JKB

Man, time flies. Exactly 10 years ago today, I left London on my bicycle to go and cycle around the world.  I had no idea I’d end up pedalling nearly 50,000km - I just wanted to see how far east I could get. I didn’t even own a bike until 2 weeks prior, and my longest ever ride was about 15 km. Training consisted of a couple of laps around the local park, and the first time I ever rode the bike with the panniers on was the day I set off. No wonder my knees were effed by lunchtime.  I didn’t have IG back then, but I eventually downloaded the app so I could share photos from the ride. There was no IG stories, no videos etc back then. Those were still the blogging glory days, so I diligently documented my days on the road with words and terrible pictures. That blog still exists, by the way, and I hope it’s still relevant for people considering a long bike tour. Here are some random photos photos: 1. The pocket map I carried the whole way through 42 countries. You can see the route in more detail via a link in my bio. 🗺️ 2. Me on day one, a fresh faced 22 year old, riding along the Thames leaving London. A few hours later it was pitch black, I was lost, and absolutely exhausted🇬🇧 3. A chap in Georgia with a tiny TV, who kept me company while I sheltered from a storm. We drank so much vodka I couldn’t cycle after leaving 🇬🇪 4. Living my best life on the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan. Note the spare tyre, which I carried around 5,000km, only to find it was completely the wrong size 🇹🇯 5. I saw many terrible toilets, but this one somewhere in Central Asia has to be up there with the worst 🇰🇿 6. From when I went through a strange phase of camping underneath the motorway in China. I’m not entirely sure why, in hindsight. I don’t think I slept particularly well. 🇨🇳 7. All the way over in Timor-Leste, posing with a baby that absolutely did not want to be held by me 🇹🇱 8. A 5* hotel camping out in the desert in the US. Nevada, perhaps 🇺🇸 9. For some reason I decide to wrap up the ride with a loop around Iceland in the middle of winter. That was really stupid 🇮🇸 10. The icy Scottish Highlands, on the final push back down to London 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

It's a wrap!! Today I arrived home in London having cycled around the world. 30,000 miles - 42 countries - 3 years. Feel like I should have something profound to say at this moment in time but I don't think I have the words to do the occasion justice. Right now I'm just pleased to have made it home in one piece, blessed to have had this opportunity and humbled to have been able to share these stories with so many of you. Thanks for being part of the adventure. THE END

Ever wondered what the biggest possible circle you can cycle in the UK is? Nah, probably not. But for some reason I wondered enough to plot a giant circle from London, that stretched all the way to Wales and up to the Peak District. And then, last spring, I was curious enough to cycle the thing (new year’s resolution = post the things I was too distracted to share at the time). Here’s a few clips from the ride. I rode the first part to Bristol in some smaller segments, but then realised how much the train tickets were gonna cost me (RIP young person’s railcard) and so knocked the rest out in a long weekend. Honestly? It was a really beautiful ride. I spent a lot of time fine tuning it to a be a scenic touring route, with a balance between keeping shape whilst still staying on pleasant country lanes and often on established long-distance cycle routes. There’s a link to the full route on @komoot in my bio, if you’re interested in taking a closer look… . . . . . #thegiantcircle #bikepacking#biketouring

After a six-year build-up, I finally got @bellabowker out on her first bikepacking overnighter this spring - and it was also my first time cycling in Sweden. (Naturally, I ended up carrying all the bags...) 🇸🇪 We kept it slow and simple: a meander up Skåne’s west coast along the Sydkustleden, with plenty of swim stops, prawn sandwich breaks, and time to admire the blossom. We even squeezed in a little detour to Lund before catching the ferry back to Helsingør. Year of slow and local bike local travel - engaged. 🐌

Right then, a few more pics from Bornholm. 🇩🇰 We didn’t exactly set any records for mileage, but I did manage an impressive number of photos in a long weekend. Empty beaches, sleepy villages, plenty of ice cream stops—all packed into one long weekend by overnight ferry. There’s a full gallery linked in my bio if you’re curious. I even wrote it up properly, lest the blog die of neglect this year due to lack of cycling escapades… ⛴️ 🏖️ 🏕️ 📸

I really thought this would be the summer I finally made it over to race the Tour Divide, but ‘life’ had other plans for me this spring, so that dream’s back on hold for now. (One day! 😉) I was hoping to be wrapped up and home by now, but instead I made the most of the midsummer weekend by dragging @bellabowker onto the overnight ferry to Bornholm for a long weekend roaming around the island. It’s still part of Denmark, but actually closer to mainland Sweden, Poland and Germany. Had I actually made it to the race, I’d have aimed to ride more miles in a day than we did over four days. Suffice to say, it was leisurely. A good reminder that you don’t have to go far for a proper adventure. Also nice not to worry about bears. Or about all my savings disappearing. Or having to get fit… What a slice of Scandinavian🏝️

A few snaps from a dash to the snow last month 🇮🇹☃️💚

A handful of almost-lost old photos from a summer of roaming in 2024. A brief respite from London rent, replaced by blue skies, mountains, and oceans. Not particularly adventurous, but still managed to drag @bellabowker into some scrambly hikes despite her commitment to dress for Mediterranean rosé instead. 🇨🇭🇫🇷🇵🇹

The Giant Circle: part 3/3 The final 300km of the biggest loop you can cycle in the UK (*at least from London), is all about the Fens. As soon as you cross the River Trent, you give Newark Castle a wave and then march onwards towards to the flat fenlands. The landscape changes quickly and soon becomes pancake flat - unlike anything else on the loop (which is all mostly rolling countryside). Sometimes I think the Fens are a wonderful place to cycle. Other times the worst. I suspect the wind direction usually plays a part in that… When I rode this the weather was all over the place. At one point a hail storm even drove me under the trees in search of cover from the pea size hail that was lashing down. After a slog through Essex and into London’s northern suburbs, The Giant Circle’s grand finale is a crossing of the Thames via the Woolwich ferry, before following the Thames Path back to Greenwich Observatory. Suddenly all those quiet, green country miles feel very far away. And just like that, the circle is complete. I also knocked up a guide of sorts to the route which I’ll link in the usual place. Honestly, it’s a really lovely route through some idyllic parts of the UK. I thought it would be a fun challenge, but actually it turned into a rewarding route-building exercise, that includes some beautiful gems and a lovely snapshot into some quintessential British cycling. It passes through 7 national parks/AONB and plenty of towns of historical significance. If you like admiring quaint little villages and/or checking out the pubs within them, then there’s no shortage of that either. It would really be quite a pleasant touring route, so if you have any questions about the ride - please just shout. Finally, how cool would a group start/finish be 👀 . . . . . #thegiantcircle #bikepacking#biketouring

The Giant Circle: part 2/3 The second 300km section of this big ‘old ring, continues from Bristol and finishes up in Nottinghamshire. This is where all the climbing is - as soon as you get across the old Severn Bridge, the real hills begin. But it’s worth it, I promise! I was back in my bivvy bag for the first time in a very, very long time. When I first plotted the route, I thought it might be a fun challenge over 3 days. But by the time I finally rode it last spring, I definitely didn’t have the legs for that. Besides, I wanted to have time to stop and take photos, and to refine the route along the way. So I settled on 160km-ish for 4 consecutive days back to London, which still meant packing light. I didn’t want to pay for accommodation, so I packed up the bivvy and sucked up the cold nights. The Giant Circle takes you as far north as the Peak District, through some parts of the country that I am not familiar with at all. The riding up there is really quite beautiful 👌 . . . . . #thegiantcircle #bikepacking#biketouring

The Giant Circle: part 1/3 Last post popped off a bit😅, but here are some pics from the project. The first third of this massive loop starts in Greenwich, at the coordinates 0.0, 0.0, and begins with a shimmy through South London suburbs that are all quite familiar to me. I the pleasure of @coshjunningham , @alimacleod96 & @rja_107 ‘s company for varying lengths of time on the first day’s ride out into Surrey. Some for longer than others short (without naming names 😉), but to be fair the weather was truly ghastly and plenty of the lanes were completely flooded. I did the first leg to Bristol over a few weekends in spring. @pjdw1 joined me for another cold and wet day-ride from Salisbury to Bristol, where I realised that I would need to pack the bivvy bag and find a free weekend for the final 600km push. I was running out of time still based in the UK, and I’d overlooked how expensive the train tickets would be if I continued in stages. Will share some more photos from the rest of The Giant Circle, but I’ve also linked a more detailed write up in my bio from the full adventure. . . . . . #thegiantcircle #bikepacking#biketouring

Some photos from the annual Gore-Tex convention up North. Another year at @kendalmountainfestival with the @komoot crew. Wet and windy, but the Lakes as cute as always. 💚