News, views, updates and anything that catches my eye to do with adventure cycling
June 2009 Tent Review - Terra Nova Voyager XL
The new Voyager XL is a new lightweight, two-man tent with a really big porch. Terra-Nova lent us one for a trial, so We took it on a two-week tour of the far north of Scotland. It rained every day on our trip, but the tent was great. You can read a detailed review here
Road Angels (Jan 08)
One of the most delightful and heartwarming aspects of adventure cycling is the spontaneous acts of generosity, assistance and hospitality you receive from complete strangers. It really does take your breath away and restore your faith in humanity. You can read some great examples on this thread at bikeforums.net
Supported tour to Tajikistan (Jan 08)
I wouldn't normally plug a commercial cycling company on this site, but I am happy to make an exception for Redspoke's new tour to Tajikistan. Following, our tour there in 2006, I was so bowled over by the amazing mountain scenery and incredibly hospitable people of Tajikistan I felt I had to do what I could to promote tourism to this little visited country. So on my return, I contacted Dermot MacWard at Redspokes, who I knew had an excellent reputation for running low-impact, supported tours to remote locations (NB. Dermot is a great bloke and Redspokes has one of the best head offices I have ever visited.). He responded with enthusiasm and we have worked together to develop an itinerary for a supported tour to the Pamir Highway in July 2008.
This a great opportunity for those that like supported tours to cycle this spectacular route. If you want to see what Tajikistan is like, you can read the account of our trip at the Totally Knackered Tour. I plan to be come along on the Redspokes Tour for a return visit. To access Redspoke site and details of the tour, click on the Redspokes logo.
Trans Chukotka Expedition 2006 (Nov 07)
I have always believed that Poles are as hard as nails and looking through the photographs from Cezary Bulajczyk and Timur Akhmetov's trip across Chukotka only confirms this. It looks to have been a very tough expedition to a very remote, very wild, very bleak and little visited part of the world. Their webite is here . It's all in Polish, but the photos are very good.
Trailers (Nov 07)
Love 'em or hate 'em, bike trailers are a significant topic, so after months of putting it off I've added a section on them here. If anyone feels I've missed something important from this subject please let me know.
Rohloff hub failures (Nov 07)
I have heard a lot of good things about the Rohloff speedhub and I think it is great development. I have also heard of a small number of failures where the flange has cracked at at spoke hole. Those of you that might be considering using a Rohloff for heavily loaded touring in far-flung places might be interested in the "Cracked Rohloff Hub - I thought that was impossible" thread on the On Your Bike branch of Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum.
Great touring photos (Nov 07)
I recently came across Grace Johnson and Paul Jeurissen's site "Impressions of Bicycle Travels". It contains some really lovely photos of bike touring.
Another B17 Convert (Oct 07)
After 12 years service the gel saddle that came on my Dawes World Tour bike finally gave out with a broken rail. I've replaced it with a Brookes B17 (£29.99 + free delivery from Chain Reaction Cycles). After reading various horror stories, I was a bit worried about the breaking in period and initially it did feel quite odd. But this only lasted for a few days and now it really is very comfortable. I only wish I'd had it on my last trip.
Flic's story (Oct 07)
Buried in the Touring section of bikeforums.net I came across Flic's thread. It's an amazing story of a young woman having the courage to make her dream happen. It's also the tale of a great adventure, disaster and recovery. It's well worth reading all 20 pages of the "Bike for Africa - please help me" thread (contains lots of information for newbies) before reading her blog "It's fahr...it's rad". Hope she forgives me for using her photo without permission.
The new Voyager XL is a new lightweight, two-man tent with a really big porch. Terra-Nova lent us one for a trial, so We took it on a two-week tour of the far north of Scotland. It rained every day on our trip, but the tent was great. You can read a detailed review here
I wouldn't normally plug a commercial cycling company on this site, but I am happy to make an exception for Redspoke's new tour to Tajikistan. Following, our tour there in 2006, I was so bowled over by the amazing mountain scenery and incredibly hospitable people of Tajikistan I felt I had to do what I could to promote tourism to this little visited country. So on my return, I contacted Dermot MacWard at Redspokes, who I knew had an excellent reputation for running low-impact, supported tours to remote locations (NB. Dermot is a great bloke and Redspokes has one of the best head offices I have ever visited.). He responded with enthusiasm and we have worked together to develop an itinerary for a supported tour to the Pamir Highway in July 2008.