When Mike Carter was cycling to work in London, following the bank of the Thames, he had a thought. What if he simply kept going, keeping the water to his right? He’d end up cycling to the coast, then follow the coast all around Britain, to eventually end up back in London.
From that simple idea, an epic adventure was born!
How long?
Ordnance Survey says the coastline of the island of Britain is 11 073 miles. However, if you’re going to cycle the coastline of Britain, on a laden touring bike, you very obviously cannot follow the mean high-tide mark around the coast, where that OS distance is from.
Instead, you have to follow roads, and cycle tracks, which is what Carter did. In the end, he cycled well over 5 000 miles, visiting both John O’Groats and Land’s End, as well as both capes of Britain: Cape Wrath and Cape Cornwall.
The book
You will learn a fair amount about Carter in the book, but to me, the most fascinating bit about the man is his unerring ability to retell the stories of random people he met along the journey.
Like all really good cycle touring books, the story isn’t about cycling (though obviously that features a lot) but rather about the experience of travelling at a human pace. Carter is a very talented writer, and is not afraid of turning his razor wit upon himself. He regularly had me laughing out loud, while reading the book.
Finding Britain
If you want to learn what the people of Britain are really like, ignore what you may hear about from mainstream media, and go read this book instead. It’s a wonderful tale, full of warmth and kindness. The two exceptions are the very rude man Carter encountered in the Outer Hebrides (the man was not from there) and the standard of driving he encountered in Plymouth (the ONLY UK city where he singles out the atrocious driving).
Carter very clearly paints a picture of just how hauntingly beautiful Britain is, a fact that’s sadly overlooked by so many people, in their haste to travel to more exotic places. I’d go as far as to say this book should be compulsory reading in British schools.
The verdict
Oh, this is easy: this is a superb book, and I wholeheartedly recommend that you read it. You will thank me afterwards.
Get your copy here, or at any good book shop.