clairedavieswriter

If you want to get started straight away, just choose from the drop-down menu and click on each photo to open the daily blog. Days appear in reverse order, so if you’re catching up and would like to start from the beginning, you’ll need to scroll through to the bottom.

Team Trixie & Team Bernard

Before you read the blogs, you should know that, while I often ride solo, I am never alone. I rode LEJOG on Trixie the Trek, guided by Guillaume the Grumpy Gallic Guide (aka my Garmin GPS device), and supported by Hugo Headphones (when Guillaume was having a moment and I had to use my phone) with additional consultancy services provided by Gloria Google.

After LEJOG, Trixie put up her wheels for a well-earned retirement. She was replaced by the stoically dependable Bernard. He’s an Enigma Escape, and together with Guillaume, Hugo and Gloria, we make up Team Bernard.

A bit of background

The blogs begin in 2021, when I decided, more or less on a whim, to cycle the length of the British mainland (1,200 miles), unsupported, unprepared, and alone. That blog was the genesis of my book, Braver Than You Think, Cycling to Self-Discovery, From Land’s End to John O’Groats – click on the relevant tab to read more, and for links to retailers.

When I finished LEJOG, I knew that cycle touring made me happy, and that I wanted to do more of it. The following year I rode a similar distance around France and into Switzerland, mostly on my own. Along the way, I thought about how I could make something more purposeful out of this whole cycling lark.

It didn’t take me long to work it out: I’d cycled the length of the UK – why not do the same in every European country? So that’s my current mission. The rules are my own and they’re pretty straightforward: I ride the longest extent of the mainland, whether that be up, down or sideways. In some cases (eg France, where reaching the most southerly point was impractical), I do the next best thing.

I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we enjoy having them.

Claire