Attempted cycle from Brussels to Amsterdam

On Monday 11th of February I caught a train to Brussels from London: my final destination was Amsterdam, but it was cheaper (£59 return!) and more challenging to cycle the last leg. The trip was fun, and shows how proper bicycle infrastructure can make long distance rides very appealing compared to places where big cities are connected only by fast direct roads or slow, winding paths. Read on and be inspired to make a long-distance bicycle trip of your own!

Route taken on Day 1, Brussels to Antwerp.

Bicycle touring in the land of ice

With summer in the air and the world at our feet, my friend and I decided to burn some stored sunlight and fly to Iceland to go bicycle touring. We pedalled ~600 km out there. Bellow are some photos of and comments about the trip. You can see where we cycled here.

Icelandic horses curious about our steel steeds

RGS-IBG 2012 conference

I finally got to present research on transport and energy, at the RGS-IBG conference 2012. The talk itself went well, and the event was great fun. Both things are described below.

Ireland bicycle touring

Having never been to Ireland before, I jumped at the opportunity to stay in Dublin for 3 days for a conference on spatial microsimulation. But you need to get out of the big cities to really get to know a country. Bicycles are the cheapest, healthiest and most fun way to travel, so it was decided that this was the way to go. 4 of us hit the road in the end, heading from Dublin to Rosslare between the 20th and 22nd of May 2012. Below is an account of this epic mission.

Ready to roll in Dublin.

Building a pedal-powered blender

Inspired by bicycles and guided by a workshop we’ll be hosting at Small is… festival,  on the 4th September, my friend James and I have set about building a pedal-powered blender. The following nugget of information does not explain how to build one of these things – Open-Source plans are in the pipeline – but shows the evolution of the idea. Maya Pedal, the Human-Powered Home, and http://www.technologyforthepoor.com all inspired this bit of kit.

Cycling for the future

This post is about a ~1000km journey I made going west across the south of France, crossing the Pyrenees into Spain and riding in the countryside surrounding Pamplona. It was amazing and opened my eyes to the potential of cycling for distance and recreation.