The Long Way Home

What kind of long-distance adventure unfolds for a pair of cyclists who love the excitement of events like the Transcontinental Race, but prefer to ride at their own pace, on their own terms?

Daryl Collis and his friend Michiel Vaal​ found their solution. By volunteering at a checkpoint in Turkey, then riding home to the UK, they could be their own masters, but still be an important part of a community that thrives around epic challenges like the TCR.

Let's join Daryl as he guides us through a journey that begins on the west coast of Turkey...

When I heard the words “Why don’t we volunteer in Turkey and ride home?” I realised we could have a real adventure.

"When I built my Bokeh just before lockdown, I had visions of doing a long backpacking trip, just me, the bike and the road. Well, life seemed to have a different idea back then, and during the first 18 months it got a ton of use on and off-road in the UK, but I still had that dream.

"Late 2023, during a ride on the Cantii Way, my friend Michiel convinced himself to replace his current bike with a Bokeh, and we started to revisit that dream of a long journey. In November 2023, during a coffee stop on one of our local rides we talked about volunteering for the Transcontinental Race, something we had mentioned previously and 2024 being the 10th anniversary, what could be better? However, it was when I heard the words “Why don’t we volunteer for Checkpoint 4 in Turkey and ride home?” coming out of my mouth, I realised we could have a real adventure. With our volunteer submissions made, the organisers agreed to our travel plan as it was low-emission, accepted our submission and we were on our way.

"Michiel’s Bokeh frame arrived March and he used many of the same components as I had used on my build, which firstly would provide him with tried and tested kit but reduce the number of spares we needed to carry on the journey, as we could share.

"July rolled around and we packed the bikes into cardboard boxes from my local bike shop and jumped on a flight from Stansted Airport to the Greek island of Lesvos, just off the Turkish coast. After less than an hour on the late afternoon ferry we were in Turkey, on the Asian continent, heading to our first hotel of the trip in Ayvalık. 

"The Control Point, CP4, was in Çanakkale, roughly 230km north of Ayvalık, so we had allowed two days to ride up the coastal route north and get used to Turkey, the heat, and carrying the extra weight. 

"This is the perfect time to point out the two different approaches Michiel and I had taken to luggage. I had some legacy luggage in the form of old school panniers and rack, which I had used several times before, but nothing like this. Michiel, however, was starting from scratch and chose wisely, using the Tailfin system, sitting in line with the bike, offering little wind resistance compared to my “parachutes” hanging off the side of the bike.

"By the time we got to Çanakkale, we both realised we were carrying too much weight, and I realised the panniers were going to be a source of annoyance most the way home. And they were, but you make your choice. We parcelled up a box of kit we didn’t need and posted it home, while the other bits we didn’t need went in a bin before we left Çanakkale. 

TCR#10 CP4

"Volunteering was an amazing experience and one we intend to do again. We met some interesting people, both volunteers and riders, and being at CP4 meant we had several riders, broken from the experience, who wanted to sit and chat before either continuing to the finish or retiring at our checkpoint. It gave us a great insight into what competing in this event must be like, the preparation and the resilience required by each competitor. Çanakkale is an amazing location, full of life 24/7, inexpensive and close to some beautiful places. We did a couple of days trips while off-duty, one to the site of the battle of Gallipoli, very sobering, and we also rode down to Troy, of wooden horse fame.

Homeward bound

"After CP4 closed its doors on August 4^th, we set off on the short ferry to Europe and rode along the Dardanelles heading for the Greek border at Ipsala, and back into the EU.

"We had trawled the Internet while planning this trip but found little in the way of advice from other travellers about riding this part of Greece, so we ploughed our own furrow. The plan was to aim for Igoumenitsa on the west coast, then take the ferry to Brindisi in Italy.

"To me, Greece was one of the great revelations of the whole trip, I loved riding in this part of the country. Ignoring the 40⁰C plus temperatures, which we did get used to after a few days, everywhere we visited was welcoming, beautiful and in most cases, safe to ride. We clung to the south coast, visiting Alexandroupoli, Kavala, and Thessaloniki before heading inland to Krania and Ioannina where the beauty of the area went into overload.

"We rode through forests, around beautiful lakes, so remote we didn’t see anyone for hours. I think some areas were so remote, even the locals didn’t bother visiting. This area was littered with amazing climbs long enough to feel it in the legs, but with views that took your mind off the effort.

"The ferry from Igoumenitsa was the first time we had stopped during the day since we left Turkey nine day before, so we sat on the deck in the sun, topping up fluids and food, as we sailed past Corfu and Albania. When we landed in Italy, we took the opportunity to have a full day off in Brindisi, and thoroughly enjoyed being tourists, while arranging our train tickets from Naples to Milan at the local railway station. Time constraints dictated that we miss this section of Italy as it would have been eight days riding, and we would not get back to the UK within our allotted time.

"However, when booking the train, we found that the lack of bike spaces on the train meant we could not travel until the following Monday, which meant we had an extra day before we needed to be in Naples, so we chose to ride the Amalfi Coast and catch the ferry from Sorrento to Naples.

Apart from our bodies starting to eat themselves, it all went well

"Getting to Sorrento was a four-day adventure in itself, staying in a converted cave overlooking the amazing ancient town of Matera, finding ourselves battling wildfires along the edge of the road and struggling along tertiary roads that went from asphalt to crumbling rocks and landslip in the space of a few km.

"The Amalfi Coast was everything we expected, with stunning views and short twisting climbs and descents as we clung to the cliff edge. It was busy, but that is to be expected in such a tourist hotspot. The train journey on Monday was thirteen hours long, with no food other than a vending machine. Apart from our bodies starting to eat themselves, it all went well dropping us at our hotel in Milan at 22:30. The receptionist didn’t bat an eyelid as two bedraggled, hungry cyclists, with heavy laden bikes turned up carrying a bag of McDonald’s.

"Northern Itay was such a contrast to what we had experienced in the south, greener, and much wealthier. We had expected trouble riding out of a city such as Milan at 08:30 in the morning, but it was a breeze, with good cycle lanes and very little traffic. Our route now took us beside lakes to Domodossola, then over the Simplon pass, into Switzerland and on to the Furka and Oberalp passes. On the Oberalp, we reached the start of the next stage of the journey. This was the source of the Rhine and where we picked up the EuroVelo 15 route that we would follow all the way to the Hook of Holland and our ferry home. After the last three climbs, hustling the laden bikes over 2000m on three occasions, it was nice to know the biggest climbs were now behind us.

"Switzerland was so picturesque, if a little expensive, but such good riding as we floated along seeing the Rhine grow from a small river into the wider more important waterway we normally see. Once we were north of Chur the roads gave way to dedicated cycle paths and navigation became so easy, following the well signposted EV15. We moved from Switzerland, to Lichtenstein, then into Austria, jumping from country to country simply by crossing the Rhine.

"The river formed the border for a much of the journey up to Karlsruhe, at which point it heads deep into Germany. We tried to get accommodation in the old towns in Germany when we could, as they had such amazing character. In the south we watched the Rhine slowly expanding until it became a very industrial river, with boats carrying cargo as well as tourists, as well as small beaches, which looked like inland “seaside resorts”. From Switzerland through to the port in Holland, we were riding wide, dedicated cycle paths, with surfaces we would love to ride back in the UK.

"We rolled on and off small ferries as we made our way into Holland, at which point we made a slight detour from the EV15, for Michiel to visit family. We finally hit the Dutch coast at Scheveningen and saw the first sea since Naples, over two weeks ago. After a steady roll on the cycle route through the sand dunes we rolled into the Hook of Holland and onto the ferry back to the UK and the two-day journey home. Our route covered 3,640km with 28,125m of elevation, with 188 hours in the saddle since landing on the 24th of July on Lesvos.

Our Bikes

I expected to need a major rebuild when I got home, after such a trip, but all I needed to do was swap a disc

"We both rode Mason Bokehs, mine a Bokeh 2, built in February 2020 and Michiel's a Bokeh 3 built in March 2024.

"I built both bikes from the frame up using components that I have grown to trust over my many years of cycling, Hope hubs and brakes, DT Swiss rims, and Shimano groupsets, the GRX 400,10 speed from me and the GRX 800,12 speed for Michiel.

"Apart from punctures in Greece and Turkey, and a change of rear pads from Michiel in France, not a single thing required attention during the trip. We both use Schwalbe Pro One 32mm tyres, mine tubed and Michiel’s tubeless ready, with tubes. I mention this as I had five punctures to one for Michiel. The TLR tyres obviously have a more resilient carcass.

"I expected to need a major rebuild when I got home, after such a trip, but all I needed to do was swap a front disc, which was starting to get worn after 25,000km and a new set of front pads, which after 5000km of trying to drag me and all my luggage to a halt had worn out. I don’t think that is bad, considering the terrain and the heat.

"I’m now looking forward to 2025 and more adventures behind bars. Anyone wanting a more in-depth account of the trip can find it on my own blog."