Georiders - Mountain Biking in the Republic of Georgia

When I was travelling in India in 2009, I often dreamt of going back to Georgia and doing loads of mountain biking. I wanted to get involved in the local biking community and contribute. Back in Georgia, I was lucky to meet some local mountain bikers. I didn't expect to find them because I thought that the cycling wasn't very popular in Georgia and people seemed much keener on burning about in tinted windowed Mercedes and BMWs. How things have changed though! - at least for the burgeoning cycling and mountain biking community.

Congrats to Simon and Fearghal for finishing their Revolution Cycle Trip

At the start of Ride Earth, I came across the website for 'Revolution' -

Accepting Invitations, Being Certain and Serendipity.

Last weekend I was in London and I was invited to a social event at which I met someone who I had never met before and they invited me to their house for a roast dinner. If this happened whilst I was traveling by bike  I would  accept the offer and attend without a second thought. However, being back in England, I found myself briefly dealing with a few pre-conceptions; perhaps English-qualities? I wondered whether they really meant it. I had never met this person before. Maybe they were drunk?

Utility cycling and long distance cycling

"Utility cycling encompasses any cycling not done primarily for fitness, recreation such as cycle touring, or sport such as cycle racing, but simply as a means of transport. It is the most common type of cycling in the world"

I recently cycled from Dover to London and from London to Stevenage on the way back home to Leicestershire. I then cycled from Leicestershire to London last week. There is something satisfying about biking a route which you have a strong pre-conception of, but in fact have no little idea about the actual reality of e.g. from a cyclist's point of view, travelling slow enough to take everything in. I have always previously traveled the route by car, train, or bus, and therefore paid little attention to places situated along the way. Biking gives you a sense of the places and the geography. I can now visualise the landscape of the areas which I cycled. I have discovered those places on a personal level, they exist in my consciousness and I am reminded how easy it is to 'get into the countryside' and just how small England is.

How to take your bike on a bus or train

When  Tom and I travelled to Mongolia we used overland public transport and didn't pay extra to take the bikes with us. However, it seems that  the guidelines about paying for taking bikes are unclear and require some clarification so here are some of our findings.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="334" caption="Trans Siberian long distance train"][/caption]

Mongolia Mountain Biking Adventure - Some thoughts in retrospect

Yesterday I cycled 140km from Dover to Central London where I now reside. I've had a lot of time to digest the brilliant travel experience I've had in the last 2 months.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="The Mongolian countryside was epic"][/caption]

The relative shortness of the Mongolia trip compared to previous trips has not made it feel less worthwhile. On the contrary the trip has rejuvenated my interest in cycling and bike touring.