Over the course of 6 weeks in September and October, I’m pedalling my way from Newcastle to Athens covering a route of roughly 2,300 miles, climbing over 60,000 feet and taking in the likes of Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Skopje and Thessaloniki along the way.

I’ve made the adventure a little more interesting and challenging by doing all the prep very last minute and putting entirely insufficient thought into (i) my packing (I’d hate to know how much my bike and gear actually weighs all combined…) and (ii) my planning of the route, meaning there will be plenty detours, horror climbs, and unsuitable surfaces to cause all manner of mechanical issues. To top it off, I’ve done relatively little ‘proper cycling’ in recent months and so it will be interesting to see how / if my legs cope...

I was undecided as to which cause to support and was giving it consideration in my first days of the journey just as two awful natural disasters hit North Africa in quick succession - and so with the suffering of those impacted in mind in both Libya and Morocco, I’ll be pedalling with that little bit more purpose and if ever I find my legs are starting to make a fuss tackling a hillside, I’ll try to reflect on what those impacted by these events might be experiencing. So if you’d like to sponsor me and help towards Red Cross relief efforts in Libya, Morocco and elsewhere, I (and the Red Cross) would be immensely grateful.

Thanks in advance for any donations and feel free to get in touch if you’d like details of the route I end up taking so you can undertake a similar journey!

Ps. Full disclosure: the first leg from Newcastle to Amsterdam is 99% overnight ferry with only a few miles of cycling either side... cheat route!