I have wanderlust by bike and it cannot be satiated with 15 mile city night rides or weekend off-roading round Cannock. Since I got back into cycling since being a teenager about 3 years I have wanted to tour by bike. The first year my friend and I did the C2C from whitehaven to Newcastle and I loved it. We stayed in hostel type places, met some nice people, saw some great country and had many ales of an evening. The feeling of setting off in the morning, cycling throughout the day and then finishing in the evening in the pub with a good meal when you’re knackered and finished is very addictive. Exploring the world at a very slow pace is great fun and one I wanted to repeat. The next year my mate couldn’t join me so I did a tour by myself, this time time from my front door. I cycled from Stafford to Cardiff using the sustrans routes, this route wasn’t so epic in terms of scenery but it was longer, 225 miles over 3 days I cycled solo and it was hard with lots of little frustrating hills and finishing 2 of the nights in the dark.

For Christmas I was gifted the two books (Moods of Future Joys) written by Alastair Humphreys where he took 4 years to cycle round the world and spent only 7k, from Yorks to the bottom of Africa & then right down through America & I want to go do it. There’s something in me yelling at me to dump my job and go do it, you only have one life, live it, you’re a long time dead GO NOW GO NOW. But that’s not gonna happen, I have a 2 year old little girl, a wife and a mortgage. . . it would be incredibly selfish to run off chasing a dream leaving them in the lurch. So the round the world trip will have to wait till I retire, win big on the lottery and for daydreams.

So I am resigned to smaller tours, I could do the John O’ Groats to lands end of course. My Uncle did a good one, he cycled solo round the outside of Scotland camping where he could or cadging a bed from people he met in the pub. I think I’d like to do one abroad though, Paris to Amsterdam would be good, although I would have to start in Paris for that one otherwise I’d never leave the Dam. Also I was thinking about Stafford to the South of Italy, the tip of the boot is approx 1800 miles by google maps, if I cycle a modest 60 miles a day that’s 30 days straight, the wife met let me off for that one and it might satisfy my wanderlust for a year or two or at least until I win the lottery.

🙂

The world of cheap flights from the likes of Ryanair, Easyjet etc could open up a lot of options for a European point to point without having to push your luck by being away from home for so long. Last September I flew Bournemouth to Carcassonne for a long weekend riding to Millau and back to see that HUGE bridge. Total flight cost with bike carriage was £150 and I could ride to and from the airport.

I attended a talk by Alistair in 2007, 9 months later I had jacked in my job with a vague idea of cycling to Rome from North of Manchester.

I managed to get to Luxemburg before I turned round, I had a brilliant time bivvying and camping but I couldn’t face looking at anymore tarmac.

Since then I continue to be inspired by Alistair and have done a number of smaller trips but spending years on the road has no appeal to me anymore.

My plan this year is to cycle from Toulouse to the med coast via the canal du midi – approx 150 miles 1 way

Plum

hmmm interesting dilema and I have to say with a 2 year old and wife, now is not the time to pack a bag and go for a long trip.

I think its important for you to know why you do your mini trips? And why do you want to do more? What is it about them that appeals? What do you get out of doing them?

Once you understand that, I would find a way to satisfy this to include your family or short adventures with their grace that fulfill your wunderlust. Maybe negotiate a bigger trip with your OH in the future, with her blessing.

13 years ago i had a similar wunderlust and upped and went to ride the great divide. I learned a lot about myself on that trip. This was actually, in hindsight, more important than the cycling.

Rent your house out, and take the family with you..

Here is some inspiration..

http://www.familyonbikes.org/

http://neva-travelwithaninfant.blogspot.co.uk/

http://tober-zambrano.blogspot.co.uk/

I toured the west of Ireland a couple of years ago (road bike racer with paniers and mudguards). 12 days, on my own, with a mix of bivying and hostels. I had a blast. Was a little unsettled the first couple of days but got into the swing of things pretty quick. Only problem is the map I had wasn’t detailed enough so there was some navigation headaches, but for the main part I hugged the coast road. I did an average of 7 hours on the saddle per day, and took a day of in an amazing camping site in a little creek in one of the most westernly point of Ireland. Loved every minute of it.

My plan this year is to cycle from Toulouse to the med coast via the canal du midi – approx 150 miles 1 way

If you’re down that way I can recommend La Charmante, a B&B run by a very nice Irish lady. It’ll involve a bit of a detour from the canal but the scenery and views up in the hills are worth it.

One idea I had was to try for a French Three Seas route. Channel, Atlantic and Med, then fly back from the South. I might be pushing my luck trying to do it in the four or five days I’m likely to be able to take off for it.

My mate did it after an accident in 2006. Link to his website here if you fancy reading about the travels of a more “ordinary” bloke.

http://www.cyclingroundtheworld.co.uk/

My Uncle did a good one, he cycled solo round the outside of Scotland

I planned to do that last year,even had most of the stops sorted out ,but other things got in the way and it didn’t happen (plus the west side mileage was going to be mental,if I stuck to the the coast).
Like a lot of things ,the planning was great fun ,and at least now I have more than half a plan.
Don’t know about the round the world scale of things ,but there are plenty of great trips to look at around Europe,just book the time off and get planning.
Touring is ace 🙂

thanks woody your mates blog is good, the danube cycleway looks inviting.

I’m determined to fill this year up with lots of little tours, if you can’t get away for an epic then the UK has loads to see.
Reading this thread makes me want to pack up and go now!
Uni next year… 3month summer holidays here I come!

I have been catching up with this guys video blogs this week. Quite an amazing trip, I think he’s about 18months in now.

https://vimeo.com/earthodyssey

touring and pottering on bikes is fantastic.
i try to get a tour in every year, and have done so since the early 80’s
never been anywhere too exotic, never been out of europe come to think of it.
but it is by far the best form of cycling.
and if you can add ‘offroad’ be it on canal/river banks or hill track, then you have the perfect formula.

I thought I wanted to tour the world by bike but…..having watched a few earth oddysey vids it’s going to have to be a yacht around the south seas.

IanW – Member

I thought I wanted to tour the world by bike but…..having watched a few earth oddysey vids it’s going to have to be a yacht around the south seas.

Crossing Russia in winter is particularly nutty bar though.

Met a Kiwi once, at the top of the climb between Askrigg & Muker. He’d flown from NZ to the USA, bought all his gear then biked round America & a bit of Canadia, flew to Ireland & gone round there, then got the ferry to Fishguard & rode round Wales, hit the Pennine Way (where we met him.) He was then heading for Scotchland then coming back down to North Shields to get the ferry to Europe & on from there back to the Southern Hemisphere. His bike was like pannierland! Awesome.
Do it Jekkyl & post some photo’s!!

Defo some photo’s (& a double post!)

At 46 I have wanted to do the RTW cycle since I was 14. It all came till naught until last summer when my crazy mate suggested LEJOG for charity. Why not I thought, so off we went – wife,3 mates, borrowed campervan and the worst weather in living memory.
Was it hard, yep like nothing I have ever done before. Some days the pain in my knees/a@#s was so bad that I thought I was going to puke (all day). Other days my knee went completely and we had to pitch up wherever. Hardly spoke to anyone,bar me mates and the wife – well would you in the pouring rain with 100 miles to go?. So, in summary, it was a miserable experience punctuated by excrutiating pain for 10 whole awful days!.
BUT! – and this is a biggie, would I do it again, – absolutely. It was the most challenging and invigorating thing I have ever done. I learned more about myself in that 10 days that I learned in the previous 10 years. The crack when we stopped was fantastic, the wifes cooking was a lifesaver and we were lucky enough to see some fantastic views (when it stopped raining). What would I change – well I’d cut the miles down a bit, and stop for more beer frankly. So someday I will sell up and set off RTW,just not today thanks

Take your wife and kids, here’s an inspirational blog.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/genners

Bike touring is wonderfully liberating. I did a fair bit in Scotland and on mainland Europe as a student. Recently I have done a couple of long tours in the US, one cross country, the other down the Pacific coast.

Every trip has a different vibe. Choosing to ride somewhere with good weather certainly helps. Long tours are as much psychological challenges as physical challenges. Riding somewhere with a varied topography helps a lot. As Ton says, mixing tarmac with trail is a good way of making even a short tour more interesting. Meeting other riders, possibly riding with them keeps things fresh too.

Bike touring is a lot more inclusive. You’ll see people riding epic rides on budget bikes, their experience isn’t in any way devalued.

Here are a couple of links to my last US tours.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/pacificcoastandcascadescircuit
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/mcandaimeegoc2c