Seek Travel Ride

Six days into a two-month ride across Central Asia, Rob MacLennan found himself driving a minibus over the mountains in Mongolia. His broken bike was strapped to the roof, there were twelve local women in the back, and the driver was having a nap in the passenger seat. It turned out to be a fair warning of what was coming.

Rob first joined me on the show after riding from London to Cape Town. This time he’s back after bikepack...

This week’s episode has a Eurasian lynx attacking a cycle tourist through his tent wall and three lions calling to each other around a wild camp in Tanzania, so yeah, it’s a wildlife one. 

It all started with an email from a previous guest, Robert Reynolds, where he shared a frightening experience when a Eurasian lynx tried to attack him in the night while he was inside his tent!

It sent me back through the archives ...

Shuhena only learnt how to ride a bike as an adult and she's been rediscovering what is possible for her ever since. She shares how she always viewed bikepacking as a 'white persons sport' and also how she hopes more muslim women will take to doing what she has done. 

Shuhena walked away from a corporate law career in London, bought herself a one way ticket to Asia and went bikepacking. She ended up cycling through seven countr...

What's it like to go bikepacking in Indonesia? Olly Hargreaves has sent through his last update all about cycling from Jakarta to Balin starting with a 38 hour ferry ride from Singapore!

Olly reckons Java has the steepest roads of his whole ride, steeper than the Alps, Afghanistan or the Pamir Highway, with gradients up to 30% and descents where your fingers never leave the brakes. He also explains why he skipped the busy north coas...

Wes Murray has been hosting cyclists on the TransAmerica Trail since 2012 at his home in Houston, Missouri. Since then he's hosted over 300 bike adventurers who have stayed at 'The Shack'. His hospitality and kindness is legendary and now many riders have 'staying with Wes' as a milestone when they plan their ride across the USA. 

It's a pleasure to chat with Wes and hear how it is he and his late wife Judy got into hosting cyc...

Going on a bike adventure can be a huge deal and perhaps you've found that fear is holding you back from going out there and exploring. This week I'm sharing excerpts from my original interview with Saoirse Pottie, which give insight into how she pushed her fears (and those others had for her!) aside and how she did this one small step at a time. 

Firstly with getting used to riding alone, then wildcamping solo, to taking a jou...

This year Ash Eagles won the 1700km TransAtlantic Way which was his first ever ultracycling event. What makes this even more incredible is that it came almost 5 years after surviving a very rare form of bone cancer where doctors warned him he may never ride his bike again.

The day after going through the operation, Ash promised himself that he'd cycle 100kms within a year and it's incredible to learn more about his story and see exa...

Imagine setting off to cycle from Cork in Ireland all the way to Cape Town South Africa. Then picture yourself doing it while towing a surfboard on a trailer! That's exactly what James Ryan has just set off to do!

In this episode we are getting to know James, his reasons for this particular adventure and what he is especially looking forward to wiht the huge journey that lies ahead. This update comes to use while he is currently in ...

Poli Berber started out being fearful of riding her bike in traffic. Then she went on a 10 month tour from Paris to Yereven which ended up being life changing. 

She returned back to Mexico City and through bikepacking rediscovered her own city. Since then she's taken to mapping out off-road routes around Mexico as well as lining up for ultra racing events, such as Tour de Frankie and the Japanese Odyssey. 

We talk about how...

If you could relive one moment from your bike adventure what would it be? 

Earlier this year I hosted a series of live shows in Melbourne featuring previous podcast guests Fergal Guihen, Em Hulbert and David McCourt. 

This exact question was posed during one of those Melbourne Live shows and the answers were so good I'm sharing it with you today. 

Fergal takes us into the Taklimakan Desert in China, stranded with no foo...

Imagine a bike adventure that takes you from Europe SE Asia and back again. Now imagine doing it solo. That is exactly what Oktawia Van Tienderen did and in this episode she is sharing her experiences of taking a journey on like this as a solo woman. 

Oktawia's original plan was to set off from Poland and continue travelling East. Then she realised that would entail enduring temps of minus 30C by the time she reached Kazakhstan...

Often the highlights of many bike adventures come from the people you meet along the way. In my recent episode with Becky Gilbert she mentioned being hosted by Wes in Missouri, while making her way across the USA on the TransAmerica Trail. 

Since that episode went out countless others have gotten in touch with me to share their experience of staying with Wes. Even better, Wes himself also got in touch to share why it is he love...

Daniel Troia initially got off a plane in Milan, Italy initially thinking he'd go bikepacking to Slovenia. But then as he set off he decided to change things up completely. He got rid of the entire plan, dumped his itinerary and let strangers he would meet along the way guide where he should go.  He ended up in the Swiss Alps and in this episode I'm chatting to him all about it. 

We discuss the importance of getting out in...

If you are thinking of taking a bike adventure but find yourself holding back this episode is for you. I put the question out to our instagram Seek Travel Ride Community of 'what's one tip you'd give to someone looking to take their first bike adventure' and in this episode I'm sharing all the answers with you.

There's one overriding theme throughout most of them and that is - don't overthink it! Just get out there and give it a go....

Becky Gilbert shares what it was like to cycle from Oregon to Virginia on the TransAmerica Trail. She undertook this adventure with her partner and Ash and all up spent three months cycling coast to coast across the USA.  

This was the first long distance bike adventure Becky had undertaken and she admits that she had doubts about being able to complete the journey right from day one. In fact it wasn't until she was two months ...

Guest Brian Sampson is currently on a bike adventure connecting up 1000 places to see before you die. In this update he gives us the lowdown on what it's like to go cycling in Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

If you are planning on riding in Scotland you'll love the ease of wildcamping there and hiking ot the top of Goatfell, the highest peak on the Isle of Arran should definitely make it on your list. But beware of the ...

Guest Marcello Pacifici shares his experiences of bikepacking in some of the most isolated places in the Nordics. Originally from Rome in Italy, Marcello now calls Helsinki home. He got into riding bikes as a cheap way to get around the city, then expanded that to bikepacking as a way to discover Finland. 

His first bikepackign trip was 800kms and would take him all the way to Finnish Lapland.  He's since taken many other ...

What's the wildest thing that's happened to you during a bike adventure?  I asked this question and got inundated with responses so this week I'm sharing them with you.

Responses range from marriage proposals, dog chases, nudist beach encounters to being kidnapped by the Taliban! 

I also share some of my own crazy bike adventure experiences including how I've twice managed to find myself starting a mountain descent wit no b...

Hannah Simon has raced ultras in four different continents, but you'd be wrong to assume she is only focused on racing.  She also enjoys strapping gear on her bike and riding through new landscapes.  

This year she chose to combine them all by riding to the start line of three seperate events across Europe. I enjoyed exploring her experience as a photo journalist and how she blends her desire to see the landscapes with the...