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Weave of the Ride - A Book About Cycle Touring Across Europe
February 7, 2017
In my early twenties, one hot summer day seen through an office window, I felt as if I should be getting out on my bike more. A flippant message to a best mate, “I’m going to cycle round the world”. Would it become reality? We decided to cycle around the world and follow the horizon to the end. After a year of preparation, with no experience of travelling or any idea of what to expect, we followed the compass East from our hometown hoping a journey of a lifetime for which no planning could have prepared us.
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The Only Man to Cycle from Stoke Albany to Kathmandu
February 7, 2017
Bumper edition of my 2 books including the journey from England to the Caucasus, solo ride round India and Nepal and further adventuring in Mongolia. Newly edited and updated with a new cover design. Buy The Only Man to Cycle from Stoke Albany to Kathmandu on Amazon
Tags: Book
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How to design an Indie book
February 6, 2017
Use your imagination beforehand and try to understand what is the most effective thing to do. Do research on other books in existence. Simple will be the way to go. Know your paper, print and finishing. There is no ‘correct’ way to do anything. Advice by: Luce Choules
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How does Cold Water Swimming Make You Feel?
February 6, 2017
You know that you have told yourself that you are going to do it. You have set up this self challenge that means that any time there is an opportunity you have to do it. The others have mentioned how you are mad, but you know that you will get up early and go outdoors with your shorts, hat and towel and brave the conditions. There is always the possibility that you might back out so there is a constant little nagging motivation.
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Permaculture in The Republic of Georgia
February 6, 2017
I met Roland Chatwin, in Tbilisi in 2015 who at the time was setting up a cooperative & permaculture project in Kakheti, a region of Georgia. He was in Tbilisi short-term teaching, cooking, biking and wild-gardening/foraging. He was eager to network with any other projects, isolated enthusiasts, NGO’s etc to spread the word and share ideas. I met up with him at the old hippodrome, where he and a friend showed me an area which they had been gardening and were intending to expand the plot over time.
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Who was Sir Francis Younghusband?
February 5, 2017
David Klein, a mountain climber, from Hungary, who we stayed with on the original Ride Earth bike tour, bought up Francis Younghusband as a British figure that he respected. He mentioned it in passing, but I wondered - who was this guy? An Explorer Younghusband was a noted figure and explorer in British India, born in 1863. In 1886-1887, on leave from his regiment he made an expedition through Manchuria, crossing the Gobi Desert and pioneering a route from Kashgar and India through the uncharted Mustagh Pass.
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How to market an ebook?
February 5, 2017
Very little joy from hours of spamming journalists Any media coverage I have got has proved so unproductive at selling books/makingmoney/opening doors that it has not encouraged me to make many more future efforts. In other words the only (small) success any of my books have had is through growing organically. Having said all that, books like Mark Beaumont’s give powerful proof of how successful marketing / hype can lead to massive sales.
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Which is Better - Ebook vs Paper Book
February 5, 2017
An ebook is a useful format that is different from a paper book. An ebook can be updated comparatively quickly and easily. It has next to no distribution or production costs and is available to anyone with an internet connection. When I first researched and produced ebooks I did so because I was interested in creating an ebook version of a paper book to double up on its availability and because the technology was there.
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An Updated List of the Best Steel Bicycle Frames
February 5, 2017
Purely a list of steel bike frames - mtb and touring to be updated as and when. MTB Stanton Slackline Stanton on ebay Pipedream Pipedream on ebay On-One Inbred [on one](https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?&_nkw=on one) Kona Explosif Charge Duster Orange P7 S Voodoo Bizango 853 Reynolds Rock lobster Team Tig 853 Cove Handjob Surly Karate Monkey 27.5 Cotic Soul cotic on ebay Salsa Ala Carte (steel) Independent Fabrications Steel Deluxe Desalvo
Tags: TouringFrameSteelMountain bikeBicycle Framebike-components
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2016 in Review
February 5, 2017
This post is a bit late now as we are already into February 2017. To be honest, it wasn’t that easy to summarise the year as there were no great trips or plans. This is to a certain extent a deliberate strategy. Whilst in 2015 I knew I would go to Georgia in the summer, in 2016 I decided not too for various reasons - I am preparing a long format blog post about my experiences running bike tours in Georgia to come soon.
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The pros and cons of programming as a career
February 5, 2017
I’m self taught coder. It is the best way I have found to make money and it interests me. I like computers and I’ve always had a talent for doing things with them. Here I detail some of the pros and cons of making a living from coding, programming, web / app development and related sectors. Pros: Money Space to think Creative space over how you achieve things Programming is a useful skill to know as it can earn you money but it can also be helpful to be able to understand gadgets and machines that can be programmed Participate in an emerging technology Intellectual challenge Get to meet intelligent people Cons: Screentime Still a very poor wider understanding of what programmers do by rest of society (and the scope of the work behind the scenes).
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5 Electronic Music Documentaries
February 5, 2017
Music has the awesome ability to change a mood in a second. Technology has democratised access to music as well as, to some extent, the production of music via software. Netflix has seen a glut of music documentaries because learning about the history of artists and the technical aspects of music production is obviously proving in demand. Below are a few music documentaries to try. Netflix 2020 Hip Hop Evolution
Tags: MusicElectronic