Given that it has been five years since I completed my last long distance fully self-contained cycle tour, I had almost forgotten just how addictive the cycle touring drug can be. As anyone who has spent any length of time cycle touring will very quickly tell you, the hardest part of completing a long distance … Continue reading The Cycle Touring Drug and the Good, Bad and Ugly of Life on the Road →

Finally. After eight months of planning, an exhaustive fitness regime and a general preparation worthy of a flight to Mars, the e-Bike Cycle Tourists are off and cycling on our way to setting a new world e-bike long distance record. With a few days of e-biking around the Surrey countryside to get used to our … Continue reading Day One – a Tale of Thundering Traffic, Watership Downs and Andrew Lloyd Webber →

There are stages in life when we instinctively know that the time is right to set the record straight. Call it a confessional, call it getting something off your chest, call it what you will, but the fact of the matter is that it does the soul good to clear the air and to get … Continue reading The Loss of e-Bike Virginity and Touring the Surrey Countryside →

Long distance cycle tourists, as we all know, are a dime a dozen these days. Every day you open your computer or browse the latest online e-book cycling releases you read about another 20-something adventurer who has conquered the world on his or her touring bike or is setting out or mid-way through a multi-country … Continue reading E-Bikes – the New Frontier for Long Distance Cycle Touring →

Good friends and family, as we all know, can be worth their weight in gold in times of need. Break a leg or suffer from some terrible illness and they are there to nurse you, need a few dollars to get you through a financial rough patch and they are there with a loan, suffer … Continue reading Record Breaking Cycle Touring to the Edge of the World →

AS someone who has been a keen outdoors-man/camper for close to 50 years ever since I joined the Boy Scouts as a very naive 10 year old, I have prided myself on my camping ability. Wild camping in difficult terrain – no problem, camping above the snowline – no problem, survival camping with minimal provisions … Continue reading The Joys of Camping and a Lesson in Tent Erection Humility →

As the time approaches for the e-Bike Cycle Tourists to head off from London in late April 2015 in an attempt to set a new world e-bike long distance record, we are facing a challenge of a very different kind … to get fit! Don’t think for one moment that just because we are riding … Continue reading Getting Fit for an e-Bike World Record Breaking Ride →

I AM not sure if anyone has ever conducted a sizable poll on the subject of international visas, but it would be fascinating to know where they rank in terms of annoyance for regular world travellers. No, I’m not talking about Visa credit cards (although if lost or maxed out they can be the cause … Continue reading The Search for a Cure for a Chronic Schengen Visa Headache →

THIS is a personal story about my journey back to full health and the recuperative powers of cycling after suffering a severe bout of Acute Reactive Arthritis. From the depths of despair and pain that not even the strongest of painkillers could contain, I am now thankfully happy and healthy and about to set out … Continue reading Overcoming Acute Reactive Arthritis and the Recuperative Powers of Cycling →

How I would love $10 for every time we been asked this question: “so you’re aiming to set a new world long distance e-bike record, where will you be cycling to?” The lightning fast reply: “That’s an easy question to answer, we plan to start in London in 2015 and finish back in London in … Continue reading Following the Red Pencil from London to Scotland via France →

Isn’t it amazing how a plan hatched in an instant can change the course of your entire life? One day you are happily going along in one direction and suddenly thanks to a moment of inspiration, you find that your priorities, goals and aspirations – everything – has changed. In very basic terms that is … Continue reading The Inspiration to Set a New Long Distance E-Bike Record →

IT’S a scenario all of us are familiar with as we get older … no matter how hard you train and no matter how hard you try, you are no longer able to replicate the physical achievements of your youth. Sure, the head may be older and wiser, but the body just isn’t up to … Continue reading Cycling’s Elixir of Youth and the Plan to Set a New E-Bike Long Distance Record →