Darwin once famously said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
We humans are experts at adaptation. Saying you’re not a cyclist is a bit like saying you’re not a walker. Get on a bike, and your legs will do the rest! So unlock the dusty room at the back of the garage, drag out the old bicycle, oil the chain, pump up the tyres, raise the saddle slightly (you’ve grown, you know), and wobble off down the road!
Once you’ve done that and remembered how much fun cycling is (and that you promised yourself to lose a bit of weight and get fit), take the rusty old thing to the local bike shop, get it properly fixed up and start enjoying the simple and enjoyable mode of transport that is the bicycle. You might just end up further from home than you expected. (You might even find yourself in another country. Or continent…)
Countless people have discovered the joys of cycle touring. Many hundreds of people have completed epic round-the-world rides, and thousands more have enjoyed shorter bicycle trips closer to home. The website Crazy Guy On A Bike hosts thousands of journals from bike tours all over the world, and makes for some very interesting and addictive reading.
If you’re interested in trying it for yourself, there really isn’t that much to it. You can get on any old bike, throw a few clothes and sleeping bag on the back, grab your wallet and a map and head off. It’ll only be a few hours before you find yourself somewhere completely new!
For more information, you could do a lot worse than to get hold of a copy of the Adventure Cycle Touring Handbook. This was invaluable during our planning stage as it made us understand that it really was going to be possible! And there are heaps of great cycle-touring resources on the web, of which a few are listed here:
Discussion forums
- The Thorn Tree – Lonely Planet’s messageboard. You’ll find answers to all your questions here, but do a search first, as someone’s probably already asked the same thing!
Preparation & Kit
- Kona make tons of bikes, and their Explosif frame is a great foundation for building a heavy-duty expedition bike.
Inspirational Journeys
- Alastair Humphreys was not the first man to cycle the world’s three great landmasses, but few have documented the experience or used it to inspire people as comprehensively as he has.
- The Canning Stock Route Adventure is the one-month journey of one man across the three great deserts of Australia, 100% off-road and unsupported.
Great Photographs
- Peter Gostelow made an epic journey and took equally epic photographs along the way.
8 Comments
hi guyz im 23 im now trying to find someone 2 ride around europe with.
i want ur advice on how much money do u think i would need a day?
my dad hopefully would put it in a account.
are u still on the road?
Hi Luke,
We spent less than 5 EUR each per day while in Western Europe. In order to do that, we mercilessly avoided tourist hotspots, camped every night, ate fruit off trees and often accepted invitations to stay with local families. We stayed in 2 hostels and 1 paid campsite in the 4 months we spent in Europe.
Hope that helps!
Hi Luke,
I toured for a month in Western Europe, and only chosen touristical places,and could manage with 400 euros the whole month.I camped every day in campsites also.I am intrested in doing something simmilar in summer 2009 aswell so it would be great to keep in touch.My email is freeride_mihai@yahoo.com.I am 23 and I’m from Romania.
Cheers
Mihai
My english is so bad, for that reason i gone to write in spanish.
Les deseo lo mejor en la desición de viajar por la tierra en bici. Vivo en Medellín (Antioquia-Colombia-SurAmérica) y al ver las imagenes, les comento que los felicito. Éxito en esta travesía. Jorge Iván Ballesteros desde Colombia
Existos en el viaje. Jorge Ballesteros desde Colombia SurAmerica
Hi. I've followed your progress from the start, although I must confess to not reading all the material you post. Now however, I want to do my own cycle tour (albeit a little less ambitious) from Lands End to John-o-Groats this Autumn. I was wondering mainly how you managed to convince so many people to let you camp for free? Where did you ask? Did you ever stay anywhere you perhaps were not able to ask permission? Did you ever get rudely evicted? I read about your experiances upon being bundled into a police van in the middle of the night so I guess thats not too likely in the UK.
Cheers. Good luck!
Pete
Hi Pete, I was never evicted in two years and only arrested once (not because of my camp site)! In England you'll have no problem camping. Just get off the main roads and ask farmers or people in rural areas if they know anywhere to put a tent for a night. Maybe break the ice by asking for a water bottle refill. Actually most people will help you in this scenario. We got all the way across Western Europe camping in fields, gardens and the like, all by asking permission. There are too many people to make it worth the risk wild-camping most of the time. It's fine in some places but in somewhere like England it's better to ask.
Hope that helps – enjoy the trip!
Thanks Tom. Good idea about asking for water. I'm hoping to camp for the whole journey – mainly because I can't afford anything else. Cheers for the advice, good luck!
Pete