Category: Personal Updates
-
Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions
I think New Year’s Resolutions are a really crap way to make positive changes to the way you live. Why? Well, I reckon it’s much more effective to start doing something than to stop doing something. Most New Year’s Resolutions seem to revolve around giving something up. So, on the first of January this year, I’d […] Continue reading →
-
Company For Christmas In The Caucasus
It’s December and the mercury is dropping fast. This week I experienced my first morning run in the falling snow, crunching quietly in the pre-dawn blue around the faded grandeur of Victory Park and its empty dilapidated walkways, crumbling statues and rusty fairground rides. The onset of winter took me back a couple of years […] Continue reading →
-
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, […] Continue reading →
-
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 […] Continue reading →
-
Getting Married And Quitting Facebook
On Saturday the 19th of September Tenny and I were married in a small wedding ceremony in Yerevan. We had made a surprise arrival at the church on Armenia’s one and only cycle rickshaw with an entourage of bicycle activists leading and following us through the main streets of the city. After the ceremony we […] Continue reading →
-
What You’ve Missed About Charity Bike Rides
There’s a backlash happening against charity bike rides. I’m not sure why. For me, it’s a way of trying to give in a time when you often feel like you’re doing an awful lot of taking. Every couple of months sees the announcement of yet another heroic long-distance solo bicycle odyssey, pitting man against the […] Continue reading →
-
Why Cycle-Touring Is Good For Your Legs
Since I got back from a spontaneous hitching trip from Armenia to England and back, my mind has been on the problem of keeping fit. Like an awful lot of us, I’m destined to spend my time (for the next few months, at least) in a city. More than half of the world’s human population […] Continue reading →
-
My Perfect Kind Of Sport
I’m on my way back to Armenia, but not in too much of a rush. This morning I woke up, had breakfast and headed out with nothing less than an epic mountain-bike ride in mind. I climbed quiet, steep mountain roads through cool and fragrant pine forests to the upper slopes of the Austrian Alps, near […] Continue reading →
-
Have Micro-Adventures For Better Weekends
I recently came across a new meme by way of Alastair Humphreys’ blog, which I’ve been reading regularly since I read his great travel books while preparing for Ride Earth. The idea of a ‘micro-adventure’ strikes a very relevant chord in this post-ride phase. City life isn’t really my thing. Noise, pollution and a feeling of […] Continue reading →
-
Swim, Bike, Run — Armenia’s Second Annual Triathlon
Last weekend I participated in a triathlon up in the mountains at Lake Sevan, which was organised for the second year running by staff at the US Embassy. Events like this are few and far between in Armenia, as the idea of sport for general health and fitness has not yet gained widespread public acceptance. […] Continue reading →