So what led me to to my cycling adventures Some years ago I had idly wondered if I could manage without a car, since I did not use it for work and not often for anything else - was I using it just because it was there? As it happened I lost the car in an accident and that, ironically, gave me the impetus I needed to see if I could live without a car. That and the fact I'd worked out it had been costing me £40 a week to run! After 6 months of not being very mobile (other than buses / trains and my good friends insisting on giving me lifts) I started looking at pushbikes. Since storage space is limited at my cottage, I researched folding bikes and discovered the 'Brompton'. After a test ride and some test folding I was convinced this was what I was looking for. So on August 2nd 2002 I was the proud owner of a new bike! Below are a selection of pictures showing the bikes transformation. The next week I cycled to Poole, Dorset and back to get some more general accessories and a cycle computer. 28 miles in all, hmm, that was easy (I must point out here that at this time I had been a postman on a bike for over 6 years). The Brompton rides like a large wheeled bike, is easy and quick to fold and its small when folded. I rapidly concluded it was the most useful item I had ever bought. You can ride it for free or take it on buses, put it behind your seat on a train and even get a taxi if you are tired. It was after a few trips like the one to Poole when I began to wonder about the sort of distances I could go in a reasonable amount of time. What about a whole day in one direction? I realised that I could pack all I needed for a weeks holiday on the bike, staying in B&B's, I could just go and keep going.....  So on Monday May 19th 2003 I did this and cycled around the local counties of Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. It was fantastic, the feeling of freedom was amazing and in 5 days and 234 miles I was back home. The weather was not brilliant that week by any means, but it was still easily the best holiday I had ever had.  It was while I was in The Sun Inn at Frome (Good pub and B&B) I told the barmaid what I was doing and she said "are you doing it for charity?" and I said "no, but what a good idea". That small seed was sown there and then and soon grew in to the large escapade of cycling around the coast. The rest is history! Well of course I have done it now so please check out my Trip pages by clicking on the links below for all the details.