In 2017, novice long-distance cyclist Craig Fee set off on a continental odyssey to cycle from London to his friendโs wedding in Florence, Italy. But had he bitten off more than he could chew? In his new book, Cycling Into The Unknown, he tells the story of the journey and in this episode of the podcast, he reflects upon the experience of setting off on a make-it-up-as-you-go cycle across Europeโฆ
A while back – some years ago – I was in the habit of posting about the Italian L’Eroica sportive event on a semi-regular basis as the artwork was just so beautiful. Perhaps it’s time for a catch-up as I have just received an email about this year’s main event which takes place later in September.
โThe 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.โ
In the autumn of 2022, Susan and Ron Crump, a retired couple from Kentucky in the USA set off on their first cycle tour. Instead of dipping their toes in the shallow end of the cycle touring pool, they plunged into the deep end by embarking upon a 3,500km cycle from Amsterdam to Athens. Along with two more experienced cycle touring friends – Pam and Ralph – this is the story of their trip; the preparation, the execution and the aftermath. They may have been jumping for joy upon arrival in Athens but were they jumping for joy throughout the cycle? And has the trip been a springboard for future rides or will their next visit to Europe be on a cruise ship?ย
Tony Lenihan, a retired policeman, works for his local council in the English Midlands as their โSustainable Travel and Wellbeing Coordinatorโ. Heโs also a keen cyclist and, in the early autumn of 2022, after more than 40 years of work, he decided to take a career break and head off on a solo cycling adventure from Bilbao to Athens. It would be a 7-week ferry-hopping Greek odyssey that took him through northern Spain, to the islands of Sardinia and Scilly, across the heel of Italy to Brindisi before sailing the Adriatic to his final destination of Greece. He talked to The Cycling Europe Podcast about his continental experiencesโฆ but also about โactive travelโ in the UK and how the country measures up (or not) to its European neighbours.ย
Tony Lenihan, a retired policeman, works for his local council in the English Midlands as their โSustainable Travel and Wellbeing Coordinatorโ. Heโs also a keen cyclist and, in the early autumn of 2022, after more than 40 years of work, he decided to take a career break and head off on a solo cycling adventure from Bilbao to Athens. It would be a 7-week ferry-hopping Greek odyssey that took him through northern Spain, to the islands of Sardinia and Scilly, across the heel of Italy to Brindisi before sailing the Adriatic to his final destination of Greece.ย He talked to The Cycling Europe Podcast about his continental experiencesโฆ but also about โactive travelโ in the UK and how the country measures up (or not) to its European neighbours.ย
It will soon be 10 years that I set off to cycle along the Mediterranean coast from Cape Sounio in southern Greece to Cape St. Vincent in southern Portugal. My route was inspired by the EuroVelo 8, although it was much less developed back then than it is today. I saw some EuroVelo 8 signs in Catalonia but aside from that, I’m not quite sure I saw any elsewhere. And after Valencia, when I was beginning to run short of time – I needed to be back at work at the beginning of September – I headed inland, away from the coast in order to complete the journey without resorting to jumping on the train.
Tim Moore has been referred to as โBill Bryson on two wheelsโ. Any reader of his adventures โ both on and off a bike โ willย appreciate why the comparison is justified. In his first cycling travelogue, he set off on the route of that yearโs Tour de France just weeks before the professionals. He went on to recreate โthe most appalling bike race of all timeโ โ the 1914 Giro dโItalia โ on a vintage bike. More recently he embarked upon a brutal cycle following the stages of the 1941 Vuelta a Espaรฑa.ย Ever the glutton for punishment, heโs also โThe Cyclist Who Went Out In The Coldโ who set off on an East German shopping bike along the route of EuroVelo 13, the Iron Curtain Trailโฆย The Cycling Europe Podcast chatted to him in a Tube carriage at the London Transport Museum.
