Travelsonabike2 2018 Bicycle Tours

2018 wasn’t a particularly good year for Garry on the cycling front or on any other front, for that matter! Towards the end of 2017, Garry was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in his right hip and needed to have an operation to replace it.

Having osteoarthritis wasn’t going to stop Garry from getting on his bike and cycling off somewhere. He just wouldn’t cycle his usual distance or duration. In fact, all of Garry’s tours this year were the sort that he would usually have done over a weekend and not considered as a tour in past years. But things were different now.

His first ride out of the year, in March, saw him go to the Isle of Wight and Hampshire. A poultry distance, compared to Garry’s typical rides, of 164 miles.

Garry’s second ride out took him to Swanage and London, this time managing to cover over 200 miles.

His third ride of the year took him to the scene of a recent chemical attack in Salisbury. This time, cycling just over 160 miles!

It was now July, and Garry was in excruciating pain from his hip. But he was still determined to go away, so he headed for the New Forest and the Isle of Wight. He was struggling so much now that it was a real effort to cycle 20 miles in a day. In fact, over the five days of the tour, Garry could only manage to cycle 150 miles, and sixty of those were on the first day.

On returning home from the Isle of Wight, Garry’s pain was so great they admitted him into the hospital, where things went from bad to worse. And within a week of being taken into hospital. Garry was fighting for his life after contracting sepsis! Find out more here.

Garry McGivern’s 2018 Bicycle Tours

Click on any photo to view.

Follow Garry’s Bicycle Touring Adventures

Subscribe to Garry’s blog and follow Garry as he travels around on his bike. Plus, 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 is also on Flickr, where you can view photos from this tour, along with pictures from all his bike rides. Garry also publishes a monthly photo update.

If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry page.