Cyclist, Mark Krieger and his wife Roz set off on another of their many fascinating journeys throughout Europe, this time around Spain and Portugal's Iberian Peninsula. Following the footsteps of the Tour de France and Spain's Vuelta a España through the Pyrénées, Mark recalls many of cycling's memorable moments; some inspirational, and some that the sport would rather forget. Across the border into Spain, summer is approaching, a time when Catalonians are in festival mode. Travelling west...

As I drew closer to the town of Pont-de- Vaux... I found myself thinking of some of the places Id passed through. There were so many tiny hamlets, villages and larger towns, some vibrant and fine-looking, others lifeless, run down and in dire need of repair. Then there were, of course, the countless numbers of French people who had helped me piece together the jigsaw of roads along my way. The places I was riding through werent quite the same, but there was that unmistakable pungent smell ...

Cycling the End to End is so much more than just sitting on something no bigger than, and as hard as, the sole plate of an iron and pedalling, as Julia was to discover. Every experience seemed to be about extremes: Cornish hills, Cheshire plains, busy Devon lanes, empty highland roads, downpours, droughts, smooth cycle tracks, hazardous cattle grids, psychedelic B&Bs and homely hostels. And when the terrain and the weather weren’t against her the wildlife was: terrorising Labradors, format...

Bradley Wiggins is a very British sporting hero: unassuming, private, given to a sardonic sense of humour and a strong appreciation for those that have supported him throughout his family and fans. He is also a fiercely determined competitor, a supremely passionate athlete and an eloquent ambassador for his beloved sport. Not to mention a phenomenal cyclist.Wiggo first shot to attention as a 20-year-old, taking a bronze medal in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Six Olympic medals later, and af...

Running two hundred miles from Newcastle to Edinburgh, the Coast and Castles Cycle Route promised to be a journey through millennia of turbulent history and fabulous scenery. It proved to be more than just ruined castles and wild coastline. More industrial heritage, more rain, more cross dressing stag nights, more stunning beaches, more wildlife, more grave robbers, more railways, more tea rooms and the Moorfoot Hills.Close encounters with seagulls, precocious children, warrior-lik...

This is the first issue of the Bicycle Reader, a new collection of quality writing about cycling. Two thoughts inspired us to start this collection.The first is that there is a great deal of brilliant article and essay-length writing about cycling that remains inaccessible to most readers. Some of it languishes out of print. Other pieces appeared in publications read by only a tiny minority of cyclists.The second is that eBook readers are the natural companion of cyclists. ...

Ben Hatch is on the road again. Commissioned to write a guidebook about France (despite not speaking any French) he sets off with visions of relaxing chateaux and refined dining.Ten thousand miles later his family's been attacked by a donkey, had a run-in with a death-cult and, after a near drowning and a calamitous wedding experience involving a British spy, his own marriage is in jeopardy. A combination of obsessions about mosquitoes, French gravel and vegetable theme parks mean ...

Keeping Afloat is a light-hearted tale of John Liley's exploits on the canals of France. John was working for a boating magazine when he was overcome with a dream of owning and operating a hotel-barge in France. Now, thirty years on, he tells of his often hilarious misadventures in the early days of setting up a business that would keep afloat. Characters such as The Whizzer, Mighty Min and Monsieur Bertrand would be unbelievable if they were not true. Barge enthusiasts and landlubbers ali...

Spring 1993. 14 months earlier the USSR had collapsed and with Russia accessible once more Gregory Yeoman and his expedition companions set off on their bicycles to ride from the Baltic to the Pacific. Over 153 days they encountered wild landscapes, wild people, crumbling hotels and Siberia's two cheeses on an extraordinary adventure through a nation finding itself after 70 years of Communism.'Riding into the Sunrise' is the story of the first cycling expedition to cross the new po...

Before Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates. Behind Bradley Wiggins, there was Sean Yates.One of only five Britons to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France, Sean Yates burst onto the cycling scene as the rawest pure talent this country has ever seen. After turning professional at the age of 22, he soon became known as a die-hard domestique, putting his body on the line for his teammates. Devastatingly fast, powerful and a fearless competitor, Yates won a stage of t...

‘It had been so amazingly hot that I felt myself about to dissolve into a kind of crème brûlée on the road, so I bought some super-power Number 8 suncream. This had the word ‘Bronzante’ on it, and must have contained some dye or other chemical because my knees stayed brown until February.’Fed up with questions about what he was going to do when he retired, Edward decided to get on his bicycle and ride from Le Havre to the Mediterranean. Armed with a tent and a smattering of French, ...

This is a story about a 45-year-old man who simplifies his life by getting rid of his material possessions and then sets off around America on a bicycle to discover new ideas about his country and himself. The journey takes him through all 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C.