Jackchev

2012-02-01T21:48:00.000Z

I have booked my tickets to Iceland and in order to best take pictures of puffins and the arctic fox stealing my breakfast, I have bought a new camera. We went on a walk together today, and Husiw came too. This is what my camera saw.

There's still some work to do to stop everything being out of focus and overexposed, but I guess that's never bothered me before.

Also, since I am getting far more traffic here than in my fledgling twitter nest, fly a thousand pixels east of here, click on my twitter bit and say hello.

2011-12-16T12:01:00.003Z

2011-09-22T16:53:00.002+01:00

Reading this excellent piece and the nicely crafted bits before it got me thinking. Though I wouldn't wish to write the do's and don'ts list of Bicycle Touring, I could perhaps take off where the advice I found helpful planning my trips left off.

Bikes

I think what bike to use has been well covered elsewhere, and any off the peg touring bike will tick your boxes. More difficult than the choice of bike perhaps, is the choice of luggage. The duration, distance and difficulty of your ride will dictate how much and what kind of luggage you take.

Leaving New York, I had panniers on the back, and a bar bag. By the time I reached Portland, these bags were full to bursting. Food and water was precariously strapped to every part of bag and frame, and a cheap Walmart rack held a further 2 gallons over the front wheel.

In short. When it comes to carrying stuff, over estimate. On a 2 month tour, you'll eat more than you ever ate in your life, and you'll need some where to put all that cous cous. (You can have that one for free. Cooks in seconds, fills you just as quick, and is very space efficient in it's raw form.) Throw a desert or a sparsely populated region in, and your looking at a lot of gear.

Kit

So you've got a bike with loads of carrying space. (But not a trailer. They are stupid.) You need to dress yourself. Again this has been covered in detail elsewhere. For this one, I'll just suggest buying two IDENTICAL sets of bibs.

If they aren't identical you'll inevitably start to develop a favourite, and a 'B' set. Favourite bibs will get worn everyday, while 'B' set rejects will sit in your bags. When your touring, apart from sleeping, you live in bibs. They have to be washed at least every couple of days. You wear one while the other dries. If you develop a favourite, this 'wash one, wear one' cycle is disrupted. And your favourite bibs and your private bits pay the price.

I also found there's a weird psychological impact of having 'B' bibs on. It can really get you down if it's a tough morning anyway.

Navigation

GPS is amazing for cities. Maps can't talk, audibly telling you where to go in heavy traffic.

Maps, on the other hand, can't run out of batteries. They can fall off things and it's fine. They can get hot and it's fine. They can get cold and it's fine. They can be drawn and written on and sweated on and you can leave them on tables in cafes and it's fine. A Garmin can't be and never will be a precious reminder of a special time in one's life. I'll keep the maps I've annotated forever, like a diary.

Food

Emergency food. Always always have a secret stash of emergency carbs. Stash em away and forget about them.

Unforeseen circumstances are always unforeseen. Without a secret stash, the raccoon that stole the pasta would have been a calamity. (I should come clean about this, when we started out, we had no idea of the audacity of the North American Critter. What wasn't eaten immediately, or watched constantly, got robbed. We got better at this.)

The secret stash of horrible instant noodles saved the day again in Bosnia. This time, an 8 hour climb up a muddy gravel logging track ended abruptly, and a minefield (yes, landmines) separated ourselves from the village we were expecting to reach.

Recon

Before heading off into the unknown, do some recon. Ask people about the towns coming up. Is there food there? Is there a guesthouse or a cafe? In remote areas, some of the towns on the map may have been long abandoned, knowing this in advance will save you from having to extend your daily mileage in search of food.

This is a good way, especially when your sick of being in your own head, of meeting people. Even a ridiculous conversation, made in gestures, smiles and broken foreign tongues can lift the burden of loneliness.

Fire and stoves

After a week on a treeless steppe or prairie, firewood is valued above everything except water and food.

Especially when it's very wet or if wood is difficult to get hold of, keep your eyes peeled for stuff you can carry to light fires with. A camp doesn't really feel like home until you've been able to light a fire. I have always tried to keep the use of a stove to a minimum, partly because cooking anything on one takes an age, mainly because it's best to keep it in reserve for any unseen problems.

If you can, keep a decent sized, half burnt, but cold, bit of wood. The white bits of ash ignite really quickly and means you can have a quick breakfast fire too.

Mechanical sympathy (Bike and Body)

The amount and type of tools you would need, has again, been well covered elsewhere. I've found that other sites don't explain the importance of taking it really easy when touring long distances with heavy loads.

Pushing round big gears and dancing on the pedals will kill your bike and your knees. It's really important to maintain a constant steady cadence. Ideally, this should be a balance between enough power to maintain your required pace and putting no significant effort through the pedals at all. Use the gears to maintain this cadence, that's what granny rings and massive sprockets are for.

Getting out of the saddle throws the bicycle's weight from side to side. This puts huge strain on pedals, chain, spokes and whatever luggage rack your using. After a couple of thousand miles, all of these things, as well as your body will be taking a hammering, and something has to give eventually.

Equipment

Follow this link for a brilliant summation of what to take - Bike To Russia. I particularly like that a Presta to Schrader adapter is included. The smallest things can be the most handy.

2011-09-13T19:02:00.003+01:00

Tour of Britain. In Stoke on Trent.

2011-09-12T01:50:00.002+01:00

Tom and Catherine are going to Russia. Their big adventure has inspired a Russia based blog post. Blogging wasn't invented when I went.

Good Luck, hope it's mega. I'll miss you both and I'll see you in Gorky Park on two wheels in no time.

2011-08-31T17:36:00.000+01:00

Rick is a killer descender. I wish I'd got evidence of him sliding about at 50kph on a half tarmac half loose road. This'll have to suffice. Things start to speed up at about 2 minutes in. I only have Windows movie maker, so I can't edit out the rest of it, soz.

2011-08-31T15:06:00.000+01:00

Thanks Trans Pennine Railways. Thanks a bunch.

You're alright though, John Sidney Crossley. Well done on the Ribblehead Viaduct.

Because of the aforementioned rail company, or rather their heavily unionised workforce, our c2c attempt got as far as The Dales.

Which was a lovely place to ride a bike.

And so was the trip back to Manchester from Grinton. Literally up hill and down dale. 1200m of climbing all together.

It was also the first opportunity I got to spend a decent amount of time the Dolan and it's comfy, fast and did what I built it to do perfectly. Buy some of these tyres, they look top and sound like distant aircraft when you're climbing. Which is very important in tyres.

2011-08-22T14:27:00.001+01:00

Saddle bag, check. Huge sprocket, check. Extra bidons and lights, check. Then it must be micro touring for the first time on the Dolan. It's nice to have an adventure again. Less predatory big cats this time though. And I probably won't have to poo hiding in dense woodland.

2011-05-19T22:52:00.000+01:00

Once, long before this blog became a thing, I went on the Trans Siberian Railway. Trying to find the photos to put on here was a failure and precipitated a major sort through of my belongings. The main reason I am saying this though is because one of Leicester's finest is currently exhibiting her work between Moscow and Vladivostok, on the train. Have a look.

http://www.lozatkinson.blogspot.com/

Cheers Loz!

2011-05-03T14:37:00.002+01:00

I'm going racing later today. I'm very honestly quite scared.

2011-04-29T23:27:00.000+01:00

Ellie 'Banana Bread' Gouvra has a blog. Linkie! Can't wait for more.

2011-04-07T21:06:00.001+01:00

Ronde Van Vlaanderen, Part 2.

Fortunately, since I haven't any friends, there were men with cameras all over Flanders waiting to capture my progress. More entertaining than me on a bike though is A. Those yellow glasses, which are going in the bin and B. My bike faces. Since these are the first photos ever taken of me riding a bike proper, this is the first time I've witnessed the contortions and grimaces as an onlooker.

Daddy Cool. Ignoring whatever it is everyone else finds funny in the morning. This level of nonchalance is only possible when you don't fully know whats coming.

After a couple of sections of pave, slight concern creeps it's way across my visage. As it turns out, riding a bike on broken cobbles is uncomfortable and not at all as easy as it looks on Eurosport. I discovered later that I was running on tires which were way too hard, especially for a smaller rider. Pressures adjusted and wobbly bars fixed, I carried on. Meanwhile, the man on my right shoulder discovers a bit of Snickers in his teeth.

As the afternoon wares on my confidence riding on cobbles grows and I find my feet. Race face.

The crowds can't peel their eyes off me on one of the last climbs of the day. Seriously though, the number of people who came out just to watch was incredible. I will never forget the crowd of people cheering me up the Koppenberg in languages from all over the world. Thanks especially to group of very enthusiastic Italians. Who, in English, Italian and Flemish were able to part the crowd, ahead of those who hadn't succumbed to the mud or gradient.

Yellow glasses askew, Face gives it the berries up the Muur.

Self indulgence.

Daddy Cool.

2011-04-05T21:19:00.000+01:00

Ronde Van Vlaanderen, part 1.

First of all, Thank you to Elly and Pau, who were the best hosts Hayley and I could have wished for. They looked after us both fantastically and made it possible for me to have a really special day on Saturday.

I hope we can repay the favour some time in Manchester.

Though I can't promise weather good enough for barbeques, and we don't have a balcony. We certainly won't be able to match the king size banquet Elly prepared either. I am very much looking forward to her food blog. I understand that it's an idea in the oven, which can only be enjoyed when it's ready. Much like the brilliant Banana bread she made which sustained me up the Muur. Seriously, better than any energy bar or gel I have ever used.

On Sunday, I had a day at the races.

Still waiting for the photos from my own ride on the Saturday to come back from the photographers. Soon I hope.

2011-04-05T15:02:00.001+01:00

Just got home from Flanders. There will be pictures and videos and words and stories and probably a lot of bikes when I get the films processed and the official photos from Sportograf. If you would like to see what happened, watch this space.

2011-03-29T14:26:00.000+01:00

Muur(der).

2011-03-28T18:37:00.000+01:00

Granted, I'm not riding Paris Roubaix. But I'm still getting very excited about anything with cobbles.

Flanders update, only 6 of my 7 speeds are working correctly. This does concern me.

2011-03-16T18:08:00.009Z

Apart from a killer hat, me and Philippe Gilbert are basically the same.

We both ride cutting edge machinery.

We've both spent a lot of time recently, riding up cobbly hills.

We are both riding The Ronde next month.

And of course, neither of us are terrified.

2010-12-09T01:46:00.001Z

Ludicrous.

2010-10-28T12:58:00.001+01:00

Episode One: From the beginning from mike ambs ☂ on Vimeo.

A wee bit melodramatic maybe, but it's nice when people say what you think, but in a better way. Like.

2010-09-18T14:53:00.003+01:00

2010-09-11T19:45:00.004+01:00

This is a post all about JACK DAVID CHEVELL, I went to America too and kept a fairly detailed record of events for everyone to have a look at. I was present, there had been doubts expressed and rumours spread that I was just posting photos of Neil and Tom and pretending I was also there. So for this reason, this post is almost entirely of me.

ME with a dog, for instance.
ME in the setting Wyoming sun.
MY nose and beard consuming one of the many vast breakfasts required to keep THREE hungry cyclists going.
ME, riding 3000 miles.
ME, consuming again, this time a bottle of the most refreshing ginger beer there is or will ever be. Most welcome.
ME riding past the Tetons.
ME ME ME ME. I promise.

2010-09-11T19:26:00.001+01:00

Got me some more pictures off Neil. Keep em peeled.

2010-08-27T21:29:00.004+01:00

This is to be my last post from America, i'm sad to be leaving.

Breakfast somewhere in Idaho.
The last morning of our spell of being homeless. This is the comfiest grass i have ever slept on.

After 6 weeks of dying in the heat, it's been real cold in the mornings. This is good because it justifies carrying all the winter clothes across a continent.

This picture is a bit like a magic eye, if you stare at it long enough, the shape of a grizzly bear and her cubs begins to emerge. They are next to the bush in the middle.
Some more pictures from our time on the Oregon Trail.

2010-08-26T19:00:00.013+01:00

We have arrived, it's taken us 44 days on the bike and 3510 miles, but I am now in a proper city with coffee and traffic lights and everything. Welcome to Portland. For a long time, we followed the Oregon Trail across Wyoming. Where there warnt no coffee nowhere. And not at lot else either.

Preparing for the desert wilderness requires hours of careful preparation, diligently packing only the barest of essentials for survival, or two gallons of water, a few bungees and ten minutes outside a grocery store.The desert wilderness part is true though, it was often a day and a half between tiny stores selling rotating hotdogs and plastic sandwiches. It was my favourite state though, the scale of the country is more evident there than anywhere else.

This is what I dragged Neil and Tom 30 miles down a gravelly, sandy, rocky road at 7000ft for. Wagon ruts from the the Oregon Trail.

After this, my camera battery died, Yellowstone, Idaho and Oregon are all on the two films I've yet to get deeveloped. So for now. JC.

2010-08-20T19:02:00.002+01:00

No new photos for the time being, I left the camera and all the CDs on the bike. A quick text based update to say we've raced across Idaho will cross into Oregon today and are looking to arrive in Portland in 5 days. From there, I'll be able to do a proper catch up and so on. We went through 3000 miles this morning, and have just over 400 to go. Very much looking forward to resting my little busted and burnt body. See you on the other side. JC

2010-08-10T20:32:00.015+01:00

Welcome to Casper Wyoming where, hopefully, I should be able to put some pictures up. After three days in the wild, I've rediscovered my urbane self, sipping and munching in an internet cafe.I got some photos off the SLR. As part of the run of terrible luck we had early on, Tom managed to get Scabies from the YMCA in Pittsburgh. When Neil developed little itchy lumps too, it was time for a full kit wash. Your dirty little secret is out Mills.

I didn't get them.

Things took a turn for the better after St Louis, here are Tom and Neil having just crossed a flooded section of the Mississippi.Then we crossed Iowa. Where we met Levi. Hi Levi, I got your message, we'll put some English change in the post for your collection.
I think this is in Nebraska. A storm blew in and we had to take cover in a truckstop. Some people we had met the night before had told us to avoid thunderstorms. So we did. In white river we met a very kind man called John who gave us the keys to his neighbour's rental home, and we slept in there. Thanks John!Into South Dakota and we crossed The Badlands on the way to The Black Hills. I've got some more digital photos of all of this, but my computer problems persist and i can't get to them.

Our visit to The Black Hills was a brief one, it is utterly overrun with fat men on fat motorbikes making a lot of noise. Look up 'Sturgis' on youtube if you dare. On the way trough though we passed Crazy Horse, it's going to take 100 years to finish, and his face is 90 feet high. The cliff underneath will one day become his horse.
Having crossed the black hills, we arrived in Wyoming. Today is our first full day off since St Louis. In that time we've covered 1150 miles(ish). We're in Casper, which is a small town on the way to Yellowstone, where we'll be in a few days. Tomorrow we head for independence rock along a portion of the Oregon Trail. (Google them). Some time after that, i'll hopefully find a computer which offers both CD drive and USB and put some more pictures up.

Peace.

2010-08-06T19:14:00.002+01:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. The first computer I have found in 900 miles is a dud. We're in Rapid City, South Dakota, having crossed Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and most of SD since the last one. No pictures till i find a computer which works properly!

2010-07-23T19:44:00.007+01:00

We're in Hannibal MO, where Mark Twain is from, here is some pictures of the things that have occured...

SLR time!

The Amish don't like to have their photos taken, so I didn't take any. Their Horses didn't object though.
We rode alongside, and then through, the Mississippi.

2010-07-13T17:38:00.004+01:00

These are all in a random kind of order. I don;t have time to arrage them properly.

We're in Pittsburgh now, it's beautiful old steel town and we all like it. But there is nowhere to stay. I have 26 minutes to finish this and find a cheap hotel.
Saved us from death. It was still very hot.
Travelling through Amish country, we found the best veg and cake at an Amish grocery store.

This is what 120F roads and 400miles do to a touring tyre. Stopped off to change it in Williamsburg, PA. Leaving Pennsylvania and moving into Ohio tommorow, with a brief 10 mile stint in West Virginia, 22 minutes left! Love.

2010-06-28T12:49:00.011+01:00

New York, no good computers to update on, lots of fantastic bridges to ride on.

Williamsburg Bridge is closest thing to a bike only motorway i've ever known.

Times Square isn't.

Brooklyn Bridge has a bike path right over it. Brilliant.

George Washington bridge doesn't.

We're in Pennsylvania now, about 320 miles from NY, the town is called Williamsburg.

Collecting wood.

We set out from New York in the midst of a heat wave. It's been as high as 106F during the day, very tough riding. Tom's tyre melted and de laminated in the heat. We've had to take a small detour to Williamsburg to fix it.

Heading for Raymond P Winter State Park to camp tonight, then another week or so to Pittsburg, where i'll put more pictures up.

Love.

2010-06-28T12:43:00.000+01:00

2010-06-28T12:22:00.002+01:00

What a lovely day, thanks for coming and cooking and running and catching and laughing and eating and drinking and talking...

2010-06-24T21:02:00.001+01:00

Great Bike Travellers #1: Frank van Rijn, pt 1 of 2 // BROOKS ENGLAND

2010-06-23T19:54:00.001+01:00

Great Bike Travellers #1: Frank van Rijn, pt 2 of 2 // BROOKS ENGLAND

2010-06-23T19:54:00.000+01:00

2010-06-21T12:25:00.001+01:00

With a week to go, conditions in mission control are becoming quite cramped.

2010-06-19T14:55:00.001+01:00

Rick came out training on his new road bike.

He brought an i-phone too, with a swanky (p)app

Neil Dallow is fundraising for CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA - JustGiving

2010-06-19T14:43:00.000+01:00

Neil Dallow is fundraising for CHILDREN with LEUKAEMIA - JustGiving

Sponsor Neil!

In return, he'll share all his secrets...

http://neildallow.wordpress.com/

Ethnic attacks in Kyrgyzstan - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2010-06-19T01:21:00.000+01:00

Some sad news from a part of the world I've visited, and quite glibly documented, in this blog in 2006.

Ethnic attacks in Kyrgyzstan - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2010-06-16T14:49:00.000+01:00

The best Kilo I ever carried. Leave the helmet at home. This is a priority.

Camped Here.

2010-06-14T15:21:00.001+01:00

Went to Scotland

Saw loads of these

Rode down here

Camped Here

Rode down here

Camped here

Saw this

Took this, because there was no one else to

and this. C.O. the tripod Hayley Husiw bought me. Thanks Hayley Husiw.

2010-06-02T21:18:00.000+01:00

2010-02-02T01:00:00.000Z

2008-10-30T13:17:00.001Z

Tom needed a little nap.

Mostar Bridge.

This photo is on the wonk because it was taken by a tree.

It was muddy in Bosnia

2008-10-05T16:54:00.001+01:00

So here it is again, my blog. Its called whats its called because last time i used it, i was in china, and i havent changed it yet. Im not in China any more. Im in Slovenia.

This is a bit out of town. It used to be an army barracks, now it has been turned into bars and clubs and artists studios. Coldcut played in the building nearest last night, I tried to go but it was sold out. This is a bad picture, there are loads more buildings, but it doesnt show them.
I went to the market. I bought some old postcards.

2006-09-14T05:58:00.001+01:00

These kids kept me company, and shared (ate all of) my sweets, while the road was shut.

Since nothing really happened in Pokhara, here are some more photos of me attached to a beard at Base Camp.

2006-09-12T15:40:00.001+01:00

I have some pictures to put up. But the computers here are determined to eff it all up for me. So I've given up. Sorry. I'll try again back in Kathmandu tomorrow. Going to India soon. Bye bye.

2006-09-08T04:55:00.001+01:00

Kathmandu is a cool town. I love it here.

2006-09-05T13:04:00.001+01:00

So I went to Everest Base Camp.

2006-08-30T03:51:00.001+01:00

2006-08-27T14:14:00.001+01:00

I'v been in Tibet a whole 36 hours but it's my favourite place yet by far.

It snowed when I was on the train. I think because it was so high up. There were oxygen masks built into the walls of the train, because the air is so thin, and people spaz out every now and again.

Good day all.

2006-08-12T16:04:00.002+01:00

Kashgar is a really interesting town...

A man asked me into his house for some tea. So i went in. He gave me tea and he talked to me and i laughed and smiled and didn't understand. Then it turned out he made hats. He wouldn't let me leave without buying one. So here it is, on my head.

As well as a hat, i also got dysentry. I have to take this lot 3 times a day. I'm not sure what the grey ones do but they smell of marmite. I'm better now though.

There was some kid in my cabin on the train. He was into spaceships, so I drew him one. I thought it was pretty good, I did the moon and everything. Apparently it wasn't, i found it in the bin.

I'm in Urumqi now, but not for very long.

2006-08-09T08:47:00.001+01:00

Kyrgyz Country Roads

Lenin Peak and Communism Peak, the two highest mountains in the Former Soviet Union.

Just after this the van reached the border. And that was all pretty intense. There were a million trucks, and people kept getting dragged off by customs into this little room at the end of a corridor. Two hours later though, got into China.

2006-08-05T06:34:00.003+01:00

So here I am in Osh. Waiting until Monday or even Wednesday for a bus to take me to China. It's all pretty dodgy, since i've got here, the police have either frisked me or pointed a gun my way every day. The local Kyrgz and immigrating Uzbeks don't get on so well.
So here are some photos in random order of the last 7 days or so. And they may be the last until I get to India because Blogger has been banned on Chinese computers.

This man seems pretty bored in Osh too.

Another trek photo which didn't make it last time.

Roei walking in a river. It was very cold.

I ran out of books in Bishkek. This classy looking title is the only English language book i could find. It isn't very good.

Apparently in Osh, the animals in the Zoo can all be dead.

2006-07-29T05:12:00.001+01:00

So in a moment wrecklessness, I agreed to go on a three day hike with two guys who have walked from Turkey to Kyrgyzstan. This is a bit of what happened...

There's no such thing as a free lunch, except in Kygyzstan, where these people gave us lunch for free.

We hitched some of the way in this Lada. It kept breaking down.

The view from the top.

Captain Stylish reaches the summit of the pass. 3775 meters up as it happens. There was snow and glaciers and everything.

After this it was all downhill. Very steeply, on gravel, and big sharp rocks, for a long way.

There are some other photo's but the appear not to have worked. I'll take a moment to thank Roei and Ofer for being fantastic, patient guides and showing me a bit of the world I otherwise wouldn't have seen.

I am now safe and sound back in the big city. In a lot of pain, from my dirty matted hair, down to my pink swollen toes.

More to come soon!

2006-07-23T07:41:00.001+01:00

Not many photos on this update the internet here is proper slow and it takes ages. This is Bishkek, I only got here this morning. Heading to the mountains tomorrow.

2006-07-21T11:50:00.000+01:00

So I am in Kiev Airport Waiting for my flight to Kyrgyzstan. I have some photos for the Blog, but the computers here are a bit shit. I will have to wait till I find good ones to put them up. That may be some time.

2006-07-17T21:27:00.001+01:00

Who's got the Krakow?

So this is Bao. He's a lovely chap but has a total obsession with the English. His favourite people are Winston Churchill and Hugh Grant. He got very excited when I offered him English Tobacco to put in his pipe. He's gone to Prague now. Bye bye Bao

2006-07-15T22:51:00.000+01:00

Packing. Welcome to the most boring blog in the world!

2006-07-06T17:18:00.000+01:00

I have a blog. Brilliant. It'll get more exciting, maybe, as my travels unfold in the coming weeks. In the meantime this is the view from my bedroom window.