Episodes

  • Episode 080: Cycle Touring 1970s Style – Rob Ainsley

    Episode 080: Cycle Touring 1970s Style – Rob Ainsley
    Jun 15 2024
    Writer Rob Ainsley has cycled from Barmouth to Yarmouth because they rhyme. He’s cycled from Britain’s smallest church in Rhos to its largest church in Liverpool. He’s cycled the London Monopoly board. And he continues to amass a long list of ‘end-to-end’ country cycles. So for Rob, cycling from Morecambe to Bridlington along the Way of the Roses cycle route may at first glance appear to be a little, err… pedestrian. But think again. He decided to cycle the route 1970s style. In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast we chat to Rob Ainsley in York where he reveals all. Was the naffest decade of the 20th century as good a time as any to be on two wheels? Or better forgotten…
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    58 mins
  • Episode 079: The Cycle Touring Festival / Albania

    Episode 079: The Cycle Touring Festival / Albania
    Jun 1 2024
    Most episodes of The Cycling Europe Podcast know where they are going from the outset. This episode is slightly different. We start in the English Lake District to take in the sounds of the recent Cycle Touring Festival in its new home of Coniston. We then head to India to hear from long-distance cyclist James Thomas. He lives in a coastal town in Goa on the shore of the Arabian Sea but often ventures into the mountains on foot and on his bike. He reflects upon his current experiences in India as well as past experiences cycling through Europe, especially Albania. We stay in Albania for an extract from Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie, Andrew P. Sykes' travelogue about cycling the EuroVelo 8 from Greece to Portugal in 2013. To explain if things have changed in the past decade, the podcast speaks to Dritan Kolgjini, a tour guide for Explore Travel's Albanian cycling trips. Does the country really live up to its reputation of being the 'new Croatia'?
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Episode 078: Le Grand Tour On A Bike Called Wanda / Andrew P. Sykes

    Episode 078: Le Grand Tour On A Bike Called Wanda / Andrew P. Sykes
    Apr 21 2024
    In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast, guest presenter Andrew Edwards chats to Andrew P. Sykes about his 2022 cycle around Europe and his new book - Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda - that is published on May 1st 2024.
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Episode 077: Agathe Daudibon / Svetlana & Quentin / Seth Maltzmann

    Episode 077: Agathe Daudibon / Svetlana & Quentin / Seth Maltzmann
    Feb 14 2024
    The Cycling Europe Podcast is back and for this first episode of 2024 we have a triple-whammy of cycling-themed chats and stories. The EuroVelo network is now 26 years old but it’s not resting on its laurels. Agathe Daudibon of the European Cyclists’ Federation is the person responsible for looking after the network and developing it further. She talked to the podcast about her background in cycle touring, her role at the ECF and how she sees the future of the pan-European network. Svetlana and Quentin, from Oxford, talk about their experiences of cycling along the coast in Croatia. And Seth provides something that he feels the podcast is missing; how bike tours can “turn into complete disasters”. His certainly have!
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Episode 076: Tim Sanders – The Parenzana Trail / Venice to Munich

    Episode 076: Tim Sanders – The Parenzana Trail / Venice to Munich
    Nov 2 2023
    Tim Sanders holds the accolade of being one of only two people to have attended every single Cycle Touring Festival since the event first appeared on the calendar in 2015. During this year’s event in Clitheroe he spoke to The Cycling Europe Podcast not only about the joys of the festival but also about a recent cycling journey that took him from the Istrian Peninsula on the Adriatic coast along the Parenzana Trail to Trieste and onwards over the Alps to Munich in southern Germany.
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    1 hr
  • Episode 075: Craig Fee – Cycling Into The Unknown

    Episode 075: Craig Fee – Cycling Into The Unknown
    Sep 16 2023
    In 2017, novice long-distance cyclist Craig Fee set off on a continental odyssey to cycle from London to his friend’s wedding in Florence, Italy. But had he bitten off more than he could chew? In his new book, Cycling Into The Unknown, he tells the story of the journey and in this episode of the podcast, he reflects upon the experience of setting off on a make-it-up-as-you-go cycle across Europe…
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Yorkshire Day Special: Cycling The Way Of The Roses

    Yorkshire Day Special: Cycling The Way Of The Roses
    Aug 1 2023
    To celebrate Yorkshire Day 2023, another opportunity to listen to a Yorkshire-themed podcast (albeit one that starts in Lancashire). "Andrew P. Sykes takes The Cycling Europe Podcast out on the cycle path and travels from Morecambe on Lancashire's west coast to the county's historical capital at Lancaster, across the Pennines and through Yorkshire via Settle and Ripon, completing his trip in that county's historical capital at York. The Way of the Roses is a route of contrasting landscapes and, at times, challenging terrain; join Andrew (and his bicycle Wanda) as they spend three days following one of northern England's most popular cycle routes. The music is composed and played by Rob Ainsley. More of Rob’s music can be found on his website e2e.bike." If you'd like to contribute to The Cycling Europe Podcast, please get in touch by emailing podcast@CyclingEurope.org. If you'd like to support the podcast, please visit CyclingEurope.org/Support. Thanks if you can!
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Episode 074: Cathryn Ramsden / Dale Majors / Gavin McCulloch / Rich Jeffries

    Episode 074: Cathryn Ramsden / Dale Majors / Gavin McCulloch / Rich Jeffries
    Jul 23 2023
    Cathryn Ramsden cycled with her husband and son from Calais to Annecy. Dale Majors has cycled with his wife and six young children on several long trips across Europe and in the US. Gavin McCulloch cycled to Moscow from Scotland in 1990. Rich Jeffries was reluctant to cycle across Belgium but loved it! In this episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast they share their experiences in bite-sized interviews and monologues. How do you persuade a 12-year-old boy to cycle hundreds of kilometres? How do you manage the logistics of travelling as a family group of eight? How do you feed yourself in Russia when the supermarkets are full of beetroot? And how do you overcome the urge to give Belgium a wide berth?
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    1 hr and 3 mins