Cycle Touring – Phase 2 – 10 Years of Solo Cycle Touring Across Europe

I could see the dogs larking around in the road maybe 250 metres ahead of me. They spotted the red frame of the bike and locked onto it like a charging bull.

They were soon up to speed, sprinting towards me as I grappled with the weight of my touring bags while turning back the way I’d come.

Thankfully, I already had a good tailwind behind me and, after an initial 50 metres of wondering whether I’d make it or not, I was soon accelerating away from them.

They continued the chase for another 500 metres before finally slowing down and looking confused as to where I’d gone.

Between 2015 and 2024, I took on a number of multi-day, long-distance solo cycles in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Each cycle was progressively longer in both distance and duration than the last. These trips defined the second phase of my lifelong cycle touring journey.

At the time, it was a personal challenge — an expedition — and a way to manage my weight by staying fit throughout the year, ensuring that I was capable of covering the planned distances.

It generally worked, I maintained as opposed to inflated further.

When cycling high-mileage days, fuel was essential, making the food on these trips taste all the better — usually washed down with beer and wine.

The Three Phases of My Cycling Life

Phase	Description	Period
1	Family adventures with the kids	Early years
2	Solo long-distance expeditions	Working life
3	Relaxed cycling holidays with Jane	Retirement

Whilst I’ve cycled consistently throughout my life, I can now see that there have been distinct phases that only became apparent as I looked in the rear-view mirror over my many cycling adventures.

In this set of blog posts, I look in detail at each phase, reflecting on the merits and challenges of each before deciding whether the relatively short period of Phase 3 is indeed the best time of my life.

The Bikes and Touring Setup

• Cannondale CAAD9 road bike – mine

• Boardman Pro C road bike – mine

• Trek 520 dedicated steel touring bike – mine

• Four Ortlieb pannier bags

I did have a few other bikes during this time - but doesn't everyone?

Happy in My Own Company - Solo Cycle Touring

The kids abandoned me, having developed other interests as they got older and no longer being excited about spending a week on a bike.

Clubs, competitions, and other commitments became increasingly difficult to work around.

Of course, this meant less supervision was needed for my now-teenage children, allowing me more time out on the bike.

Initially, I dived into road biking, and over the years that gradually morphed into long-distance solo cycling, depending on mood, weather, and opportunity.

Back then, it was still difficult to carve out a whole day for cycling, never mind a week or two.

Work — or rather the amount of holiday time available — would generally get in the way.

That said, I still managed quite a bit of cycling.

My early road bike days were spent training for sportives and charity rides, many of which I completed.

Memorable rides included;

• Charity rides — Oxford to Cambridge, 2x London to Brighton, and local Hospice rides

• General sportives — getting the early ferry to France for a day riding around Boulogne was a highlight, along with rides in Norfolk and the Four Counties sportive

• Others that I’ve since forgotten — a two-day cycle around London and a similar ride around Birmingham

Most of these are still running but no longer hold the same interest for me. I never really enjoyed the crowds, the speed, or the waiting around.

I realised that I was happier as a lone wolf — a solo cyclist who enjoyed nothing more than a summer evening or early weekend morning out on a road bike.

That phase of cycling life suited me well for four or five years.

As time moved on, the kids got older and work slowed as I eased into retirement, leaving more opportunity for longer-distance cycling.

New bike day came on 31/05/2019 when I picked up my Trek 520 — purpose-built for touring, and purchased exactly for that. Paired with Ortlieb pannier bags, I was ready to go.

Here’s how solo cycle touring shaped a stage of my life — and why that phase eventually ended.

2020 – Venice to Pisa

Not quite solo, as I was joined by one of my now-grown-up children.

We mixed cycling with trains as we made our way across Italy.

We’d upgraded to hotel accommodation, which made everything much more civilised.

Planning let me down, and exiting Venice via the Lido may have looked far more exciting and much shorter than it actually turned out to be.

That lesson was noted for the future.

That said, it was an enjoyable trip with plenty of laughs and excellent food.

2020 – Appian Way – Brindisi to Rome

I’m not quite sure how I wangled this, as I was still a long way from retirement and work was exceptionally busy at the time.

I flew into Brindisi with my bike packed in nothing more than a large plastic bag.

I spent about ten days cycling, and occasionally taking trains, up to Rome, before repacking the bike into the same plastic bag for the return journey to Heathrow.

It was still early days for me, and a number of issues quickly became apparent due to insufficient planning:

• Committing to too much distance each day

• Assuming Italy would always have suitable food stops available

• Discovering that dehydration is very real, as is completely running out of energy

• Realising that even in early October, the sun can still be brutally strong

• Learning that dogs can be friendly, aggressive, or both

Italy seemed to have every variety.

Most wild dogs were scared of their own shadow, but the kept dogs were fierce — thankfully, most were tied up.

In the deeper parts of Italy, English also wasn’t widely spoken. The best moment came from another touring cyclist who questioned what possessed me to come to Italy without speaking Italian.

Had I not been so exhausted from the climb up to the village, I would have answered: “The food and wine.”

I’m fairly sure he would have understood.

I also learned to double-check the altitude of accommodation. Why are so many places to stay halfway up a hill rather than on the valley floor?

2021 – Visiting Family

I decided to cycle from Northampton to visit family just outside Belfast.

The three days cycling there and the three days cycling back left only a couple of days for the actual visit, something that wasn’t immediately understood by everyone around me.

It was an enjoyable trip, though. I visited friends on the first night and met my wife on the final night of the return journey, as it was only about forty miles from home.

It was also on this trip that I was mistaken for a postman on three separate occasions. In hindsight, with all that red clothing, I probably did look like one.

I did laugh, though. I was confused by what the first person said and asked for clarification. I could see where the second interaction was going but wasn’t quick enough. By the time the third person asked whether I had a parcel for them, I was ready:

“Not today, love.”

And off I cycled on my merry way.

Cycling through central Birmingham on the canal paths turned out to be a mistake, made worse by the terrible weather. I think I chose a different route on the way home.

2022 – Netherlands and F1 at Zandvoort

I really enjoy the Harwich to Hook of Holland ferry and love the cycle paths in the Netherlands, so this trip felt inevitable.

The ride down to Harwich went smoothly. By this point, my planning had improved considerably, and the route fitted comfortably into two full days.

I spent a week cycling around the Netherlands, revisiting towns and cities we’d previously visited as a family before attending the Formula 1 at Zandvoort for the day.

This was probably the first trip where I got nutrition, packing, pacing, and distance planning completely right.

2024 – Toulouse to St Malo

My wife accompanied me on the flight to Toulouse and stayed the night before flying home with my massively oversized — and by then empty — Thule bike box.

Over the following couple of weeks, I made my way north to St Malo, from where I caught the ferry home.

Thankfully, along the west coast of France, there are plenty of tourists and English is widely spoken along the well-trodden tourist routes.

Cycling along the Vélodyssée was excellent.

The old railway lines minimise climbing and make for comfortable days in the saddle, as do the canal paths. Combined with good hosts and excellent food, it made for a thoroughly enjoyable tour.

I used Booking.com frequently, as hotels are rarely directly on the route.

2024 – Queen Eleanor Route

Over a couple of weekends, I rode the Queen Eleanor Route.

The northbound leg from Northampton was a simple day ride, and I arranged to be collected at the end of the day.

I took a few more days completing the southbound leg, stopping overnight before spending a day cycling into central London.

It was wonderful cycling through London, and I think only on a bike could I truly appreciate the different communities and cultures as I passed through such distinct areas of the city.

Cycling back via UK canal paths was a mistake.

The towpaths simply aren’t the same as those in France — narrow, overgrown, and difficult to navigate.

To this day, I still don’t understand why I didn’t just take the road.

2024 – Germany

I left the car at Harwich and took the overnight ferry before spending a week cycling to Düsseldorf and back.

The purpose of the trip — aside from stretching my legs on Western Europe’s fantastic cycle paths — was to rack up enough Hilton stays to qualify for a status upgrade before our Maldives holiday the following year.

That plan worked perfectly.

It was in Düsseldorf that I got wetter than I’ve ever been while fully clothed. The route, including the destinations, was largely determined by the locations of Hilton hotels within manageable daily distances — one of the advantages of retirement.

That said, it was a fun few days. Had the weather been better, it would have been close to perfect.

I can still smell the damp cycling clothes.

2025 – Monaco to Hook of Holland – The Last Solo Tour

I was meant to enjoy this one.

However, despite the planning and several excellent days of cycling, it soon became long and lonely.

I mostly stuck to the original plan, completing long days in good weather, eating well, and staying in some lovely places. But it lacked the sense of adventure that the earlier tours had carried.

Northern France into Belgium was the low point. There wasn’t much to see, and the availability of decent food stops had dried up.

The lowlight was being chased by a pair of dogs. Thankfully, I had a tailwind, a straight road, and strong legs. Had they caught me, I’m convinced it would have ended badly.

Things improved dramatically once I reached the Netherlands, so the journey wasn’t entirely wasted.

I did begin planning another trip — LEJOG — and mapped out routes and hotels, but the excitement simply wasn’t there anymore.

Hotels & Guest Houses When Solo Touring

Hotels and small apartments have always been my preference.

I know some people enjoy chatting with hosts or sharing dinner with strangers, but that has never really appealed to me.

I prefer the anonymity of a hotel room or having an apartment entirely to myself.

Some places I’ve stayed have been genuinely delightful and would have been wonderful to share with someone else. In fact, I’ve already returned to several of them with my wife to revisit the experience.

Others — particularly many of the budget IBIS hotels that I frequently booked because of their price and location — were far less memorable, and I actively avoid them now.

Eating alone in the evenings has also always been difficult.

Touring demands calories, and calories demand proper meals. Three courses take time. I don’t read, so while others might bring a book to dinner, I usually relied on a phone and some music.

Sleeping, however, was fantastic.

Deep, uninterrupted sleep comes easily when you’ve spent all day cycling and there’s nobody there to wake you up because you’re snoring.

The Cost of Solo Touring

It’s annoyed me for years that a room for one costs the same as a room for two. I like value for money.

Costs need managing, which is why I book early, stay in cheaper hotels, and sometimes skip cabins on ferry crossings. After all, it’s just somewhere to sleep.

France, in particular, offers excellent value lunch menus. The “menu du midi” became a favourite.

It encouraged an early start, a big lunch after a long morning in the saddle, and then another afternoon of cycling to justify a similarly generous dinner.

Long-distance cycling is usually only a once-or-twice-a-year activity, making it a relatively affordable hobby overall.

Solo Touring Is Cool — Until It Isn’t Anymore

It was a great period of my life.

I genuinely enjoyed every aspect of it.

Planning was possibly my favourite part — deciding routes, finding accommodation, breaking journeys into manageable days, and creating routes for my Garmin.

Execution was more mixed. There were highs and lows, but I always assumed I would eventually look back fondly on both.

I explored countless paths, took endless wrong turns, and rode over tarmac, gravel, and mud.

Breakfasts were sometimes provided by accommodation; otherwise, they were supermarket rolls eaten in a car park while dressed in cycling gear.

I loved it at the time.

Why the Solo Touring Years Eventually Ended

The final tour — my longest in both distance and duration — often felt like hard work.

Hard work when you’re enjoying yourself is fine.

Hard work when you simply want it to end is something else entirely.

I finished with that familiar mixture of achievement and “never again” that I’d experienced many times before. But this time was different.

After twenty days, 1,900km of cycling, and 19km of climbing, I knew it really was my last solo tour.

A year later, I began planning LEJOG. I mapped out the route and identified the hotels, but deep down I knew it no longer appealed to me.

Looking Ahead to Phase 3 – Relaxed Cycling Holidays

I had already bought my wife an electric bike, and we had completed a couple of week-long cycling holidays together in the Netherlands and France.

It had already become obvious that sharing the experience was far more enjoyable. I suppose I had to experience solo touring fully in order to appreciate that.

We had both retired and finally had the time to enjoy cycling together at a slower, more relaxed pace.