howdy friends!!

so myself and my girlfriend kelly have been working in france at a ski resort in the alps for the past few months and had been talking about what to do next when our contract runs out at the end of april.

the original plan was to fly to croatia and travel for a few weeks before returning to the uk to work for a few months before we move to canada….boring! flying is for jerks so we bought bikes instead!

things escalated pretty quickly and before we knew it we'd added another 6000 or so kilometres to the trip and decided to ride all the way china! we're not the brightest really.

neither of us have ever travelled any large distance by bike (apart from to the shops on a beer run) so it's going to be a pretty large challenge, particularly since we don't know the first things about bike maintenance. my dad will probably be getting a collect call from the turkmenistan desert asking how to change a tyre.

it's been a dream of mine for years now to cycle across central asia after meeting a crazy kiwi guy that road from scotland to canakkale in turkey where i was working at the time. his bike was an absolute piece of crap that he picked up at an auction for 50 quid and he had no idea what he was doing when he set out so it made me realise that bike travel is possible no matter what the budget and skill level!

i've never tried raising money for charity before, but i figured this is a pretty good opportunity to start!

i've chosen to raise funds for St Rocco's Hospice in the UK as they did a fantastic job looking after Allan "Big Al" Quinn when he was admitted with terminal cancer last year. Big al unfortunately passed away late last year but he will never be forgotten by his friends and family and anyone who was lucky enough to meet this kind, generous amazing man. big al was my cousin's father in law and a true gentleman and a one of kind.

http://www.stroccos.org.uk

please be generous and help raise funds for this fantastic organisation that helps so many people. every cent that is received will go directly to the charity and not to fund our trip, we are paying our own way and every donation will keep us motivated and help us go the distance!!!

thank you and please check out our facebook page that will be updated regularly with photos/videos and info about the trip.

https://www.facebook.com/francetochinabybike

see you in china!!!

-michael