Month: April 2014
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It was a summer’s day in 2006
It was a summer’s day in 2006 — was it really eight years ago? — and I was driving my dad’s Vauxhall Astra to my very first job interview. The position in question was for a database designer in a software house in Barnstaple, Devon. I was 22 years old with a good degree in Computer Science. […] Continue reading →
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Kona Sutra 2014 Touring Bike Review & Detailed Photos
Disclosure: I asked Kona’s UK rep to send me a demo model of the 2014 Sutra for review, to which he obliged. It was returned after the testing period was over. The Kona Sutra 2014 reviewed in this article has been positioned by Kona as a mid- to high-end steel-framed adventure touring bike with significant potential […] Continue reading →
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15 Veteran Cyclists Share Their Favourite Non-Essential Luxuries On Tour
One of the central tenets of my new eBook Essential Gear for Adventure Cycle Touring (released this week!) is that there’s no right or wrong way to ‘do’ a bike trip. This is a truism, of course; I’m far from the first person to point it out! Each one of us has different priorities when we […] Continue reading →
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Everything you’ll need to know about choosing gear for cycle touring in a single resource
If you missed it back in February, you’ll be pleased to know that my latest eBook, Essential Gear for Adventure Cycle Touring, is now available to the public. Combining the hard-earned wisdom of more than 50 experienced long-haul cyclists into a single 257-page volume, reading Essential Gear will take the pain out of getting kitted […] Continue reading →
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Don’t Bother With The Whole Sponsorship Thing
In 2014 I joined seasoned round-the-world cyclist Alastair Humphreys for a coffee in a secret location in central London (okay, it was the British Library canteen) in order to chat about bike trips — specifically, bike trips that could be made for under £1,000 and within the average annual holiday allowance. It was part of […] Continue reading →
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Surly Disc Trucker Touring Bike: Legacy Review & Detailed Photos
This review was originally published in April 2014 and is based on the specification of the Surly Disc Trucker at that time. The platform has been substantially updated for 2021, as explained in this blog post on the Surly website. This post will remain online for posterity and for those buying second-hand. The Disc Trucker […] Continue reading →
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Introducing Affordable Custom-Built Touring Bikes from Oxford Bike Works
Disclosure: This is a fully impartial review of Oxford Bike Works’ Model 2 touring bike, based on real-world testing of a demo bike on temporary loan from Oxford Bike Works at my request. I am not affilated with or sponsored by Oxford Bike Works in any way. As bike touring has grown in popularity, major bicycle […] Continue reading →