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The UniCyclist

How to prepare for a three-year bike ride...

Some people have asked what I do to train for a trip like this. I suppose you want to hear how I've been cycling 200 miles each and every day since August, or how I've recently won several Iron Man events wearing lead boots and a rucksack full of breeze blocks. But the real answer is embarrassingly different. I've done nothing. Nothing at all. I've only been out on the bike once since last October and that was on the Isle of Man on a day so desperately cold that I cut the ride short after a few...

Why I'm studying for two OU degrees while cycling around Europe

Welcome to the first entry of what will hopefully be a three year-long blog. Why three years? That's how long it will take me to complete the two OU degrees I'm working towards. But it's also the amount of time I need to complete my 20,000+ mile bike ride around Europe. This trip will see me visit every one of the 50 capital cities of Europe powered by nothing more than my legs, petrol station Snickers bars and cheap local lager. First thing's first: I love the OU. It has provided me with an...

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About The UniCyclist

Follow @unicycle50

Hi, I'm Steven Primrose-Smith, otherwise known as The UniCyclist – one bloke, two wheels, two degree courses, one portable university and 50 capital cities. Nice to meet you!

I'm 40-year-old full-time student with The Open University and University of Wales, Lampeter. I got my first degree in 2008 in Philosophy and English from the OU and I'm currently planning my dissertation for an MA in philosophy with Lampeter as well as working through the necessary modules at the OU to get a degree in maths and another in physical science. The aim, once all these courses are done, is to be a well-rounded private tutor covering as many subjects as possible. But that's three years away. I might get squashed by a truck before then.

For 15 years I was a technical author and internet software developer, but other jobs that I've been paid for include (in order, from age 14): delivering newspapers, stocking supermarket shelves, working in a video shop cum off licence cum sunbed centre, playing a synthesizer (with one finger) in an awful band called The Slaves of Circumstance, buying electronic components, playing a synthesizer (now with two fingers) in an even worse band called Tuco Talks, graphic design, laying out newspapers, writing computer games, selling software online, knocking up websites, performing comedy, doing voices for radio ads, writing magazine articles, teaching people how to improve their computer skills, writing comedy sketches and, most recently, maths tutoring.

I did my first cycling tour in 1994 when I had a week on very windy Orkney. Shortly afterwards I was working in Austria and only did the occasional weekend tour although I had many a tipsy day-ride with friends out into the vineyards south of Graz. It wasn't until 2007 that I decided to get a bit more serious when I did an 11-day tour of western Andalusia. But the longest ride to date - in 2009 - was from the Isle of Man to the Costa del Sol, through the UK, France and Spain, lasting 32 days and covering 2,688 kilometres. It was that ride that gave me the idea for this one.

Other things I love doing include playing my guitar and keyboard (now with more than two fingers, but still not all of 'em), sailing, walking in the mountains, running, swimming and cooking.

This life is damn short, and it can be snatched away at any given moment. Whatever it is you want to do, just do it. Don't hang around. In other words, literally or metaphorically, get on your bike!

To find out more about the ride, including the rough route I'm planning to follow, or to donate money to the charities I'm cycling for, please have a look at my website at www.UniCycle50.com. And if you have any questions or would like to meet up, please email me at steven@unicycle50.com. See you on the road!