- 28 minutes 46 secondsCycling Across Scotland, the Netherlands & Belgium with Brian Sampson
Guest Brian Sampson is currently on a bike adventure connecting up 1000 places to see before you die. In this update he gives us the lowdown on what it's like to go cycling in Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands.
If you are planning on riding in Scotland you'll love the ease of wildcamping there and hiking ot the top of Goatfell, the highest peak on the Isle of Arran should definitely make it on your list. But beware of the midges and ticks!
Then Brian shares his thoughts on the cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands as well as how he actually plans out his cycle routes. Working out how to join the dots of places he wants to see on a google map and then the reality of physically standing in the Grand Place in Brussels, and then taking in the history right at the site of the the battle of Waterloo.
Be sure to give Brian a follow via his instagram - @Brian.Sampson4 to keep up to date with his bike adventure. He is now currently making his way through Europe and the Balkans and plans to wrap up this leg of the journey in Athens, Greece.
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music25 August 2026, 5:00 am - 1 hour 23 minutesSolo Bikepacking the Nordics: Finland, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands with Marcello Pacifici
Guest Marcello Pacifici shares his experiences of bikepacking in some of the most isolated places in the Nordics. Originally from Rome in Italy, Marcello now calls Helsinki home. He got into riding bikes as a cheap way to get around the city, then expanded that to bikepacking as a way to discover Finland.
His first bikepackign trip was 800kms and would take him all the way to Finnish Lapland. He's since taken many other adventures including time spent on the Arctic Post Road as well as three weeks spent riding in Iceland. When snow blocked the roads on the Iceland Divide Route, Marcello changed his plans and cycled the Westfjords Way.
More recently he has just completed a solo journey on teh Faroe Islands. A place he says needs to be seen to be believed and which left him feeling he was standing on the edge of the world.
You can follow Marcello's future adventures via his instagram - @WhereIsMarcello and read his ride reports via his substack blog
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music22 August 2026, 5:00 am - 23 minutes 26 secondsWild Things Happen on Bike Adventures
What's the wildest thing that's happened to you during a bike adventure? I asked this question and got inundated with responses so this week I'm sharing them with you.
Responses range from marriage proposals, dog chases, nudist beach encounters to being kidnapped by the Taliban!
I also share some of my own crazy bike adventure experiences including how I've twice managed to find myself starting a mountain descent wit no brakes (don't recommend!)
Also a big shoutout to Adam Leathwood who has been tuning into the podcast for some inspiration to get out there for his own bike adventures and has now gone and done the thing! You can read more about Adam's adventure here:
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music18 August 2026, 5:00 am - 1 hour 39 minutesBlending Ultra Racing with Bikepacking: Hannah Simon
Hannah Simon has raced ultras in four different continents, but you'd be wrong to assume she is only focused on racing. She also enjoys strapping gear on her bike and riding through new landscapes.
This year she chose to combine them all by riding to the start line of three seperate events across Europe. I enjoyed exploring her experience as a photo journalist and how she blends her desire to see the landscapes with the competitiveness it takes to race through them as well.
Her racing pedigree speaks for itself, she has successfully completed the Triple Crown (Arizona Trail, Tour Divide and Colorado Trail) as well as the Triple Nelson (all three mountain races, Atlas, Silk Road and Hellenic). In 2024 she finished as first woman across the line at the Silk Road Mountain Race, which required her to ride on a pedal spindle for over 400kms due to a mechanical.
But did you know she only learnt how to ride a bike so that she would be able to go horse riding? That her favourite riding food is humous from Lidl and that she enjoyed being humbled by the weather and terrain in Scotland's highlands during the Highland Trail 550?
Be sure to follow Hannah's future adventures via her instagram - @HannahSimon_
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music15 August 2026, 5:00 am - 34 minutesFrom Bikepacking to Ultra Racing: Anna Ruddiman's El Piri Experience
Considering riding an Ultra? You need to listen to this episode!
A few months ago Anna Ruddiman was on the podcast talking about cycling from London to Turkey, and mentioned she might try an ultra cycling race. Well, she just went ahead and did it. Anna has just finished El Piri, an unsupported 800km race through the Spanish Pyrenees (with 20,000m of climbing no less), and she's sent through a full debrief.
TL;DR: you're never going to feel ready, you're more capable than you think, and the only way to find that out is to go anyway.
Follow along with Anna's future adventures via her instagram @annaruddiman
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music11 August 2026, 5:00 am - 1 hour 26 minutesBikepacking from Alaska to New York: Jimmy Vervoort
Belgium bikepacker Jimmy Vervoort shares his awesome journey riding from Alaska to New York City. This was a trip split into two parts with the first starting in the middle of winter which made for some very cold riding days in Alaska. One of the golden rules of bike travel is being adaptable, so Jimmy changed up his route, flew to Vancouver and then cycled south down the Pacific Coast trail.
When he ran out of funds he flew back to Belgium worked and saved up to restart the journey this time in Louisiana. Eventually he'd ride all the way to New York incorporating sections of the Arizona Trail and Colorado Trail, where he admits there is some 'unfinished business' to take on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route in the future.
You can follow Jimmy's future adventures via his instagram @Jimmy_Two_Wheels
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music8 August 2026, 5:00 am - 30 minutes 5 secondsCycling to Everest Base Camp: Daragh Cronin's Monsoon Setback in India
Twenty kilometres outside Mumbai, sitting in a half-flooded slum with the rain hammering down,Daragh Cronin had what he calls one of the lowest moments of his life. This week he's filling us in on what happened since his last update during his adventure of cycling from Ireland to Mount Everest Base Camp.
To keep up with Daragh's future adventures you can follow him via instagram @RoaminWithConin
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music4 August 2026, 5:00 am - 1 hour 33 minutesCould You Spend Two Years Bikepacking? Paula and Juan Pablo
Juan Pablo's first bike trip was a huge solo journey over 16 months. Then he came home to Chile, met Paula, they got married and six weeks after their wedding they both got on bikes and started bikepacking together..
All up they hope to spend two years on this adventurous version of a honeymoon.
We discuss:
- Bikepacking as a couple: a newlywed honeymoon covering 20,000km
- Solo bike touring: 19,000km across Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa
- Bikepacking Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia: expectations vs. reality
- Route planning and gear for long-distance cycle touring
- Relationship and communication tips for touring as a couple
- Bike mechanical failures and storm survival on tour
- Juan Pablo's 104 tips for bike travel
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music1 August 2026, 5:00 am - 22 minutes 19 seconds51 Years Cycling The World: Remembering Heinz Stücke
This week's episode is dedicated to Heinz Stücke, who passed away on July 22 aged 86. Heinz is a legend in the bike travel community, the holder of the world record for the most travelled person in the world. He spent over 51 years cycling to every single country and territory in the world.
In Sept 2025, I visited Heinz in his home in Hovelhoff and spent the day chatting about this adventures. This episode features excerpts from that conversation.
You can listen to the original episodes in full here - Part 1 and Part 2.
RIP Heinz. I like to think you are still out there travelling now.
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music28 July 2026, 5:00 am - 1 hour 38 minutesBike Touring the World with Marielle Jauring (re-visited)
Marielle Jauring has ridden roughly 89,000 kilometres across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe and Asia since her first tour in 2017.
This interview was recorded midway through her current ride from Poland to Sri Lanka. The conversation ranges from lighter moments (a turtle sanctuary in Malaysia, blue lava in Indonesia, petting a bear in Canada that turned out to be drunk, not dead) to genuinely hairy ones (heatstroke in the Australian outback, a car accident with her sister, and getting stranded cashless at the Russia–Kazakhstan border before hitchhiking 750 km back into Georgia with two truck drivers).
Marielle also opens up about grief, and how cycling has become a form of meditation for her.
Follow Marielle's adventures via her instagram - @_the_biking_viking_
This episode was first released in Nov 2024
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music25 July 2026, 5:00 am - 17 minutes 11 secondsThe Best Countries for a Bike Adventure (According to You)
What's the best country to take a bike adventure? I put that question to the Seek Travel Ride Instagram community, and the answers poured in, from expected favourites to a few genuine curveballs. This episode is dedicated to running through every single one.
It comes on the back of a scorching European summer and a roadside afternoon spectating the Tour de France, which got me reflecting on how the race first brought me to France and ultimately to the Pyrenees back in 2013, where I now live.
Countries featured in this episode:
- Most votes: France, Turkey, Spain
- Mountain destinations: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Bolivia, Norway
- Off the beaten path: Tunisia, New Caledonia, El Salvador, Saudi Arabia
- Classic bike-adventure countries: New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, China, Peru, Iran
- The philosophical answer: "Wherever you haven't been yet" (and "any country" will do)
Got a country to add to the list? Get in touch and let me know your pick for the best country to take a bike adventure.
Mentioned in this episode
Slauka' Macurak's Norway episode (recently re-released)
Leonie Katekar's episode on cycling solo from Antigua to Ushuaia
My YouTube series on crossing the Pyrenees coast to coast
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Seek Travel Ride Music Playlist available now on both Spotify or Apple Music21 July 2026, 5:00 am - More Episodes? Get the App