Around this time of the year, it’s unavoidable to take a look at your belly, reminisce about the many big, delicious meals and think about how you are going to lose that Christmas weight.

The answer is of course cycling! However, take a look at the window and you’ll soon have those gloomy January feelings.

Fortunately – we know better weather conditions for cycling are to come! So here’s a great event to add to your cycling calendar.

The 2012 Breakthrough Breast Cancer London to Cambridge Bike Ride. The ride involves 5,000 cyclists sweating their way along the 96km route to Cambridge. It’s a gorgeous ride that quite a few of my friends have done in the past. You’ll cover beautiful Essex, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire with rest stops on the way. Which are good for catching up with friends and meeting fellow cyclists.

The event takes place on Sunday the 22nd of July and sets off from Pickets Lock in North East London. Registration is only £19.50 per person or if you go as a team of 6 or more then £18.50 per person. This registration cost goes to cover the cost of the event, and so Breakthrough asks that each cyclist aims to raise £100 to support Breakthrough’s life-saving breast cancer work. Which shouldn’t have you pestering too many people at work!

Click here to visit the ride website for more details and get registered

Guest post by Chris Bean

They call it London-on-Sea, so it definitely fits on this blog. Right? Good. Biking in Brighton is, well, not that different from biking in London – there are potholes, buses, taxis and gormless pedestrians to keep you amused. The whole experience is however, distinctly provincial compared to riding around London, and it does have some lovely highs – riding along the coast with the sea to one side and gorgeous Hove buildings on t’other has a certain glorious buzz to it.

What’s it like down here for bikers, then? Pretty good! The weather’s surprisingly dry (this Kiwi can’t believe how little it rains down here – NZ’s green for a reason!) and bus drivers are trained to look out for us – let them out of a bus stop and you’ll get a thumbs-up. Taxis will pull impossible U-turns, just like anywhere, but they’re mostly modern vehicles, so at least they won’t gas you.

We’ve got a few segregated bike lanes, including one the Tory council tried to remove, and the country’s only Green MP! Yes indeed! Caroline Lucas hails from here, and she’s really keen on cycling. It’s a University town – students, being cheap, are keen riders.

Beware the biker that goes to the town centre: pedestrians in the Lanes are oblivious to all forms of traffic. I’ve had people carrying children step in front of me without a care in the world. How’s this different from normal pedestrians, you ask? Well, they do it to cars and buses too – walkers rule the Lanes, and that’s how it should be. I generally get off and walk if it’s busy. If you can’t beat’em, join’em.

If you fancy getting out of town, that’s easy too – there’s the Devil’s Dyke look-out, 40 minutes or so from Brighton Station up a gradual incline. From there, you can admire the view and explore the South Downs. Or you can tootle along the sea-front in either direction – east is best though, it’s more picturesque and there’s a cycle lane for miles.

As for bike shops, there’s Sydney Street bikes in the Centre, and the ‘golden tip’ is G-whizz cycles, open on Thursday, Friday, Saturday – he operates out of a garage and he’s a committed bike nut!

Finally, if you get stuck around Kemptown on a Friday or Saturday, the DIY guys at Cranks will be happy to help you out.

Cycling is basically the only way to get around Brighton and Hove – bring your bike next time you come down and get away from the centre’s crowds! Any of you Brightonians out there got some good tips or stories?

Image via raysto Flickr

It’s 7 p.m. in Tokyo and we are making our way towards the neon lights of Shibuya. It’s a short walk to the metro station, but in just 60 seconds we encounter 17 cyclists. All are cycling on the pavement.

It’s clear cycling is popular in Tokyo, but where are cyclists actually permitted? It seems Japan remains undecided on the issue. However, as of October the 25th 2011 (just a few days ago), the police have been told to crackdown on pavement cyclists. Whilst many of the areas are marked as dual use for pedestrians and cyclists, the translation seems to have been that everywhere is permitted.

As a pedestrians I can see how it is frustrating. You quickly learn to pick a path when walking down the street and stick to it. If you deviate there’s a good chance a cyclist will have to swerve around you. It doesn’t create an environment for a pleasant walk. However, this is Tokyo after all, a place not known for relaxation.

As a city, Tokyo is as modern, exciting and contradictory as they come. Warning sounds echo everywhere. From recordings of birds chirping in the metro, to songs from the latest boy band sensation as you walk around Shibuya. It’s a dazzling experience and one I felt more comfortable exploring on foot, before I hop on a bike next week.

When I do hop on a bike, I won’t be sticking out if I choose a Dutch style bike. Though not sticking out is a little hard to do in Japan. A western face always draws glances and waves from school girls dressed as sailors.

Whilst the predominant bicycle you see in Tokyo will have a pannier rack, a few gears and a step-over frame, there are big signs of fixed gear and single speed appreciation present. This is a stylish city after all and sights of red wheels, one front brake and no derailleur don’t come as a surprise.

There is however one thing about cycling in Tokyo that really surprises me. In a good way.

It’s the bike locks. Or, more accurately, the lack of them. Locking your bike here means turning the key in the lock attached to the rear wheel. It then snaps into place and the bike cannot be pedalled. On most bikes, this is the only form of security used. The sheer jealousy I’m certain I will feel the next time I lug my heavy Kryptonite lock into my bag will not soon fade!

On bikes lacking a lock attached to the rear wheel, a simple lock such as the Knog Kabana is suffice. Perhaps however, this too shouldn’t have come as a real surprise. Japan is a very safe country. I find myself tempted to leave my phone on a bench and wait to see if someone runs after me to hand it over or decides to pinch it. However, I need my phone, and anyway, I’m always forgetting the words for thank you very much.

Next week I’m going to try some riding around Tokyo so they’ll be more to report.

P.S. A very special thank you to everyone who has been getting in touch with me with Japan and Tokyo tips. It seems there’s a number of Japanophiles amongst London Cyclist readers. I’ve not had a chance to respond to all emails but I have read them and I’m following the advice.

It’s 9.15pm and we’ve managed to find an open restaurant in Speyer. I flick through the menu and nothing is in English. I recognise Schnitzel, Tomatensuppe, baguette. It’s all I’ve been eating the past few days and I’d like a pasta. From what I’ve gleaned from Lance Armstrong’s autobiography, pasta equals good food for cyclists. It’s all about the pasta.

Suddenly, I spot the word lamm. That must mean lamb. I didn’t realise I could speak German. I order lamm and sit back to enjoy my new surroundings.

Speyer is one of the larger destinations along my five day short tour of the Rhine but it is just as welcoming as some of the smallest towns along the way. If my first three days here has taught me anything, it is that after having cycled 58 miles with heavy panniers there are only three things you crave. The first is a beautiful destination, the second is a shower and finally, a hearty meal.

From Koblenz to Speyer

Day one 20 miles, day two 40 miles, day three 58 miles. My progress, or our progress, I should more correctly say, as I am cycling with a friend and I do frequently rely on his slipstream to conserve energy, gives little clue to the beautiful sights we’ve seen along the way.

It is no wonder part of the route is marked as Unesco world heritage. Ancient castles, vineyards clinging to steep hillsides and quaint little towns.

The beauty of the scenery is perhaps only surpassed by the beauty of the organisation. Maps are unnecessary as small arrows point out the route and the occasional sign lets you know the distance to the next town. The majority of the route is off the main road and takes you through forests, fields and along the river.

Germany in general is well catered to bicycles. The drivers are courteous and the signage is consistent, as is the presence of cycle paths that run alongside the road. Small features such as bicycle workstations with tools dangling to be used by passing cyclists hint towards a grander scheme which is in play. Germany is open to cyclists and clearly wants to take the right steps to encourage them.

I for one have certainly been won over. There’s plenty more to talk about from my first few days cycling along the Rhine but the hour is getting late and I’ve got another 60 or so miles to cycle tomorrow so you’ll have to excuse me.

Oh, and if anyone wants to provide me with a few translations of popular restaurant food in Germany then that would be very handy for my next meal!

Also from my cycling trip along the Rhine in Germany:

• 4 mistakes only a fool could make packing their bike onto a plane

As our plane freed itself from the gravitational confines of the earth, I tucked my head into my book. A calm flight lasting an hour and fifteen minutes lay ahead of me. However, the past three hours had been anything but calm.

Everything started at 4 am. Awoken rudely by my alarm I climbed out of bed, completely disorientated. Only a few hours ago I was loading up an Open Cycle Map of Germany onto a Garmin 705 and I had clearly not considered the huge amount of beauty sleep my body needs these days.

I packed the last few items into my panniers. I was already sure I was carrying too much but it was too late now as a taxi was waiting outside. I wondered to myself if I’d ever plan something a little better and how it would be to be organised for a change. Promising myself I’d one day be organised I taped the bike bag and carried it into the taxi.

Picking up my friend we reached Paddington station.

The train roared its way to Heathrow Airport. At this moment I realised mistake number one. The first part of our journey could have been an absolute pleasure had we made one crucial change in timing. Instead of struggling and calling on little used muscles to haul the bike to the airport we could have packed the bikes when we got there. Then, we would have enjoyed a short cycle to the train station, and wheeled the bikes onto the train.

Welcome to Terminal 5

The next mistake soon presented itself upon being greeted by the British Airways employee. A lady who was clearly just as unhappy as we were to be awake at 5.30am. She quickly dished out the bad news. We had to pay an extra £35, each, to check in the panniers.

With the benefit of hindsight, I’m not sure why I didn’t realise the bike would count as one item of luggage and the panniers as another. However, I guess it is the fact British Airways claim to carry your bike for free. Unlike budget airlines that have a set fee.

My stupidity didn’t stop there. Owing to the early hour and my brain working at around 20% of it’s normal capabilities, we didn’t realise we could have tied all our panniers together and split the £35 fee. I’ll class that as mistake number three.

Welcome to Frankfurt

Before boarding the plane we made jokes of haulage employees launching our bikes onto the plane and amused each other by recreating the image of someone kicking the spokes of the bike as they struggled to cram it into the plane. We laughed, somewhat nervously. On arrival at Frankfurt we were about to find out if our predictions were to come true.

May I present you with mistake number four. As I pulled the bike out of the bike bag I looked for damage. It seemed minimal, a few scratches on the panniers and that was about it. However, placing the front wheel and trying to give it a spin a realised it was out of alignment. It had obviously had its share of banging during the flight. A little more padding and care taken to wrap the bike wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Despite our errors, ahead of us lay 400km of Unesco world heritage sights, traditional German towns and German beer. I couldn’t wait to get started.

Learning from my mistakes

• Tape extra protection (clothes in carrier bags I’m told) around sensitive parts of the bike
• Tie all your panniers together in one big bundle and pay for the extra luggage ahead of the flight to save money
• Pack your bike when you get to the airport if it is in a bike bag

Like all good stories, my story starts on Google search. Actually, no, it starts with friends. More specifically, Dan and Alex. The bicycle touring duo. They came back to fill my ears with stories of how amazing the Rhine is. As fate would have it, another friend asked me; would I like to go on holiday in August and what would I like to do?

That is how the plan was conceived to pedal from Basel in Switzerland, through France to Mainz in Germany. Taking in a large section of the River Rhine. Here’s how I’ve been planning so far. All tips are welcome!

What part of the Rhine should I cycle?

Googling “Rhine cycling route” was helpful to get an overview of where the Rhine actually is. Apologies to my previous geography teacher for not knowing this by heart. But which part of it to cycle? My friends blogged about how from Koln onwards, industrial sights gave way to rolling countryside and picturesque villages.

Currently, as I mentioned, we plan on doing the section slightly further down and from South to North in order to end the trip in style in Frankfurt for a few days.

What bicycle?

I was hoping to take the Trek Madone road bike. However, due to the rough road surface at places and the lack of space to fit pannier racks on a road bike, it is not suited to the job.

Instead, I’ll be taking my trusty Marin hybrid bike. The puncture proof tyres, space for panniers and general toughness should be exactly what is needed. Although, I do plan on fitting some drop handlebars so I can vary the position that my hands rest on.

Where to stay?

Hostels.

How are we getting the bikes there?

After looking at Easyjet, British Airways and Lufthansa all the airlines seem fairly easy going when it comes to bikes. BA even transports bicycles for free.

In terms of how to safely pack the bikes I believe the best option is a plastic bike bag with plenty of bubble wrap.

Quick tip: When searching for a cheap flight I’ve yet to find a website to rival Momondo.com for excellent prices.

What are we taking with us?

The packing list for our Rhine cycling tour so far is:

Why not just book a tour?

This was our first thought. However, the distances the Rhine tour companies covered each day seemed short for our ability and we were looking for flexibility. Although, we’ll definitely miss out on having our bags carried by someone else.

How awesome will it be?

There’s definitely a lot of excitement at the prospect of cycling through gorgeous scenery, discovering tiny towns along the Rhine and enjoying the challenge. Therefore a ten on the awesome scale!

That’s where we currently are on the planning stages. If you have any tips I welcome them!

See also:

• Thinking of bike touring? Start here
• Cycling in Rio de Janeiro
• Chaotic cycling in Vietnam

Image sources: Rhine waterfalls and River Rhine

My friends from university cycled from London to Istanbul. An incredible feat and no doubt a journey they’ll never forget. Two more of my friends, Alex and Dan, are on their way from London to Australia.

Tackling those questions and fears

Of course, dreams like that are followed through on seldom occasions. Often it’s because you think to yourself “But how do I get that sort of time off work?”, “how could I afford it?” or “how on earth do I plan my route?”

Solving those problems and providing a huge dose of inspiration is an eBook I’ve been meaning to cover for a while. It’s called the Bike Touring Survival Guide. Written by Friedel and Andrew, the bike touring dynamic duo.

From doing laundry to finding sponsors

The advice in there ranges from the classic how to go about stealth camping to advice on what to do when you are inevitably asked questions such as “why do you not have children?”

Throughout the eBook, Friedel’s and Andrew’s vast experiences shines through and you’ll soon find yourself emailing your friends to find out who has some time to join you on a bike tour.

All the topics are covered with ease and the Bike Touring Survival Guide leaves no stone unturned. Many of the topics covered could clearly have only come after years of bike touring. Advice such as growing your own vegetables on your bike, whilst a little extreme for most purposes, is something that I could have never imagined.

If you’ve ever thought about doing a bike tour but you are struggling with the logistics or want to hear from people who’ve been there and done it before then I strongly recommend taking a look.

The eBook has been priced at just 5 Euros. Which I believe is an absolute steal considering how comprehensive this thing is.

You can find out more about Friedel and Andrew and download their eBook from their website: Bike Touring Survival Guide

Free copy!

Friedel and Andrew were also very keen on the idea of giving two copies away for free! Of course, how I could refuse! Simply leave a comment below with your thoughts on the sort of bike tour you’d love to go on and then we’ll pick two winners.

Update: This competition is now closed!

It is an incredible trip no doubt and they will soon be exploring far away places such as Cambodia and Japan (they’ve decided on a route that covers additional countries they wanted to see). I’m proud of them as neither are fitness fanatics or even hugely keen cyclists. In fact Alex (The Aussie girl who is stealing our good friend Dan!) hasn’t touched a bike in years. They are a true testament to having a dream for a trip and going for it.

Of course, that’s not to say there hasn’t been difficulties along the way. Finding the money to buy all the equipment, choosing a bike, planning a route, working out Visas and so forth all needs to be considered.

One guide I recommended to them and wanted to also recommend to you is the Bicycle Travellers Blueprint by my good friend Darren Alff. It is a guide that will remove half the hassle when planning a trip like this. Meaning there is more time to dream of beautiful destinations and enjoy the cycling without things going wrong.

It is the sort of thing you have to read before taking a big cycling trip such as this one. Though, I’m not suggesting an 8 month tour is possible for everyone or is even something everyone would like to do. However, perhaps you want to do a 1 month trip around Eastern Europe or a 2 week trip along the beautiful British Coastline.

How to plan the perfect trip

The first necessity is obviously all the equipment. If you, like my two friends, Alex and Dan don’t even yet have a bike that is suitable for a long trip then this is where the guide begins. It helps someone make the right decision as to the type of bike they should buy and also how to transport things on that bike. There is also a number of useful sections in this chapter that discuss the sort of equipment that makes a huge difference but you’ll probably forget to take and how to keep your bike safe while you’re travelling.

One of the most useful sections in this first chapter is the packing checklist. This makes it incredibly easy to get going and not forget any essentials. Having someone with a ton of experience explain what is and isn’t necessary sets you off on the right gear (pun intended). Oh, and while you are out on the road climbing a big hill you’ll be making a promise to yourself to email Darren and thank him on the section about things you can leave at home!

Once all the equipment is done and you know how to pack your panniers like a professional you need a route. This can be one of the most difficult parts of the planning stage but Darren has broken it down beautifully into an easy to follow method. Everything including how to research, find accommodation and create a budget is covered in this second chapter.

You might think that is where the guide ends. However, Darren has then gone on to talk about what it is like to be on the road. This is good for the mental element of the preparation which especially for particularly long trips might be something you didn’t consider beforehand. He also outlines how you can stealth camp – as in camp for free and not be seen while you are touring. A useful skill that you’re unlikely to learn elsewhere.

There is a ton more contents in the downloadable eBook but I hope you get the idea that this is an “all your questions answered” guide. I’ve been recommending it since last year when I was first told about it to anyone who comes to me with questions about doing a big bike tour such as my two good friends who are due to ride Lands End to John O Groats next week as a warm up to their 8 month tour!

If you have any questions about the eBook before you buy then please leave them below. I’m happy to answer them or I can direct them to Darren.

http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/go/bicycle_travellers_blueprint/

Both beaches offers views that are nothing short of spectacular. Look around you and you will see plenty of gorgeous Brazilians going about tanning, swimming and drinking Caipirinha. (Or Caipis as we affectionately called them). Look a little further and you will see the two mountains called the Two Brothers.

Similarly to when we were cycling in Vietnam, we decided to rent bikes. As we had amassed a decent sized group of new friends we completely cleared out the shop of all the bikes they had available. It soon emerged that I was a keen cyclist in London and so the shop owner trusted me with his personal bike.

After minor adjustments to the bicycles we travelled up to the lake which sits behind Ipanema. The picture above shows this lake from the Christ the Redeemer monument. True to the relaxed nature of the Rio de Janeiro residents we were soon relaxing in a cafe and drinking Guarana. A refreshing soft drink that I’m told can be bought in London as well.

The entire route around the lake is shared between pedestrians and cyclists and is well maintained. There is plenty of opportunity to stop and relax in the shade with a coconut drink. These are available all over Rio de Janeiro. After buying one for a couple of pounds the stall holder uses a sharp knife to create a hole in the top of them so you can stick a straw in and drink the juice.

Aftewards we travelled across the short strip of land that separates the lake from the sea. Along the entire length of both Copacabana and Ipanema is a segregated two lane cycle path. This is well used by locals and everyone cycling along it was very friendly. A couple of times I heard whistles when people wished to overtake and then as they overtook an “oblegado” which is Portuguese for thank you.

We kept the pace slow to enjoy the surroundings. However, I couldn’t resist racing my new friends at one stage on our mountain bikes. After all there is nothing wrong with a bit of showing off.

After cycling around in 32 degrees heat I was desperate to go for a swim to cool down. We locked up the bikes and ran into the sea Baywatch style! This was the perfect refreshment and we completed the rest of the cycling in our swimming gear.

During the cycling we had a chance to chat about cycling in London. Hiren who joined us on the cycling is also a Londoner and had previously worked for a short while at Halfords. He told me about how difficult it was to move a customer from the cheapest bikes to the slightly more expensive but miles better bikes. I told him about how Halfords made the error of putting the front forks on the wrong way round on one of their cheap bikes in the advert and he couldn’t believe it.

Maxi, who was travelling with Hiren, told me the favourite present she had ever received was a shiny new mountain bike but she had hardly used it for fear of the London streets. I told her it wasn’t as bad as everyone says and that I would give her some lessons back in London.

I also met Julie from France who I got along with really well. I have promised to visit her in Lyon and get her more into cycling.

While in Brazil we also took the chance to do a tour of the Favelas. This is where many of Brazil’s poorest residents live and is central to the drug crime that is so prevalent. We went with a group for reasons of safety. On the first day the tour had to be cancelled due to a special police raid on the Favela we were visiting and gunshots being fired. There was a lot of panic in people’s eyes as they told us not to continue on into the Favela so it was a little unnerving. The second day everything was calm so we were able to walk around undisturbed.

One of the sights we were shown is of the illegal electricity pirating. You can see the electricity pylon in the picture above and how it has been modified to provide free electricity to the residents. We were also told that Favelas are actually one of the safest places to be and the banks inside are the only ones not to have been robbed. This was due to the severity of the punishment by local drug gangs if you are caught committing such a crime.

Overall in Brazil the cycling seems very casual. You will mainly see single speed bikes with plenty of baskets for carrying things. The bike is largely seen as a utility vehicle and the majority of roads seem fairly dangerous for cyclists. Far more so than in the UK. However, some people do seem to be switching to bikes to beat the poor public transport and provisions such as the cycle lanes along Copacabana beach are likely to be central to this transition. If you get the chance to visit Brazil I couldn’t recommend it more and make sure while you are there you do some cycling.

See also:

• Chaotic cycling in Vietnam
• Cycling in the most remote part of the UK
• Alastair Humphreys book review – cycling around the world on a tight budget

A bike tour is basically when you explore a country by bike. Up until recently I never thought about doing it but then two things happened.

The first was reading Moods of Future Joys by Al Humphreys. This was an inspiring read because it showed how much more you get to experience a country on a bike. It also showed me that you didn’t have to be some sort of extreme traveller cyclist type to be able to do it. Anyone could do it with a bit of planning.

The second was being recommended an amazing resource which has made planning a bike tour a lot easier. After having read through it I feel a lot more prepared.

In 2010 I’m planning on exploring the British coast . I want to see all those amazing places you see pictures of and think surely that can’t be in the UK? I also want to go further and do a trip around parts of Asia. Possibly starting in Istanbul, though Turkey onwards through parts of Russia. You may have considered taking a similar trip in 2010.

Bicycle Travellers Blueprint

The resource I was recommended that I want to share with you is called the Bicycle Travellers Blueprint. It takes you through everything from the equipment you need to the mentality behind bicycle touring. It is a fantastic eBook that converts a complete bike touring beginner like myself into someone who you would think has done it all before.

It is aimed at anyone who wants to do a bike tour. This includes those of us that are happy sleeping in a hotel and those of us that would prefer to sleep in a tent. I’ll probably try the latter because it sounds like a lot of fun and is very cheap.

What I really liked about the Bicycle Travellers Blueprint is that it is easy to read without compromising on the depth of information. Whilst the author Darren Alff has been bike touring for over 8 years he keeps his writing style accessible to anyone including beginners and those with some previous experience.

The eBook discusses topics such as equipment, finding a partner, how to build up the confidence to go on a bike tour and some of the emotions you will experience. It also has a fairly comical yet at the same time brilliant suggestion of living off your bike for a while before leaving so you can ease your way into it. I would never have thought of doing this. The Blueprint then moves on to creating a plan, doing your trip research and calculating a budget. It pretty much answered all my questions and made me think about things I would not have even considered.

It definitively saved me a lot of time in working these things out for myself. I wanted to recommend it to you as I have found it so useful.

Where to get hold of the blueprint

Click here to find out more about Bicycle Travellers Blueprint