Hi! I’m Tom, originally from England, but the island was too small.
For 19 years I’ve been pedalling the world... and peddling the word:
Travelling by bicycle is a revolutionary act, the closest thing you'll find to pure freedom, and the cleanest (and cheapest) way to get it!
Here at TomsBikeTrip.com I tell original stories, trail-test new ideas, and share hard-earned lessons about cycle touring and bikepacking. A love of adventure has powered my AI-free blog since 2006, when I first decided to travel the world by bicycle. Welcome!
The blog: over half a million words of hard-earned cycle touring & bikepacking advice.
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Ride Earth 2009 Charity Calendar
It’s a couple of weeks into January, so it’s likely you’re thinking about getting round buying yourself a calendar for 2009. If you like your calendars to be visually appealing, you could do far worse than stumping up £12.95 for our Ride Earth charity calendar. Produced and delivered by Red Bubble, all of the profit we […] Continue reading →
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Magura Louise Hydraulic Disc Brake Review
Disc-brake technology for mountain-bikes has progressed at lightning speed in the last few years. Based on long-standing concepts originating from motorbike technology, disc-brakes have traditionally suffered from complex set-up and maintenance procedures, and reliability issues. It’s just not as simple as a piece of wire attached to a caliper. It’s messy and expensive. People get […] Continue reading →
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Magura Odur 100mm Front Suspension Touring Fork Review
Choosing suspension forks for cycle touring usually involves a preliminary question — should I use forks at all? The answer, as usual, depends on where you want to go on your fully-loaded bike. A tour on good quality asphalt doesn’t call for the control, comfort and arm/hand protection offered by a good pair of suspension forks. […] Continue reading →
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Is Hitchhiking Still Viable?
I am committed to avoiding flying for tourism. Commercial air travel has been in existence for less than a hundred years. There must be another way. This probably meant that there were far fewer travellers, of course, but it probably also meant that those who did partake of long-term, long-distance voyages gained an intimate knowledge […] Continue reading →
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My New Year’s Resolutions
To ride my planned route with renewed purpose and enthusiasm, using the knowledge that Tenny, my girlfriend, is awaiting my return to guide me when the going gets tough. To return to Iran with less doubt, more experience, and a fresh outlook on the world and my future, friends and family. To live every day like […] Continue reading →
Books, eBooks & Guides
I’ve written a range of guidebooks and travelogues to read at your leisure, whether you’re preparing for a bike trip, living life on the road, or home and dreaming of the next big ride.
How To Hit The Road: A Beginner’s Guide To Cycle Touring & Bikepacking
First published in 2017 and updated in 2021, this book is my comprehensive newcomers’ introduction to the art of the bicycle-mounted adventure.
Every aspect of a cycle tour or bikepacking trip is covered in 34 chapters, split over three parts: pre-trip planning, initial execution, and adapting to the long haul.
As well as broad, practical advice, I’ve woven inspiring and reassuring anecdotes throughout the book – because getting away from the starting line isn’t about knowing everything, but having the confidence to begin.
Drawing on my personal experience of almost two decades of adventure cycling, more than 50 veteran riders from diverse backgrounds have also contributed to this guide, making it one of the most well-rounded introductions you’ll find to this radically liberating form of independent travel.
Whatever you’re planning and wherever you’re going, if it involves a bicycle and the spirit of adventure, How To Hit The Road has got you covered.
Janapar: Love, on a Bike
My first travelogue, originally published in 2013 and the subject of a successful crowdfunding campaign, telling the true story of my first 3½ years on the road.
This was far from your typical long-distance bike tour, however. From the cover blurb:
When twenty-three-year-old Tom Allen and his friends set off from their English village to cycle around the world, they were expecting physical hardship, extreme conditions and a serious case of culture shock. But the hours spent poring over maps could never have prepared them for the experience of life on the road: the petty squabbles, the extreme hospitality, the unexpected joys and dangers.
And then Tom meets Tenny, a feisty Iranian-Armenian girl with dreams of her own, and hits a crossroad. Should he give up his grand plan for the girl he loves, or cycle off and risk missing out on the greatest adventure of them all?
Temporarily out of print (except in the USA), Janapar is still available as a Kindle ebook from all Amazon portals worldwide.