Cycling touring is a fantastic way to simply get away from the daily grind. There is a bewildering array of cycling organisations, organised tours, charity and children bike rides ranging from a couple of hours in the countryside up to Mark Beaumont’s epic cycle around the world completing his 18,297 miles (29,446 km) route on 15 February 2008, having taken 194 days and 17 hours http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Beaumont_(cyclist)

I’m Mark Griffiths and at 41 years old, I’ve been planning and cycle touring for 25+ years. I remember cycling from my native city Worcester in the United Kingdom to pretty well every town and village within 20 miles in my early teens. I tried to be the next Lance Armstrong in my late teens but found there to be too many distractions. In my 20’s and 30’s I have rode many charity bike tours usually with friends, including Land’s end to John O Groats, length, wide and circumference of Ireland (I love the Emerald Isle), the length of New Zealand and various smaller rides around Europe.

There are many experiences, techniques and challenges I’ve had to face on my travels. Planning your own charity cycling tour is challenging before you even get on your bike, for instance: how do you get to the start and finish of your cycle tour? What cycle gear do I need? What is likely to go wrong with my bike and what do I do if it does? Where am I going to sleep too night? These are questions I like to have an answer to before I go.

I’m going to cover all you need to know to plan your own charity cycling expedition including methods for planning cycling routes, the cycle gear needed for touring, how to raise money for your charity and techniques for making it that little bit easier when you’re on the road. My goal is to provide interesting and relevant information covering all aspects of cycling touring.