It's the way I've always travelled, and for me absolutely the best way to see, and really experience a country.

Betsy is an ‘expedition’ or ‘heavy’ touring bike, designed to carry a full load of camping and other equipment over very long distances. The frame and wheels are made immensely strong and she's fitted with racks on the back and over the front wheel for carrying panniers. She looks similar to a mountain bike with a compact frame, 26 inch wheels and mountain gears, but has a longer wheelbase, drop handlebars and no shocks.

Her full name is Betsy II, the Somerset Beast. I don't usually name bikes, but this one's going to be my sole companion for a while, and she is rather pretty. I initially wanted to name her after the ex, who was enthusiastic at first but then cooled on the idea when I said something about the bike being a beautiful, high maintenance pain in the bum. So she ended up as Betsy after my first touring bike, which came to a sticky end in the side of a black taxi on Oxford street. Don't actually remember where the name first came from, just popped into my head one day and it stuck.

More than a little, but less than a small car. Check out the website at www.sjscycles.com if you want to do the sums.

The trip is pretty much self funded thanks to a few years of being overpaid and underworked as a contracting 'Senior Technical Consultant' - in other words a computer programmer. If everything goes according to plan, and nothing ever does, I should reach North America before the money runs out.
For the moment I'm not being sponsored, but when I've done the first leg (London to Cape Town) I might have another look at this.

Not if I can avoid it.

This varies wildly according to the terrain, wind direction, interesting things along the way, how early I get up in the morning and what mood I'm in. The average is about 75 km per riding day and the trip record is a bum shattering 169 km.

When camping, a lot of bread and milk, together with whatever fruit and vegetables I can find locally. I try to start the day with a cereal and fruit, and for lunch and dinner live off imaginative bread based recipes - it was this way that I discovered the joys of banana sandwiches. This is mixed with whatever cheeses and dried or canned fish and meat I can find. I don't carry a stove in Europe or the tropics - too much complication and weight just to be able to boil pasta and stock cubes. (That said I've come across some travelling chefs who can cook up something amazing on a tiny stove).
In towns and cities there's often cheap and tasty street food available, and occasionally I'll splurge on a restaurant - especially if there's a Pizza Hut in town. Many travellers hostels have a kitchen where you can cook your own food and then I'll whip up one of my pasta specials.
I carry salt and pepper, olive oil and vinegar to improvise a vinaigrette for veggies. Other stock items available almost everywhere on the planet include sweetened condensed milk, canned fish and teabags for a quick brew. In some areas it's useful to take concentrated syrup flavouring to take the edge off the nastier tasting water. Water is a subject of some controversy. If you're travelling in an area with dodgy water for only a couple of weeks then it's possible to stick to bottled water, but if you're going to there for months then worrying about washed vegetables and ice cubes and what not is just not tenable, you're going to be exposed to the local stuff sooner or later. I carry a small filter and iodine for emergencies, but usually just drink whatever the locals drink; if I get a bad belly for a couple of days then so be it, afterwards I'll be immune to the local bugs and won't have to worry any more. So far I've never had any problem with this. Other travellers who's opinions I respect say this is a kamikaze philosophy and I'm asking for serious trouble, they carry heavy duty filters and treat everything. We'll see.

Generally I'll spend 5 days a week camping and the rest in hostels, guest houses or cheap hotels. Often I'll be invited to stay by people I meet along the way. This is true especially of West Africa, the level of hospitality can be astonishing and I've stopped as a guest in many places.

Actually, no. I'll usually camp out of sight of the road, in a wood or behind bushes or rocks, or up a hill above the road.
Wild camping gives you a much freer pace and schedule, and often you can find some wonderful sites. There's a pragmatic reason too, I just can't afford to pay for a bed every day.
So far I haven't had any real problems camping, not from people or animals. Well, OK, there was that one time I found a slug in my sleeping bag, and another when I was bitten by a spider, and then there was that bush fire....

No. Don't know why I keep getting asked this; maybe the hat?

This was a nickname, or at least one of them, from way back when I worked at a sugar refinery in Malawi.

Not exactly, we were meant to have gone metric several generations ago, it's just taking a bit of time to sink in. Deal with it. It's 1.6 kilometres in a mile, 2 and a bit pounds to the kilo and 14 (or is it 16?) pounds in a stone.
Just about everywhere outside of the UK and USA has gone metric so instead of confusing my brain converting furlongs to cubits I'll keep it simple and stick to metric for everything....
...except for height - 6 foot 2 just sounds better than a hundred and eighty whatever centimetres.

(For future reference, there are 2.2 pounds in a kilogramme, 14 pounds in a stone and 440 cubits in a furlong. And 6' 2" is 189 cm. Ed.)

Definitely not either, bravery and foolhardiness both get you into trouble. I'm no thrill seeker and danger doesn't turn me on, and will avoid risk whenever possible. On the very rare occasion that bad things do happen I rely on one part dumb luck and nine parts intrinsic cowardice to get me through the situation.

Only started this site in June 2005, to replace the old and rather outdated site. It's going to take a bit of time to fill in the gaps, especially the pictures, from 2003 to 2005. Bear with me.

Technically this is to do with something called ‘gamma’, or how a display shows midrange tones. The pictures are off the video camera with a gamma level set for tv screens which unfortunately comes out dark on PC's - though usually looks better on Mac screens. Don't have any control over this and there's not much I can do until I get the opportunity to Photoshop the pictures. In the meantime try fiddling with the brightness and contrast controls on your monitor until they look better.

Yeh, and I don't wear lycra either. What's your point?

No.