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64-698: EuroVelo routes can be used for bicycle touring across the continent, as well as by local people making short journeys. The routes are made of both existing national bike routes — such as the Dutch LF-Routes , the German D-Routes , the French véloroute "SN3V" and the British National Cycle Network — and existing general purpose roads, together with new stretches of cycle routes to connect them. The idea of creating

128-506: A dead trail, in this case most bicycle tourers simply backtrack and try another route. Examples of fictional works featuring bicycle tours include: Donauradweg EuroVelo 6 (EV6), named the "Rivers Route", is a EuroVelo long-distance cycling route that runs along 3,653 km (2,270 mi) some of Europe's major rivers, including much of the Loire , some of the Saône ,

192-472: A few days may cover as little as 200 kilometres (120 mi) and a long tour may go right across a country or around the world. There are many different types of bicycle touring: Cycle touring beyond the range of a day trip may need a bike capable of carrying heavy loads. Although many different bicycles can be used, specialist touring bikes are built to carry appropriate loads and to be ridden more comfortably over long distances. A typical bicycle would have

256-494: A growth of organised cycling holidays provided by commercial organisations in many countries. Some companies provide accommodation and route information to cyclists travelling independently; others focus on a group experience, including guides and support for a large number of riders cycling together. A variation on this is holidays, often in exotic locations, organised in partnership with a charity, in which participants are expected to raise donation as well as cover their costs. Due to

320-549: A lark on Putney Heath. The freshness of dew was in the air; dew or the relics of an overnight shower glittered on the leaves and grass...He wheeled his machine up Putney Hill, and his heart sang within him. Wells puts Hoopdriver in a new brown cycling suit to show the importance of the venture and the freedom on which he is embarking. Hoopdriver finds the bicycle raises his social standing, at least in his imagination, and he calls to himself as he rides that he's "a bloomin' dook " The New Woman that he pursues wears Rational Dress of

384-528: A later date, that the bicycle had "been responsible for more movement in manners and morals than anything since Charles the Second." The bicycle gained from the outdoor movement of the 1930s. The Cyclists' Touring Club advertised a week's all-in tour, staying at hotels recommended by cyclists, for £3 10s. The youth hostel movement started in Germany and spread abroad, and a cycling holiday staying at hostels in

448-576: A longer wheelbase for stability and heel clearance, frame fittings for front and rear pannier racks , additional water bottle mounts, frame fittings for front and rear mudguards/fenders, a broader range of gearing to cope with the increased weight, and touring tires which are wider to provide more comfort on backroads. "Ultralight tourers" choose traditional road bicycles or " Audax " or randonneur bicycles for speed and simplicity. However, these bikes are harder to ride on unmade roads, which may limit route options. Since about 2015, gravel bikes are

512-559: A network of international cycle routes spanning Europe started in 1995. It was initially coordinated by the ECF , De Frie Fugle (Denmark) and Sustrans (UK) and the original plan was to create 12 long-distance cycling routes . Since August 2007, the ECF has assumed full responsibility for the project. Despite sometimes tight financial constraints, the EuroVelo project has already begun to fulfil

576-516: A new option to combine speed and unpaved road capabilities. For some, the advantages of a recumbent bicycle are particularly relevant to touring. To lessen the weight carried on the bicycle, or increase luggage capacity, touring cyclists may use bicycle trailers . For a "supported" rider, luggage carrying is not important and a wider range of bicycle types may be suitable depending on the terrain. There are many navigation apps and websites available for bicycle touring. Sometimes GPS routes lead to

640-437: A ride from Lewes to Salisbury , across southern England. The title of his book, Wheels and Woes , suggests a less than event-free ride but McGurn says "it seems to have been a delightful adventure, despite bad road surfaces, dust and lack of signposts. Husband and wife team Joseph Pennell (illustrator) and Elizabeth Robins Pennell (writer) published travelogues of their journeys framed as literary pilgrimages; they "wheeled"

704-618: A short section of the upper Rhine and almost the entire length of Europe’s second longest river, the Danube — from the Atlantic coast of France to the city of Constanța on the Black Sea . The EV6 traverses ten countries, from the mouth of the Loire eastward along that river to the Saône , across the border to Switzerland, along the Rhine to Lake Constance, north into Germany, down

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768-556: A single speed bicycle with little more than a revolver and a change of underwear. In 2006, she described how, aged 74, she was held up at gunpoint and robbed while cycling in Russia. Eric Newby , Bettina Selby, and Anne Mustoe have all used cycling as a means to a literary end, valuing the way that cycling brings the traveller closer to people and places. Selby said, In more recent years, British adventurers Alastair Humphreys ( Moods of Future Joys ), Mark Beaumont ( The Man who Cycled

832-493: A sort that scandalised society but made cycling much easier. The Rational Dress Society was founded in 1881 in London. It said: The Rational Dress Society protests... against crinolines or crinolettes of any kind as ugly and deforming... [It] requires all to be dressed healthily, comfortably, and beautifully, to seek what conduces to birth, comfort and beauty in our dress as a duty to ourselves and each other. Both Hoopdriver and

896-535: A spirit of freedom, finally away from his job: Only those who toil six long days out of the seven, and all the year round, save for one brief glorious fortnight or ten days in the summer time, know the exquisite sensations of the First Holiday Morning. All the dreary, uninteresting routine drops from you suddenly, your chains fall about your feet...There were thrushes in the Richmond Road, and

960-542: A tandem tricycle from Florence to Rome, attracting more attention than she was comfortable with, as possibly the first female rider that the Italians had ever seen. Journeys grew more adventurous. Thomas Stevens , a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle , set off around the world on April 22 1884, on a 50-inch Columbia with a money belt, a revolver, two shirts and a rain cape, spending two years on

1024-451: Is certainly liberated by his machine. It affords him not only a country holiday, in itself a remarkable event which he enjoys immensely, however ignorant of the countryside he may be, but also a brush with a society girl, riding on pneumatics and wearing some kind of Rational Dress. The book suggests the new social mobility created by the bike, which breaks the boundaries of Hoopdriver's world literally and figuratively. Hoopdriver sets off in

1088-518: Is now the biggest body campaigning for cycling and cyclists' rights in the UK. It continues to organise group touring events including day rides through its local groups and CTC holidays in many countries led by experienced CTC members. Since 1983, Sustrans has created a National Cycle Network of long-distance cycle routes including back roads and traffic-free tracks built, signed, and mapped in partnership with local organisations. Since 1980, there has been

1152-682: Is the newest and the shortest EuroVelo route. It follows one of the most significant rivers in Europe, from the source of the Meuse on the Langres plateau in France, heading north into Belgium and on to the river mouth at Hook of Holland , with the route ending in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam . The ECF has written a route development manual for those working on developing EuroVelo routes. According to

1216-845: The Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea . It is so named after the precious stone amber collected in the Baltic, which was taken by routes such as this to the Mediterranean. One of the shortest of the EuroVelo routes, EV9 still manages to cut across Europe from north to south, from Poland to Croatia, and in doing so passes through the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia en route. EV10 runs around Baltic Sea . Some of its parts are mapped on OpenStreetMap project Relation: EuroVelo 10 - Baltic Sea Cycle Route - part Sweden (63584) . On

1280-725: The Danube and through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Romania to the Danube Delta , before terminating at Constanța on the Black Sea . The EV6 includes the Danube Cycleway ( de:Donauradweg ), the most popular holiday cycle route in Europe. This section stretches from Donaueschingen to Passau in Germany, through Austria to Vienna , and continues on to Bratislava in Slovakia, to Novi Sad and Belgrade in Serbia, before continuing on towards

1344-553: The Danube Delta . The EV6 runs from Saint-Brevin-les-Pins , at the mouth of the Loire on the Atlantic coast of France, to Nantes , Tours , Blois and travels along the river eastward to Orléans and Nevers before leaving the Loire at Digoin for the Canal du Centre . This section of the EV6 encompasses the French bike route La Loire à vélo  [ fr ] . From the Loire,

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1408-661: The Middle Ages . The route passes through Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and Spain. Most of these countries have a developed network of bicycle routes used as part of the EV3. The EV4 goes from Roscoff, France to Kyiv, Ukraine , going through France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, Poland, and Ukraine. The EV5 route is inspired by the Via Francigena , a pilgrimage route from London to Rome first recorded by Archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric in

1472-943: The West Country of England, France, Spain and Portugal. EV2 runs between Galway, Ireland to Moscow, Russia visiting some capital cities along the way, from Eyre Square to Red Square . Between The Hague in the Netherlands and the German-Polish border, the EV2 follows the bicycle route called European Bicycle Route R1 or Euro-Route R1 , an international long-distance cycling route connecting Boulogne-sur-Mer in France with St Petersburg in Russia. EV3 goes from Trondheim in Norway to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The route follows traces of old roads used for pilgrimages in

1536-744: The 10th century AD. However, the route of the true Via Francigena is an almost straight line path from London to Rome, while the EuroVelo 5 route takes a more easterly route that passes through Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg in the Alsace . It then follows the Franco-German border, passes through Switzerland following Swiss National Bike Route no. 3, before crossing the Alps at the Gotthard Pass . It then passes through Italy (more closely following Sigeric's route) to Rome before continuing on to

1600-546: The 1820s. On 17 February 1869 John Mayall, Charles Spencer and Rowley Turner rode from Trafalgar Square , London, to Brighton in 15 hours for 53 miles. The Times , which had sent a reporter to follow them in a coach and pair, reported an "Extraordinary Velocipede Feat." Three riders set off from Liverpool to London, a journey of three days and similar to modern cycle-touring adventures, in March that same year. A newspaper report said: Their bicycles caused no little astonishment on

1664-609: The 1930s could be had for £2. Roderick Watson and Martin Gray estimate there were ten million bicycles in Britain to one million cars. A decline set in across Europe, particularly in Britain, when millions of servicemen returned from World War II having learned to drive. Trips away were now, for the increasing number who had one, by car. The decline in the United States came even sooner. McGurn says: The story of interwar cycling

1728-576: The Adriatic port city of Brindisi . Running from Saint-Nazaire on the mouth of the river Loire along that river eastward through France, EV6 passes over the border to Switzerland to Lake Constance and then on to Tuttlingen in Germany, where it begins its way down the Danube following the Donauradweg (Danube Cycle Route). It follows that river, Europe's second longest, through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania to

1792-546: The Danube Cycleway, the German Cycling Network 's D6 or "Donauradweg". The EV6 route passes through two German states, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria , taking the following route: The EV6 / Danube Cycleway follows the rail corridor of the Danube Valley Railway for long stretches. The section in the upper Danube valley, which runs between the towns Mühlheim an der Donau and Scheer , is

1856-456: The Danube, which flows through diverse landscapes, including mountainous terrain, plains, and nature reserves as it passes through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria. In the local languages along the way the EV6's Danube Cycleway is known as: From Lake Constance, the EV6 follows a route known as the "Hohenzollern Route" to Donaueschingen , where it joins

1920-501: The EV6 follows the Canal du Centre to the river Saône at Chalon-sur-Saône . It continues through Burgundian wine country to Besançon , Baume-les-Dames , Montbéliard , and Mulhouse . It then crosses into Switzerland at Basel , following the Rhine valley to Lake Constance before crossing into Germany. From Tuttlingen in Germany, the EV6 follows the Danube Cycleway all the way to the Black Sea . It mostly runs along both sides of

1984-571: The Middle East, Turkey, western Europe, Scandinavia, then another 100,000 km across Africa, Latin America and Australia. Others attempt long voyages in exceptionally short time periods. The current circumnavigation record by bicycle is 78 days 14 hours, and 40 minutes by Mark Beaumont Noted writers have combined cycling with travel writing including Dervla Murphy , who made her first documented journey in 1963, from London to India, on

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2048-455: The U.S. was founded in Newport, Rhode Island , on May 30, 1880. It shared an interest in leisure cycling with the administration of cycle racing . Membership peaked at 103,000 in 1898. The primary national bicycle-touring organization in the U.S. is now Adventure Cycling Association . Adventure Cycling, then called Bikecentennial , organised a mass ride in 1976 from one side of the country to

2112-644: The Weltenburg monastery, Kelheim, Regensburg, Straubing, Plattling and Vilshofen an der Donau. From Passau both the Danube and the route cross the border into Austria. After Obernzell a ferry offers the possibility to combine the border crossing with the river crossing. The northern Austrian section runs alongside the R1 Danube route and the southern Austrian section follows the R6 Danube route. In this section, there are paved paths for all but 100 meters on both

2176-501: The World ), and Rob Lilwall ( Cycling Home From Siberia ) have all been on epic bicycle expeditions and written popular books about their exploits. But most bicycle tourists are ordinary people out of the spotlight. One economic implication of bicycling is that it liberates the cyclist from oil consumption. The bicycle is an inexpensive, fast, healthy and environmentally friendly mode of transport. Ivan Illich said that bicycling extends

2240-536: The Young Lady in Grey, as he refers to her, are escaping social restraints through bicycle touring. Hoopdriver falls in love and rescues her from a lover who says marrying him is the only way that she, having left alone for a cycling holiday, can save her reputation. She lowers her social status; he raises his. McGurn says: "The shift in social perspectives, as exemplified by Wells' cyclists, led Galsworthy to claim, at

2304-509: The activity's informal nature. Market research indicates that in 2006 British cyclists spent £120m on 450,000 organised cycling holidays, and a further 2.5 million people included some cycling activity in their annual holiday that year. The total economic benefit to communities visited during the nine-day long Great Victorian Bike Ride was estimated at AU$ 2 million in 2011, which does not include costs paid directly to ride organisers and ongoing benefits to towns. Sustrans estimate that

2368-499: The community which form the majority of 'wheelmen' are the great clerk class and the great shop assistant class." H. G. Wells described this aspirant class liberated through cycling. Three of his heroes – in The History of Mr Polly , Kipps and The Wheels of Chance – buy bicycles. The first two work in drapery shops. The third, Hoopdriver, goes on a cycling holiday. The authors Roderick Watson and Martin Gray say: Hoopdriver

2432-443: The country. I pictured thousands of people, a sea of people with their bikes and packs all ready to go, and there would be old men and people with balloon-tire bikes and Frenchmen who flew over just for this. Nobody would shoot a gun off or anything. At 9 o'clock everybody would just start moving. It would be like this crowd of locusts crossing America. The ride eventually ran from Astoria, Oregon , to Yorktown, Virginia , site of

2496-609: The current borders between the Czech Republic and both Germany then Austria, the Austrian-Slovak and Austrian-Hungarian borders before following the borders of Romania, the former Yugoslavia , Bulgaria and North Macedonia. It finishes at Rezovo in Bulgaria on the Black Sea after following the border with Greece and Turkey. EV15, with an overall length of about 1,320 km (820 mi) passes through four countries from

2560-647: The dirt. Groups often rode with a bugler at their head to sound changes of direction or to bring the group to a halt. Confusion could be caused when groups met and mistook each other's signals. Membership of the CTC inspired the Frenchman, Paul de Vivie (b. April 29, 1853), to found what became the Fédération Française de Cyclotourisme, the world's largest cycling association, and to coin the French word cyclo-tourisme . The League of American Wheelmen in

2624-501: The first British settlements; 4,100 rode, with 2,000 completing the entire route. It defined a new start for cycle-touring in the United States and led to the creation of Adventure Cycling Association . Adventure Cycling has mapped routes across America and into Canada, many of the rides taking up to three months to complete on a loaded bicycle. In Britain, the Cyclists Touring Club grew to 70,000 members by 2011 and

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2688-461: The guidelines, all EuroVelo routes should fulfill the following criteria: In 2011 the share of route infrastructure components in the EuroVelo network was as follows: Bicycle touring Bicycle touring is the taking of self-contained cycling trips for pleasure, adventure or autonomy rather than sport, commuting or exercise. Bicycle touring can range from single-day trips to extended travels spanning weeks or months. Tours may be planned by

2752-759: The headwaters of the Rhine in Andermatt in the Swiss Alps to the estuary in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, via France and Germany. EV17 has an overall length of about 1,250 km (780 mi). It starts in Andermatt and runs along each side of Lake Geneva before crossing into France. Passing through Lyon and Avignon , it forks into sections which end in Montpellier and Marseille . EV19, with an overall length of about 1,050 km (650 mi),

2816-628: The heart of the Upper Danube Nature Park and borders on a great number of chalk cliffs as well as numerous mountains, castles, ruins, monasteries and Baroque churches, including: From Scheer, the Danube leaves the Swabian alps and so the EV6 runs through the wide plains of the upper Swabian Danube valley. The route heads towards Ulm via Riedlingen, Obermarchtal and Ehingen, then leaves Baden-Württemberg and enters Bavaria. The route goes to Passau via Höchstädt, Donauwörth, Ingolstadt,

2880-668: The industrial world. The post-war peace was to lay the bicycle low. However, between 1965 and 1975 the U.S. experienced a bike boom . In 1976, to celebrate the bicentennial of the founding of the United States, Greg Siple, his wife June, and Dan and Lys Burden organized a mass bike ride, Bikecentennial , from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Siple said: My original thought was to send out ads and flyers saying, 'Show up at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco at 9 o'clock on June 1 with your bicycle.' And then we were going to bicycle across

2944-591: The longest and shortest of the EuroVelo routes. In September 2023, the ECF announced that the Iberian Cycle route connecting Lisbon with Pamplona via Madrid is set to become the future EuroVelo 16 route by 2028 with a length of 1,896 km.  Stretching the length of the continent, from North Cape, Norway to Valença, Portugal , the EV1 connects Norway, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Wales,

3008-658: The north and south banks, with bridges, ferries, and some dams linking the two banks. After the Lake Constance Route, the part from Passau to Vienna is the second-most traveled bicycle route in Europe. The ADFC , which also analyses the traffic in the Austrian section since 2010, says that there was an increase compared to previous years. Part III begins in Vienna goes through Bratislava in Slovakia and continues 306 km (190 mi) to Budapest. Part IV of

3072-481: The other to mark the nation's 200th anniversary. The Bikecentennial route is still in use as the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail. The first cyclists, often aristocratic or rich, flirted with the bicycle and then abandoned it for the new motor car. It was the lower middle class which profited from cycling and the liberation that it brought. The Cyclist of 13 August 1892 said: "The two sections of

3136-492: The participant or organized by a tourism business, local club or organization, or a charity as a fund-raising venture. Historian James McGurn speaks of bets being taken in London in the 19th century for riders of hobby-horses – machines pushed by the feet rather than pedaled – outspeeding stagecoaches . "One practitioner beat a four-horse coach to Brighton by half an hour," he says. "There are various accounts of 15 to 17-year-olds draisienne -touring around France in

3200-622: The path begins in Budapest and continues 1,670 km (1,040 mi) to the Black Sea in Romania. In this section it passes through Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria (where it passes the UNESCO Heritage site Srebarna Nature Reserve ) then into Romania to the UNESCO Heritage site of the Danube Delta , before following the Black Sea coast to end at Constanța in Romania. While the EV6 is signposted in Serbia, signposts are lacking in much of

3264-459: The riders by throwing stones. Enthusiasm extended to other countries. The New York Times spoke of "quantities of velocipedes flying like shuttles hither and thither". But while British interest had less frenzy than in the United States, it lasted longer. The expansion from a machine that had to be pushed to propelled through pedals on a front wheel made longer distances feasible. A rider calling himself "A Light Dragoon" told in 1870 or 1871 of

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3328-405: The rise of hospitality exchange services from the nineties on, cycle travelers like other travelers got the means to better organize their stays at local hosts. The hospitality exchange website Warm Showers , which is specialized for cycle travelers started in 2005 and has over 100000 members worldwide today. The scale of bicycle touring and its economic effects are difficult to estimate, given

3392-773: The river's mouth at the Danube Delta . It then continues southwards to end in Constanța , on the Black Sea.  EV7 runs from the North Cape to Malta . It goes through Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czechia, Austria, Italy, and Malta.  EV8 follows the European coastline of the Mediterranean sea from Cádiz, Spain to Athens, Greece , going through Spain, France, italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus.  EV9 (in Poland, also labeled as R9) stretches from

3456-425: The road and writing articles which became a two-volume, 1,021-page book. The feminist Annie Londonderry accomplished her around-the-globe bicycle trip as the first woman as early as in 1894–95. John Foster Fraser and two friends set off round the world on safety bicycles in July 1896. He, Edward Lunn and F. H. Lowe rode 19,237 miles, through 17 countries, in two years and two months. By 1878, recreational cycling

3520-422: The state of the route there is an OpenStreetMap wiki page EV11 connects (theoretically) Norway 's North Cape with Athens .  EV12 was the first European route, opened in June 2001, 6,000 km (3,700 mi) route through England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. It features in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest unbroken signposted cycling route. It

3584-462: The total value of cycle tourism in the UK in 1997 was £635m and they forecast £14bn for the whole EU by 2020. Among examples of current activity given by Sustrans are 1.5m cyclists using the 250 kilometres (160 mi) Danube Cycle Route each year and 25% of holiday visitors in Germany using bicycles during their visit. Bicycle touring can be of any distance and time. The French tourist Jacques Sirat speaks in lectures of how he felt proud riding round

3648-434: The usable physical environment for people, while alternatives such as cars and motorways degrade and confined people's environment and mobility. The website crazyguyonabike.com includes thousands of rider-generated journals of cycling tours globally. Distances vary considerably. Depending on fitness, speed and the number of stops, the rider usually covers between 50–150 kilometres (31–93 mi) per day. A short tour over

3712-418: The vision of its founders with sections of the network being implemented in countries as far apart as Finland, Cyprus, Spain and the UK. In addition, the EuroVelo brand has become widely known. There have been various changes to the network over the years, most notably the addition of two new routes — EuroVelo 13 (the Iron Curtain Trail ) and EuroVelo 15 (the Rhine Cycle Route ) — in September 2011, which are

3776-413: The way, and the remarks passed by the natives were almost amusing. At some of the villages the boys clustered round the machines, and, where they could, caught hold of them and ran behind until they were tired out. Many enquiries were made as to the name of 'them queer horses', some called them 'whirligigs', 'menageries' and 'valparaisons'. Between Wolverhampton and Birmingham , attempts were made to upset

3840-602: The world for five years – until he met an Australian who had been on the road for 27 years. The German rider, Walter Stolle, lost his home and living in the Sudetenland in the aftermath of World War II, settled in Britain and set off from Essex on 25 January 1959, to cycle round the world. He rode through 159 countries in 18 years, denied only those with sealed borders. He paid his way by giving slide shows in seven languages. He gave 2,500 such shows at US$ 100 each. In 1974, he rode through Nigeria , Dahomey , Upper Volta , Ghana , Leone , Ivory Coast , Liberia and Guinea . He

3904-416: Was characterised by lack of interest and a steady decline... Cycling had lost out to the automobile, and to some extent to the new electric transport systems. In the 1930s cumbersome, fat-tyred 'balloon bombers', bulbously streamlined in imitation of motorcycles or aeroplanes, appealed to American children: the only mass market still open to cycle manufacturers. Wartime austerity gave cycling a short reprieve in

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3968-470: Was enough established in Britain to lead to formation of the Bicycle Touring Club, later renamed Cyclists' Touring Club . It is the oldest national tourism organisation in the world. Members, like those of other clubs, often rode in uniform. The CTC appointed an official tailor. The uniform was a dark green Devonshire serge jacket, knickerbockers and a "Stanley helmet with a small peak". The colour changed to grey when green proved impractical because it showed

4032-419: Was funded in part by the European Union's Interreg initiative. EuV13 follows the old Iron Curtain , the divided borders of Europe during the Cold War . The ICT runs from Kirkenes , Norway on the Barents Sea, along the Finno-Russian border through to the Baltic Sea, then hugs the length of the Baltic coast to Lübeck in Germany. It then follows the old border between West Germany and the former East Germany,

4096-433: Was robbed 231 times, wore out six bicycles and had five more stolen. Heinz Stücke left his job as a die-maker in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1962 when he was 22 — three years after Stolle and is still riding. By 2006 he had cycled more than 539,000 km (335,000 mi) and visited 192 countries. He pays his way by selling photographs to magazines. From Asia, Gua Dahao left China in May 1999 to ride across Siberia,

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