Hi.
Welcome to my adventure-cycling website. Follow the journeys, challenges and stories from the road - head to the blog for the latest updates.
Welcome to my adventure-cycling website. Follow the journeys, challenges and stories from the road - head to the blog for the latest updates.
I was born in London, but grew up in a small village in the middle of England with fond memories of riding BMXs and MTBs. Looking back, I probably had more freedom than most kids today: quiet roads, safe surroundings, and parents who didn’t enforce strict rules.
My teenage years were mostly spent playing whatever sports were on offer, at school and club level, although cycling never featured as something competitive.
At 21 I graduated from university with a geography degree and little idea of what to do next. Temporary jobs in factories, call centres and supermarkets had kept me debt-free as a student, but none were ones I wanted to do much longer. Neither did I have much interest in the kinds of graduate jobs or careers that some students were directed towards.
An invite to Zambia from a university friend shortly after graduating turned into eight months of solo travel through southern and east Africa. Travelling by bicycle hadn’t occurred to me at all, but the journey sparked a wanderlust to see more of the world.
Finding a job that allowed me to travel became the plan. Teaching English as a foreign language was one option, so I completed a language teaching qualification and ended up in Japan. By this time I’d come across the inspiring stories and books of those who’d seen the world by bicycle. It sounded a much more adventurous and fulfilling way to travel than being a passenger on public transport, and a lot more exciting than being in a classroom.
In 2004 a holiday cycling around the island of Kyushu planted the seed for a bigger journey. The freedom, simplicity, and unpredictability of cycling hooked me: each day brought new sights, new people, and the satisfaction of reaching camp exhausted but fulfilled. The cycling itself was never about how far or how fast I could go in a day, and the bicycle I had wasn’t especially built for being loaded with bags for touring.
Cycling around the island of Yanagashima in southern Japan.
And so the next year, without a great deal of planning, I finished my teaching contract and set off with a vague aim to cycle back to the UK. I had no idea how long such a journey would take, but decided that as long as I maintained the motivation and funds to keep going I would. I had saved as much of my salary in Japan as possible, and found travelling by bicycle to be cheap, as long as I didn’t splurge on expensive activities or accommodation.
The Long Ride Home, as I called the journey, ended up covering almost 50,000km over the following three years.
Restless for more two-wheeled adventures, and fulfilling a wish to return to Africa, I left the UK by bicycle a year later in 2009.
The Big Africa Cycle was another solo and mostly unplanned journey. I guessed I might be on the road for a year and a half, but it was almost three years later that I rolled into Cape Town, having cycled 35,000km and raised over £20,000 for the Against Malaria Foundation.
In 2013 I returned to Africa to work as a teacher trainer in northern Tanzania. I brought the bicycle and used my holidays to explore more of the continent on two wheels.
Two years later my teaching contract finished and I was back on the road, riding north through the Horn of Africa. A cargo boat loaded with cows transported me out of Africa to Oman and the Arabian Peninsula. That journey finished in the UAE.
Mwanza-Muscat, although the journey actually finished in the UAE.
The Gulf countries had never appealed as a place to live and teach, but there were plenty of jobs, and I’d enjoyed my time cycling in Oman. In the end it was Saudi Arabia where I started work again in 2016. The plan had been to stay a few years, save some money and use my free time to study again. Adventurous cycle tours sadly featured far less frequently over the following years as I balanced full-time work with postgraduate studies (MA in Education and International Development).
When the studies were complete in 2019 I felt restless for another adventure, and set 2020 as a year to get back on the road. Covid put that hold on that until 2021. Since then I’ve mostly been on the road, riding around the UK and Ireland, various parts of Europe, as well as the Caucasus, Arabian Peninsula, Africa and Asia.
People often ask how I afford it. The answer: saving hard while working and spending little while traveling. My lifestyle began with part-time student jobs, graduating debt-free, and later earning well in Saudi Arabia, which allowed me to invest in property and generate passive income. All my journeys have been self-financed, with occasional support from companies for equipment.
Curiosity and the drive to see the world keep me riding just as passionately as twenty years ago. I don’t think there’s a better way to explore than by bicycle. Someday I hope to turn these adventures into a book—or two—but for now, I’m happy documenting the world as seen from my saddle.
