The flagpole on my bike has been looking a bit bare. I’ve had just the Canadian flag, and not a very big one, with lots of space un-used. That has all changed now with two surprise gifts. Firstly, Susie hadn’t told me that she had been making a small SOS Children’s Villages flag, ingeniously using […]

Firstly, a big warm welcome to all those of you who have just recently started following this blog. I realise that lots of us haven’t necessarily followed blogs before, which makes me even more glad to have you along for the ride. If you haven’t yet discovered the “follow” button in the bottom right of […]

With just 2 weeks to go before my first day pedalling across Canada, I’ve found myself looking back at how I reached this point. I first started thinking about this trip during one of our regular holidays with family in Toronto, long before either of our lads had even taken their GCSE’s, and now Sam […]

You are all SO international!! This is my favourite editing page of the website, and my favourite blog-game is called “Who can that be?”. So give us all a shout-out in “COMMENTS” for your nation, permanent or temporary, if you’re on this list….could just be departure lounges of course…….

My good pal and Friend-of-the-blog John Mills has had his bike stolen last night, from a so-called secure lock-up outside Richmond Station. It even has CCTV, but since Police will tell you that these thieves almost certainly covered their heads with their hoodies, it’s a bit irrelevant. The bike in question is the one mentioned […]

Despite being followed around the campsite by all the wild ponies (I was the only one up at the site this morning so they seemed to think I was their best bet) I managed to pack and leave by 6.30am. Straight away I could tell that a hard day’s cycling was in prospect. Even with […]

Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s been posting comments at the bottom of each blog. It’s been very entertaining, and even inspiring, to read them all, and they really add to the pleasure of writing every day. If you’ve enjoyed any page on this website, please do click the […]

Well that was a terrible night’s sleep. I think choosing the first campsite after Southampton was my big mistake. Groups of lads started turning up around 9pm, laughing uncontrollably at the noise their foot pump was making, laughing even more at the sound the mascerator made when they flushed the campsite loo, and generally enjoying […]

If you want to find out if you’re ready to leave, leave. So at 5.30am this morning I rolled out of our village in Hertfordshire with full panniers and a good weather forecast, including the wind at my back all day, on a ride to see what needs improving before I head for Canada in […]