About Me

My bike and I

I am Stephen Lord, the author of Adventure Cycle-Touring Handbook, formerly known as Adventure Cycling Handbook, and can be reached using the contact form.

Born and raised in Britain, I have loved cycling and the outdoors since childhood. I have lived for half my adult life overseas, in Japan and the USA and have toured in the USA, Japan and Europe including a couple of long rides, once across Europe to Athens and down the Pacific coast of North America. I can’t say I’ve “been there, seen it, done that” for every biking destination, but I hope I have time left for many more bike trips. I also enjoy kayak touring and long-distance walking. I like trips which combine the outdoors with great food and culture. Germany is one of my favourite bike touring destinations for those reasons and I hope to go there again soon. I also want to ride the Via de la Plata in Spain, having walked 500km of it a few years ago. I enjoy reading bike travel stories and looking at bikers’ websites. I have been a member of Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree ‘on your bike’ for three years, posting as Hebairt, (a name which came from a cat) and several other branches. I also enjoy participating in and reading the views of the largely North American Phred group of bike tourers, many of whom have contributed to www.bicycletouring101.com, a huge collaborative project which is fast becoming the best starting point on the web for bike tourers.

With thanks to Raf Verbeelen, Antony Bowesman and Philip Davis for lending me photos for this website.