Why Dont You Drive Instead?

A question I often get asked is 'why by bike?'. It's hard to sell the idea of bicycle touring to a non-cyclist. The idea of cycling to the local shops is often a frightening thought to them. So upon hearing of my upcoming 4500 mile journey, they damn near explode trying to process it. Truth is though, the physical act of biking 60+ miles a day is often the easiest part.

Yes I could drive and probably complete the journey in a few weeks as opposed to a few months but where would the fun be in that. Driving at 50 mph the scenery just passes you by in a blur and is gone in an instant. Whereas on a bike going 10mph you are a part of the scenery and you appreciate it a whole lot more. You smell the smells, hear the sounds and feel the wind, rain and sun upon your face.

Travelling by bike means you are exposed to a whole lot more and are instantly accessible to the local people. Who are often curious about the crazy guy on a bike and are only too willing to help you out and wish you luck.

On my last tour countless people came up to me just to ask where I was headed and helped me with directions, I had beers brought for me, food and drink given to me, a pair of cycling shorts donated to me and even a handful of condoms given to me for 'the Scandinavian girls' as he put it. I never got the opportunity to use them sadly.

I had a much richer experience by travelling on a bike and I still think about that tour almost everyday and it was 8 months ago. I don’t think I’ve thought of any other form of holiday that I've had for more than a week after returning. I am officially hooked for life.

Shakedown Tour to Llangollen - Wales

It was the coldest Easter weekend in Britain for the past 25 years. It brought with it ferocious winds, relentless hailstorms and intrepid snow showers. The first day of spring would not have felt out of place in the Arctic. Well it'll be good practice for the Arctic I told myself.

Me and Lee decided to go on a weekend tour to Wales to test ourselves and our gear. We covered 40 miles each way. I can assure you it was absolutely freezing, dont think it got above 5 degrees C all day and it must have dipped below freezing at night

My bike performed faultlessly, it handled well, felt stable and just ate up the miles. I was very impressed with the ortlieb panniers. As for my body it to performed quite well, my legs felt strong and the cold didn't really bother me too much. Going up the training closer to departure just to be sure.

Lee suffered a puncture on his bike and we later found that his back wheel was buckled causing the back brake to rub along the wheel. So he did extremely well to keep up.

I have got a Coleman Avior X2 tent for the trip. It claims to be a 2 person tent but it was a very tight squeeze. It's perfect for 1 man though. So Lee will bring his own tent for the big trip.

New Bike - Anna

Purchased a new bike a while ago for this summers tour. Thought I would post some pics. She shall be decked with tubus racks, ortliebs panniers on the back and carridance on the front.

The Tour

Not long ago returned from my first bike tour, from England to Denmark. View the route here http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1396782. There were some tough times but overall I loved it, seeing a country on a bicycle is just unbeatable. You go fast enough to actually go places, but slow enough to smell the roses and be a part of the scenery. I loved the sense of adventure, the absolute freedom and the demand of getting places under my own steam.

I've got itchy feet to do another trip, at the minute I'm thinking of doing this next summer http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1396937, just depends on how much money I can save.

This was the bike I did it on. Russell aka The Black Panther.

A Beginners Guide to Cycle Touring

Step 1: Get a spagetti-strainer and several small sponges. Soak the sponges in salt-water and paste them to the inside of the spagetti-strainer. Place thestrainer on your head. Find a busy road. Stand by the side of the road and dodeep knee-bends for 8 hours. This will acclimatize you to a day's ride.

Step 2: Take some 200-grit sandpaper and rub your rear-end and the insides of your legs for about 20 minutes. Rinse with salt-water. Repeat. Then, sit on a softball for 8 hours. Do this daily for at least 8 days.

Step 3: Each day, take two twenty-dollar bills and tear them into small pieces. Place the pieces on a dinner-plate, douse them with lighter fluid and burn them. Inhale the smoke (simulating car-fumes). Rub the ashes on your face. Then go to the local motel and ask them for a room.

Step 4: Take a 1-quart plastic bottle. Fill it from the utility sink of a localgas-station (where the mechanics wash their hands). Let the bottle sit in thesun for 2 or 3 hours until it's good and tepid. Seal the bottle up (kinda,sorta) and drag it through a ditch or swamp. Walk to a busy road. Place yourspagetti-strainer on your head and drink the swill-water from the bottle whiledoing deep knee-bends along the side of the road.

Step 5: Get some of those Dutch wooden-shoes. Coat the bottoms with 90-Wgear-oil. Go to the local supermarket (preferably one with tile floors). Putthe oil-coated, wooden shoes on your feet and go shopping.

Step 6: Think of a song from the 1980's that you really hated. Buy the CD and play 20 seconds of that song over and over and over for about 6 hours. Do more deep knee-bends

Step 7: Hill training: Do your deep knee-bends for about 4 hours with thesalt-soaked spagetti-strainer on your head, while you drink the warmswill-water and listen to the 80's song over and over (I would recommend "I'm a cowboy/On a STEEL horse I ride!" by Bon Jovi). At the end of 4 hours, climb onto the hood of a friend's car and have him drive like a lunatic down the twistiest road in the area while you hang on for dear life.

Step 8: Humiliation training: Wash your car and wipe it down with achamois-cloth. Make sure you get a healthy amount of residual soap androad-grit embedded in the chamois. Put the chamois on your body like aloin-cloth, then wrap your thighs and middle-section with cellophane. Make sure it's really snug. Paint yourself from the waist down with black latex paint. Cut an onion in half and rub it into your arm-pits. Put on a brightly colored shirt and your Dutch oil-coated wooden shoes and go shopping at a crowded local mall.

Step 9: Foul weather training: Take everything that's important to you, pack it in a Nylon corodura bag and place it in the shower. Get in the shower with it. Run the water from hot to cold. Get out and without drying off, go to the local convienience store. Leave the wet, important stuff on the sidewalk. Go inside and buy $10 worth of Gatorade and Fig Newtons.

Step 10: As Archimedes hypothesized: "Use a simple lever to move the Earth from one place to another". After doing that, go around your house and lift heavy things that you never imagined a person could lift. Surprise yourself. Do 1,000 sit-ups. Then 10,000. Eat lunch. Repeat. Argue with every girlfriend/boyfriend you've ever known and be RIGHT. Solve all the problems of politics, faith and economics. At the end of the day, get into a huge tub filled with hot soapy water and relax, because tomorrow is another BIG DAY ON THE BIKE

Step 11: Headwinds training: Buy a huge map of the entire country. Spread it in front of you. Have a friend hold a hair-dryer in your face. Stick your feet in taffy and try to pull your knees to your chest while your friend tries to shove you into a ditch or into traffic with his free hand. Every 20 minutes or so, look at the huge map and marvel at the fact that you have gone nowhere after so much hard work and suffering. Fold the map in front of a window-fan set to "High".