Hi! I’m Tom, originally from England, but the island was too small.
For 20 years I’ve been exploring the world by bike at every chance I get.
Why? Simply put: because it’s the closest thing you’ll find to pure freedom!
Here at TomsBikeTrip.com I share hard-earned lessons about cycle touring and bikepacking, tell original stories, and road-test new ideas.
A love of adventure has powered my 100% AI-free blog since 2006, when I first decided to travel the world by bicycle and write about it.
Welcome!
The blog: over half a million words of hard-earned, hand-written cycle touring & bikepacking advice.
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Day 13: The Long Slog
I’ve cycled less than 500 metres from the hostel (thanks Nan!) when I notice a huge lens being pointed in my direction. I wave and grin at the photographer on my way past — he’s not the first. My day’s ride has no particular destination; I will ride until I tire and hopefully make some Continue reading →
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Day 12: Into Sweden
It’s not a good feeling to wake up and to have your head filled immediately with the knowledge that the next hour or so of your life is going to be miserable, frustrating and clumsy and that there’s no-one there to help, provide moral support or simply to take it out on. But this morning Continue reading →
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Day 11: Frustrations
I linger at the breakfast table, trying to avoid the inevitable: I must leave this morning to continue my journey. The outdoor thermometer reads ‑33°C. Needless to say, focusing on statistics like that is not a great source of motivation. But I chose this. Continue reading →
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Day 10: Trying Free-Heel Skiing (aka Telemarking)
I’d always wanted to try it, ever since I’d seen the Canadian ski patrollers doing it. They were some of the most graceful, masterful skiers I’d ever seen, or have seen since. The unique thing was that they used the so-called Telemark style and equipment. Continue reading →
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Day 9: Infiltrating Østerdalen
I wake up once again under a solid roof. The dawn chill doesn’t sting my nostrils, because it’s on the other side of a double-glazed window. I don’t have to jog for warmth around a field full of snow the instant I get out of bed. And, best of all, I don’t have to force 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.