Adventure
roundup

A bicycle with a black bag, water bottles, and a small pouch is parked on a sandy beach next to a white flag with blue writing that says "FERRBY". In the background, a yellow boat with a group of people on it is docked at the shore, with a town and houses visible across the water.

LeJog

This was the challenge that really got me cycling again. I was planning to walk from Land’s End to John O’Groats, but when I realised this would eat up around ten weeks and it would take me until I was 103 to accrue enough leave,  the bike became the only viable option.

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A man wearing glasses, a black helmet, and a black T-shirt is drinking from a bottle in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. There are many people walking and taking pictures around the monument on a cloudy day.

London to
Paris

Cycling from London to Paris provides a great sense of achievement (particularly when finishing on the cobbles of the Champs Elysees!) and is achievable in four to five days for cyclists of average ability. There are numerous charities that organise events based around the journey,  which is a great way to do it, or you can plan your own route, as 10 of us did in 2011.

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Several sailboats docked at a marina along a river, with clothes hanging on a line and a grassy area in the background.

Rayleigh to
Cologne

It was always going to be difficult to top London – Paris. You just can’t beat cycling between two of the world’s most vibrant capitals,  riding past icons such as the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.

So instead we opted for something different – cycling to Germany and in particular the cathedral city of Cologne.

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A large fountain shooting water high into the sky on a lake, with a cityscape along the shore, mountains in the background, and a boat floating on the water in the foreground.

Paris to
Geneva

After the enjoyable, but rather flat route to Cologne last year we were looking for a new challenge we could complete in four days, but that also pushed our cycling to a new level.

Having already cycled to Paris, extending the route onto Geneva seemed the obvious solution.

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A panoramic view of a rural countryside with a small town, green fields, rolling hills, and a church with a tall steeple.

The South
Downs Way

The South Downs Way is a great off-road ride for mountain bike with spectacular countryside, some challenging climbs and plenty of places to stay on route. It's around 100 miles in total, so easily do-able in three or four days. We opted for the latter as wanted more time to stop and savour the scenery (and local beers) on the way.

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A two-lane rural road extending into the distance, surrounded by lush green trees and grass on both sides. Utility poles line the right side of the road, and the sky is cloudy.

Trans
America

The TransAmerica cycle trail was established in 1976 to celebrate the United State’s Bicentennial. In that year more than 4,000 cyclists rode the route and the enthusiasts who created it went on to form The Adventure Cycling Association, which researches and produces maps for the Adventure Cycling Route network.

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Person riding a bicycle on a paved road through a desert with sand dunes under a partly cloudy sky.

Southern
Tier

Five years after completing the TransAmerica ride across the US Terry and I are back - this time to tackle the Adventure Cycling Association’s Southern Tier which runs from St Augustine in Florida to San Diego in California. It’s a little shorter than the TransAm - 3041.9 miles compared to 4264 and takes in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. 

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