The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold: Adventures Along the Iron Curtain Trail

by Tim Moore

'Bill Bryson on two wheels' IndependentScaling a new peak of rash over-ambition, Tim Moore tackles the 9,000km route of the old Iron Curtain on a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike. Asking for trouble and getting it, he sets off at the Arctic winter's brutal height, bullying his plucky MIFA 900 through the endless and massively sub-zero desolation of snowbound Finland. Haunted throughout the journey by the border detritus of watchtowers and rusted razor wire, Moore reflects on the curdling of the Communist dream, and the memories of a Cold War generation reared on the fear of apocalypse - at a time of ratcheting East-West tension. After three months, 20 countries and a 58-degree jaunt up the centigrade scale, man and bike finally wobble up to a Black Sea beach in Bulgaria, older and wiser, but mainly older.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Cycling, History, Adventure, Sports, Humor

348 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 5, 2016

About the author

Tim Moore is a British travel writer and humorist. He was educated at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith. In addition to his seven published travelogues to date, his writings have appeared in various publications including Esquire, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Observer and the Evening Standard. He was also briefly a journalist for the Teletext computer games magazine Digitiser, under the pseudonym Mr Hairs, alongside Mr Biffo (aka comedy and sitcom writer Paul Rose.)

His book Frost On My Moustache is an account of a journey in which the author attempts to emulate Lord Dufferin's fearless spirit and enthusiastic adventuring, but comes to identify far more with Dufferin's permanently miserable butler, Wilson, as portrayed Dufferin's travel book Letters From High Latitudes.
In 2004, Moore presented an ITV programme based on his book Do Not Pass Go, a travelogue of his journey around the locations that appear on a British Monopoly board.

Moore lives in Chiswick, West London with his Icelandic wife Birna Helgadóttir and their three children, Kristján, Lilja and Valdis. He is also a brother-in-law of Agnar Helgason and Asgeir Helgason, and son-in-law of Helgi Valdimarsson.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up as a teenager in the 1980’s the cold war and the Soviet threat was very real indeed. The whole system imploded at the end of that decade and the Iron Curtain that separated Western Europe from Communist bloc for decades was drawn aside. This physical and ideological border stretched from the Black Sea all the way up to the Barents Sea on the Finnish border with the USSR. This continental wide border is now the route for Eurovelo 13 (EV13) a 10,400km trail that passes through 20 different countries, countless monuments and a huge variety of landscapes of the countries that once were opposed.

It was this route that Tim Moore sets out to cycle. Not on a fancy bike though, oh no, the one he has chosen is a two geared, tiny two wheeled shopping bike. His velocipede of choice is a MIFA 900, a bike made in the GDR with broadly similar attributes to that of the Trabant. For some mad reason he was starting on the Russian Norwegian border in the midst of an Arctic winter.

Ambitious? Definitely, but what could possibly go wrong…

The route he takes is littered by the long forgotten and sinister paraphernalia of a once impenetrable border; razor wire, rusting towers and abandoned checkpoints. Cycling on the snow on a properly prepared bike is hard enough, but riding on this remnant of the GDR it is really tough going. He is kept in high spirits by the kindness of strangers, sleeps in hotels and hostels and occasionally peoples spare rooms. His tenacity to keep pedalling is matched only by his addiction to the Magic Man energy drink with its warming addition. He meets all sorts of characters on his journey, all affected by the change as the region changed from Communist control to modern Europe and free borders.

I have read all of Moore’s other books, so I was really looking forward to this. He manages to dream up some quirky and unusual travels, walking across Spain with a donkey, locating those that have had the ignominy of getting ‘nul points’ in the Eurovision and rediscovering his inner Roman in the re-enactment world. He is ever so slight nutty, and this makes for very funny moments in his travels. His self-depreciating attitude means that he rubs along with most people he meets, and give us a series of amusing anecdotes too. It was well worth reading as have been all his others. It didn't quite reach French Revolutions though which is still one of the funniest book I have ever read.

[Yodamom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cycling insanity through snow, ice, angry villagers, drunken drivers, award worthy pot holes, language failures, dark ruins, mad dogs, hunger and extreme physical exhaustion. Insane it might have been, but it was the best non trip I’ve taken. The historical knowledge and visions were better than any history class I’ve attended. The reality of the aftermath of the communist cold war is not something I had ever even thought of before. The best part, I didn't get a sore bum riding the trail.

This was my first Tim More adventure and it will not be my last. This was a dark trip through history, there is little light to be found in that history. Mr Moore brought some lightness with his brisk humor and honesty. His observations are not something I think I would notice on a trip, I enjoyed his views very much. I would suggest reading this while googling the places to see the landscape he traveled it is amazing,

[Sho · Rating 5 out of 5]

First things first. Stop comparing Moore with Bill bloody Bryson (who has turned into something of a bitter grumpy ol' git). The nearest comparison would be someone like Charlie Connelley.

Second: I tweeted that I'd just finished The Silmarillion and had started this and TIM MOORE TWEETED ME A BOROMIR MEME BACK IN REPLY. *swoon* That really really made my day (Tim - if you're reading this - I'm going through a bit of a shitty time at work and have a horrible commute. I was grinning like a lunatic when I saw that reply. Plus I <3 Boromir too so...)

here it is. Just because i can.

https://twitter.com/mrtimmoore/status...

Anyhoo. I'm not going into the whys and wherefores of this latest cycling oddessy but needless to say it's part-travelogue part social-coment part-complete-rambling but it's fantastic. A great read.

I'm well acquainted with Germans and Austrians and Moore is spot on with those, so i'm guessing he's spot on with all the others.

But that bike. Seriously? (and is it really in the MIFA museum? i have to visit)

[Ron S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eccentric British madman who’s been called “Bill Bryson on two wheels,” cycles 10,000km along the length of the old Iron Curtain on a shopping bike (two gears and 20" wheels). Starting from Finland, in winter. I’m not kidding.

Following French Revolutions (riding the Tour de France route in out of shape middle age) and Gironimo! (Giro d'Italia on a vintage bike with wooden wheels), Moore's publisher and wife need to intervene because it's difficult to see how he ups his game at this point. Unicycling to Patagonia? Riding a penny farthing through Syria? Given his genius for combining unusual travel and history with comedic flair, I’ll always be happy to travel with Moore (from my armchair) wherever he chooses to go.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been a fan of the author for years, but forced to admit this one I found mildly disappointing. Had the feel of being cranked out to fulfill a book proposal contract, where the historical details and bike-specific details were of limited interest. Started off very slow in Finland, but gained traction (old traveling Tim returned) once he got to Russia.

[Popup-ch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Moore sets off on his daftest adventure yet: cycling along the former Iron Curtain on an old East German shopping bike. He survives the 8'700km fueled by curiosity, boneheadedness and dubious energy drinks, and describes the ordeal in self-depreciating prose reminiscent of the early Bill Bryson. At one point he describes his decision to stop for the day as 'apart from vowing not to have more children and buying a cordless hedge trimmer, the only sensible decision he has taken since reaching middle-age'.

For no good reason whatsoever, he starts in Kirkenes in northern Norway in March, which means that he had to cycle through Finland in the snowiest part of winter, and arrives at the Black Sea at the height of summer, with the temperature going from -15° to +45°.

The woefully inadequate bike miraculously survives the journey, but doubts still linger concerning the sanity of the author.

[Dlmrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Oliver Pringle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute filler. I don’t recommend anybody reads this book unless they want to exercise an extreme feat of boredom-torture. Tim Moore chucked a thesaurus at a book that could’ve been two chapters long and called it a day. Useless adjectives and a boring narrative from a thoroughly unlikeable writer. If I could erase my memories and go back to a time when I hadn’t read this book I would.

I genuinely do not understand how the ratings for this book are so high.

[Jenny Hilborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a cyclist, I found this book interesting and applaud the massive effort and endurance undertaken; however, it wasn't really humorous, or maybe I enjoy a different type of humor. I can't recall laughing once throughout the book, not that it mattered as I was far more interested in following the route and the adventure, plus I enjoyed reading all the historical aspects.

[Joe O'Donnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anybody familiar with any of Tim Moore’s previous travelogues – such as cycling the full route of the Tour de France in “French Revolutions”, or walking the entire length of the Camino with a recalcitrant donkey – will know that the man is quite clearly a lunatic. For his latest adventure in “The cyclist who went out in the cold”, Moore has elected to ride the 10,000km route of the old Iron Curtain on a clapped-out East German DDR-era shopping bike.

While Tim Moore is primarily known as a humourist, I found “The cyclist …” to be somewhat more sombre than many of his previous travelogues. This is almost inevitable due to the route Moore has chosen for this journey, because of the fraught political history of the Iron Curtain and the huge ideological and geographical divisions it represented. But Moore proves adept at describing the historical horrors of the countries he passes through, whether it be the barbarism of Russia’s invasion of Finland in 1939-40, the frenzied paranoia of the East German police state, or the insanity of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his repugnant regime.

Thankfully, Moore’s trademark sardonic, self-deprecating wit is present throughout. And it is a wit that Moore needs in order to endure his miserable trudge through the Finnish winter, or to dodge the attentions of taciturn Russian lorry drivers and rabid Romanian dogs.

[David Canford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been wanting to read this book for a while. Growing up during the Cold War, that era has always fascinated me.
The author cycles the five thousand mile route that follows what was the Iron Curtain. He makes his expedition even more challenging by using a bike made in East Germany during the Communist era which is not well suited to the task and begins his journey through Finland in the middle of winter. It is an enjoyable mix of a travel book and history lesson. The author’s humour is however very British (and sometimes a little forced) so some of it may be unintelligible to North American readers as will reference to various British personalities. What emerges from the account is that little of the route sounds appealing to visit, and the people who inhabit it do not come across as friendly with occasional exceptions such as those in Serbia and Turkey. So while it is an entertaining and interesting read I’m not adding the places he visited to my bucket list.

[Pieter Morten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a joy to read. After worrying at the start that he was trying to hard to be funny you adapt to his humour and strap in for the ride. A very relaxing, funny and informative read. RECOMMENDED

[KendraLee · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of adjectives in this book. Sometimes to the detriment of the main point of the sentence. But I'd love to do a long distance cycle trip and found the stories about post-Soviet countries very interesting.

[Simon Clode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cracking Again

Another triumphant farce full of fun, historical vignettes and enough gaps in detail to irritate the cycling bores!

Great stuff.

[Graham Mott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An epic journey but unlike his previous trips to France and Italy it certainly wont inspire anyone follow the route, despite his humour it was obviously very tough and often boring and lonely to cycle. The countries come across as poor, scruffy and often unwelcoming while the route is little more the a line on the map. He makes no political point beyond the obvious evil of the old Iron Curtain (and he is still no fan of Russia or the Russians) and perhaps shining a light on the remaining poverty of many and perhaps an explanation as to why migration to places like the UK were so attractive. Nevertheless an enjoyable and amusing book which gave an interesting insight into the counties and the old border.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable book about a epic jaunt on a cycle route which took the rider along various Soviet block countries all on a old GDR small wheeled fold up type( though this was a non fold up version) type bicycle.
It's a humorous trek but much as Tony Hawks Moldovan tennis travel tale it's tinged with the depression and darkness of a authoritarian history at times.
That said it's never boring and having visited a few of the countries that feature..well it was good to find out a bit more about them.
The third book I've read by this author and up there with the last I read from him..which was an epic trek with a donkey!

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining, often funny, crazy-challenging bike travelogue, that only Tim Moore could have dreamed up. Riding a East German, 1970’s vintage, 20 inch, 2 speed “shopping bike,” Moore conquered the 8,558 km Iron Curtain bike route, traversing 20 countries, starting in Norway and ending at the Black Sea. His colorful writing style contains enough adjectives and adverbs to fill a dictionary and the historical cold war anecdotes add insight and interest to this very enjoyable read.

[Erin Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thinking Day Finland 2025

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This dude is seriously crazy, but such an interesting look at the countries along the Iron Curtain, both with some history and how they are today. Almost felt like it ended too soon, but I think the author was just tired by the end!

[Gord Friesen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Moore has been called “Bill Bryson” on a bicycle and with good reason as he is funny, educating and inspiring all at the same time. You don’t have to ride a bicycle to enjoy this book, just a healthy interest in geography, history and people.

[Jaer Mertens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book and a great adventure! Incredibly funny and truly inspiring. The travel journal of an awesome adventure. With interesting reflections along the historical route.

3.5 stars!

[Joshua Jackson]

A book full of w*nkerish filler

[Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Tim Moore is laugh out loud funny.

Cycling the length of the Iron Curtain, from Norway to the Black Sea, on a bike better suited to popping to the corner shop?

Barking mad, Moore delivers a fascinating snapshot of the 19 countries traversed by the nascent trail.

[Gretchen Blackburn]

Charming, captivating, and colorful. Entertaining read.

Notes/quotes:

The cyclist who went out in the cold:
I trudged shamefully forth to the darkened outer limits of acceptable compromise. page 22

There was no malice or misanthropy in his words, just naked truth, baldly delivered. Fins were a people of few words, understated to the point of bluntness. Dauntless, hard-core journeys were part of every day winter life up here, so mine wasn’t about to impress anyone. It wasn’t as if I needed to do this at all, certainly not at this time of year and on this sort of bike. If I chosen to make it harder for myself, then that was my own silly fault. Redbeard simply called it like it was. His was a land of harsh sincerity, where spades were spades, and daft little bikes were daft little bikes. Where you got help if you asked for it, but otherwise didn’t. Where bad ideas went to die. Pg36
Snow stained pink pg39

survival has always been a harsh and marginal affair up here. A third of the finish population died in a famine, more recent and more merciless than that caused by the failure of Ireland’s potato crop. Even today, 90% of the nation is classed as a rural wilderness. Finland remained mired in rustic poverty…impoverished deprivation. The Finns have native words for only the humblest human needs – water, milk, nuts, corn. Everything else, from vinegar to sugar, from ham to pornography, is borrowed from Swedish. Pg41

The winter of 1939-40 was the harshest in a hundred years, and the Russians lost a tenth of their troops to frostbite before they crossed the border. Pg42

Bicycle battalions
The Red Army’s forte was the iron-willed defense of the motherland. Attacking a harmless neighbor presented a more awkward motivational challenge. Page 42.
In one engagement, 4000 Russians failed to take a position held by 32 Finns. Pg43
May the hand wither that is forced to sign such a document as this. (Surrender treaty) page 45

The sauna is an invention cobbled together from Finland’s most abundant natural resources: water, wood and vowels pg53

For some time I wondered what on earth Raija must have said to unleash such weapons-grade hospitality...When you live in a difficult region and find a bad situation, you must depend 100 per cent on other people. They didn't want to help you, they needed to. Now they feel happy and more safe, because they can believe that someone will be there to help them when they need it.'
One good turn and all that. Arctic karma. As much as it troubled me to know that I would never be there to reciprocate when these wonderful people needed help, the way Raija told it I basically did them all a massive favour. Don't mention it. Pg57

Häyhä was a handy shot - most of his victims were gunned down at a range of 400 yards or more - but an absolute maestro of stealth. He used simple iron sights on his rifle to avoid the tell-tale reflections of telescopic glass, teamed his white cape with an eerie white mask, and spent hours tied high in trees or crouched behind drifts, stuffing snow in his mouth to avoid betraying himself with steamy exhalations. In the last week of the war, a Russian marksman finally got him in the jaw with an explosive bullet; with half his face blown off, Hayhä calmly picked up his rifle, steadied himself, and shot the Russian dead. After a slow and difficult recovery, the White Death lived on to the age of ninety-six, frustrating breathless interviewers to the end with the sheer force of his Finnishness. Pg63-64

giving me the look I was to see so often in the months to come, a gaze of curious disparagement that said: What a stupid thing to be doing. Like rounding the Isle of Wight by pedalo, or running a marathon in a suit of armour, it was already plain that the epic scale of my undertaking would always be undermined by its inherent foolishness. Pg66

Siege Leningrad… Cannibalism became so common that authorities had to amend the criminal code with new articles: corpses, and those who killed people for food. By the end of 1942, 2105 cannibals have been charged and the siege still had a year to run. The individual accounts are unbearable. “I watched my father and mother die. I knew perfectly well they were starving, but I wanted their bread more than I wanted them to stay alive.” Pg103

As tempting as it is to imagine the USSR being undone by humanity’s irresistible, urge for freedom, in truth, it just lost its mojo and fell apart. With the bomb built, space conquered, its people housed and all the other boxes ticked, the Soviets ran out of motivation and momentum. Page 114.

my hotel room was designed for some agoraphobic toddler pg117

Random Latvian commenting on the picnic by the road: “what you do here is not so beautiful “ pg131

Came closer to full-blown nuclear war a few times in the 80s . In 1983 a duty officer monitoring the Soviet's missile warning system at a base near Moscow received an automated alert: a satellite had detected the launch of five intercontinental ballistic missiles from a site in Montana. One can only imagine Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrovs state of mind as he digested this information, but we all owe him a Kestrel. Rather than instantly transmit the warning up the chain of command as per his orders, Petrov checked the ground radar and other data for any further evidence of incoming missiles, and having found none opted to keep the news to himself. His bold twin assumptions: the Americans would surely have fired more than five warheads in a first-strike scenario, and in any case the alert was probably a false alarm generated by Russias dependably undependable technology.
(It was the latter, of course - a report would conclude that the satellite had been confused by 'a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds'.) pg136

Routines became comforting to the point of addiction. Whatever I had been doing had somehow got me this far, so I needed to carry on doing it. These were the treadmill weeks, when fatigue duked it out with monotony. Pg141

with a tradition that must have been rather less onerous in the under fed days of yore: the pizza bloke told me that husbands were required to carry their new wives over no less than seven local river crossings. Pg144

Curonian spit pg 145

They found entire rooms stacked with neatly stacked jam jars, each containing a shred of fabric: the Stasi had kept a national ‘scent database’ of unreliable citizens, enabling them to send sniffer dogs into suspected meeting areas and establish who had been there. Pg210

Vera Lengsfield found that her husband had wooed and wed her on the Stasi orders (2 kids, married for 13 years) pg210

Like Big Brother keeping tabs on the Teletubbies pg212

GDR Athlete Doping - one former skiing champion has estimated that for every gold medalist, 350 athletes were left as invalids. Page 222.

Kilometer - metric bastard pg241

Old woman at a war memorial offering fleece tracksuit bottoms to the stranger for his journey pg249

Pam European picnic led to 700 East Germans dashing across the border page 254

The European Union is a rich tapestry; here I was at its tattered seems. Page 283.

Chewing painfully on gristled uphill kilometers when I wanted to wolf down great tender chunks of them. Page 305.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cyclist Went Out in the Cold:
Adventures Riding The Iron Curtain
Author: Tim Moore
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Publishing Date: 2017
Pgs: 340
Dewey: 796.6094 MOO
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
_________________________________________________
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
Scaling a new peak of rash over-ambition, Tim Moore tackles the 9,000km route of the old Iron Curtain on a tiny-wheeled, two-geared East German shopping bike.

Asking for trouble and getting it, he sets off at the Arctic winter’s brutal height, bullying his plucky MIFA 900 through the endless and massively sub-zero desolation of snowbound Finland.

Haunted throughout the journey by the border detritus of watchtowers and rusted razor wire, Moore reflects on the curdling of the Communist dream, and the memories of a Cold War generation reared on the fear of apocalypse – at a time of ratcheting East-West tension.

After three months, 20 countries and a 58-degree jaunt up the centigrade scale, man and bike finally wobble up to a Black Sea beach in Bulgaria, older and wiser, but mainly older.
_________________________________________________
Genre:
Travelogue
History
Bicylce Travel
Iron Curtain
Europe


Why this book:
I love a good travelogue.
_________________________________________________
The Feel:

Favorite Character:
The elderly Norwegian guy, 18 hours after he first started out, giving him the “you’re not from around here, are you?” He questioned him about whether he knew what the weather was like there as he rode his East German Shopping Bike a hundred miles north of the Arctic circle, sliding down Norway into Finland and on along.

The MIFA 900 shopping bike.

The German shopping bike enthusiasts giving him advice on how to modify his little East German MIFA into something that could actually make the ride all along the Iron Curtain Trail(EV-13).

EuroVelo 13 - The Iron Curtain Trail

Least Favorite Character:
Tim, himself.

Favorite Scene:
The image of droves of fisherman along that riverside in Croatia, all suntans, in Speedos, with a fishing rod in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Favorite Quote:
Describing his 30-year-old East German shopping bike with it’s nailed snow tires as looking mean like something Mad Max's aunt would ride to bingo during the apcalypse is hilarious.

Riding a bicycle through Finland in the winter being described as a dribbled slurry of gloom and delusion.

Favorite Concept:
Arctic karma: when you live in a difficult region and find yourself in a bad situation, you must attend, 100%, on other people. They didn't want to help him, they needed to and, now, they feel happy and more safe because they can believe that someone will be there to help them when they need it.

Hmm Moments:
Finally looked at a picture of a MIFA 900 shopping bike...this sumbitch is crazy trying to ride that thing 10,000km from Norway all along the iron curtain to the Black Sea.

He dips into moral lassisitude more than a few times over the course of this hellish bike ride.

After 6,000km, having a kidney stone issue pop up along the road, and managing to drink a bunch of water and do what had to be done and stay on the road. That's a tough man, a tough, tough man.

WTF Moments:
Holy s***! The Schonenberg, East Germany landfill where trucks from the West could dump a ton of anything for $20. And the residents still have an 80% higher cancer rate than those around them. Holy s***!

Meh / PFFT Moments:
He uses way too many column inches talking about his and his wife's previous trip along there and curtain. I like this story and this adventure, but it would have been better served if the editor would have talked him and his page count down a bit, and maybe left half of the story of his and his wife's 1990 car ride around Eastern Europe out.

Wisdom:
HIs trip was horribly planned.

Juxtaposition:
I read some Ugly Americanism into the way he reacts to some of the people along his route. ...then realize that he is being an Ugly Englander. ...guess it’s something to do with all of us Englishers...or whatever the common term for all of us is. Though Ugly Canadian sounds like a contradiction in terms. The way he writes about Finland, he sounds like an ugly tourist, classic cliche-like. Frozen, winterized arctic circle bicycle riding might have impacted his appreciation, but his appreciation is still ugly sounding. Though at the end of the ride, his appreciation for those early days, especially pre-Russia, seems greatly improved.

His visit to the MIFA factory seems odd. Them inviting him and wanting it to be about the future, while what he's doing is obviously about the past.

If EV-13 follows the Iron Curtain shouldn't the trail go down the Adriatic Coast to Greece including Croatia to Albania, but instead goes through Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia across toward Romania. I'm confused about what's considered the Iron Curtain, I guess.

The Unexpected:
His visit to Probstzella and the Haus des Volkes seems very The Shining, all alone in a huge resort hotel in a town that is lost in time and cut off both because of its GDR past and it's “not here yet” future.
_________________________________________________
Pacing:
It’s well paced.

Last Page Sound:
So, the big finish, he writes a paragraph that describes what's going on in the last 56km and, then, he's sitting on a bench with those 56km still to go waiting on his family to show up, I don't get it. Built in anticlimax. That paragraph from that last day could’ve been a chapter unto itself, as opposed to the short shrift it was given.

Questions I’m Left With:
So, was he afraid of the camp owner in Finland, the one who he was all alone with in a building full of empty beer cans in the middle of the blizzard, 3 hours from the nearest house...the one who really wanted to get him drunk. ...raised eyebrows.

Why didn't he start in Norwegian and Finnish Summertime, going in winter when it hovers around -14°C, the sweat you build up riding the bike or having breakfast...once you go outside in the Arctic could freeze solid and kill you? Of course on the other end, I wonder what those Balkan mountains would have been like in late summer or winter instead of being there in summer when they were baking him alive?

Editorial Assessment:
Should’ve been a bit more present in focusing the story on the “current” trip as opposed to previous trips through the same areas.
_________________________________________________

[Ken Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tim Moore does the curmudgeonly English traveller par excellance in this travelogue.

The premise is suitably abitious and quixotic. How about riding a 2 geared East German made shopping bicycle along the borderlands of the now superfluous Iron Curtain, from the icy wastes of Finland, to the Black Sea. Nearly 10,000 km of travail, on a bicycle built for short trips to the shops.

Throughout, our cycling hero presents his observations of the character of the population of the 20 nations of his 2 wheeled traverse, interspersed with cold war historical tibits. Few of these cultures pass Mr Moore's high standards. Tim particularly does not like Russia. or Russians, though he presents an admirable contempt of Europe and Europeans generally. He has a soft spot for Germans and Serbians though.

The narrative rattles along nicely, and documents a quite impressive achievment. Moore's description of the physical changes in his body in the couse of the endeavour are testament to his determination. Worth the time to peruse these pages.

[Sharon Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of how complex and disparate Europe really is and how precious our unity is. Throughout his journey Tim Moore sees reminders of our not too distant dark history where nation was pitched against nation. It made me want to read more about the history of Europe, particularly Northern Europe as I know little about it. Saying that this is not a depressing read and Tim Moore is an informative and funny writer and good company for the journey.

[Paul Vernon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny and well written account of an amazing journey. Mad? Yes, I think he is. 😀

[Hermien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite entertaining and worth reading if you plan to or have visited the Eastern European countries Tim Moore cycles through.

[Darci · Rating 5 out of 5]

It starts slow, much like his journey did, but a very enjoyable book about traveling.