The Accidental Bicycle Tourist

Imagine bicycling from San Francisco to Los Angeles in one week, not alone, but in a peloton of thousands. For 545 miles, a team of roadies dedicate their time and energy to supporting your southward journey. The daily rest stops are extravagant events with costumes, dance parties, and drag shows, while the nightly camps provide relaxation areas, medical facilities, and excellent food. Everywhere...

Suffering a heat stroke in the middle of Vietnam’s mountainous jungles was definitely not in the plans when Hannah Bowley decided to cycle from Hanoi to Singapore. Hannah was in month nine of a one-year touring adventure, and Southeast Asia was the third leg of her trip, following long rides in Western Europe, which included the Camino de Santiago, and South America, including the Carretera Austra...

Inspired by a man who bicycled across France to attend a wedding, Simon Alfassa decided to organize his own solo bike tour from Berlin (where he resides) to Copenhagen. There’s just one problem: He has no idea what he’s doing. From using his “super weird” secondhand city bike to carrying many kilos of dead weight to stashing his smartphone in a soaked rain jacket pocket, Simon makes all sorts of m...

A long blue line runs 70 kilometers, across picturesque islands and over majestic suspension bridges, between Onomichi and Imabari in Japan. This is the famous Shimanami National Cycle Route, a trail that Singapore native Poh Yu Seung and his wife selected for their first bicycle tour. The couple packed their Brompton-style folding bikes and flew to Osaka, home of the famous Shimano Museum. From O...

Ida Sigusch and Tilman Jiménez Reichow met and fell in love in Umeå, Sweden. A long bicycle tour through Europe, initially on a recumbent tandem, strengthened their relationship (this is by no means a given). On the road, Ida and Tilman met many friendly and helpful people who helped them in their quest to reach lighthouses at extreme points of Continental Europe. In the process, they also overcam...

One of the hardest parts of turning a vision into reality is simply getting started. Professional photographer Christopher Briscoe has made a habit of starting – and completing – bold undertakings, such as multiple long-distance cycling trips in the United States. He embarked on his first cross-country bicycle journey with his friend Brian in 1976. Most recently, in 2016, he and his son Quincy fol...

Cuba is a fascinating island nation whose beautiful beaches, diverse geography, tropical climate, relative safety, and less-traveled roads have made it an excellent bicycle touring destination. Canadians Jim and Susan Allman have been exploring Cuba by bicycle for the past 20 years. They share incredible stories about finding accommodations, navigating the currency and the black market, dealing wi...

Inspired by his mother and his acting professor, Mark Vashro began to dream of bicycling across the United States as a college student. In 2010, after two years of preparation, Mark cycled from Boston, Massachusetts, to San Diego, California. Determined not to put his acting and filmmaking career on hold, Mark carried along 125 pounds (57 kilos) of equipment so he could film his ride. On the road,...

Five-year-old Alix has already experienced more bicycle tours than many adults. In this episode, her parents, Mylène Lenzi and David Clément, share the experiences gained by touring with Alix, give tips on what equipment to bring along, and list their favorite child-friendly routes in Europe. Along the way, they also tell about the Festival du Roc Castel , a unique summer gathering close to their...

During the pandemic, Malte Bossert came up with the idea of a themed bicycle tour whose goal would be to visit all 46 places in his native Germany with the name of Neukirchen (literally, “New Church”). Malte convinced his lifelong friend and fellow computer science student Tilman to participate, and together they wrote a program on Christmas Eve to optimize their route. Zigzagging around Germany o...

When Michelle Savacool set out to cycle Chile, top to bottom, a distance comparable to crossing the United States, she worried most about the weather. Indeed, the first unbearably hot days in the Atacama Desert turned her plans upside down, and she was forced to reassess the purpose of her trip. Abandoning her goal of pedaling the length of Chile, Michelle nonetheless had a fantastic experience as...