Eric Matthes, author of the bestselling Python Crash Course, embarked on a life-altering, year-long bicycle journey around the United States in the late 1990s. This episode dives into that fascinating period in Eric's life, when he interwove bicycling with his other passions: programming, teaching, and writing. Eric candidly shares his initial struggles, including a pivotal near-knee-destroying trip to Niagara Falls that almost ended his touring career before it began. Successively more challenging outings culminated in his 14,216-mile Seattle-to-Alaska-via-Florida circumnavigation. Hear about Eric’s cross-country adventure, including his memorable time riding alongside his friend Sara, scary moments in the south, and encounters with bears in the north. Discover how this transformative experience shaped Eric’s path to becoming a successful author and his unique perspective on overcoming life’s obstacles, both on and off the road.

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Journey to the Middle East with Miles Spencer as he unravels the fascinating story of T.E. Lawrence's early life and adventurous spirit. Discover how Lawrence's youthful bicycle tours through France, meticulously documenting medieval castles and cathedrals, foreshadowed his legendary role in the Arab Revolt. Miles, along with his friend Wells Jones, retraced Lawrence's wartime trek across the Arabian Desert from Jeddah to Damascus, sharing their own experiences of navigating the challenging landscape and encountering the welcoming culture. This episode delves into Lawrence's complex character, his deep understanding of the region, and the historical context of his pivotal role in World War I. While not a "bicycle tourist" in the conventional sense, Lawrence’s life on two wheels embodied many of the same principles that drive cyclists to explore the world by bike today: a thirst for adventure, a desire for self-sufficiency, and a means for testing one’s endurance limits.

A Line in the Sand by Miles Spencer and Wells Jones is sold on Amazon. 

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Meet Laura and Shaun, a Canadian couple whose cycling adventures began when the 2020 lockdown forced them to cancel their plans to spend a year traveling the world. Hear their hilarious first tour stories, complete with grocery-getter bikes, backpacks, bungee cords, and borrowed panniers from the ‘80s! After a successful first outing, the couple undertook a honeymoon-on-wheels exploration of British Columbia and a bikepacking tour of Baja California, Mexico. We kick off Season 2 of the podcast by following Laura and Shaun’s evolution from accidental bicycle tourists to seasoned adventurers. The culmination of their journeys is an ambitious 2022 Patagonian tour, full of dramatic weather, logistical nightmares, and heartwarming kindness from both strangers and fellow travelers.

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Ever wondered about the voice that welcomes you to The Accidental Bicycle Tourist podcast? In this special holiday episode, host Gabriel pulls back the curtain, inviting his wife Sandra as a guest for the very first time! Join them in their cozy home in Germany as they reflect on their summer bike tour with baby Emilio, sharing hilarious mishaps and heartwarming moments. But that's not all - find out which episodes you found most memorable this past season, including a series of entertaining discussions with those episodes’ guests. Also, catch updates from other Season One guests and learn a bit about the podcast’s listeners. Filled with laughter, reflection, and a dash of that irresistible accidental charm, this episode is the perfect way to wind down the year and look ahead to the open road in 2025.

One of the selected episodes is "Adventures of a High-Tech Nomad" with Steven K. Roberts. If you would like to read the serialized version of his book Computing Across America, please visit his Substack page.

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Fueled by a quarter-life crisis and the desire to break free from routine, bikepacking newcomer Melanie Schautt embarked on a transformative half-year cycling adventure through South America with her friend Louise, a seasoned cyclist. From battling fierce headwinds and a near-quitting moment on the Carretera Austral in Patagonia to overcoming mechanical issues and a couple of injuries, Melanie had to be resilient to keep pedaling. Amidst the struggles, she also discovered the unexpected joy and freedom of finding her own pace, the value of enduring friendships, and the thrill of conquering challenging terrain, including the Lagunas Route and Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia and Cotopaxi in Ecuador. Melanie’s vivid storytelling may leave you craving to launch your own South American bikepacking adventure. 

If you would like to explore Melanie's posts for yourself, her Instagram is @livingintents. She also maintains a website with additional information.

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This episode takes a highly experimental turn as Gabriel, your host, brings in not one, but *two* AI guests, Scout and Rambler – instances of Google’s Gemini AI. These digital personalities debate hot topics in bicycle touring, offering unique and sometimes hilarious perspectives. Prepare for a wild ride as Scout, the hardcore bikepacker, extols the virtues of solo touring and meticulous planning, while Rambler, the easygoing newbie, champions the joys of companionship and spontaneous detours. Their clashing philosophies ignite lively discussions about route planning, solo versus group rides, and the impact of e-bikes on traditional touring. The conversation takes unexpected twists and turns, including a harrowing tale of Scout’s scree-field descent and a shared passion for pie that transcends their differing approaches to adventure. And did sparks fly between our AI guests? Listen in to find out! This episode is packed with information, unexpected humor, and thought-provoking insights. You won’t want to miss this unique AI-powered exploration of the world of bike touring.

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Alan Gilbert has always been interested in long, challenging bicycle rides. For Alan, the chance to ride across the United States from Pacific to Atlantic in 38 days finally presented itself in 2022, upon retiring from his job as a technology executive. The timing also coincided with the end of COVID, which had kept Alan cooped up at home and yearning to get out, meet people, and explore the country 100 miles at a time. Rather than undertake this Big Hairy Audacious Goal alone, Alan found a riding partner, Dave, and their respective spouses, Sue and Dee, became known as the Support Angels. In this episode, we will dive into Alan’s BHAG, as well as trace his love of touring to its origins (a trip in Ohio when he was seventeen) and what he’s been up to since finishing his coast-to-coast adventure (a fully supported tour of classic mountain climbs in France).  

You can learn more about Alan’s adventures by reading his blog on Medium.

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Roger Levy, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, considers himself a scientist of language and a polyglot, speaking five languages fluently and many more conversationally. In this episode, Roger will share the sounds and flavors from his six bike tours across three continents. Since Roger also happens to be a longtime friend, I was his partner on two of the six tours. On his solo adventures, Roger enjoyed the delicious breakfast offerings in Taiwan and ended each day of riding in Scotland in a pub and perhaps a whisky distillery. He also trained with the Stanford University triathlon team and discovered the bicycle-friendly country of Rwanda. Everywhere he went, Roger bravely took on the roads, the weather, and the language barriers he encountered.

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Barbados. Dominica. Guadeloupe. Martinique. These are some of the exotic Caribbean islands visited by André Plumeau with his bicycle, Frieda. In Part 2 of this double episode, André again defies the odds by sailing west from the Republic of Cabo Verde on various boats, with diverse crews. Eventually, a spontaneous assignment to pick up a sailboat in Florida separates him from Frieda and the rest of his touring equipment. He makes his way around the United States to Mexico, where he hopes to be reunited with Frieda. At the end of the episode, André reveals his surprise plan for the end of the year, which we also hope will come true.

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Imagine that you are walking down the road near your home town in France when a friend calls you and invites you to join him on a bicycle tour. Since you don't own a bike, you buy one over the Internet and call it Frieda. You pack your bags and three days later you are cycling with your friend in Portugal. You don't know it yet, but this is the start of an adventure that will last at least two years, taking you to the tip of Portugal, into Spain, and then by sea, island-hopping across the Atlantic, with Frieda at your side. That is a very brief outline of André Plumeau's story. On part one of this two-part episode, we will hear about André's incredible journey from Porto in Portugal to the Republic of Cabo Verde.

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