Category: Personal Updates
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#BikepackingArmenia: Why, After 12 Years Of Cycle Touring, I’m Finally Riding For Charity
In 72 hours’ time, I’ll be doing something I’ve never done before: embarking on a charity fundraising cycle challenge. Yes, I’ll be riding for a cause, raising money by means of a bike trip – in spite of much previously published cynicism. The challenge? To bikepack the length of Armenia, off-road, by a new and (mostly) untested route. And the cause? The Transcaucasian Trail, of course – an ambitious and largely voluntary trail-building effort, of which I am one of the original founders. It’s largely because of the last four years of work on the Transcaucasian Trail in Armenia that… Continue reading →
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#BikepackingArmenia: The First Ever Transcaucasian Trail Fundraising Ride Starts Next Week!
Ever since my vision for the Transcaucasian Trail took shape, I’ve been wondering how to get the adventure cycling community involved in bringing it to life. Exploring new places on a bicycle is, after all, where I cut my teeth as a traveller. Long-term readers will remember that it was a bicycle that brought me to Georgia and Armenia, way back in 2008. The experience of pedalling across the region created a deep connection that continues to this day. Well, I think I’ve figured it out! Next week I’ll be getting back on the bike to ride the length of Armenia off-road, accompanied… Continue reading →
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Oxford Bike Works & Tom’s Expedition Bike: The Story So Far
Just before I flew out to Bangkok for my current trip, I paid a visit to Richard Delacour at Oxford Bike Works to collect Tenny’s newly upgraded tourer. Based on a vintage steel Trek frame, the lovingly recycled bike is a tidy piece of work, naturally — but it got me reflecting on the story of my acquaintance with Richard and his company; a tale of serendipity and good timing that still elicits a smile. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tom Allen (@tom_r_allen) I first met Richard in 2014 when he wrote to me asking if I’d… Continue reading →
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Tom’s Bike Trip Continues: South East Asia Edition
A couple of years ago I had a big idea. I felt compelled to realise that idea, and it quickly consumed my life. One of the side effects was that I stopped writing this blog. Suddenly all my time and energy was being channelled into something new which had very little to do with cycle touring. This wasn’t planned, but it happened anyway. Circumstances dictated it. I’ve had mixed feelings about this. For many years my blog was the focal point for my creativity, my means of contributing to society, and the source of a large portion of my income.… 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 Name Would You Give A Heavy-Duty World Touring Bike?
After last week’s rather vocal debate on the ethics of commercialism in adventure, I figured it was time to get firmly back to what we all love: travelling the world on two wheels. (Less talk, more action, and all that.) Now, as long-term readers will know, I’ve never had any particular fascination with touring bikes themselves. Though I’ve written the odd blog post on the topic, this has mainly been in order to get people here via search engines so that I can talk to them about how getting on a bike and going somewhere is a far better use of their time than endlessly… Continue reading →
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It was a summer’s day in 2006
It was a summer’s day in 2006 — was it really eight years ago? — and I was driving my dad’s Vauxhall Astra to my very first job interview. The position in question was for a database designer in a software house in Barnstaple, Devon. I was 22 years old with a good degree in Computer Science. Getting a proper job was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. It was a summer’s day in 2007 — was it really seven years ago? — and I was about to ride my new bicycle for the very first time. My best mate Andy and I had finished… Continue reading →
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New Adventures, Creative Projects and Commitments for 2014
Part One of this ‘annual review’ blog series was a critical retrospective of 2013, based on looking at what went well and what didn’t go well. Part Two was a reminder of how this blog came to be and how it developed into what it is today, 7 years later. This is the third and final part, in which I’ll be looking specifically at what 2014 has in store along the various strands of my life. It is worth regularly pausing for thought in this way, even if only to confirm that the direction we’re going in reflects our true priorities. The… Continue reading →
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“Did you ever think that this would become your life?”
I received an email the other day from another long-term traveller about a project I’m currently working on. At the end of the email was the following: “P.S. When you set out on that first trip, did you ever think that this would become your life?” A damn good question with more scope than befits a private email exchange, I thought. (Thanks, Jamie!) First, what is ‘this’, exactly? Well, this blog, I suppose, and all else that it directly supports, for that is all most people see. But I spend more time working on this blog and projects derived from it… Continue reading →