2015: Length of Thames River 345 km
2016: London to Paris 284 km
2017: London to Rome 2,195 km
2018: Spain to Norway 6,988 km
2019: Luxembourg to Prague 1,232 km
2020: Global Pandemic
2021: Nth / Sth Downs Way 320 km
2021: West UK to East UK 1,090 km
2021: 'Badlands' 745 km
2022: Tuscany Trail 453 km
2023: Prague to Budapest 792 km
2023: Tuscany Trail 474 km
The 2021 Route
The 2021 journey from West to East starts at the Andarmurchan Lighthouse which is situated approximately 120 km west of Fort William in Scotland. From there I will be cycling across the Isle of Mull and Isle of Arran (via 4 ferries) to make landfall again at the Scottish port town of Ardrossan. Then it is directly south to Ayr before heading inland to Lockerbie and down to the border town of Gretna. Crossing into England i will cycle just east of Carlisle and Penrith and up over the Penines to York, before heading south east to Kings Lynn. The final segment will be across Norfolk to the eastern most point of Great Britain which is the coastal town of Lowestoft. Approximately 950 km i n total
THE 2019 ROUTE
My 2019 cycling odyssey takes me through 5 countries via a mix of trains, bicycle and plane.
Starting in London my bike and I will be catching the Eurostar train to Brussels. There I switch to a 'local' train that will take me and the bike to Luxembourg City. Then I ride the 40-50 km to the western German town of Trier to meet up with a bunch of retired airline pilots and a software developer and together we ride the Mosel river down to where it meets the Rhine. From there its onto Frankfurt where they will depart and return home. That first segment being about 310 km (Luxmebourg City to Frankfurt) . For me I will then ride to Hanover, approximately 360 km, meet up with Gareth.W (who has joined me on my two previous long distance bike rides for various period of time) and together we ride the Elbe River all the way to Prague in the Czech Republic (approximately 550 km). In total the ride should be about 1,200 km.
I started cycling April 6, 2018 from the southern most point of continental Europe which is the small coastal town of Tarifa in Southern Spain. A mere 14 KM from the African continent.
From Tarifa, I headed northeast along the Spanish coastline to Malaga before heading inland towards Granada. From here I crossed inland through Albacete and then re-joined the coast at Valencia.
My route then took me up to Barcelona, over into France at Perpignan and along the southern French coastline to Montpellier. Then it was directly north up the Rhone valley to Lyon. Turning slightly northeast, I passed through Besancon crossing over the border with Germany near Strasbourg.
The route then headed north up the Rhine Valley passing nearby Frankfurt am Main and on to Koblenz, then Cologne and Dortmund before visiting Hamburg. From here I cycled into Denmark passing through Copenhagen then across to Sweden and up its west coast to the Norwegian capital city of Oslo.
After Olso I headed almost directly north passing through Elverum and Koppang, up to Trondheim, then on to Tromso and Alta before finally reaching Nordkapp in the very far north of Norway.
A mere 7,000 KM (approx).
The 2018 Route
The 2017 Route
Cycling started April 28, 2017 as I set off from our home in London to an Italian village called Fosdinovo which lies some 50 km north of Pisa along the west coast of Italy. My route would take me from Richmond in south west London to Canterbury Cathedral via Tunbridge Wells. From Canterbury I picked up the Via Francigena pilgrims route that goes all the way to the Vatican. The route was via Calais in France, Arras, Reims, Troyes and Besancon. Into Switzerland and onto Lausanne, Martigny and up and over the Grand St Bernard Pass. Then over into Italy and through Ivrea, Vercelli, Piacenza, Aulla, and Sarzana. After a weeks recuperation in Fosdinovo I decided to press onto Rome and rode via the pilgrims route through Lucca, San Gimignano, Siena, Lake Boselo and onto the forecourt of St Peters.
2,200 km