. “Have you ever felt like getting on your bike and going on an adventure? maybe heading off on a long distance tour and visiting other countries? Andrew Sykes and Tom Bruce have done just that, cataloguing […]

The Spanish Take On Fixie Cycling

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I’m not sure how my blogging activities will be affected by my renewed action on the book writing front – I’m now very much into writing the following up to ‘Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie‘ – but here’s the first proper post of 2014. Happy New […]

Time To Move To A New Galaxy?

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When I first embarked on a long(ish)-distance cycle back in 2009 cycling along the Pennine Cycleway from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Derby I took with me a pre-smart phone. I think it was a Nokia. It did a pretty good job allowing me to take some half-decent pictures and send […]

The Inevitable Christmas Advert…

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You’ve cried at the John Lewis Christmas ad (although I have to say it just isn’t quite the same after you’ve seen the front cover of the latest edition of Private Eye), you’ve watched Rosie Huntington-Whiteley dive down a manhole (that just doesn’t sound right does it?) only to […]

Word, The Words & The Wordle

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Just as with the first book, the first thing that I needed to do requires nothing more than a bit of patience and a lot of copying and I have spent several hours today doing just that. I am conscious of not just publishing a blog. If you […]

Connectivity In A Very Connected World

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We live in a very connected World. Or at least I do and this website does. I spent last night trying to sort out all the connections to and from the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr etc… and I think I have them mastered. In theory, this […]

Bristol & The Handmade Bicycle Show

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Bristol is home to many things. Cycle paths carved into the paving stones of the streets, ice cream vans that are made by Mercedes, signs thanking you for not using your car (should you have one), pretty colourful houses in rows, intriguing street names & the first section […]