To celebrate the release of our brand new inspirational book, Ride: Cycle the World, we interviewed the writers behind the book about their favourite trips, the things they’d never leave behind and their advice for first time bikepackers. This adventurous lot will have you planning your first/next bicycle tour in no time!
Ride
View BookWhat's your favourite ride that you've written about for the book?
Carol Kubicki: The River Danube Cycle Way is such a sociable ride with people from across Europe and beyond through stunning scenery with the attractive River Danube your constant companion. This is also perfect for first-time bikepackers as route finding is easy and fellow cyclists are always on hand to share tips and stories over a beer or coffee.
David Houghton: I love northern Sudan. A relatively undiscovered part of the African continent, it offers challenging riding balanced with the friendliest, most hospitable people imaginable.
Thomas Owen: The North Macedonia spomenik-hunting ride was totally out of this world. We saw a huge brown bear in the woods on the very first night near the spot we were planning to camp – we had to cycle on in the dark to try and get a bit further away from it – and for the next week things only got wilder and weirder.
Laura Moss: Cycling from Dubai to Muscat. Dubai is a fast-paced, glamorous mega-city but not far from the city borders is a different world of sand dunes and camels. On our first night after leaving Dubai, we were invited to share a meal with some local Bedouin, who lived in tents tucked among the dunes. Ending the ride in Muscat is also a massive treat, with a dive into the Indian Ocean.
Chris Scaife: I'd have to pick the Death Road in Bolivia. When riding downhill at speed, I often wish the descent would go on and on forever - well, this one does! The changing scenery - from high mountain pass to low-altitude cloud forest - and the fact that you're never more than a couple of metres from a sheer drop, also help to make this an unforgettable experience.
Jon Sparks: The Timber Trail in New Zealand. It's a great ride but it's special to me because the first time I was there was before the trail was open, and I got a taste of what was involved in creating the trail from old tracks and tramways that had become submerged in lush forest.
Rob Ainsley: Sri Lanka ticked all my boxes: luscious spicy food, compact distances, a rich and individual culture, people happy to talk cricket, and an easy-going, warm atmosphere in every sense. Wild elephants slowly and gently crossing the road was about as perilous at it got!
Richard Peace: It has to the Veloscenic from Notre Dame in Paris to the amazing monastery-on-an-island at Mont St Michel. It seems to have everything you might imagine for your ideal cycle tour of northern France; Parisian cosmopolitanism, splendorous historical sites such as Versailles, absolute rural tranquility on tiny roads and tracks as you pedal through Normandy's Perche and Main areas whilst saving the highlight of the bay of Mont St Michel as a superb climax.
David Houghton: I love northern Sudan. A relatively undiscovered part of the African continent, it offers challenging riding balanced with the friendliest, most hospitable people imaginable.
Thomas Owen: The North Macedonia spomenik-hunting ride was totally out of this world. We saw a huge brown bear in the woods on the very first night near the spot we were planning to camp – we had to cycle on in the dark to try and get a bit further away from it – and for the next week things only got wilder and weirder.
Laura Moss: Cycling from Dubai to Muscat. Dubai is a fast-paced, glamorous mega-city but not far from the city borders is a different world of sand dunes and camels. On our first night after leaving Dubai, we were invited to share a meal with some local Bedouin, who lived in tents tucked among the dunes. Ending the ride in Muscat is also a massive treat, with a dive into the Indian Ocean.
Chris Scaife: I'd have to pick the Death Road in Bolivia. When riding downhill at speed, I often wish the descent would go on and on forever - well, this one does! The changing scenery - from high mountain pass to low-altitude cloud forest - and the fact that you're never more than a couple of metres from a sheer drop, also help to make this an unforgettable experience.
Jon Sparks: The Timber Trail in New Zealand. It's a great ride but it's special to me because the first time I was there was before the trail was open, and I got a taste of what was involved in creating the trail from old tracks and tramways that had become submerged in lush forest.
Rob Ainsley: Sri Lanka ticked all my boxes: luscious spicy food, compact distances, a rich and individual culture, people happy to talk cricket, and an easy-going, warm atmosphere in every sense. Wild elephants slowly and gently crossing the road was about as perilous at it got!
Richard Peace: It has to the Veloscenic from Notre Dame in Paris to the amazing monastery-on-an-island at Mont St Michel. It seems to have everything you might imagine for your ideal cycle tour of northern France; Parisian cosmopolitanism, splendorous historical sites such as Versailles, absolute rural tranquility on tiny roads and tracks as you pedal through Normandy's Perche and Main areas whilst saving the highlight of the bay of Mont St Michel as a superb climax.
What's your favourite country/region to cycle through?
Thomas Owen: Spain. The first bike trip I took was in Spain and it remains my favourite place in the world to ride. Vast, empty, incredibly varied, unfailingly beautiful, and yet the humans you’ll meet are consistently warm, kind and curious.
Chris Scaife: Riding in the Netherlands is a real pleasure and I wish all countries could have the cycling infrastructure they have. I live on the edge of the English Lake District, so I should also give an honourable mention to my local mountain passes, including Hardknott, Wrynose and Kirkstone.
Jon Sparks: I'd have to say my favourite riding is right here in the UK. I'd single out Scotland both because it's incredibly beautiful and because of its wonderfully sensible access code.
Tracey Croke: Favourite country, because of sheer size, trail choice, unique wildlife, the diverse and sometimes unforgiving environment, is Australia.
Shafik Meghji: Patagonia. The terrain and weather conditions can be challenging, to put it mildly, but the scenery, sense of space and sheer isolation more than make up for them.
David Houghton: I love New Zealand. It offers endless road cycling and mountain biking routes. Each one is well marked with plenty of amenities along the way. Great coffee, great food, great landscapes.
Laura Moss: Scotland is hard to beat! Anywhere that you can island-hop is fun, especially now we're cycling with two small children. The islands of the Baltic Sea were a particular joy, including the Aland Islands and Turku Archipelego in Finland, along with the Estonian islands.
Darryl Kotyk: Belize is definitely on the list, but so is the Amalfi coast of Italy and the backroads found beyond the eastern borders of Austin, Texas.
Chris Scaife: Riding in the Netherlands is a real pleasure and I wish all countries could have the cycling infrastructure they have. I live on the edge of the English Lake District, so I should also give an honourable mention to my local mountain passes, including Hardknott, Wrynose and Kirkstone.
Jon Sparks: I'd have to say my favourite riding is right here in the UK. I'd single out Scotland both because it's incredibly beautiful and because of its wonderfully sensible access code.
Tracey Croke: Favourite country, because of sheer size, trail choice, unique wildlife, the diverse and sometimes unforgiving environment, is Australia.
Shafik Meghji: Patagonia. The terrain and weather conditions can be challenging, to put it mildly, but the scenery, sense of space and sheer isolation more than make up for them.
David Houghton: I love New Zealand. It offers endless road cycling and mountain biking routes. Each one is well marked with plenty of amenities along the way. Great coffee, great food, great landscapes.
Laura Moss: Scotland is hard to beat! Anywhere that you can island-hop is fun, especially now we're cycling with two small children. The islands of the Baltic Sea were a particular joy, including the Aland Islands and Turku Archipelego in Finland, along with the Estonian islands.
Darryl Kotyk: Belize is definitely on the list, but so is the Amalfi coast of Italy and the backroads found beyond the eastern borders of Austin, Texas.
Tell us the one thing that you can't leave behind on a cycling journey
Thomas Owen: I like to take a little Field Notes notebook for journalling. Multi-day bike trips are like this full-on experience of mega-sensory overload and time dilation, so I can never recall it all in any detail unless I make a written record at the time. There are pages in my diaries where I’m like ‘Woah, I totally forgot we did that?' and others that even now I can't make sense of like “Lodosa – Olympic croissant”.
David Houghton: I always bring a pocket-sized voice recorder with me. Cycling is a great opportunity to think, and a portable recorder captures all those brilliant thoughts that occur miles from anywhere.
Jon Sparks: A camera. And I mean a proper camera, not just a phone. I know today's phones are capable of incredible results, but I know where I am with a camera and I like having full manual control at my fingertips even when I have my eye to the viewfinder. And I do still want a real viewfinder, not just a screen.
Richard Peace: A good map or guidebook to the route – I've spent so much of my career and my life using and compiling cycling guidebooks and maps I would just feel lost if I wasn't either using one to help me along the route or gathering information for the next publication.
Tracey Croke: I never travel without a spare derailleur hanger and in tough moments, I find a jelly snake makes everything heaps better.
Rob Ainsley: Swiss Army Knife, though the only tools I really use are the scissors, bottle opener and corkscrew...
Chris Scaife: Condensed milk. It's not big and it's not clever – and, I suppose, it's not healthy either – but boy, does it give you an energy boost!
David Houghton: I always bring a pocket-sized voice recorder with me. Cycling is a great opportunity to think, and a portable recorder captures all those brilliant thoughts that occur miles from anywhere.
Jon Sparks: A camera. And I mean a proper camera, not just a phone. I know today's phones are capable of incredible results, but I know where I am with a camera and I like having full manual control at my fingertips even when I have my eye to the viewfinder. And I do still want a real viewfinder, not just a screen.
Richard Peace: A good map or guidebook to the route – I've spent so much of my career and my life using and compiling cycling guidebooks and maps I would just feel lost if I wasn't either using one to help me along the route or gathering information for the next publication.
Tracey Croke: I never travel without a spare derailleur hanger and in tough moments, I find a jelly snake makes everything heaps better.
Rob Ainsley: Swiss Army Knife, though the only tools I really use are the scissors, bottle opener and corkscrew...
Chris Scaife: Condensed milk. It's not big and it's not clever – and, I suppose, it's not healthy either – but boy, does it give you an energy boost!
Any advice for first-time bikepackers?
Laura Moss: Just go! Don't worry too much about kit – make do with what you've got.
Thomas Owen: Earplugs! And you’ll never regret spending a little bit extra on a fancy, warm sleeping bag.
Jon Sparks: Test out your kit (and yourself) on local micro-adventures before embarking on anything too ambitious. It's really important to know the difference between what you think you need to carry and what you really need to carry.
Rob Ainsley: Don’t be overambitious! A twenty-mile / thirty kilometre day done at leisure will be far more fun than a fifty-mile / eighty-kilometre day that you struggle to finish before dark. You’ll soon find your ideal daily distance.
Richard Peace: Consider an e-bike. There are some great lightweight models out there that almost ride the same as regular bikes when their motor is switched off so the whole experience needn't be as different from riding a regular bike as you imagine. The advantage of a bit of electric assist means no hill will ever feel too much of a challenge and you can take a few more luxury items in your panniers with the motor there to help share the load.
Chris Scaife: If you're able to, ride from home to a ferry terminal and travel by sea. Cycling straight off the boat in a new land really is one of life's great adventures.
David Houghton: Slow down and savour the journey.
Thomas Owen: Earplugs! And you’ll never regret spending a little bit extra on a fancy, warm sleeping bag.
Jon Sparks: Test out your kit (and yourself) on local micro-adventures before embarking on anything too ambitious. It's really important to know the difference between what you think you need to carry and what you really need to carry.
Rob Ainsley: Don’t be overambitious! A twenty-mile / thirty kilometre day done at leisure will be far more fun than a fifty-mile / eighty-kilometre day that you struggle to finish before dark. You’ll soon find your ideal daily distance.
Richard Peace: Consider an e-bike. There are some great lightweight models out there that almost ride the same as regular bikes when their motor is switched off so the whole experience needn't be as different from riding a regular bike as you imagine. The advantage of a bit of electric assist means no hill will ever feel too much of a challenge and you can take a few more luxury items in your panniers with the motor there to help share the load.
Chris Scaife: If you're able to, ride from home to a ferry terminal and travel by sea. Cycling straight off the boat in a new land really is one of life's great adventures.
David Houghton: Slow down and savour the journey.
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