Category: Big Adventures

Over the last decade or so, I’ve become known as someone who cycles alone on unknown roads for vast amounts of time. This year, however, I broke the habit of a lifetime and went on a very different kind of ride. The biggest difference wasn’t that I’d pre-designed the route, or that it was entirely off the paved roads. No – it was that I would be joined by a team of bikepackers from around the world. As the route designer and resident expert on Armenia, I would – for the very first time – be playing the role of a guide.… Continue reading →

In September 2019 I was privileged to lead a bikepacking expedition across Armenia, following remote dirt tracks and singletrack trails with a fantastic group of fellow riders.  The goal was to test out a new bikepacking route across Armenia – a mashup of Bikepacking.com’s classic Caucasus Crossing (Armenia), the Armenian national section of the Transcaucasian Trail long-distance hiking route, and some new connections I’d scouted to link the best bits together. With 90% of the Republic of Armenia set within the rugged folds of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, it was always going to be a tough place to go bikepacking.… Continue reading →

It took four days longer than planned, but I’m happy to say that the #BikepackingArmenia fundraising ride is complete – and what a ride! Over 17 days of pedalling, we covered nearly 800km of dirt and gravel trails with over 16,000m of climbing as we traversed the portion of the Lesser Caucasus mountains that dominate the Republic of Armenia. This was, by a good stretch, the toughest ride I’ve ever tackled, for reasons I’ll doubtless explore in a forthcoming blog post. For now, however, I’m going to enjoy the post-expedition bliss of not having to go anywhere, not having to make… Continue reading →

Heads up, people! Stop what you’re doing and tune into the #BikepackingArmenia social media hashtag to follow the team’s live progress as we attempt to traverse Armenia, off-road and unsupported, over the next two weeks! From now until September 22nd, I will be live-sharing the story of the first attempt to bikepack the Transcaucasian Trail long-distance offroad route across the country, through which we aim to raise $10,000 in charitable donations to fund the waymarking of the trail. This – the first group ride I’ve ever organised – is the outcome of four years of route research in the little-visited but utterly… Continue reading →