The Cycling Europe Podcast travels to the most northerly islands of Britain for a week of camping, hostelling and cycling. Renowned for its wild beauty, but also its capricious weather, Andrew Sykes sets off on a ride that will stretch the entire length of the archipelago from Unst in the north to Sumburgh in the south taking time to explore the attractions, meet the locals and compare notes with fellow travellers as he cycles.

Joanna Chmara is a cycle tourist from Poland. She runs the popular cycling website WobblyRide.com and has wide experience of travelling with her bike in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, usually as a solo cyclist. In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast, she explains what first motivated her to set off on two wheels and why the hardest part of many cycling journeys is not the mountains nor the seemingly endless hours in the saddle, but the simple act of pushing your bike over the threshold of your front door. She also offers invaluable advice to those who are feeling apprehensive about their first long ride as well as revealing her top three European destinations (as well as one that you need to avoid, at least on a bicycle…)

Cathryn Ramsden cycled with her husband and son from Calais to Annecy. Dale Majors has cycled with his wife and six young children on several long trips across Europe and in the US. Gavin McCulloch cycled to Moscow from Scotland in 1990. Rich Jeffries was reluctant to cycle across Belgium but loved it! In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast they share their experiences in bite-sized interviews and monologues. How do you persuade a 12-year-old boy to cycle hundreds of kilometres? How do you manage the logistics of travelling as a family group of eight? How do you feed yourself in Russia when the supermarkets are full of beetroot? And how do you overcome the urge to give Belgium a wide berth? 

Disillusioned by life in the post-graduation rat race of the film industry, Leigh Timmis set off on his bike and spent seven years cycling around the world. When he finally returned home to the UK, he didn't reach for his pipe and slippers. Far from it... "In 2018, Leigh Timmis became the fastest person to cycle across Europe – in just 16 days, 10 hours and 45 minutes – breaking the previous world record by an astonishing 8 days and 17 hours. But when he set out to break the record, Leigh wasn’t just trying to conquer the road... Although test results showed that he already had the physical ability of an elite athlete, something was holding him back: his troubled mind... Cycling for 14 hours a day, from the west coast of Portugal to the edge of Siberia, he embarked on far more than just a physical journey. The Race of Truth is the remarkable true story of personal transformation against the clock, and the astonishing feats we can accomplish when we face up to our deepest fears."

In 1993, recently graduated student Greg Yeoman set off with his Australian friend Kate Leeming on a cycling expedition of nearly 13,000km, from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. In a journey that is currently impossible, they pedalled across the entire length of post-Soviet Russia, exploring the landscapes and meeting the people as they went. 30 years later, he looks back on his epic adventure.

Mark Wedgwood had always been a lover of maps. In 2022, newly liberated from the constraints of a full-time job, he decided to cycle across every Ordnance Survey Landranger map of Britain. He spoke to The Cycling Europe Podcast about the challenge that took him from the northernmost point of Shetland (map 1) to Fowey in Cornwall (map 204)… the long way.

"The academic year must have been a difficult one as when the summer holidays arrived, secondary school teacher Andrew Sykes was happy to do as little as possible. But while sitting on his sofa watching the exploits of the cyclists at the Great Wall of China at the Beijing Olympics, he realised the error of his ways and resolved to put a bit more adventure into his life. Two years later, accompanied by his faithful companion Reggie (his bike) but only a rudimentary plan, Andrew set off for a trans-continental cycling adventure that would take him along the route of the Via Francigena and the Eurovelo 5 all the way from his home in southern England to Brindisi in the south of Italy. There were highs and lows, rain and shine, joy and despair and they are all recounted here in a light-hearted, brisk style."

In the autumn of 2022, Susan and Ron Crump, a retired couple from Kentucky in the USA set off on their first cycle tour. Instead of dipping their toes in the shallow end of the cycle touring pool, they plunged into the deep end by embarking upon a 3,500km cycle from Amsterdam to Athens. Along with two more experienced cycle touring friends - Pam and Ralph - this is the story of their trip; the preparation, the execution and the aftermath. They may have been jumping for joy upon arrival in Athens but were they jumping for joy throughout the cycle? And has the trip been a springboard for future rides or will their next visit to Europe be on a cruise ship? 

Tony Lenihan, a retired policeman, works for his local council in the English Midlands as their ‘Sustainable Travel and Wellbeing Coordinator’. He’s also a keen cyclist and, in the early autumn of 2022, after more than 40 years of work, he decided to take a career break and head off on a solo cycling adventure from Bilbao to Athens. It would be a 7-week ferry-hopping Greek odyssey that took him through northern Spain, to the islands of Sardinia and Scilly, across the heel of Italy to Brindisi before sailing the Adriatic to his final destination of Greece. He talked to The Cycling Europe Podcast about his continental experiences… but also about ‘active travel’ in the UK and how the country measures up (or not) to its European neighbours. 

Tony Lenihan is a touring cyclist and in the next full episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast - number 068 - you will hear him talk about a journey he made 'from B to A' - Bilbao to Athens in the early autumn of 2022. The podcast was recorded at the same time as the British Chancellor of the Exchequer (the finance minister) was delivering his annual budget to parliament and the nation. Tony works for a council in the English Midlands and is their 'Sustainable Travel and Wellbeing Coordinator'. Before we spoke about his trip, we took the timely opportunity to discuss his professional interest in cycling; active travel, which has recently seen a large cut in funding in England. I comment in the recording that what we said was worthy of a podcast in itself... so here it is. A little shorter than normal - just 15 minutes - with no introduction etc... Spolier alert: the chancellor didn't announce a U-turn on funding, just £200 million for potholes... The full podcast will be published on YouTube: YouTube.com/@CyclingEuropeYouTube - on 18.3.23 and then across all podcast platforms on 25.3.23.

In June 2022, Tim Boden - an experienced group cyclist - set off on his first solo cycle tour, to Brittany in north-west France. His route took him from the port of Roscoff along the Vélodyssée / EuroVelo 1 to Redon. He then joined French regional route number 42 to follow the coast to Saint-Nazaire before  returning to the Vélodyssée for a cycle beside the Loire to Nantes and back to Redon. Here he rejoined the eastern portion of route 42 to cycle north to Saint-Malo. Tim talks about the routes but also the history and culture of this distinctive French region. We also revisit two encounters from episodes 55  & 56 with three French cyclists -  Fabian, Julian and Guillaume - and, from Breton Bikes and Camping de Gouarec, Geoff Husband.

A few months ago I was approached by Jet2 Holidays who asked if I would be interested in discovering the joys of cycling in one of their winter destinations in southern Europe. Of course I said yes and had a look at the map. Where would be nice and warm in the middle of February? The Canary Islands seemed the most likely place to deliver good weather so I arranged to travel to Costa Adeje on the island of Tenerife. I hired a bike and headed along the coast and up the hills… This was a different approach to travelling on two wheels. How did I get on without a tent and four panniers but in a luxury hotel on an unfamiliar bicycle?

Shetland is the northernmost part of the United Kingdom, 170 km from mainland Scotland and only 220 km from the Norwegian coast. Of its 100 islands, only 15 are inhabited (by a population of just over 20,000) but according to the local tourist board, the remote archipelago “…has everything a cyclist could hope for”. Tim Sanders, Anne Lawther and Jayne Moore have all visited Shetland in recent months and the writer Martyn Howe has been a regular visitor over the years both on foot and by bike. The Cycling Europe Podcast asked all four travellers to recount their cycling experiences. Does Shetland really live up to the tourist hype? Anne, Jayne and Martyn also reflect upon their visits to nearby Orkney. How does it compare to its near-Nordic northern neighbour?

Matthew Sturgeon is an architect and cyclist from Ilkley in Yorkshire and he’s on  a mission to visit every one of mainland Britain’s 186 lighthouses. Inspired by his late late wife Angela, who raised £40,000 for cancer research, Matthew is raising money for his A Bit Of A Break charity. It funds visits for cancer patients and their families to holiday properties around the UK. He started collecting his lighthouses with a ride along the Northumbrian coast and has now visited 100. But why lighthouses? What’s his favourite lighthouse? What has been the most disappointing lighthouse? What has been the most difficult to cycle to? And what will be lighthouse number 186? Matthew tells his story to The Cycling Europe Podcast…

An ever-increasing number of people have cycled around the world. Not many have done it on a tandem. Even fewer have broken a world record in the process. Laura Massey-Pugh was on the back and her husband Stevie was on the front of their custom-made tandem when, in June 2022 they set off from the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, destination the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. 175 days later they completed their journey. Before setting off, Laura recorded a short monologue for episode 32 of The Cycling Europe Podcast. Now she returns to tell the full story of what it means to cycle 18,000 miles around the globe. Is it as easy as riding a, err… tandem?   

“Hours, days, weeks and months in the saddle does something funny to your brain. We came back from the trip convinced that cycling was the answer to all of life’s problems and that if we could convince every last one of you to choose a bike not a car, we’d be well on our way to saving the planet. Easy, right?!” Those are the words of Beth Ward who, alongside her partner Robin, cycled from Wales to Istanbul in 2019. As they pedalled an idea grew in their minds to set up a community bike workshop. When they returned home, that’s exactly what they did in Llangollen. Beth has now been included in Cycling UK’s list of 100 women in cycling in 2022. The Cycling Europe Podcast headed down the Dee Valley to investigate…   

Beryl Burton was born in Yorkshire on May 12th 1937. Her upbringing was tough. Her school report described her as a 'stubborn little mule. At the age of 10 she spent 9 months in hospital and doctors told her never to ride a bike uphill. She went on to become one of Britain's greatest ever athletes - of either sex - and a cycling world champion seven times over. She was the country's 'best all-rounder' female cyclist for 25 consecutive years from 1959 to 1983. She died, cycling, a few days short of her 59th birthday in 1996. Jeremy Wilson - chief sports reporter for The Daily Telegraph - has written an awarding-winning book about the life of this cycling enigma who remains little known outside her home county or the world of cycle racing.

Gareth Dent has a long-term relationship with small-wheeled bicycles. Growing up in Stevenage in the late 1960s he made the most of the town’s futuristic network of cycle routes on his 14” Moulton Mini. 40 years later he rekindled his love for small wheels during an organised folding bike challenge from London to Paris, in the process meeting a group of like-minded enthusiasts. It was with these new friends that , several years later, he started to cycle the route of the 1903 Tour de France, in stages, over 4 years. The interview was recorded in Halifax’s covered market where we also bumped into Tony, the West Yorkshire town’s own proponent of small-wheeled cycling. He had much to say…

Tristam Newey is a science-fiction writer from Southampton who loves all things sea, air, space.. and cycling. Inspired by H.G.Wells' 1896 comic novel The Wheels of Chance, in July 2022 Tristam set off to retrace the journey of the book's main protagonist, Mr. Hoopdriver - a frustrated draper's assistant from Putney - from London to the south coast of England (and halfway back). As he travelled, he rediscovered the places that H.G. Wells wrote about and recreated the sketches that appeared in the original book. In the words of H.G. Wells himself, "Whoop for freedom and adventure!",

The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he concludes his ‘Grand Tour’ cycle around Europe. In this episode of the podcast, after completing his ride along the Via Rhôna / EuroVelo 17 in Andermatt, Switzerland, he sets off to cycle the Rhine from its source high in the Alps to the North Sea at Rotterdam. His journey takes him along the Rhine valley in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, France, Germany and The Netherlands meeting friends and strangers as he pedals. Will the Rhine Cycle Route (EuroVelo 15) live up to its reputation as one of the best cycling routes in Europe? And will he make it back to the Hook of Holland - the place where he started his journey over two months ago - in time for his ferry home to the UK? This is not just a cycle touring story; it’s a race against time! The music is by Rob Ainsley. 

The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he cycles on his ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. In this episode of the podcast he sets off from the Mediterranean resort of Sète and follows the EuroVelo 17 - the Rhône Cycle Route (known as the Via Rhôna in France) - to Andermatt, high in the Swiss Alps. Over 12 days he travels more than 1,000km from sea to source exploring the places and meeting the people as he cycles. The weather doesn’t always make life easy and there will be some challenging cycling along the way. It’s an epic podcast for an epic journey along one of Europe’s most iconic rivers but will he have the energy to climb to the Furka Pass on the final day of his cycle? The music is by Rob Ainsley.

The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he cycles on his ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. He has now arrived in Bordeaux at the start of the ‘Two Seas’ cycle route - La Véloroute Des Deux Mers - that will take him along the Canal de la Garonne to Toulouse and then the famous Canal du Midi to Sète on the Mediterranean coast. As he cycles he takes time to speak to the people he meets and explore the places he visits. And what will he make of the notorious Canal du Midi towpath that he encounters?

The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he cycles on his ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. After a day off in Morlaix, Brittany, Andrew sets off cycling south along the EuroVelo 1 - known locally as the Vélodyssée - following a disused railway track and then the Nantes-Brest Canal before continuing along the west coast of France to La Rochelle. He takes time to explore the attractions along the way including the historic town of Josselin and, with the help of a shuttle bus for bicycles over the bridge, the World War II submarine pens in Saint-Nazaire. The music is by Rob Ainsley.

Writer Rob Ainsley has cycled from Barmouth to Yarmouth because they rhyme. He’s cycled from Britain’s smallest church in Rhos to its largest church in Liverpool. He’s cycled the London Monopoly board. And he continues to amass a long list of ‘end-to-end’ country cycles. So for Rob, cycling from Morecambe to Bridlington along the Way of the Roses cycle route may at first glance appear to be a little, err… pedestrian. But think again. He decided to cycle the route 1970s style. In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast we chat to Rob Ainsley in York where he reveals all. Was the naffest decade of the 20th century as good a time as any to be on two wheels? Or better forgotten…

The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he cycles on his ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. In this fourth part of the ’Grand Tour’ series, we follow Andrew’s progress as he rejoins the Velomaritime near Mont-Saint-Michel and cycles west along the route as far as Morlaix in Brittany. This section of his cycle sees him encounter hills for the first time since leaving Rotterdam - he even experiences his first ’Mercedes moment’ - but he still has plenty of time and energy remaining to explore the places he visits and chat with the people he meets in one of France’s most popular holiday regions. The music is by Rob Ainsley.

The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he cycles on his ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. In this third part of the ’Grand Tour’ series, Andrew sets off along the Veloscenie cycle route from the historic city of Chartres to its fellow UNESCO World Heritage site at Mont-Saint-Michel. It’s a journey of four days with overnight stops at a dystopian municipal campsite at Nogent-le-Rotrou, Alençon and Domfront-en-Poiraie before his arrival on the north coast. He also takes time to pay a visit to the Musée du Vélo at Villeneuve-en-Perseigne. The music is by Rob Ainsley.

The Cycling Europe Podcast continues to follow Andrew Sykes as he cycles on his ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. In the previous episode, he had travelled through his first country, The Netherlands. In this episode he continues his journey south along the coasts of Belgium and France following the […]

The Cycling Europe Podcast enters a new era with this episode. Not only recorded on tour, this episode has also been edited on tour! Throughout July and August, new episodes of the podcast will be published telling the story of Andrew P. Sykes’ ‘Grand Tour’ through The Netherlands, […]

France is a top destination for cycle tourists and, with its great diversity of landscapes - from windswept cliffs in the north to vast swathes of forest in the west to sun-drenched villages in the south to vertiginous climbs in the east - it has (almost) everything that a traveller on a bicycle might want to discover. Lyn Eyb from FreeWheelingFrance.com has been exploring and writing about France ever since she arrived in the country over a decade ago. She shares her thoughts with The Cycling Europe Podcast and takes time to answer listeners’ questions about the practical aspects of being a cyclist in France.

To celebrate its 50th episode, Andrew P. Sykes takes The Cycling Europe Podcast out on the cycle path and travels from Morecambe on Lancashire's west coast to the county's historical capital at Lancaster, across the Pennines and through Yorkshire via Settle and Ripon, completing his trip in that county's historical capital at York. The Way of the Roses is a route of contrasting landscapes and, at times, challenging terrain; join Andrew (and his bicycle Wanda) as they spend three days following one of northern England's most popular cycle routes. The music is composed and played by Rob Ainsley. More of Rob’s music can be found on his website e2e.bike.

Writer, cyclist - and now composer - Rob Ainsley is the master of the cycling ‘end-to-end’: Britain, France, Spain, Poland, Cuba… and now Slovakia, west to east. He chats to The Cycling Europe Podcast about his recent journey across the country, its people, its places… and its beer. He also takes time to reflect upon the attractions of the end-to-end cycle and reveals the name of the country that he believes is home to the definitive end-to-end. We also hear two of Rob’s compositions for guitar, inspired by his travels on a bicycle, and zebras…   All of Rob’s music can be found on his website e2e.bike.     

The Cycling Europe Podcast mainly features, well, cyclists. The interviewee in this episode, however, is first and foremost a mountaineer. But he’s not just any mountaineer. His name is Tim Ralph and he’s a seven summiteer; a man who has climbed the seven highest mountains on each of the continents. In the last few years, he’s also taken up cycle touring and has just published a book called ‘A Life Accomplished: From Spain to Norway on a Bike’. So what can mountaineering teach us about cycle touring? What can cycle touring teach mountaineers about climbing mountains? And what happens when an experienced mountaineer sets off to cycle from Europe’s geographical southernmost point at Tarifa in Spain to its northernmost point at Nordkapp in Norway?

Nathan Molyneaux is a planning manager in the food industry. He’s also a great believer in the Chimp Paradox, an understanding of which allows you to take control of your emotions in order to act in your own best interests. This theory, developed by Professor Steve Peters, has been instrumental in the planning of Nathan’s upcoming journey around the world. And it’s a proper round-the-world cycle; no planes, every continent, scores of countries and four (or perhaps even five) years in which to do it. He talks to The Cycling Europe Podcast about his mindset, his route, his bike, his equipment, his finances, his hopes... and his fears.

I am in Hebden Bridge, experimenting. If you are reading this, congratulations! You are clearly a fan of the podcast as I’m making no effort to publicise this secret episode of the podcast. It doesn’t even have a number! You may find the audio of interest, you may […]

Most episodes of The Cycling Europe Podcast know where they are going from the outset. This episode is slightly different. We start in the English Lake District to take in the sounds of the recent Cycle Touring Festival in its new home of Coniston. We then head to India to hear from long-distance cyclist James Thomas. He lives in a coastal town in Goa on the shore of the Arabian Sea but often ventures into the mountains on foot and on his bike. He reflects upon his current experiences in India as well as past experiences cycling through Europe, especially Albania. We stay in Albania for an extract from Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie, Andrew P. Sykes' travelogue about cycling the EuroVelo 8 from Greece to Portugal in 2013. To explain if things have changed in the past decade, the podcast speaks to Dritan Kolgjini, a tour guide for Explore Travel's Albanian cycling trips. Does the country really live up to its reputation of being the 'new Croatia'?

Tim Moore has been referred to as ‘Bill Bryson on two wheels’. Any reader of his adventures - both on and off a bike - will  appreciate why the comparison is justified. In his first cycling travelogue, he set off on the route of that year’s Tour de France just weeks before the professionals. He went on to recreate ‘the most appalling bike race of all time’ - the 1914 Giro d’Italia - on a vintage bike. More recently he embarked upon a brutal cycle following the stages of the 1941 Vuelta a España. Ever the glutton for punishment, he’s also ‘The Cyclist Who Went Out In The Cold’ who set off on an East German shopping bike along the route of EuroVelo 13, the Iron Curtain Trail… The Cycling Europe Podcast chatted to him in a Tube carriage at the London Transport Museum.     

Whilst recovering from cancer treatment, Candy Whittome was given a copy of Anne Mustoe’s book ‘A Bike Ride: 12,000 Miles Around the World’. It inspired her to embark upon a long cycling journey herself, if not quite all the way round the world, then a good portion of it. Her doctors were supportive (although her family needed some convincing) and in 2021 she set off on the first leg of her journey cycling from Britain to southern Greece during the second summer of the COVID pandemic. In this episode of the podcast, Candy looks back upon that ride and forward to the next stages that will take her to Asia and beyond… Plus: Chris Atkin reads an extract from his new book about a journey across southern Spain.

Declan Lyons trained as a zoologist but after several years working as a journalist and management consultant he started to research and then write two Cicerone guides for people interested in cycling the Canal de la Garonne from Bordeaux to Toulouse and the Canal du Midi from Toulouse to the Mediterranean coast at Sète. Together the canals are known as the Véloroute des Deux Mers - the ‘two seas cycle route’ - and in this episode of the podcast he talks about the history of the canals and how they have been transformed in recent decades into one of France’s most popular cycling routes. Also: we hear from Ian Yarroll, an experienced cycle tourist, who, after developing balance problems, took up a recumbent trike…      

In 2021 I put out a call for anyone who was interested in recording a short monologue about their experiences of cycling to get in touch and, in the past year, quite a few people have come forward to record such a monologue. In this episode you have a second opportunity to hear Laura Massey-Pugh set out her plans to cycle around the world on a tandem, Laurence Warren tell the story of round-the-world cyclist Colin Martin as well as discuss his experiences of cycling in his adopted home of Austria, Robin Watkins talk about cycling in Czechia, the poet Caroline Burrows reflect lyrically upon her commute to work and Simon Garland recount his experiences of cycling the EuroVelo 15 or the Rhine Cycle Route. We also hear from Gavin Wood in an interview recorded at the time of the COP 26 climate conference. He works in West Yorkshire in the north of England as an active travel advisor and we chatted about the challenges of building infrastructure and changing minds in order that we can all live in a much more cycling-friendly place.

In this episode of the podcast we hear from two groups who are using cycling to highlight important issues in society. Iris and Jan, from Berlin, are currently cycling around the world. As they travel, they are researching approaches towards tackling mental health issues in the countries that they visit.  The Climate Explorers are a small group of cyclists who are aiming to raise environmental awareness. In 2021 they embarked upon the ‘Pedal 4 Parks’ journey across the UK. Your host, Andrew Sykes, also updates us on his plans to cycle around the Baltic Sea in the summer of 2022. 

The Baltic Sea Cycle Route is one of the longest of the EuroVelos. It’s route number 10 and  passes through every country that touches the Baltic Sea; Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia (twice), Finland, Sweden and Denmark. In the summer of 2019 Bernd Schadowski & his 17-year-old son Tristan, two cyclists from Aachen in western Germany, said auf wiedersehen to the rest of their family and set off from Lübeck with the intention of completing the 9,000 km loop. In this episode of the podcast, Bernd recounts their inspiring journey around Europe’s other big sea…   

The cycle touring world is not short of people who enjoy sharing their two-wheeled adventures in books, on social media, on YouTube and even on podcasts such as this. But for every known cyclist, there are thousands of unknown cyclists embarking upon journeys that often surpass the endeavours of more publicity-friendly adventurers. This episode of the podcast meets two of them; Anne Lawther, who has had a 40-year relationship with long-distance cycling and, via the words of Laurence Warren, Colin Martin who, 50 years ago, set off on his Moulton to cycle the world…

In episode 038 of The Cycling Europe Podcast, Andrew Sykes spoke to a number of travellers about their experiences of cycling The Hebridean Way. Now it’s his turn to get onto his bicycle, Wanda, and cycle from Vatersay in the south to Lewis in the north along one of Britain’s most spectacular rides. In part 1 of this episode of the podcast he travelled from the island of Vatersay to the island of Berneray. In this second part of the podcast we see him complete his journey across the Isles of Harris and Lewis to the Butt of Lewis and the end of the Hebridean Way.

In episode 038 of The Cycling Europe Podcast, Andrew Sykes spoke to a number of travellers about their experiences of cycling The Hebridean Way. Now it’s his turn to get onto his bicycle, Wanda, and cycle from Vatersay in the south to Harris in the north along one of Britain’s most spectacular rides. In part 1 of the podcast he travels from the island of Vatersay to the island of Berneray. Part 2 of the podcast will see him complete his journey to the Butt of Lewis and it will be published on Sunday 19th September 2021.

Britain offers some amazing places to explore on a bicycle, but there can be few locations within the UK that offer the remoteness, drama and sheer spectacle of the islands of The Outer Hebrides. The Hebridean Way guides cyclists  from Vatersay in the south to the Butt of Lewis in the north: “10 islands, 6 causeways, 2 ferries and 1 unforgettable adventure”. In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast, writers, travellers and cyclists reflect upon their experiences of cycling The Hebridean Way. The chief executive of the local tourist board is also on hand to offer his advice. 

In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast, guest presenter Andrew Edwards chats to Andrew P. Sykes about his 2022 cycle around Europe and his new book - Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda - that is published on May 1st 2024.

The travel writer and cyclist Simon Parker first appeared on The Cycling Europe Podcast in February 2021when he talked about his ‘Earth Cycle’ TV programme. He returns to discuss his latest project; an end-to-end cycle around Britain in the midst of a global pandemic. His main aim was not to clock up the kilometres but to meet the people and hear their stories. He told his own story in a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph and here he looks back upon a cycling staycation to beat most others.

Maike Brinksma is an athlete, academic, environmental activist… and cyclist, from The Netherlands. In the summer of 2021 she will be one of the first people ever to cycle the ‘Amazon of Europe Bike Trail’. She talks to the podcast about her plans to explore the riverine landscapes of the Mura-Drava-Danube UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. She also reflects on the joys of being a Dutch cyclist. (Or is she?) Plus: Caroline Burrows, the Bristol-based Scottish poet and cyclist, recounts her experiences of cycling to work in her short story ‘False Flat’.

In June 2020, The Cycling Europe Podcast dedicated the whole of episode 21 to the epic early 20th Century European cycle of the American Maximilian J. St. George. After discovering the podcast, Tim & George, both grandsons of Max got in touch, as did Juniper, great grandson of Max’s travelling companion Varnum Parish. Varnum not only rode with Max for several months but wrote his own diary. The podcast talks to Tim, George and Juniper about their ancestors’ travels in Europe. Plus: Simon Garland takes a comical look back on his EuroVelo 15 cycle along the route of The Rhine…

One hundred years ago, the Great North Road closed and the A1 opened, heralding a century of domination by the motor car. The Cycling Europe Podcast meets BBC journalist (and one-time San Franciscan cycle courier) Steve Silk who set off on his bicycle to cycle from London to Edinburgh to rediscover what remains of the old road, its stories, milestones and coaching inns. Steve’s book - The Great North Road - is published by Summersdale on July 8th. Plus: cycling in Austria with local resident Laurence Warren. Is there more to this Alpine country than just big hills?