I wrote up the section on Charles’ cycling travels from memory and like a good journalist I got it wrong, here is the real story;-

Charles Cycling History

I retired in 2000 and began cycling as a hobby almost immediately, having done no cycling since the early 70’s.

In July 2001 I took delivery of a touring bike that had been designed to cope with my 6’4″ size and sitting upright riding stance.
I made several trips in and around Glasgow, and became addicted to cycling such that my distances rose from 5miles to 15, 35
up to 50miles over about 6 months. More miles seemed better and I soon went achieved 100miles, albeit at the pedestrian
average speed of 10mph.

My first long trip on the new bike was later in 2001 from Pollokshields through the city and up the Forth Clyde canal cycle path to
Bonnybridge. I took the road up to Stirling on to Callander then Crianlarich, where I turned to head back to home.
The trip was about 150 miles and took 13 hours to complete but proved to my satisfaction that the bike was ideally suited to
long distance touring. As usual I travelled at a steady 10mph.
I continued to cycle up to 100miles a day (3 days per week) for the new few years.

In Jun 2002 I loaded up the bike with panniers full of luggage and took the train down to Plymouth, where I took the ferry
across to Roscoff in Britanny. On this trip I travelled up to Rouen across country to Rheims, down to Troyes, Dijon and finally
arriving in Lyons having completed 1000miles.

In 2005 I undertook a charity event to cycle around the edge of France from Calais to Brest then Nantes to Bordeaux.
I continued down to the Pyrenees and then went from Biarritz to Perpignan in the foothills. I followed my Route up to Montpelier
on to Marseille then to N
ice. From here I followed the road to Grasse then Avignon and up the Rhone to Lyon.
The journey continued to Besancon Mulhouse Strasbourg up to the eastern top most border with Germany.
Here I turned west and followed roads via Metz Sedan Lille and back to Calais.
Total 4800km (3000miles) took 64 days in the saddle with 30 rest days. On average I covered 50 miles per cycling day.
Helen my wife drove our motorhome so that I always had a comfortable bed to recover from my ride.

I did encounter several saddle sores on route which made me think seriously about getting a recumbent trike,
as it doesn’t have a saddle but a proper seat. Another factor was battling the elements in an upright riding stance is very tiring.
The recumbent position doesn’t suffer from this problem as you ride in a laid back position with legs out in front.

In 2008 I cycled from Saint Jean Pied de Port over to Pamplona the across northern Spain via Burgos, Leon and Astorga to complete
the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela ( St James Field of Stars) a distance of 500 miles. It was a very enjoyable journey.
In an average year 100,000 people walk the pilgrimage and about 30,000 cycle it.
Whether you are religious or not everyone is friendly and the welcoming. You carry a passport with you and get it signed along the way.
When you reach Santiago you exchange the passport for a certificate of absolution, or achievement depending on your beliefs.

I enjoyed the experience so much a repeated it 2010, and my trike broke about 100 miles from the end. I completed the trip in
Feb 2012 on my touring bike.

One feature of cycling that I found very dispiriting is adverse weather. Battling sting winds on a bike can result in almost no
progress with your journey. This battle is lessened by using a recumbent, but the cold and wet are bigger problems than conventional cycling.
An ideal solution for me would be an enclosed trike or velomobile.

This is what Kenny is busy designing and building.

Regards Charles