This week's guest blogger is Sam Mould, an 'artist-adventurer' who regularly combines these two passions to create works of art inspired by and facilitated by the undertaking of long journeys by bicycle. Here she discusses why cycling is such a desirable way to travel:

 
Why travel by bike?

My first response to this question was ‘it’s obvious isn’t it?’ The pursuit of happiness is on two wheels. My bike is a beautiful thing. In working order it responds to my every whim. It’s an extension of one’s being. But that’s a relatively short and uninformative answer and I began to wonder, why, in fact, I actually choose to travel by bike. It’s a fundamental part of who I am, and cycling as I recall doesn’t always breed happiness, in fact sometimes it feels rather like you’ve shot yourself in the foot and you ask yourself, why? why? why?

In London I ride to work, to the studio, from work, from the studio, sometimes for work, sometimes for art, to the lido, to keep fit, to bathe in the air and frolic in the sunshine, to get to the foot of a hill, to go climbing, to freewheel, to see the sights, to smell the sea, to escape, to forget, to remember, to quench my restlessness, to get home, to stay sane. Travelling by bicycle in London represents life beyond my physiotherapist’s tunic, life beyond who people think I am. It’s a way of being outside the daily grind.

But there is more to travelling by bike. Last year I made a promise to a kiwi friend of mine. She wanted to see more of Europe before returning home to New Zealand and after devising numerous ridiculous ways of seeing more of Europe, the sanest way seemed to be to cycle the length of the continent. That promise, made on a whim, led to a two month, self supported cycling adventure from Nordkapp in northern Norway, to Tarifa in southern Spain.

This week, we hear from Dave Gill, a once-disillusioned video producer who left everything behind to spend a year chasing sunsets across the USA and Canada on a bicycle. His focus was people - meaningful and interesting interactions - and below he tells us why the bicycle is a good way to find those. As someone who also set off across North America on two wheels, I think Dave has got it bang on with this one...

Why travel by bicycle? is a fascinatingly simple question but one that I’ve thought about a lot. Sometimes whilst literally feeling rage pulse through my veins, looking at three snapped spokes and a puncture, and being far away from anywhere in a lightning storm. In moments like that, the question shifts to a more expletive-driven one. ‘Why the F*CK am I travelling by bicycle?!’. But it’s not like that most of the time. 

At the end of 2012 I was burned out and wanted to do something new that I had no experience of. When I weighed up the options, a long-distance cycling journey seemed like the best thing to do. So, the first time I ever travelled by bicycle was when I set off to cycle a loop of North America, and during that year-long journey my answer to why changed a lot. For example, with hindsight I wouldn’t have been so fixed to the idea of a loop or a final destination or a timeframe at all. 
There were a few different reasons for choosing to ride. One was I needed to get away and recharge and go somewhere where I had no ties and could feel creative again. Another was I wanted to meet a bunch of people and see if they’d ever struggled with similar things such as burn-out. Three, I love North American geography - how there’s beautiful mountains, epic coastlines, vast desert and more. And four, I wanted to get healthy again. For the past few years I had let being physically healthy fall by the wayside and I missed it. 

This week's guest writer on the topic of 'Why travel by bicycle' is Tom Allen - an adventure cyclist, blogger and filmmaker. His bike trips have taken him thousands of miles through tens and tens of countries around the world, including the sorts of places that many travellers would desperately seek to avoid (think Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Syria, Ethiopia.) 
Tom's inaugural years of bicycle travel were subsequently made into a feature film, Janapar, which is simply a must-watch for anyone with even the slightest interest in adventure. Most recently, of course, his 'career' hit a new high point when he had the great honour of going on an a trip with one of his all-time heroes... 
Below Tom shares his thoughts on why he so often chooses bicycles for his particular brand of adventurous travel.

Oh boy. Have I got a tough job ahead of me. How is it possible to provide a satisfactory answer to a question saddled from the word go with so many possible distortions of meaning?

Perhaps I should first explain all the things that "travel by bicycle" does not mean.

In fact, no. Let's go even further back to basics and deal with what is meant by "travel", seeing as almost everyone gets this wrong.

When you get into a car, onto a train or plane or bus, or even when you leave the house on foot, you do so almost exclusively with the intention of going somewhere. You have a destination in mind, and your chosen mode of transport is the means of reaching it.

Every time you pack a suitcase, buy a ticket, plan an itinerary or open a guidebook, you are participating in a particular kind of travel - one that casts experiences as concrete, consumable lists of things, and places as things to go to and return from.

This sounds so stupidly, stupidly obvious. And that's exactly why I need to bring it up. Because in order to see the point of travelling by bicycle - and thus to answer the question of "why" one might travel by bicycle - you must first abandon entirely your traditional understanding of why you'd choose to travel in the first place.

I've always found there to be something irresistibly appealing about cycle touring, and it's clear that I'm not alone - cycling is fast becoming the new backpacking! But what is it that is so attractive about it? I wrote down a few of my thoughts here, and over the next couple of months this blog will be hosting a number of guest posts on the theme of 'Why travel by bicycle?' in an effort to hear a wide range of perspectives.

First up, we have Tim and Laura Moss, who are on the road as we speak/type/read. Last summer they set off from England, headed for Australia - so far they've cycled across Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East and are currently in India. It's a great trip to follow vicariously - they've had some great adventures, and both write wonderfully about the journey on their blog. Below, then, are their thoughts on why they love travelling by bicycle. Or at least, below are Laura's thoughts on that topic. Tim has rather helpfully taken a different approach, and decided to point out why he hates his bicycle...enjoy!