Category: Articles & Essays
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3 More Big Bike Trips (& 1 Microadventure) You Can Read For Free On This Blog
Happy New Year! Some more holiday reading material for you today, particularly if you’ve enjoyed reading the free serialisation of my first book Janapar. Blogging from the road is something I’ve done since the beginning of my travels. The stories that follow have been written and published from the road itself over several years of bicycle adventuring – from roads in Arctic Scandinavia, Canada & the USA, Europe, and most recently my home country, England, which is perhaps the most unusual tale of the lot. To make reading them in sequence easier, you’ll find navigation buttons after the end of each instalment (just after… Continue reading →
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Starting Next Week, Janapar Will Be Serialised For Free On This ‘Ere Blog
It’s really quite lovely being a self-published author. I can do absolutely anything I like with the words that have emanated from my fingertips, without restriction from contractual obligations to publishers or agents, without the pressure to squeeze sales out of my readers in the hope of a royalty cheque that’ll do more than just pay for next week’s food shopping. I am grateful for this luxurious freedom to do anything at all with what I create. Such as, for example, serialising the entirety of my first book, Janapar, here on TomsBikeTrip.com. The book tells the story of the time… Continue reading →
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The Future Of TomsBikeTrip.com
Tuesday’s announcement appears to have resulted in mild confusion about the fate of this long-running cycle touring blog. Allow me to set the record straight: TomsBikeTrip.com is here to stay! The launch of TomAllen.info reflects the fact that I have interests and stories beyond bicycle travel. But travelling on two wheels remains the thing that’s most precious to me – and I’ve got plenty more to write about, not least because I continue to go on regular cycling adventures. Simply expect this blog to continue in a more focused way from now on. So, if you’re more interested in personal philosophies, tales from on the road and… Continue reading →
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Why, After 9 Years Running TomsBikeTrip.com, I Started A New Blog Today
This is the biggest upheaval in my blogging life since Ride Earth became Tom’s Bike Trip back in 2010. It’s long overdue. The short answer to the “why” in the title of this post is this: I have a lot more to say about travel, adventure & storytelling than there’s space for on a cycle touring website. The long answer can be found in the 2,187-word article I’ve just published on my brand new blog. It’s unclear where this new venture will lead. But that’s true of every Day One, isn’t it? Click here to read more and see if this new journey is one you’d be interested in following. Continue reading →
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What Exactly Does ‘Freedom’ Mean When Travelling?
Freedom – or the sense of it, at least – is the one thing that keeps bringing me back to cycle touring. I have all practicalities whittled down to a slender routine; there is nothing more to learn from the act itself of travelling by bicycle itself. Yet back to it I come, year after year, because of the sense of boundless liberation that comes from simply being on the road. At least, I thought it was freedom. Then someone pointed out that my adventures had all involved using money to get where I was going – just another tourist with… Continue reading →
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One Year On From #freeLEJOG, Here’s Some Thoughts From The Brink Of Departure
This piece was originally written for The Ride Journal, created to share personal stories from people obsessed in one way or another with bikes. You can download past issues for free from TheRideJournal.com, and connect with the project on Facebook and Twitter. The gates swing back with an affirmative bleep and I wheel my bike onto the platform. I hunt through the hordes of hurried commuters to scan the departure board. It’s a lonely old place, a railhead at rush hour; no talking, just mis-matching footfalls, heads down, like marching to prison or war, and I feel like the one man… Continue reading →
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Introducing CyclingTouring.org, A Social Network For Solo Cycle Tourists To Find Partners In Adventure
Today’s Q&A‑style guest post comes from Pete Ashford, founder of CyclingTouring.org, a new (free) social networking website aimed at finding cycle touring partners to join your trip wherever and whenever you happen to be riding. Tell us a bit about yourself! I have been riding bikes all my life – BMXs, mountain bikes, road bikes, single speed, just about anything with two wheels. I dream about bikes, I scan the internet for them, I read cycling books/magazines, I listen to podcasts… at the moment I’m wondering if I need a fold up bike, just because I think they look cool and… Continue reading →
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The Continuing Adventures Of Charlie The Scrapyard Touring Bike, By Kelly Diggle (Rider #4)
Today’s guest post is from Kelly Diggle, who has just come into ownership of Charlie the Scrapyard Touring Bike. Read about how Charlie was born, as well as the stories of his first and second big journeys. Take it away, Kelly… I’d be lying if I said cycle touring has always been a dream of mine. In fact, I blame my wanderlust and itchy-feet-syndrome on the books, blogs and adventurers that tell me over and over again that pedalling off into the distance is an absolute must! This year I decided to listen. Having had my heart stolen during a 10 day… Continue reading →
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Leaving Your Comfort Zone Is Not Something To Avoid
Adventure cycling demigod Alastair Humphreys has just launched a new short film of his recent bike & bothy adventure in the Scottish Highlands. (A bothy, for the uninitiated, is a remote mountain shelter which is free for public use.) It’s really good. And if you’ve never come across bothies before, it’s a fantastic introduction to their unique subculture. Watch it here: It’s also created the perfect opportunity for me to write a follow-up piece. (Thanks, Al!) Because ‘biking and bothying across the Scottish Highlands’ is a good description of the first bike trip I ever did, way back in 2006 – way before this blog… Continue reading →
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How To Travel Full Time While Working On The Road (Includes Q&A With A Veteran Of 9 Years)
Today’s article includes a Q&A with Nora Dunn, a Canadian who sold everything (including a busy financial planning practice) in 2006 to embrace her dreams of long-term immersive travel. She runs TheProfessionalHobo.com, a blog dedicated to the art of making travel financially self-sustaining, and has written several books on various aspects of the lifestyle – in short, she’s a real expert on combining work and travel. Her expertise is particularly relevant right now. I no longer rent a property. I possess only one bicycle (yeah, I know!). And everything I need to live fits into either a 75-litre backpack or a pair… Continue reading →