When junior doctor Stephen Fabes set off on a round-the world adventure he wasn’t exactly best prepared. In fact, so out-of-shape was he, that the first leg of his journey consisted of a paltry 14 miles from London's Embankment to a guesthouse in Bexleyheath. Six years later he’d succeeded in crossing six continents and tallying an impressive 53,568 miles of bicycle travel. Signs of Life, To the Ends of the Earth with a Doctor is his book documenting that extraordinary feat.
Read MoreThe Light Blue Darwin D Tour Review
We recently put The Light Blue Darwin D Tour through its paces on a bike tour of the south coast. We covered about 300 miles from Brighton to Exeter over a week and covered a wide range of terrain from flat, tarmac bike paths and hilly country lanes to some pretty serious off road tracks. Here’s what we thought.
Read MoreBrighton to Exeter: a Bikepacker's Tale
It was the first big climb of the day. Earlier on we’d spotted it on the map of Dorset – a chevron marking a particularly steep section. As the road began to rise, a 17% road sign announced the gradient we were going to have to attempt. I looked up ahead to what really seemed like a wall and wondered if I’d be able to get up this one. It would have been tough on my light skittish road bike, but here I was loaded down with 30 kilos on the back of my touring bike.
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