kiticon loves a good adventure! David spends his spare time visiting faraway places in search of it. Summer 2009 will see him cycling through Central Asia to Tajikistan and end in Kyrgyzstan.

Kiticon:    Hi David, what bike are you riding at the moment?

David Nicholls:    I currently have two bikes, one shiny road bike (a Specialized Allez Elite) for training and a sturdy touring bike (an Gary Fisher Zebrano). At the moment I am training for Ironman France (the middle section of which is a 112 mile bike ride up mountains), which means some long hours on the Allez Elite. I am, however, looking back to getting on my Zebrano which has comfortable seen me through some pretty epic cycle tours, without a single puncture!

Where have these cycle tours taken you?

David:    I have been lucky enough to go from places varying from Snowdonia to Iceland.  I travel with a tent and cooking gear on the bike with me. Sometimes (usually going up hill) this seems like a bad idea, but it is fantastic to be able to stop whenever you like and just put your tent up. This was particularly the case in Iceland where we camped in incredibly remote places with no one else around. However, in Norway, due to a mixture of hunger, tiredness and laziness we ended up camping in a children’s play park. It was near a school and we were paranoid about getting arrested, so we left incredibly early the next day.

Why is cycle touring your preferred method of travel?

David:    Having done lots of travelling by lots of different means I am convinced that the pace of cycling is just right. You have enough time to appreciate your surroundings, but it is not so slow that you are moving past the same mountain for days on end. The feeling of independence is fantastic, and I believe it is much more satisfying at the end of a day to look back at a map and think “we’ve just cycled this’. Also, you are generally less constrained as to where you can go on a bike (unless you have an expensive 4x4).

Kiticon:    Do you have any future plans?

David:    This summer I am going to tour Central Asia by bicycle. We will start in Tajikistan and end in Kyrgyzstan (though I still haven’t learnt how to spell it). I am really excited about this trip because it will be a completely new cultural experience as well as a stunning cycling.

Kiticon:    What do you look for in cycle clothing?

David:    I think my main requirements are breathable, quick drying, durable and odour-resistant. Breathability is important because it is a horrible feeling to get very sweaty cycling up a hill with 20kg of gear on the back of your bike, but then fly down the other side into a cold wind that will freeze you if your gear is soaked with sweat. Odour-resistance is important, because there are not many washing machines on the trail, and after two months, gear can get pretty smelly.