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What made our first cycle trip different?

the turkmen dash, first cycle trip

What made our first cycle trip different? I’ve decided to reflect upon this, while shivering to death in the middle of some Kazakh desert, and this is what I came up with.

Planning

Most people plan their cycle trip over the span of a year, sometimes 2, sometimes even longer. I suggested the trip to Michael while we were working the ski season in France, and within 6 weeks we were on our way to China. I had looked up the route to get us out of France and into Italy, but apart from that our plan was just to head East and take it as it comes.

To be perfectly honest I didn’t think we would make it as far as China. I was happy just to make it across Italy. That’s still an entire country we crossed on a bicycle, and still an awesome feeling. I guess that’s one bonus to lack of planning and the lack of money spent on equipment, we were less likely to be disappointed with the outcome if we didn’t make it the entire way. We had no expectations on our first cycle trip!

Equipment

We were on a very tight budget, which meant we had hardly any money to buy good gear. We were also living in a very small, remote ski station. The closest town was about 20km away. We only had limited access to a car, which made getting all the gear together, within a fews weeks, also a bit of a challenge. The end result was that our gear was complete shit and not really designed for the kind of travel we were planning. To prove this, below is a photo of my pannier, taped together with duct tape.

the turkmen dash
Having breakfast in the truck queue

To give you an idea of the shit gear we got together:

Our Hybrid bikes, were second hand €250 bikes. This versed the touring bikes of every other cycle tourist we’ve met. Most decent touring bikes cost €2000-3000 and even some of the midrange touring bikes are in the thousands.

Shitty ebay panniers (mine started to fall apart on the day we left and weren’t at all water proof. I now have a plastic bag cover on them) $30US for the set vs. waterproof panniers that are anywhere from $100-500US.

Tent €70 Coleman 2 person hiking tent (I actually like our tent, but it’s a bit small for Michael) vs. tents from $300-800 plus.

Overall budget for all our gear €500 vs. the average cycle tourist €3000-5000+.

Pretty much everything we bought was the cheapest piece of shit you could find. If we had the money, resources and ability of going back in time, there are definitely a few things I would have invested a bit more money in. Not the bike (I liked my Trek), but definitely the panniers, good lights, a multi fuel stove and a good pump.

Pannier holes
Pannier holes

Budget

So as you know from the equipment budget, we were going to be doing this trip on a very tight budget. Luckily, as it turns out, bicycle touring is a super budget travel option. Originally we had hoped to do the trip on about €5 ($8) per day, and I don’t think we are far off it, maybe closer to $10-15 per day on average. The cheapest countries were Turkey and Iran where we spent on average $4-5 per day, and luckily this where we also spent the most time. The more expensive countries, unsurprisingly were in Europe about $20 per day.

Of course it would have been amazing to have more money to do the trip with. Things would have been a lot easier and less stressful. What it came down to was; if we don’t do it now, even though we have bugger all money, will we ever do it? Probably not!

Training

Well we had absolutely no training whatsoever! Actually, in my case I was probably at my lowest fitness level of the past few years. About 3 months before we started we set off on our first cycle trip I was in a skiing accident and tore a ligament and my mensicus. This meant I was pretty much doing nada for the months leading up to the trip. Actually, up until 2 weeks before we started the cycle trip, I couldn’t even get on the bike. I think in total we took the bikes out twice for about 20km and that was it. We decided the only way we could do this trip was to ‘train on the go’. So that’s what we did. And though it was not the easiest way at first, it worked.

cycling uzbekistan
The most horrible 60km mountain pass in the world

Experience

Nada! This was our first cycle trip. I didn’t know anything about bicycles, and hadn’t really cycled since I was 13. In fact, up until I started going out with Michael last year, I had never even considered cycling across a country or even part of it. I thought it was just nuts and sounded like hell! It was Michael that had the dream of cycling across a country. So we started talking about one day cycling across Canada. That day still hasn’t come.

Even more surprising, is that the whole cycling to China was actually my suggestion. I was bored at the ski station, feeling sorry for myself as I couldn’t hike, ski, run or do anything fun. I felt a bit trapped and just wanted to get out. We had to be back in Australia for Michael’s brothers wedding in less than a year, which had put Canada on hold. We also didn’t want to do the sensible thing and go back to work in Australia for the year. Originally I was looking at teaching English somewhere, such as Thailand, but Michael wasn’t to keen. Then we got talking about doing a cycle trip.

Originally we were planning to cycle to Croatia… With the time we had, why did we have to stop in Croatia? Let’s just see how far we can go… Maybe all the way to China?

Despite Michael’s dream of wanting to cycle across a country, he also knew nothing about bike mechanics, and we have just been learning as we go. Something that isn’t always very fun, but ‘touch-wood’ we’ve had no major problems so far.

So, why did we set off so unprepared…

Stupidity? Maybe. Did we underestimate the entirety of the trip? Most definitely. But what really made us head off into the unknown, on bicycles, was the fact that we had this crazy opportunity to do it now. Would we get the chance to do it again, who knows, but what mattered was ‘the now’. So we seised the moment, and here we are. I write this as I freeze my butt off in a tent, unable to sleep because our gear isn’t fit for cold weather (one of the downfalls to lack of planning). I’m wondering how we are going to survive the approaching winter, but hey, I’m in Kazakhstan. I’ve made it here from France, on a bicycle. So as far as I’m concerned, I’ve already succeeded, and I’ve had the experience of a lifetime.

So basically, what I’m saying is there are no excuses not to give it a go. Head out on your first cycle trip. You got kids? Take them with you (I’ve seen people cycle touring with kids). A career? Then just go for a couple of weeks. No money (like us)? Work to a budget that suits you. It’s doable, I don’t want to hear the excuses, ‘just do it!’ It’ll be hard work, you’ll hate it at times, but it’ll be one of the best most rewarding experiences of your life. So, what are you waiting for, head off on your first cycle trip.

Chau for now from a frozen cyclist!

I actually wrote this blog post about our first cycle trip one night in Kazakhstan  when I couldn’t sleep because our tent had frozen over. I’ve only just got around to typing it up. I hope you enjoyed it!

If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy our 10 secrets to cycle touring.

Cycling Kazakhstan
Still camping in the desert
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Route

cycle route map proposed route

 France to China Route

Time: April – October 2014

Distance: 8,500km

This is just a rough map of the route we took from France to China. We started in Sty Foy (the French Alps) and cycled all the way to Urumqi, China. Google maps wouldn’t let me include a route in China, so the map only shows as far as Almaty, Kazakhstan. The total distance was 8,500km and took 8 months.

france-to-china-route

Canada Route

Time: June – October 2016

Distance: 7,000km

This is a map of the actual route we took across Canada. You can also check out our Canada trip notes for a more detail record of this section of our trip. We hadn’t originally planned on cycling the Maritimes in Canada, but we had a slight change in plan once we got to Ontario.

Canada Cycle Route

USA Route

Time: April/ May 2017

Distance: 2000km

From Halifax in Canada, we headed to the USA border and started cycling across the USA. We cycled 2000km to Buffalo, NY. Unfortunately, Kelly got bronchitis in NY and could no longer cycle, which put a bit of a dent in our plans.

Nicaragua Route

Time: May/ June 2017

Distance: 600km (mainly due to illness, and our constantly changing plans).

Originally we planned to cycle all the way to Argentina, but had a slight change in plan, and decided to end the cycle trip. You can read more about why in our article, Discovering you don’t want to be long term cycle touring.

Nicaragua map

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How to make money while cycle touring

make money while cycle touring, cycling to the Canadian Rockies

How are we going to make money while cycle touring? The question I’ve been asking myself constantly in the lead up to our cycle tour. It’s also the question that friend’s and family have been asking me. We all know cycle touring is a cheap way of travelling, however it’s still not free, and to cycle tour long term, like we plan on doing, it’s important to have some income coming in, even if it’s only pocket money.

make money cycle touring

So, I’ve started putting together a list of possible ways to make money while cycle touring.

  • Freelance writing

I’ve had some success getting paid to write short city and country description or and other travel articles, and to be honest, I haven’t put much time and effort into it… yet! This is something I definitely hope to build on while cycling, though it seems the competition is quite fierce.

Update: I’ve recently had a lot of success freelance writing, my biggest concern is finding a good, regular net connection and also finding the time to write the articles.

This is something we definitely plan on doing. To be able to appreciate travel, it’s important to take a break once in a while. A new website I’ve just discovered is Search Jobs Abroad. They post all types of jobs around the world including  short-term holiday work, volunteer positions, part-time and full-time jobs. Definitely worth checking out if you’re thinking of breaking up your cycle tour.

We’ve already decided that we will stop for 6+ months at a time during the cycle trip, to relax, fix any bicycle gear, fix ourselves up, and to work and live semi-normal lives for a bit. New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and Canada, are good places to work and save cash, especially if you’re able to get a work and holiday visa. Otherwise, TEFL teaching in Asia and South America could be a good options.

  • Online paid gigs

Such as Fiverr (I’ve actually make over $2000 USD in the past year on Fiverr). There are many alternatives, but I’ve only really used Fiverr, so far. Other alternatives include, gigbucks Freelancer, oDesk, Upwork, eLance, Guru, People Per Hour, 99 Designs, Design Crowd, Project 4 Hire. The pay isn’t great, but it is a start! I’ve also managed to secure some long term clients through Fiverr, and lead them away from the actual platforms, so to avoid paying the insanely high fee.

  • Stock photos

Not something I’ve really had much experience in. I recently discovered, stockimo, which is an iphone app that allows you to upload and sell iphone photos. Yes, you’ve read correctly, iphone photos. I’ve just signed up and uploaded a few photos, so we will see how it goes. Other sites, for DSLR and SLR photographers, include dreamtime, shuttlestock and istockphotos.

  • Hostel reviews

I’ve been writing paid hostel reviews for quite a few years now, and though it doesn’t usually cover the full cost of a nights sleep (unless you’re travelling in Central America or South East Asia), it still definitely helps. Hostel sites usually pay between $5 – $20 USD per 400 words review, with photos.

Loads of people do it, and seem to make some money off it. I haven’t quite mastered this skill yet, but there will be plenty of time to learn. Once set up, I think it would be a good way to make money while cycling touring, as well as being a good opportunity to learn about SEO and website management.

You can either create your blog on your own website, which means you’re able to add affiliate links and do pretty much whatever you like with your blog. Or, you can try a site like Niume. Niume is a blogging site that pays you per post view. Earn $1 by just signing up here.

  • Website

This needs to be broken down into sub-categories:

a) Adsense/ affiliate links: from what I’ve read, unless you have a huge and constant amount of traffic, then you’re unlikely going to make a lot (if any), money from ads and affiliate links on your website. Our affiliates include, Amazon, booking.com and World Nomads.

b) Ebook: writing and selling an Ebook. I’m experimenting with this at the moment: check out our ebooks!

c) Selling a course/ giving advice.

  • Teach English online

I have taught English as a second language for English First. Before English First, I taught for a Japanese English school, called Best Teacher. The pay isn’t fantastic, but if you’re travelling through Central America, or Asia, then you’ll definitely be able to save some money through teaching online. Maybe not a good option to make money while cycle touring, but perhaps a good way to make some money in between touring. I’ve just started teaching for a new school that is really flexible on how many hours you can teach, which is great for when you’re on the move. It’s called Cambly.

  • What do we need money for?

All we really will need is food and accommodation. There are a few good options for working in exchange for your food and board. I’ve had some great experiences on helpx, when I first moved to Canada and was looking for work. Some other alternatives include, wooffing and workaway. Hostel International also have an intern program, which works in the same way, and of course you could always contact places directly to find out whether they offer work exchange.

  • Sponsorship/ Grants

Pretty difficult and time consuming to get, but definitely worth a try. I’ve started to put together a list of grants and potential sponsors to contact, however I think perhaps, we will have more luck, once we have built up our followers. So far we have received free cycle gear to trial, but no financial sponsors.

Keep in mind the more followers you have the more likely you are to receive sponsorship.

  • Crowdfunding

I haven’t looked to much into this, but I have noticed that trevolta is crowdfunding platform for travel related crowdfunding projects. This is a bit controversial, and probably not something we will pursue, unless we start cycling for a cause!

This is something else I’ve just started playing around with. Like the affiliate website links, I think you need a lot of traffic before you actually start making much money, but once established it could be a good way to make money while cycle touring. YouTube has also just changed their requirements, meaning you have to have at least 10,000 total views before you can earn anything. They have also decreased the amount you earn per view.

10 secrets to cycle touring, british columbia cycling, ecodiscoveries, Eco Discoveries

How do you make money while cycle touring or travelling? We’d love to hear your tips and tricks.

If you enjoyed the article, then you might also enjoy our article on Accommodation Options for Cycle Tourists.

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The cycle tourists’ non training plan

cycling uzbekistan, training plan

Training plan for a cycle trip is a pretty good idea… but we didn’t do it.

Our trip started from a small ski resort village called Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise, located in the French alps. It was winter time so obviously there was a fair amount of snow around, which made cycling slightly difficult! To embark on a cycle trip was not a part of our plan before coming to France to work a ski season. Several months lounging around in ski chalets, munching our weight in stinky cheese and guzzling litres of beer daily, and we were ready to go. We hadn’t bothered to create a training plan, and were not exactly in peak physical condition.

It was not physically possible for us to train on the bikes due to the snow. Kelly also had suffered a torn meniscus in her knee while skiing, which made it extra impossible.

We had only decided 6 weeks before our work contract ended that we were going to ride to China. So there was not a whole lot of time to plan and train for this silly adventure. I think we managed to borrow a car twice in the lead up to the trip. So on these rare occasions, we were able to drive to a lower altitude and ride for about 20km around a lake. That was our ‘training’. Pretty gruelling, huh?

In an ideal world it would have been nice to get in regular long rides, to get us physically and mentally prepared for the task we were about to undertake, but ultimately it did not matter that we couldn’t train, we had no training plan.

col du lautaret by bicycle
Col du Lautaret by bicycle

We had only purchased our bikes maybe 3 or 4 weeks before we set off. We only ridden them twice and had never ridden them fully or even partially loaded!

I will admit it was pretty terrifying rolling down the extremely steep and still slightly icy hill from the ski station on the first day of our trip with the panniers and backpacks fully loaded strapped to the bikes for the first time. Having never had weight on a bike while riding before it was quite a shock and probably a fairly dangerous introduction to cycle touring.

One piece of advice I would give is definitely do at least a few rides carrying weight just to get used to the way it changes the handling and responsiveness of the bike.

We had a really low budget. So, had opted for very cheap ($20) rear panniers off eBay and a 70 liter backpack on my rear rack, and a small daypack on Kelly’s bike, with homemade handlebar bags made from 6 pack coolers that I’d stitched buckles and straps to. So, we had a whole lot of junk in our trunk! Extremely heavy at the back and basically nothing up front. I would not recommend this set up. I definitely wouldn’t recommend not at least going for a few test runs with this set up… but we survived! Which only proves, it can be done!

In the end it would have been nice to have had more time to get in better shape. And, get used to riding the bikes (loaded or even unloaded), but ultimately it did not matter as we still managed to do what we set out to do, ride to China.

The first day we rode roughly 65 km and felt like we’d really achieved something great… this was by far the furthest either of us had ever ridden on a bike before. I remember laying in our tent on the side of the road that night feeling absolutely high and giddy. We can do this!

That first day was preparation for the second day, the second day was preparation for the third day and so it went on and on. An easy training plan to follow!

Everyday we felt slightly more comfortable and confident riding long distances ,and getting used to the bikes and the quirks of riding them when weighted down with stuff. The first few weeks were admittedly very tough physically due to our bodies just not being used to it, but like I said, everyday it got easier and gradually we were able to push on to greater distances.

I’m sure there is a wealth of information and tips out there for how to get in peak condition for a tour. If you have plenty of time up your sleeve to train, it would be a great idea to check them out and see if anything appeals to you. For me personally I found reading some of these blog posts and info about preparing for cycle touring, scared me and made me more nervous about the trip, as I knew that it was not possible for me to undertake any of these regimes. Sure we could have done training without actually being on a bike like body weight exercises and whatnot… but we just kind of never got around to it.

China by bicycle
At the Chinese border!

So is it essential to train? Absolutely not! The point I want to get across in this section is that anyone can go cycle touring. It’s as easy as… well as easy as riding a bike!

Even if you are not the fittest person out there. You can still do it and eventually your fitness levels will get higher and higher and the cycling will get easier and easier!

If you do not have time/access to a bike pre-trip or whatever, don’t sweat it! It really is quite a simple task; hop on a bike and just ride! Don’t get discouraged by reading posts about how hard you need to train. Or worry about the fact that you don’t have a $4000 bike with all the latest gadgets and fanciest German made gear. Just hit the road and go! You will learn along the way. Get better at it everyday and come to realise somethings that you would have maybe done differently, but ultimately you will be able to do it!!

Believe in yourself and you can achieve anythi….no I’m not actually going to say that. Just get on that bike and go my friend! Fully trained with legs of steel? Years of riding experience? Or, a total novice with no clue what you’re doing and calves that look broomsticks? It doesn’t matter you can do it, and ride wherever you want in this world!

Good luck and safe cycle trails!!

Do you have any additional tips for the cycle tourists’ non training plan? Please add your tips below.

Check out the videos from our France to China trip to see how we got on!