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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A Little Video About Cycling In Yerevan
My last post was an invitation to come along to one of the many global bicycle gatherings that happened last Sunday on the eve of the COP15 climate change summit in Copenhagen. I helped to organise a ride here in Yerevan, and I took my trusty video camera with me. I’ve been slaving over a hot laptop for the last three nights, but now I think it’s ready for public consumption. Please take 10 minutes to watch the clip below. I hope you enjoy it, and that it gives you a glimpse into my currently-static life here in Armenia and the… Continue reading →
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Join Me On Sunday — Wherever You Are
This Sunday I’ll be dashing around the streets of Yerevan on my bike, furiously trying to film a bicycle demonstration that I’ve been organising for the last few weeks, together with a group of local cyclists, as part of the Ride Planet Earth project. Kim Ngyuen’s been cycling from Australia and is poised to arrive in Copenhagen for a couple of weeks of demonstrations during the COP15 UN climate summit, during which he’s planning to air footage from rides in cities all over the world. Copenhagen looks set to be packed out with pressure groups and activists from all over the… Continue reading →
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What Happened When I Tried To Organise A Bike Ride In Yerevan
Hello dear readers. I’m in a particularly frustrated mood this evening. I’ve had a great day climbing one of Yerevan’s nearby mountains, trudging through snow all day and having a lovely picnic on the summit. When I returned home, I read a particularly aggravating email, and so I wanted to share the situation with you, for little reason other than to get it off my chest and to give you an idea of what I get up to while I’m hanging around in Armenia for the winter. Continue reading →
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Now And Next For A Long-Term Bicycle Adventurer
Recently I’ve been sharing what I’ve learnt over the last couple of years of adventuring. As a result, the blog’s readership has never been higher, and it’s great to know that people are finding it useful and entertaining — it motivates me to keep writing. But if you’ve been a reader for a while, you might be wondering what exactly I’m up to right now, what my plans are for the future, and where the blog is heading. That’s what this post is about. Continue reading →
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An Original Idea For Your Christmas List
It’s not long until the festive season, with all the left-over turkey, expanding waist-lines, New Year’s Day river and lake swims, and endless lists of resolutions to look forward to. So I’ve just published a photography calendar for 2010. (Last year I didn’t manage this until February, so this year I’m getting organised early!) I’ve done this primarily so I can send my distant family something personalised and practical for Christmas! But it’s also (hopefully) going to be one of many ways in which I’m scraping together a few pennies for next year’s bicycle expedition across Central Asia and into… 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.