Peter Gostelow - Adventure Cycling, Photography, Speaking, Writing

Follow The Big Africa Cycle

Peter Gostelow — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:11:12 +0000

If you’re visiting this site for the first time then head over to The Big Africa Cycle for more recent news. On August 16th 2009 I departed from England and am currently cycling to Cape Town. To follow my progress why not sign up to the Newsletter or visit the website. Here is a map showing my location.

The Big Africa Cycle goes live

Peter Gostelow — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:08:01 +0000

It’s been a while in the waiting, but earlier this week my new website finally went live. There is still some work to be done, but it’s obviously a work in progress as The Big Africa Cycle gets underway. Most of my updates throughout the rest of 2009 and 2010 will be posted over at the Big Africa Cycle.

If you’ve subcribed to my newsletter and want to follow my ongoing bicycle adventure in Africa, click here to be taken to that page. Any comments and suggestions you have about the new site would be much appreciated. Do please get in contact. Another way of keeping in touch is to join the facebook group or follow me on twitter, where I will be updating the site with SMS messages from my mobile. Thanks again.

Take a seat

Peter Gostelow — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:48:42 +0000

Documenting a bicycle tour with a video camera seems to be increasingly popular. Dominic gill did just that whilst riding the length of the Americas. What separates this tour however is that he chose to ride solo on a tandem. Why did he do this? Find out by watching ITV4 tomorrow evening at 8pm. Here’s a preview.

Free Wheels East

Peter Gostelow — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:55:54 +0000

It seemed like we’d been biking for ages. We had been biking for ages. The port of Dunkirk was nowhere near Dunkirk itself. Somewhere within the bowels of our minds we did remember it being a bit of a way away as it was from Dunkirk that we first rode into France almost three years ago. However, given that our brains often have trouble retaining information on what happened yesterday there was little hope that they might save us from the stressful ride which lay ahead of us.

I recently got in contact with Ben Wylson from Free Wheels East , which documents the story of two cousins cycling the World. They recently made a video and are hoping to broadcast it later this year. Have a look here for information about screenings. Here is a taster of what’s included. Love the cycling with penguins!

Take On Africa

Peter Gostelow — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:01:50 +0000

I’m not the only Englishman who’s making a trans-African bicycle expedition this year, but I’m fairly sure Helen Lloyd is the only English woman. She set off from home several days ago and is following a similar route to mine, although is wisely avoiding Central Africa. Unless she’s in a rush to reach Cape Town I might catch her up on the road somewhere.

The Cross Canada Project.

Peter Gostelow — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:34:09 +0000

I recently came across this interesting film. To independently make something like this requires real effort.

The Cross Canada Project: Documenting a Bicycle Tour Across Canada from mike beauchamp on Vimeo.

One year on, five weeks to go

Peter Gostelow — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:12:23 +0000

Where has the year gone? On the 12th July 2008 I pedalled the last miles of my Long Ride Home. I wasn’t entirely sure what the year ahead would bring back then, but it was clear in my mind that I’d be beginning another two-wheeled adventure before long.

The year has had its ups and downs - just like anyone elses. There has been plenty of time for reflection and part of me has questioned whether I should abandon the nomadic lifestyle I adopted on the road in favour of something more conventional - whatever that might be. Surely cycling 30,000 miles across thirty countries is a big enough adventure of a lifetime? Why am I about to do it all over again and cycle through Africa?

The simple answer is because I want to. Cycling through Africa had been in my mind long before finishing The Long Ride Home and I’ve held onto that dream despite all the doubts about doing it that creep into my head. It would have been easy to continue with the English teaching that I began back in February. I even managed to combine this quite well with the talks I was giving in schools and village halls. They were always transient plans however - money to keep the pot afloat, and I know that if I gave up on the Africa trip I’d possibly regret it in the future. I will continue with the talks by speaking at schools in Europe and Africa to raise funds for the Against Malaria Foundation.

So in less than 5 weeks I’ll be pedaling back out from the front drive to begin another adventure. It’s going to be an exciting and nervous month.

Down the Road

Peter Gostelow — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:56:42 +0000

My collection of cycle-related travelogues continues to grow as two new books arrived in the post at the weekend. The Road that has no end and Down the road in South America were sent to me by Tim and Cindy Travis, two intrepid Americans who sold everything to begin a new life cycling the World. To date they’ve been travelling 7 years, with no current plans to stop.

Don’t Call It A Rocket, Call It A Bicycle

Peter Gostelow — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:29:47 +0000

I wonder how Africans would react to me cycling through the continent on one of these?

Making the most of it

Peter Gostelow — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:11:20 +0000

In just over six weeks I will be embarking on my African cycling adventure. There’s still lots to organise, but with the weather in current form I’m making the most of the weekends by being out on the bike. A large package arrived in the post last week from Lyon. The equipment list is slowly being filled and with fingers crossed a new website will be live by the end of the week thanks to my friends at Juno.