Pushing the Limits

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The Transcontinental Race is a test of body, mind and spirit. The format is simple. It’s a single stage race that begins on one side of the European continent (in Belgium) and ends on the other (in Turkey). Riders must plan their own routes and navigate themselves without any support. Jack hears from four riders readying themselves for the 2016 race. But not everyone is ready to race 4000km across Europe, and that’s why Transcontinental organisers Mike Hall and Anna Haslock dreamed up a shorter, more accessible format, called the Valleycat. Jack spends a weekend in deepest mid-Wales to find out more.

All Aboard! Cycle-touring with kids on the Devon Coast to Coast

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The Devon Coast to Coast is a 99 mile long route across England’s third largest county, from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is 70 per cent traffic free and passes through the dramatic upland landscape of Dartmoor National Park, following the course of three old railway lines. It’s an ideal route for family cycling tour and Jack and Sarah and Adam and Sarah discuss riding the route with a 3 year old, a 2 year old and an 11 month old. In addition Jack talks to some of the key players at Devon County Council who have worked to build the county’s enviable network of traffic-free walking and cycling trails.

Counting Cols

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Acclaimed historian, biographer and lifelong cyclist Graham Robb joins Jack Thurston by phone to talk about his latest book, a comprehensive catalogue of the 2,002 cols and passes of the British Isles. They also talk about Robb’s earlier books The Discovery of France, The Ancient Paths and why the bicycle is the perfect vehicle for the historian in the field.

Chris Boardman: A Life in Cycling

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Chris Boardman has done it all. Born into a cycling family he became a domestic time trial demon and won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1992. He set world records for the Hour on the track and raced on the continent as a professional, wearing the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. His R&D team helped British Cycling to world domination on the track and he founded Boardman Bikes, now the best selling brand of bikes in Britain. He has thrown himself into campaigning for everyday cycling with passion and is one of the most effective advocates for cycling, whether in the media or lobbying politicians. He has just written a new biography and is in conversation with the author Rob Penn, in front of a live audience in Monmouth, organised by Rossiter Books.

Chris Boardman’s Triumphs and Turbulence is published by Ebury Press.

What Goes Around

chappell Jack Thurston heads to mid-Wales to meet Emily Chappell (pictured, above), former London bike messenger turned author turned ultra endurance racer. Her book, What Goes Around: A London Cycle Courier’s Story is published by Faber & Faber.

Plus the social enterprise that’s finding a new use for the Royal Mail’s unwanted fleet of postal bikes, as Elephant Bikes.

From Peace Race to Tour de France

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In a recording of a live event held as part of the CycleScreen bicycle film festival at the Watershed Cinema in Bristol, Jack Thurston talks with author Herbie Sykes about his highly acclaimed book The Race Against the Stasi. It’s a gripping story, a true story, that took place at the height of the Cold War, a tale of young love and bike racing, of political ideology and state surveillance set in a Europe rebuilding after the catastrophe of the second world war.

Adventures in Bikepacking

Is bikepacking the most exciting new thing in cycling since the invention of the mountain bike or a much needed rebranding of the venerable pastime of cycle touring? Or is just another cynical ruse to get us to buy more stuff, an attempt to commercialise that wonderful thing called adventure. Jack heads to mid-Wales for the Bear Bones Winter Event to find out, and meets up with Beth Barrington of WildCat Gear to hear about the homespun beginnings of a small company that makes some of the best bikepacking gear available.