The Expedition Journals

Over the course of numerous long distance bike tours, I have refined and modified my luggage selection. My solution for road and gravel tours is a handlebar bag, frame bag, and two small rear panniers. The release of the new Restrap Small Panniers means this complete collection could now come from the Yorkshire brand; and that is exciting… Restrap have a genuine passion for the products they create for bikepacking and bicycle touring. Their products are made by hand in their Yorkshire factory, and finished with innovative touches like their magnetic buckles and super strong webbing straps. Their handlebar bag and/or frame bag have come with me on all of my long distance tours to date; including the #CoastsandCols , #7Countries7Passes , and the #RoadsFromRome . These new Restrap panniers are highly likely to come on this year's big tour… (more details of that coming soon). The Restrap panniers use a classic roll-top design, secured with Restrap's patented magnetic clips. M...

Boundaries were made to be broken. Comfort zones made to be crushed. The full story of the XPDTN3 Dolomites is available at  XPDTN3.club , but here is a short sommario of the three days of diverse and incredible riding on the Italian Dolomite Giara… The idea for this adventure was born last summer, when at the end of the #5MaratonasChallenge  my host Igor Tavella from Holimites gave me the GPX file for a ' wild card ride ', which took me on several sections of gravel road — it opened my mind to a great opportunity… Igor said that when I returned to the mountain range I should bring a gravel bike; so that we could further explore these ' roads less travelled '; roads that can take you high above the asphalt, onto the plateau of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The idea of a three day adventure was born: starting from Badia, we would complete a figure of eight loop of gravel passes and paths in the Alta Badia region; stopping overnight at two remote alpine rifugio...