This is a blog that I’ve started to share my cycle-based adventures. I don’t think there’s a better way to travel the world than at the speed of a bicycle, and hopefully posting here will be helpful to others who might be tempted to set off on their own!
The adventure started for me when my brother and I travelled to Spain in 2008, to cycle from Malaga over the Puerta del Viento to Ronda, continuing through the El Chorro gorge before returning to Malaga. It was a wonderful trip although beset with problems. With no map, navigation was problematic, we spoke no Spanish so struggled with communication, and my brother’s bike had perpetual punctures. At only 200km it wasn’t a long trip, but throwing ourselves in at the deep end taught us everything we needed to know about cycle-touring; for me, that I loved it!
Since then, I’ve developed a taste for solo expeditions, initially with trips to the islands of my native Scotland, including the Isle of Mull and the Outer Hebrides. From there I took my bike to the Cote D’Azur in France, and, in November 2016, the stunning High Atlas mountains in Morocco.
https://pedaltheglobeblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/413-miles-and-endless-hills/
After that, in May – June 2017, I headed for the Pacific Coast Highway in North America, pedalling over 2000 miles between Vancouver and San Diego. It was a sensational 6 week trip showing the breadth of diversity America has to offer!
https://pedaltheglobeblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/30/my-pacific-coast-odyssey/
Next, in January 2020, I headed for Vietnam, and took on the Ho Chi Minh Highway from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. It was an excellent adventure that saw me pedalling 1200 miles in 21 days during the height of the Vietnamese winter, with temperatures regularly over 30 degrees and humidity of up to 90%. With spectacular scenery and friendly people it was an ideal cycle touring destination which left me keen to plan the next one!
https://pedaltheglobeblog.wordpress.com/2019/12/31/gearing-up/
Then, in August 2021, I took on the 1000+ miles of Land’s End to John o’ Groats, 18 days of the best hills that Britain had to throw at me, lucking out with a full week of sunshine in the middle, it was a much more enjoyable journey than I’d expected, and it was such a pleasure to stop in at home and get some clothes washed en route!
https://wordpress.com/post/pedaltheglobeblog.wordpress.com/1571
Onwards to June 2023, when I completed the Icelandic Ring Road, a journey of over 970 miles in 15 days, whilst challenging winds whisked me past wondrous waterfalls, gushing geysers, glistening glaciers, and fabulous fjords, I tried to keep my eyes on the road.
https://wordpress.com/post/pedaltheglobeblog.wordpress.com/1891
In November 2023, I made for the lofty places of the King’s Highway in Jordan. Leaving Amman, in the north of the country, I worked my way south via Roman ruins, Crusader castles and Nabataean tombs, plunging down to the rock-strewn deserts of the south, on my way to Aqaba on the Red Sea.
https://pedaltheglobeblog.wordpress.com/2023/11/25/jordan-2023-the-kings-highway/
After that, in July 2024, I left work on Friday night before a fortnight’s holiday, with nothing planned and a poor forecast scheduled if I stayed at home. I quickly booked a flight to Copenhagen for the Sunday morning and packed up my bike. Enjoying a couple of days sightseeing in Copenhagen and Malmo, before cycling west – into the prevailing winds – across Denmark, Northern Germany and the Netherlands to finish in Amsterdam, before making for the ferry port in Rotterdam and beginning my long way home via an overnight ferry and 3 trains…
Most recently, in summer 2025, when, after flying to Oslo, in Norway, I visited some art galleries, then took the train over the mountains to Bergen, before turning north and pedalling over 1000 miles down the Atlantic Coast towards Trondheim, Bodø and the Lofoten Islands, with 20 ferries and plenty of tunnels and bridges along the way, finishing my trip within the Arctic Circle in Tromsø.
Happy reading!
Michael
PedalTheGlobeBlog 