Category: News
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15 Veteran Cyclists Share Their Favourite Non-Essential Luxuries On Tour
One of the central tenets of my new eBook Essential Gear for Adventure Cycle Touring (released this week!) is that there’s no right or wrong way to ‘do’ a bike trip. This is a truism, of course; I’m far from the first person to point it out! Each one of us has different priorities when we saddle up and hit the road, and the scope for doing things our own way is truly vast. This is one of many qualities that makes the bicycle such a superb choice for long, personal journeys that deeply satisfy the soul. To really get across the… Continue reading →
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Surly Disc Trucker Touring Bike: Legacy Review & Detailed Photos
This review was originally published in April 2014 and is based on the specification of the Surly Disc Trucker at that time. The platform has been substantially updated for 2021, as explained in this blog post on the Surly website. This post will remain online for posterity and for those buying second-hand. The Disc Trucker is a mid-range, disc brake-equipped steel touring bike from American bicycle manufacturer Surly, with a great deal of built-in customisation potential, a wide range of adventure touring applications, and enough versatility to be adapted for secondary uses. In this review I’ll be looking at the… Continue reading →
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Introducing Affordable Custom-Built Touring Bikes from Oxford Bike Works
Disclosure: This is a fully impartial review of Oxford Bike Works’ Model 2 touring bike, based on real-world testing of a demo bike on temporary loan from Oxford Bike Works at my request. I am not affilated with or sponsored by Oxford Bike Works in any way. As bike touring has grown in popularity, major bicycle manufacturers have made more and more capable, well-designed touring bikes available at affordable prices. I’ve reviewed a few in this popular article. However! When it comes to buying a new touring bike, big brands are not the only option. Tons of independent bicycle builders are… Continue reading →
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Lessons Learned while Cycling to the North Cape (and Back)
Today’s guest post is from Bram Reusen, a serial traveller who this summer set off to cycle to Nordkapp in Norway. His tale is a reminder that the best laid plans always go astray — and, when travel is involved, that’s often for the better. Usually, I tend to romanticize things. I like that about myself, because it allows me to see the positive side of what I do. In the past three years I have travelled to four continents and got around using various means of transportation. In order to finance those travels I also spent – and am currently… Continue reading →
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Into The Empty Quarter [Film Review]
Last week I was honoured to be present for the world premiere of Into The Empty Quarter at the Royal Geographical Society. Al Humphreys’ and Leon McCarron’s film about their unsupported trek across the Omani desert is one I approached with trepidation. Even though they were friends of mine, how interesting could it be to watch them dragging a cart across a desert for 52 minutes? Continue reading →
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![Walking Home From Mongolia by Rob Lilwall [Book Review]](https://i0.wp.com/tomsbiketrip.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/walking-home-from-mongolia-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&ssl=1)
Walking Home From Mongolia by Rob Lilwall [Book Review]
Rob Lilwall’s second book, Walking Home From Mongolia, is a strange yet compelling beast. It is, on the face of it, a linear account of an extremely long and admittedly monotonous walk across the full breadth of mainland China. Rob positions the story deliberately as a sequel to his Cycling Home From Siberia* book of some years ago. As with Siberia, the journey will begin somewhere dauntingly remote; rules few in number but clear in scope are set; and in declaring a final destination of Rob’s home in Hong Kong the foundations are laid for a simple, gruelling adventure. Continue reading →
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Unusual Sources of Travel Money: 50 Ways To Make £50
Dave Cornthwaite seems to have got it made. He’s gone from being a not-very-good graphic designer (his words, not mine) with a mortgage, a Playstation and a permanently furrowed brow to a bloke who will say “yes” to pretty much anything — swimming 1,000 miles down the Mississippi with no training; pedalling an elliptical bicycle round Europe; kayaking the length of the Murray River in Australia; making the longest skateboard journey on record at the time; and staying awake for 72 hours straight, which is surely the most impressive feat of them all. Continue reading →
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Biologic ReeCharge: A Dynamo-Powered USB Charger for Smartphones & More
Since the start of this year I’ve been making extensive use of a nifty on-the-road power solution from Taiwanese manufacturer Biologic called the ‘ReeCharge’. It’s billed as an effective — and environmentally respectful — way to put your pedalling efforts to use in keeping your smartphone, GPS or other USB-powered device charged while on the road. I’ve given it a thorough road-test over the last few months (mainly while riding the Tern Link P24h folding tourer), and I’ll be talking in-depth about my experiences with it in this article. I’ll also talk about a couple of unusual alternative solutions I’ve come… Continue reading →
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The Road: London to Bangkok in under 4 minutes [VIDEO]
Travel films are ten a penny. So are timelapses. So are beard videos. But it’s not often you find someone with the foresight to plan all three together. Rarer still that they’d already enlisted a professional filmmaker to visualise the result in advance and do all the painstaking legwork of stitching the material together. The result, I’m sure you’ll agree, is priceless. Continue reading →
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The Cycle Traveller Who’s Going Nowhere (Plus, Upcoming Screening Events)
You know what I love most about this fantastic little film? (Do watch it.) It’s the fact that what our protagonist has unwittingly done is exactly the same as embarking upon a really long bike trip. The only difference is that he never leaves his home city. (But then if life on the road is less about leaving home and more about feeling at home anywhere — is there really any difference at all?) * * * Speaking of films, we’re about to kick off a new round of Janapar events in the UK (and a few elsewhere too). If you’re in or near… Continue reading →