General
Jordan: Greatest Hits
Over a decade ago, I began to pull together a collection of stories to be shared with family and friends as I took off on that big trip, an idea that had simmered away inside my brain for such a long time. With time in abundance, I found enjoyment in documenting and sharing these tales, and […]
The Afterlife – Life After a Big Trip
You have just seven seconds to make a first impression. Perhaps then it is not surprising that we instantly try to put people into boxes. To compartmentalise them, trying to make sense of who they are, sifting and sorting them to a mould that fits our own thinking. In recent years, I’ve been labelled a […]
2015: Recalibrating
Almost two weeks in to 2016 it seems a tad tardy to begin reflecting on the previous year. After all shouldn’t we now be filled with hope, expectation and excitement of what the new year will bring? The truth is that I sat down to pen my thoughts about 2015 midway through December amidst impending […]
The Peak District: Part of the Peak 200
Two weeks later, I once again find myself back in the Peak District National Park. Having previously carved my way north through the limestone valleys and barren moorland via the Pennine Bridleway. This time my gaze is fixed on the eastern Peak District, it’s oak woodlands, historic houses, and lofty gritstone crags. Joined by South […]
Ecuador: Mud, Coffee and Biodiversity
A lot can happen in two months…or not as the case may be. Despite a concerted effort to make it over the Ecuadorian border in time for Christmas, the intense riding of previous weeks takes a different pace as New Year comes and goes. Flo patiently waits for a delivery from France whilst I hop […]
Cusco to Huancavellica: Missing Links and El Silencio
After our riotous arrival in to Cusco following the Ausangate Traverse. We ritefully put our feet up in the historic capital of the Incan Empire. Internet fixes completed and sweet toothes sated Cass and I cook up an equally grand plan to take us north to the large town of Abancay. Navigating our way out […]
La Paz to Cusco: The Mountains
By Checacupe we finally branch off the rail trail linking Cusco and Juliaca. A veritable feast of narrow singletrack, railway sleepers and dirt roads. 200kms of riding, hefting bikes across rails and occasional buskwhacking our way across fields. Leaving the towns main plaza we branch off toward Pitamarca and the Ausangate valley, home to the […]
Bolivian Backlog: ¡Viva Bolivia!
Over a month ago our adventures took us deep in to the Bolivian Antiplano, a land of fluffy Llamas, dramatic landscapes and non existent internet. Here is the first of my attempts to bring you up to date as I currently head north toward the Peruvian border and in to the Corderilla Real. The tally […]
Mendoza to Cafayate: Sun, Sand and Shivers
Leaving Mendoza, Cass my new riding partner and I set out on another long arid, and dusty stretch of riding taking us to Argentina’s northern province of Salta. Two days in to our cycling courtship we find ourselves and our bikes in the back of a 4×4 pickup as we bounce down a 3,000m Andean […]
Valparaiso: Grit, Grime and more Street Art
Travelling two hours east of Santiago, the capital’s affluence is almost tangible in comparision to Valparaiso. Chile’s third largest city and one of the country’s poorest. Valparaiso stands as the crest fallen and downbeat member of the family, fallen upon hard times. The early half of the 19th century saw Valparaiso act as a major […]
Santiago: City Life, Street Art and Truth
Stood high in the Andes I thumb through the pages of my passport whilst waiting in line at the border. I count 8 pages of entry and exit stamps as I continue to play hop scotch between Argentina and Chile. As a long line snakes out in front, all patiently wait for their own entry […]
Back to Argentina: Eating Kurt’s Dirt
Stood at the road junction in La Junta another car whizzes past enveloping me in the dust cloud left in its wake. I stand looking blankly at my map trying trying to make a decision. 4 days of bad weather, increasing daily traffic and the promise of further road improvements north of La Junta make […]