If you are genuinely interested in seeing the world (not just being drip-fed the tourist highlights), having an adventure, learning about yourself and about other people who live lives wildly different from your own, then there is no better way to travel than by bicycle. It doesn't even matter if you're a cyclist or not!
Total, Unrestricted Freedom
On a bike tour you are free. You are released from any dependency on bus routes and train timetables, and with it you escape the tourist trail and all the crowds, inauthenticity, and overpriced tat that comes with it.
Instead, you can go wherever you like, and you will gain a unique and accurate insight into that region. If you like somewhere, stay longer. If not, keep going. You control your trip.
Meet People Who Live Wildly Different Lives To Your Own
It is amazing the way a bike breaks down barriers between people, and cultivates interactions with people who live very different lives.
On a bike you are vulnerable, which is scary, but that is also your secret weapon. That vulnerability means you are not threatening, and suddenly you will find people are very open, even in remote areas which see few travellers.
When people see someone travelling by bike, they are curious. Questions flood their mind. Where are you coming from? Where are you going? Why?! How?! Ultimately, they will probably conclude you are superman, and want to learn more about you and assist your expedition.
In much of the developing world, it is poor people who travel by bicycles. If you had enough money, you would obviously have a car instead(!) Combined with your tired, hungry and sweaty appearance, locals are more likely to try and help you out than think you are someone they can make a quick dollar from. Long ago I lost count of how many times I had been dragged off the street to sleep in someone's house or have a meal.
If you want to restore your faith in humanity, get on a bike and begin to pedal.
Complete Cultural Immersion
On a bike you are so much more connected to the scene around you. There is no barrier like in a car, the wind rushes through your hair as you freewheel down a mountain, you feel the searing desert heats, you smell the smells of the country (not always a good thing!). You better understand the height of a mountain when you have pedalled and earned the right to be there, and the viewpoint looks so much sweeter.
I am a huge proponent of slow travel where you observe the subtle changes as the landscape and culture shifts around you and you notice things you might otherwise miss. You see the forgotten places in between; In Uzbekistan 600km of barren desert separate the two stunning tourist cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. For most tourists this desert whizzed past the window for half a day on a train or bus journey, but for me it was six days of tough cycling, where I met people eking out difficult lives in the desert. And when I finally pedalled into Samarkand I understood just how welcome a sight it would have been to a caravan trader traversing the Silk Road 700 years ago.
As Cheap As It Gets
Bike Touring is one of the cheapest ways to travel! I travelled around the world on a budget of only $5 (£3) a day and it was rare I felt I needed more money. My transport costs were free save for the occasional bike repair, I slept in some of the world's most stunning camping spots for free, which means my only daily expense was food. In Asia, $5 was even enough to buy awesome street food and eat in restaurants.
You can spend more money, and you'll have a more comfortable experience, but for most of us, lucky to live in developed countries, money needn't be a barrier to a bike tour. And anyway, the smaller your budget, the more you have to live like a local, and the deeper you get into a country's culture.
Overcome Challenges and Surprise Yourself
I had so many moments where I was reduced to tears and left speechless with the amazement of what I had just achieved. Reaching the top of my final Alpine mountain pass, cycling into Istanbul which marked the end of Europe, cycling across the Singapore Causeway into the tip of Eurasia, and rolling into the glistening Sydney Harbour at the end of my trip. I had overcome numerous physical and mental challenges to reach these places and those moments remain some of the proudest of my life.
There is no doubt bike travel will challenge you. But in return, it will give back an exhilarating feeling of achievement, and instil a confidence in you that you can do anything!
Pure Adventure
At its heart, bike touring is unpredictable. What will the weather be today? Who will I meet? What lies further down the road? Where will I sleep tonight? You can minimise these factors and gain more control but a healthy degree of uncertainty remains.
I love waking up clueless as to what the day has in store. On a bike tour, every day is an adventure, anything can, and will happen.
A Simplistic Lifestyle
Two years without setting an alarm. Two years not knowing what day of the week it was. Two years without paying any bills. Two years wearing board shorts and flip flops, and with all my belongings fitting on a bike.
There is a charm to this minimalistic lifestyle as many of the stresses of 'normal life' fade away into irrelevance.
I stumbled into travelling by bike a few years ago, and feel like the luckiest guy in the world for the experiences it gave me and the people it introduced me to. This article is the first in a series of posts aimed at encouraging others to travel by bike, and removing many of the obstacles you will have before you begin.
That’s a really great and interesting article…thanks for filling another travel news fix. Sorry you’ve arrived really…it was a great journey to get a bit of sharing in… so thanks again and “Keeeep blogging !” (as Strictly fans would say – except that they say “Keeeep dancing!”) .
Sorry if you’ve no idea what I’m referring to…xx