2013 Bicycle Tours

2013 was a quiet year on the bicycle touring front, with only one tour. After returning home from his world tour at the end of last year, Garry had spent much of the previous year working and hadn’t had time to go on any trips. But it was now September, and unfortunately, Garry had a recurrence of a bad back, which had been plaguing him for a few years!

Remembering last year, that his back was hurting when he had left home to cycle around the world. But by the time he’d reached Istanbul, approximately 2000 miles away, it was okay. There was only one thing to do: go on another long-distance bike ride! Garry couldn’t afford the time or the cost of another world tour, but he could go away for a month or two.

Impulsive!

One night, Garry had had enough of his back and decided the following morning he was going to get up early and head off on a bicycle tour. But where? Greece, Garry decided to head for Athens. His plan was to cycle through Europe, pick up the Adriatic coast, and follow it to Greece.

Garry had already looked at this tour earlier in the year, but work commitments had prevented him from going. But now work had died down, and with his back playing him up, it seemed the ideal time to go. After all, it was somewhere he’d never cycled before. And it would be roughly the same distance he’d cycled to Istanbul.

It would also increase the distance Garry had cycled around the coast of Europe. Previous trips had seen him cycling the coastline of mainland Europe from Venice all the way around and up as far as Amsterdam!

Garry McGivern 2013 Bicycle Tour

Please click on the photo to find out more.

There are also plenty of smaller rides that Garry has completed throughout the year, which you can find in the archive section of the website; just click on a month to read more.

You can also find some of them on Garry’s Flickr page.

Follow & Support

If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel Garry’s next mile, you can always support him by buying him a beer. Or subscribe to his blog and follow him as he travels around on his bike. As a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow Garry on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. Garry’s also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all his tours, along with regular photo updates that he generally publishes each month.

If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry page. And after thousands of miles on the road, Garry’s condensed everything he’s learned into one place. So if you’re planning your own cycling adventure, read his reality check on long-distance touring.

Garry McGivern is a solo, self-supported bicycle tourist and the creator of Travelsonabike2. Having cycled over 70,000 miles worldwide on his trusty bike, Passepartout, Garry documents the reality of long-distance travel. Follow along for updates, gear insights, and the daily highs and lows of bicycle touring, whether he’s camped beside the road or in the luxury of a hotel. Join Garry on the road, and be inspired to start your own adventure. Read more.