Sonya & Aaldrik are an Australian-Dutch couple who set off to tour the world in 2006.

Some 50,000km later, they’re still on the road and going strong. We caught up with them during their brief stay in Holland, in July 2010. In a cafe in The Hague, they told us about their journey, and shared some of the tips and experiences they’ve had along the way.

You can also check out their website, Tour.tk with journals, tips and practical information from the countries they have visited.

In this podcast, we also talk briefly about our upcoming tour to Denmark – two weeks of cycling up to the northernmost tip of Denmark, and back down to the German border.

Show Notes:

• Tour.tk – Sonya & Aaldrik’s website
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

He drained his savings accounts to make the trip happen and then rode through 35 countries, experiencing everything from incredible kindness to great sadness on his own personal journey of self-discovery.

Rick talks to us about the inspiration for the trip, his favourite places, the difficulties he encountered along the way (including losing a wallet full of money in China and getting his bike welded at a muffler shop) and what he’s planning next.

This podcast also includes a sneak preview of what’s coming up on TravellingTwo.com – a free Bike Touring eBook!

Show Notes:

• Rick Gunn
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

David Piper has a unique approach to big bike touring trips.

He wants to go around the world but he’s not doing it all at once. Instead, David is joining up a series of rides that will eventually connect to make his circumnavigation complete and he’s raising money for Sustrans as he goes.

So far, David has cycled in a range of countries, include all over Europe and, further afield, Syria, Oman, India and America.

In this podcast, we interview David and we share a few tips for free camping in the Netherlands at special sites designed just for cyclists and walkers.

Show Notes:

• David Piper keeps journals and photos of his bike touring trip on his blog.
• David uses USE Exposure bike lights.
• Free camping sites in the Netherlands and Belgium are marked on this map.
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

In 2006, Marija Kozin left her home in Slovenia and set out for China by bicycle.

When she reached Beijing, Marija turned around and cycled home again. During her 30 month trip, she covered some of the toughest routes in the world of bike touring, including going across Tibet and tackling the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan.

In this podcast, we talk to Marija about the highlights of her trip and some of the more difficult parts of her journey, including coming home.

Show Notes:

• Rick Gunn (a cyclist Marija met and we followed online)
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

The Skype connection when we recorded this podcast wasn’t the best. Some parts may be difficult to hear and I’ve had to re-record a couple of my own questions for clarity.

On the road since 1962, he’s covered 600,000km by bicycle, through most of the countries in the world. Now 70 years old, Heinz is still going strong.

I was fortunate to speak to Heinz by phone while he was taking a winter break in Paris.

In this 45-minute interview (the best of a 2 hour phone conversation), Heinz talks about how his approach to bike touring has changed over the years, why he doesn’t wear a helmet but believes it should be illegal to cycle without a mirror, how he really feels about bicycle paths and what he hopes to achieve in future years.

Show Notes:

• Heinz’s Story on the Bike China site
• A nice article on Heinz by Ron Gluckman
• The 2 people who helped put me in touch with Heinz:  Steven Tober and Daisuke
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

*Some people have indicated they find Heinz hard to understand because of his accent. Unfortunately, we don’t have a transcript of the podcast (if anyone wants to volunteer to do one, that would be great!) but you can read a story based on the interview.

When we think of cycle touring, we dream of quiet roads and friendly places.

It’s like that most of the time, but not always, so this week we’re delving deeper into some of the concerns you’ve told us you have about travelling by bicycle.

Since traffic is a big worry, according to our poll on your bike touring concerns, we talk to Jean from Cycle Training UK about how to cycle safely in traffic. And we speak to Dan Martin about some of the tricky situations he encountered on his bike trip from Korea to Capetown.

We don’t promise to give you all the answers but hopefully this show will at least give you some ideas of how you can lower the risk of bike touring when there is heavy traffic, plus hints for dealing with other tricky situations that arise while you’re on tour, like how to find a place to sleep and ward off chasing dogs.

Show Notes:

• Cycle Training UK offer lessons for riding in traffic and cities.
• Dan Martin has completed many miles on his bike and is now planning a Global Triathalon.
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

This week we’re off to cycle the TransAmerica Trail from Oregon to Virgina with Melanie.

Then there’s a preview of an interview with the famous Heinz Stücke, who tells us how his bike was stolen in Siberia. We also discuss our recent winter camping trip, including 3 things to take along for cold weather cycling.

Show Notes:

• Pictures from our winter bike camping trip
• TransAmerica summary from the Adventure Cycling Association
• Nick’s TransAmerica 2002 (Yodeling Katy recording)
• Kiki Bikes Across The U.S. (not discussed in the podcast but a great Transamerican resource)
• Heinz Stücke
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

It’s a packed show for Edition 31 of the Travelling Two bike touring podcast.

Tim & Cindie Travis of Down The Road are our guests this week. They share thoughts and stories after nearly 8 years of continuous bike touring and fill us in on their future plans to ride through India.

We also get a quick update from Peter Gostelow on how his bike trip through Africa is going. He’s currently in Morocco and heading for Mauritania.

Finally, we ponder winter biking, including equipment we’re taking on an upcoming trip and some inspiration for biking in cold temperatures from the beautiful Up In Alaska blog.

Show Notes:

• Up In Alaska – an inspiring look at winter cycling
• Tim & Cindie Travis are Down The Road
• Peter Gostelow is doing The Big Africa Cycle
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

And, as a special bonus, check out this video from the Up In Alaska blog.

Alaska Slickrock from Jill Homer on Vimeo.

We also touch on a new and exciting bike wheel from MIT and my favourite bike blog of the week. Listen in and start planning next year’s tour as you’re cooking the Christmas turkey.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Show Notes:

• Mike Kearsley’s Flickr Photos
• Cycling the Kettle Valley Railway (a helpful guide)
• Read more about the Copenhagen Wheel from MIT and the fantastic blog at Rickshaw USA

And check out this Bikely map of the Carmi Subdivision, the section of the Kettle Valley Railway that Mike and his family biked:

If you’ve ever thought of biking with your kids, I think you’ll enjoy this interview.

We also highlight some great bike blogs, bring you some thoughts from cyclists at last month’s Bike Touring Fair in Rotterdam and talk about the results of our Bike Touring Concerns survey.

Show Notes:

• Learn more about the Family On Bikes and their favourite non-profit group, Reach The World
• Check out two great bike blogs: Biking Bis and The Path Less Pedaled
• Vote and leave your feedback in our Bike Touring Concerns survey
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

We also share some of the latest bike-related news, talk about riding despite the grey winter weather and touch on some of your bike touring concerns.

Show Notes:

• Buy Rob’s book and check out his blog at Cycling Home From Siberia
• Check out ‘Excuses to Ride’ on Kent’s Bike Blog
• Read about the man who tried to shoot a cyclist in the head and the Lancet report on how cycling can help save the planet
• Take our poll on bike touring concerns
• Theme music by Josh Woodward

We’re aiming to give the show a bit more polish and form over the coming months and we have lots of plans to interview some very interesting characters from the cycling world, so we hope you enjoy the new feel to the podcast.

This week, we’re starting with all things Dutch, with a special focus on Bicycle Mania – a new photography book showing all aspects of Dutch cycling culture. We talk to author and photographer Shirley Agudo at the exhibit of her photographs in Amsterdam. And of course we have some cycling news for you and resources if you plan to come bike touring in the Netherlands.

Show Notes:

• You can buy Bicycle Mania online. See a few photos from the exhibition online or see them in person until December 5th at the Eduard Planting gallery in Amsterdam.
• Read all about the bicycle thief who was caught by police using CraigsList and cyclists who are being asked to dismount in Wales.
• Two great web resources for cycling in Holland: De Wereldfietser and Nederlandfietsland
• Music by Josh Woodward

When you’re in the midst of trying to figure these big questions out, it’s always wonderful to learn that someone else out there can sympathise.

Enter Rob Thomson, a Kiwi who embarked on an awesome round-the-world journey on a bicycle and a skateboard (See his 14 Degrees blog) and who’s recently returned to New Zealand. We were so happy that we were able to meet Rob and that he had the time to tell us about his trip and some of the emotions he encountered when it was all over.

It includes a few reflections on Australia, an interview with Chris as he sets off on a huge bicycle trip and a tip or two on how to travel by cargo ship… if you’re tempted! It’s far less stressful than airport travel, if our first experience is anything to go by.

We’ve put some handy information on travelling by freighter in our Bike Touring Resources section.

Still, we did get into the swing of things in the last couple of days when we visited Andrew & Joanne Hooker, two Aussies who have ridden their recumbent tricycles all around Australia and through North America. Here’s their story, along with a quick update on what we’re up to over the festive season. Merry Christmas everyone!

When we were on Langkawi Island, we met 43-year-old Alan Bate, a British cyclist who’s planning to race around the world in 170 days. If he succeeds, Alan would beat the record recently set by Mark Beaumont.

Alan is hoping to start his trip in summer 2009 but first he’s looking for a sponsor – not the easiest of tasks in the current financial climate. So, if anyone out there has $20,000 to spare, get in touch. Here’s our interview with Alan, telling us about his dream to be the fastest man around the world on a bicycle.

Our good mood has been helped to no end by a flight that went smoother than we dared hope. Full marks to Air Astana, who only charged a modest fee for our 35kg of extra luggage. On the other side, we were astonished to see all our bags and both bikes in perfect condition as we emerged from immigration. When we lived in London it seemed every trip ended with an interminable delay before our bags appeared. We’d forgotten airports could be so efficient.

A quick ride into the city centre by taxi (no point trying to brave public transport when you’re as loaded down as we are) and we arrived at the home of Michael, a welcoming American we’d met in Tashkent just a few weeks earlier. We’re going to stay in his flat for a week or so, trading cat-sitting duties for a pad in Bangkok while we get our bikes fixed up and buy a few things for the next leg of the journey.

We’ve done very little research on this part of the world but our inclinations are to head north from here, along the Burmese border, through at least two of Thailand’s national parks and past some stunning waterfalls. It should be a good introduction to our first cycle trip in the tropics.

While you’re waiting for us to start pedalling again, why not listen to our latest podcast. We put it together just a few days before leaving Bishkek and it features an interview with David Berghof, the owner of the Stantours travel agency. We’ve used them a few times and always had great service. David has a wealth of information about Central Asia so his thoughts are a good starting point if you’re considering a trip to the region.

Going even further back, around Christmas we met a couple Americans, Andrea and Michael, travelling around and they did an interview with us. We haven’t seen this video yet because connection speeds are just too slow but the rest of you can enjoy it.

Our interview with six German fellows (correction: five Germans and one Lebanese, listen to the show and you may understand) who we met carrying guitars at the Iranian-Turkmenistan border. They’re hitching to Mongolia and singing along the way and they were kind enough to sing a song for us.

And as a bonus, take a look at the site of Michel, a French guy who’s staying in our hotel in Samarqand. He’s going around the world on a recumbent tricycle and his motto is one we can really identify with: don’t dream about your life, live your dream.

From the above paragraph, you may have already deduced our planned route for the next few months — rather different than the result you suggested when we put a poll up on the site. You wanted us to go via Georgia, Armenia and the ’stans into China but the thought of going so far north in the winter… well, brrrrrrr. We have opted instead for the slightly warmer route but may take in a few of the ’stans in the late spring.

Now that we’ve updated you on our route, we hope you’ll be happy to know that between the consular shuffle, we worked our way down to the water’s edge off the famous Golden Horn and recorded a radio show for you. This time it features a few thoughts on Istanbul — mostly about eating well in the city — our best ever bicycle horn and an interview with Peter and Marj, two Aussies we met on the road in Germany. Enjoy!

They were touring with their dog, a cute little beagle called Hunter. If you ever thought your panniers were too heavy, try carrying dog food for two weeks on top of all your regular gear! We’ll let them tell the story….

If you are going to Pamplona, Aitor & Ibon and their bicycle shop 2.ejkua can be found at Carmen St. 17 in the city, not far from one of the pilgrims hostels for the Camino de Santiago. You can call them by phoning: +34 948 213668

Enough rambling, says Andrew! On with the show…. This time we share our thoughts on the city of Tangier, where many cycle tourists will start or end their journey, as well as a few tips and highlights of our trip. We have an interview with German cyclists Wolfgang and Gregor (see Gregor’s homepage), who we met between Tafraoute and Tiznit, and we review our Thermarest mattresses, along with a beer brewed in Morocco. Phew!! It’s a packed show but we had a lot to say on this wonderful country for cycle tourists. We were sad to leave.