Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie

by Andrew P. Sykes

1 continent, 6000 kilometres, 10 countries, 9 weeks, 4 pannier bags, 1 man, no detailed plan... and a bike called Reggie.
Secondary school teacher Andrew Sykes moves out of the classroom, climbs onto his bicycle and sets off along the route of the EuroVelo 8, from the southern tip of Greece to the Atlantic coast of Portugal.

However, this is more than just a cycling tale of border crossings and big hills, as our would-be adventurer perspires his way through a hot and sticky mix of Mediterranean landscapes, life and culture.

Join Andrew as he travels Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie: an inspirational and light-hearted travelogue for cyclists and non-cyclists alike.

Genres: Travel

775 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 27, 2014

About the author

Andrew P. Sykes was born and grew up in the small town of Elland, in the foothills of the Pennines in West Yorkshire and he studied for a degree in mathematics at the University of York.

Following a period of time working in London and then France, he returned to the UK in 1999 to train as a secondary school teacher of French at the University of Reading. He taught in Berkshire and Oxfordshire for 15 years before taking a career break in 2015 to learn some Spanish, cycle from Tarifa in Spain to Nordkapp in Norway and move back to live in Yorkshire. He now teaches at the same school that he attended as a pupil during the 1980s.

Since 2009 he has been travelling long distances on his bicycles: first Reggie, now Wanda (with Ronnie taking up the slack on the shorter commutes to work).

He has written four books about travelling Europe:

- Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie (2011)

- Along The Med on a Bike Called Reggie (2014)

- Spain to Norway on a Bike Called Reggie (2017)

- Le Grand Tour on a Bike Called Wanda (2024)

Andrew also produces a podcast, The Cycling Europe Podcast, that can be heard across all major podcast platforms. He has made a number of films about his cycling journeys and they can all be watched online at YouTube. He is also present on social media @CyclingEurope.

Andrew regularly gives talks about his travels. If you would like him to speak at your event, please get in touch. His contact details can be found on his website.

Reviews

[MR S J BURKE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyable read

I would recommend this book to anybody interested in travel
I don't cycle but I still enjoyed it very much

[Weiers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book perhaps a year after I read Andrew's first "Crossing Europe..." tavelogue. As always Andrew has a tremendous sense of humour and having listened to a good few of his podcasts and interactions on other public forums, like the Bicycle Touring festival, I really felt a sense of connection to how he approaches life and the bicycle adventures that he takes on.

I regularly flipped to my Google maps to trace his journey as I made my way through his account. It was by no means a rose-tinted portrayal of a life of freedom on the road. At times I wondered, why he was doing this trip because he was quite grumpy and annoyed with a good bit of the experiences that he encountered. I imagine however that this is a very realistic account of what life is like on the road. I definitely feel the urge to stop vicariously enjoying other people's adventures and to experience it myself. Hopefully I can build up Andrew's courage!

I will definitely read the third book as well. But first I must get onto my bicycle for some exercise after quite a long read.

[Tom Bilcze · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. I have previously read his first book, Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie. The author has a nice style of telling the story of a bicycle tour. Sykes tells a good story of the people and places along the road sharing his internal thoughts as the tour progresses. His humorous style is entertaining and engaging. I found myself feeling as if I was along with him for the ride. It's what I look for when I read this genre of books. I recommend this book if you are looking for an entertaining adventurous book of a long distance bicycle tour. It is a story of perseverance. Sykes does a good job of highlighting both the good and the bad from the ride.

[sanjay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful cycling travelogue

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I love cycling and it's very difficult to cycle long distances in our crazily crowded metropolis that is Mumbai with no cycling infrastructure. So traveling with Andrew on his epic journey with the minds eye was a wonderful experience. It makes me dream of undertaking such a journey myself. Great read, highly recommended.

[Mark Kenyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this - probably not quite as much as the Andrew's 1st book, but that is probably because I read them back to back as I enjoyed the 1st one so much!

Will definitely read the 3rd book, but will read a different genre in between!

[Niall Cooling · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re into or ever thinking about cycling-touring then these books are a great read. Andrew has a very easy and enjoyable writing style that never gets boring. It is a very funny book showing some of the highs and lows and long distance cycling.

[Helena Aldis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun adventure of a cyclist; not interested in cycling but enjoyed his travelogue and adventures along the way.

[T Cothey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as the other two - not sure why though. The journey didn't spark as much interest in me as his other books, even though it's an incredible feat for a 'normal' man.

[Maurice Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read.

[Laurence Rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book - highly recommended!

Great book, very well written covering the challenges of the journey and some great information on the destinations. A pleasure to read and with each chapter covering a day of the adventure it's easy to pick up and put down. Great read for those who like cycling adventures. Well done Andrew.. looking forward to the next instalment.

[John Hilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent follow-up to Andrew's first book. He's currently part way through his next epic ride from the bottom of Spain to the top of Norway, so we'll hopefully have a third book sometime next year. Highly recommended.

[Jed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read, worth the money

[Tom Horvei · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having had great moments with this book's predecessor, expectations were high. And sometimes I enjoyed it, I really did. Other times I felt my mind drifting away as I read it. I guess this book, more than the last one, is slightly too much in the direction of a diary, and some of the days on the bike could have been described more briefly. On the other hand, there are some pretty good moments, especially at the point where Andrew is struggling with his motivation, along with a body and mind weakened by a long time on the road.

While the first book mainly made the reader (well, this one, anyway) want to just get out there and have a bicycle adventure, this book has more of the practical tips, at least between the lines. As someone who has been on the road a bit, and not for the last time, I enjoyed that.

An issue I addressed with the first book, was that I felt it would have needed an editor, someone to work on the direction of things, to shorten a sentence here and there, and to cut away some of the dead meat. This is evident also here, so I am looking much forward to Andrew's third book, not self published.

I still think Andrew can develop a unique voice in travel writing. One thing, though, that I really missed in this book, would be a chapter about what it is like to come home to daily life after such a long time on the road. Seasoned travel writer Mark Moxon has written an article on coming home after a long journey. (http://www.moxon.net/travel_tips/long...)

I'd love to see some of that from Andrew P. Sykes, as well.