Unique Cycling Tour...Riders Wanted

[robing]

Another great book Steven, I read it in about 2 days flat! Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you and the gf, but as I know too well, combining cycle touring and a relationship can be difficult! I admire couples who cycle together - but like you I'm more of a solo cyclist.

I'm intrigued though, what did Dave, Joe (and Sabby) think of the book? It's not particularly flattering for them, but did make for very entertaining reading! And did you prefer your cycle home, free to cycle at your own pace and not limited to £1 per day?

 

[Jefferson Meriwether]

I'm intrigued though, what did Dave, Joe (and Sabby) think of the book? It's not particularly flattering for them, but did make for very entertaining reading!

I thought the book was brilliant. I didn't think of my portrayal in the book as unflattering when I read it, more a humorous portrayal; I chuckled at Steve's perception of me Steve's certainly not going to get any complaints from me about it all

When my girlfriend read about the goats she told me I'm not allowed to go chasing after goats anymore hehe

 

[smith4188]

Another great book Steven, I read it in about 2 days flat! Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you and the gf, but as I know too well, combining cycle touring and a relationship can be difficult! I admire couples who cycle together - but like you I'm more of a solo cyclist.

I'm intrigued though, what did Dave, Joe (and Sabby) think of the book? It's not particularly flattering for them, but did make for very entertaining reading! And did you prefer your cycle home, free to cycle at your own pace and not limited to £1 per day?

Cheers, Mr G! Glad you liked it. Yes, I was a bit worried at first about what the others would think but it would take a nuclear weapon to wipe the smile from Dave's face. Joe has been in touch and said he thought it was fair. Sabby is back in Hungary helping the homeless. I doubt he's had time to read it but I don't remember saying anything even vaguely negative about him. And Mark has recommended it to someone else on Facebook and so he can't feel too badly about being presented as a whinger.

Any road, as I said on an earlier message, if you could copy what you wrote here into an Amazon review that would help me immensely and Santa will probably bring you even more presents for being such a good boy.

 

[smith4188]

And did you prefer your cycle home, free to cycle at your own pace and not limited to £1 per day?

Cycling home was very weird. After racing down to Gib on very few calories and wanting to go even faster, I went back more slowly, usually doing less distance each day, and eating like a pig and drinking like a fish and I still felt more tired, although perhaps that was the previous 10 weeks catching up on me. I put on about 5 kg. Did I enjoy it more? I enjoyed not having to hang around for people, and I saw some interesting landscapes in Spain. I think I missed having them around more than I thought I would, but I'm a solo cyclist at heart. Wild camping alone was less fun - there was safety in numbers - but still bearable. In Spain I tended to wild camp one night followed by a cheap hotel followed by a wild camp. In France, I only wild camped once because the campsites were so cheap. I was though (and still am) struggling when it came to buying anything. Everything is calculated in terms of how many days I could survive for if I had to.

 

[robing]

Any road, as I said on an earlier message, if you could copy what you wrote here into an Amazon review that would help me immensely and Santa will probably bring you even more presents for being such a good boy.

Done! I did LOL at the Frosty the Snowman joke! And also "tonight we're going to party like we've £1.99" - brilliant!

 

[martint235]

I'm only a chapter in and already hooked. I don't read many cycling books: the Reggie books; Tim Moore and of course Barring Mechanicals so it's rare for me to enjoy one this much. If it stays this good all the way through I'll post to Amazon too

 

[smith4188]

I'm only a chapter in and already hooked. I don't read many cycling books: the Reggie books; Tim Moore and of course Barring Mechanicals so it's rare for me to enjoy one this much. If it stays this good all the way through I'll post to Amazon too

Cheers 235! I hope you continue to like it.

 

[Brains]

Read it, very good, a real Boys Own adventure.

Obviously a few tweaks that could be made before the second reprint that gets it onto the Sunday Times Best Travel Book 2016 list, but overall it kept me interested and reading all the way through in about 4 days. I admire all of your self determination not to cheat !
I understand the obvious fixation on food, but some of the lessons you have shown are worth remembering, such as fishing is a waste of time and effort, and wild fruit appears to be surprisingly effective.
The one trick I think you may have missed was using something like a wood gas burner to cook on, it would have taken your fuel costs to zero.
Also from experience of taking 10-15 bikes across Denmark and Holland a through check of each bike, including the quality of the wheels and tyres would probably have got you to Gib a couple of days earlier, you don't get one bike with nine punctures in a single day on decent tyres.

I think with a more realistic budget of closer to £5 a day you lot could have lived like kings across Europe!

In summary, a great Christmas read, when is the next one ?

 

[smith4188]

Read it, very good, a real Boys Own adventure.

Thank you, Brains.

The one trick I think you may have missed was using something like a wood gas burner to cook on, it would have taken your fuel costs to zero.

I've never used a wood gas burner but wouldn't that produce smoke? We didn't want to draw attention to ourselves when wild-camping. And it would have meant finding dry wood, which would have been surprisingly difficult last summer in our bit of southern Europe. Meths in France and Spain was much cheaper than in the UK, but if we could have found a workable, smokeless foraged solution then, yes, that would've been better.

Also from experience of taking 10-15 bikes across Denmark and Holland a through check of each bike, including the quality of the wheels and tyres would probably have got you to Gib a couple of days earlier, you don't get one bike with nine punctures in a single day on decent tyres.

Yes, the puncture thing was a bit weird. My bike had been properly serviced and Joe was more technical than me and could have rebuilt his bike from scratch. Tyres aside, his gear was good stuff. Dave's bike was a nightmare.

I think with a more realistic budget of closer to £5 a day you lot could have lived like kings across Europe!

You're not wrong there.

In summary, a great Christmas read, when is the next one ?

On my three-year, everywhere-in-Europe ride, I viewed the UK as just a place to cycle out of. On this trip though I really enjoyed England and Wales, and so I thought I'd do a trip this summer through every county in mainland Britain but I would determine my route by following the recommendations of the people I meet along the way. That way I'll see places I wouldn't otherwise have found. I reckon five months should have me seeing a little bit of everywhere. I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully enough will happen to justify another book. Failing that, I'm working on another couple of novels.

 

[jay clock]

I have just read this, and having done UK to Gib (roughly half camping) I am in awe at their fortitude. Great book

 

[Dave Davenport]

Just finished the book. Have to admit I only bought it 'cos it was 99p on the Kindle daily deal and it was only after I'd started it that I remembered seeing this thread. Anyway, thought it was a very good read, me and Mrs D have ridden quite a bit of that route and it was interesting to compare the experience on a 25th of our budget. I've just splashed out a whole £1.99 on 'No place like home'.

 

[smith4188]

Thanks for buying the books, Dave. I'm sure 25 quid a day is a much more fun way of doing it.

 

[steveindenmark]

Steven, have you more plans to write more non fiction books like George Pearly is a miserable old sod?

How many books are planned for the Round Britain trip.

 

[smith4188]

Steven, have you more plans to write more non fiction books like George Pearly is a miserable old sod?

How many books are planned for the Round Britain trip.

Hi Steve! Yep, I'm currently writing a sequel to the George Pearly book. That should be available at the end of February. (And then I've a long list of other silly stories I want to write.) And the second half of Route Britannia will be ready this summer. All the best cycling is in the second half. Scotland and especially the west coast is just amazing.