There’s no denying that Ling Valentine is quite a character. Her vividly-coloured, car-leasing website, LingsCars.com has been described as ‘contract hire’s RyanAir’ and with a small staff and efficient practices, it has propelled her to become the UK’s “biggest individual seller of new cars” – however, all that has changed. In a dramatic move, Ling has given her company to her employees, sold her house and much of her stuff, bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker and is setting off, with her husband Jon, on a round the world cycling trip, dubbed ‘Ling’s Bike Trip’, complete with suitably bold-looking website – here – ‘Ling’s bike trip‘.
The touring bike in question and, below, the Ling being questioned
So? Lots of people pack a bike and take off for the horizon, what makes us interested in Ling’s story in particular? A number of reasons. There’s certainly the contrast of a successful car-based business owner sacking it off and doing it on a push-bike when presumably she could see the world via a cruise, or driving round in a convertible, or riding a Harley. And there’s the fact that she’s ‘one of us’ and has a forum login and everything. (Mostly for answering back to folks who complain, which shows she’s paying attention…) However, the real reason we interested in Ling’s Bike Trip is the way that she has thrown herself at it with the kind of enthusiasm for bike touring that few of our bearded bikepacking friends have ever mustered. And her ‘Carpe Diem’ approach to doing stuff now, while you still have a chance is inspiring. So, we though that we’d see if she’d be up for answering some questions:
There's more to this story...
BUT IT'S A MEMBER-ONLY STORY. JOIN US TO UNLOCK IT AND MORE FOR LESS THAN 6p/DAY
For over 20 years Singletrack has been a source of information, news and entertainment for millions of mountain bike enthusiasts and as an important focal point for an amazing community of like minded riders from around the world. But it has also been a provider of jobs and income for dozens of families of our team as well as a source of revenue for hundreds of freelance contributors.
We want to keep going through this uncertain period and create great content to inform and entertain you, but we will need your help to do it. More than anything else we want to have a reciprocal relationship with you and the best way to make that happen is through our memberships. We’d love you to join us as a paid member of the Singletrack community – we promise you a return on your investment through the content we have and will create for you plus the numerous added benefits included with all our membership options.
With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)
