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Posted November 1st, 2012

Last week an email dropped into our box from fellow adventurer Tom Allen.

“Would you be up for doing a review of ‘Janapar’?” he asked. We didn’t have to think long. Absolutely we would! Ever since we saw the trailer a few months back, we’ve been waiting anxiously for the film to be released.

It didn’t disappoint.

We’re not film critics so we won’t launch into a detailed review. We’ll simply say that this is the stuff of bike touring dreams and hard reality all rolled into one. It pairs breathtaking landscapes with moments of intense self reflection, and then there’s an unexpected romance with a charming woman…

The film is just barely out of the starting gates (it’s been shown at some film festivals and will soon be released on DVD and as a digital download). You’d think Tom might be ready for a break but instead he’s launched straight into the mammoth task of producing a book as well.

To do this, Tom is asking for your help to finish it via a Kickstarter campaign so if your interest is piqued, take a look. We’ll be pledging our support. Here’s Tom to tell you about it in his own words:

Posted October 30th, 2012

Bombay To Beijing By BicycleFor the last week, we’ve been running a contest to give away 10 eBook copies of Bombay To Beijing By BicycleNow it’s time to announce the winners!

To win a copy of Bombay To Beijing By Bicycle, we asked you to either Tweet about the contest, or to nominate another bicycle touring book that you’d read and really enjoyed.

There were many great suggestions, so flip through the comments if you’re looking for some inspiring reading.

Our lucky winners, drawn at random are….

From entries via comments:

And from Twitter followers:

We’ll be in touch with the winners soon. Congrats again, and thanks for following the website!

Posted in Contest
Posted October 24th, 2012

Our website might be called TravellingTwo but here’s a little secret: while Friedel does all of the writing, this site wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Andrew’s IT skills.

Leave anything technical up to Friedel and something’s bound to go wrong, as it did with our latest monthly newsletter. We told you about a handlebar bag that our friend Blanche put together by attaching a Klick-fix bracket to the back of a normal Ortlieb front pannier.

Unfortunately, Friedel made a mistake inserting the pictures so everyone on the mailing list saw an error rather than a handlebar bag. Whooooops…..

We debated sending out the newsletter again but instead opted to show you the pictures here.

Blanche's Handlebar Bag

Despite our technical mistake, a few readers understood what we were talking about and one wrote to share his experience with this idea.

I did this a few years ago using a Karrimor pannier but the temptation is to fill it and it the weight has an adverse effect on the steering. I eventually fitted a Brompton front carrier block to the headtube and used a Brompton bag. That way the weight is on the frame and has little effect on the steering. -Derek

Posted October 23rd, 2012

Win A Copy!

Scroll down to the bottom of this post to enter the Bombay To Beijing By Bicycle eBook giveaway…

Bombay To Beijing By BicycleIn 2001, Russell McGilton flew to Bombay, pointed his bike towards China and started pedalling.

He was diagnosed with malaria just two weeks into the trip. That was followed by a host of other ‘adventures’:

I would be chased by packs of rabid dogs in the dark of night over a mountain pass in Rajasthan, be incapacitated again from reoccurring malarial fevers, every day have inches shaved off my life from overloaded trucks with holy images of an afterlife, be charged by rhinos in a Nepali national park, have a stack with a yak, dodge atomic test sites, split with the girlfriend and have the untimely luck of getting caught in Pakistan during September 11th.

Just your routine bicycle tour then…

We chuckled our way through Bombay To Beijing By Bicycle and would definitely recommend it to other armchair bike tourists.

Want a free copy?

We have 10 copies of the Bombay To Beijing By Bicycle eBook to give away. There are two ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment below and recommend another book that tells a bike touring story, which you’ve read and loved.
2. Go to Twitter and retweet this message: Win a copy of Bombay To Beijing By Bicycle from @travellingtwo and @momentumbooks http://travellingtwo.com/13130
We’ll announce the winners on Tuesday, October 30th.

PS: If you’re based in Australia, then keep your eyes out for Russell’s one man show about his bicycle adventures. It’s on the program of the upcoming Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Russell on his way to Beijing

Posted in Books, Contest
Posted October 18th, 2012

chris & MargoSome months ago we added a new section to the blog: the costs of bike touring.

It’s where we feature the costs of various bike tourists on all manner of trips: from luxury budgets to the bare bones, from the comforts of Europe to rougher roads in Africa and Asia.

The latest addition comes from Chris & Margo. They share the costs related to their 11-month bike tour from Bangkok to Paris.

Read more…