Swag Family World Ride

As the end of this two year epic journey closes in we discuss the two months of riding through China and Vietnam. There’s the embarrassing story of the attempted smuggling of an artillery casing out of Tajikistan; and an unfortunate broken finger to unpack.

Cycling along the legendary Pamir Highway was a huge test for us as a family. We had everything from close encounters of the very fast kind with the Silk Road Mountain Race, to altitude sickness and food poisoning. Along the way we found new friends and tested the limits of what is possible (or at least sensible) for a family to do on their bikes.

A fair bit to talk through on this episode! It includes an oopsie-daisie rear ender by Nic, a landslide, a near death truck crash and some dead end route finding. Enjoy our misfortune!

​We ride through some wild corners of Scotland, discuss train lockers, venture to the land of bike-love (Netherlands) and finally arrive in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek…. two bikes short of a quota!

It’s like a whole new cycling adventure in the UK and Ireland. We explain the new riding set-up, how we’ve found places to stay and how we dealt with a major mechanical issue!

In this episode we recap the ride from Bariloche as we head down and across to the Carretera Austral in Chile. South from there we face the challenge of the Villa O’Higgins hike-a-bike border crossing and the epic winds of the pampa back in Argentina.

We asked our listeners if they wanted to hear stories about the delicate art of toileting in South America while on bicycle tour. To Nic’s delight and Andrew’s horror you said loud and clear, ‘let’s have that conversation’. But please, be WARNED that this conversation is all about pooing in the wild, misadventures with bidets and the like. If you’re at all squeamish please DO NOT LISTEN to it. Frankly, even if you’re not squeamish, consider skipping it. Even though we think it’s hilarious, you probably won’t. YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED.

Route 40 runs the length of Argentina. It is a famous bike touring heaven (and hell) in one snaking 5000km strip of dirt and asphalt. We see both sides of it in this episode as we sample the far northern section from La Quiaca to San Antonio de Los Cobres. Hear about Nic’s tangle with a puma at 4200m and the joys and struggles of family cycling in this extreme environment.

We were worried that Bolivia would be a big old boring high plain in between Peru and Argentina. So WRONG! In this episode we discuss the route we took from Copacabana in the north to the southern border at Villazon, and the amazing things we discovered along the way.

This episode takes us from the highway south of Cusco to the border crossing into Bolivia on the shores of Lake Titikaka. We discuss the challenges of navigating through Juliaca and how we dealt with some difficult road conditions south of Puno. Should you ride on highways with children? We have a sad dog story and lovely stay in an empty school classroom. We finish with the slightly confusing but ultimately successful border crossing. We’re now in Bolivia.