This is the story of how a middle-aged man traced the length of the old Iron Curtain on a shopping bike through 20 countries and 9,000 miles along the un-sign-posted EV 13 cycle route. To attempt such an undertaking on a bike might appear to be rather rash and ambitious for someone in their fifties. To start in Finland, in March, would definitely be a step too far. But then to choose to do it on a completely unsuitable bike is surely madness.

Tim Moore is not the sort to be put off by a challenge, however. He’d already crossed 500 miles of Spain, dragging a donkey behind him, as documented in “Spanish Steps”, completed the route of the Tour de France on a diet of Pro Plus and Rose wine (“French Revolutions”) and in his book “Gironimo” told of how he rode the 3,200 km route of the infamous 1914 Giro d’Italia on a hundred year old bike.