Hi Everyone
The e-book of this cycle tour has finally been written and published - hurrah!! Find it on Amazon:
This books answers so many of the questions that I had before, during and after the tour as well as answering all the questions I was asked by others. It also includes lots more stories from my time on the road.
It is available to buy in the Amazon Kindle Store for £1.99. 10% of all sales proceeds are being donated to the British Lung Foundation. Not only am I a chronic asthmatic, other members of my family suffer with various lung conditions. Please help me "give something back" in order to ensure this great charity can continue its groundbreaking research.
This cycle tour has been an extraordinary and a life changing experience. I hope all those of you who buy the e-book enjoy it hugely.Thank you all again for reading and keeping me company on this blog. I hope to be with you all again on the next tour!
Very best wishes
Andi
Having read this book i felt i was on the road with Andi every step of the way.
ReplyDeleteIt is so well written and takes you along every road and into every village for the whole trip.I found myself listening for thunder and watching for the lightining to strike!
The food trips sounded really yummy as well, i so wanted to taste everything.
A really good book to get you on the cycle trail yourself!
I live in Ireland so cannot purchase the Kindle version from the UK site but your book is not on Amazon.com where I have to buy Kindle books!
ReplyDeleteHiya! Many thanks for your interest in this blog and my e-book. I've checked on Amazon and apparently there is a problem with Irish customers buying on Amazon.com. The e-book should be available everywhere in the world. I'm following up with Amazon now. A big thank you for raising the issue and I hope it will be resolved soon! Andi x
DeleteTo add to this, Amazon have promised to respond by tomorrow. They say all customers anywhere in the world should be able to buy the e-book. Fingers crossed this will be resolved pronto! And thanks very much again for bringing it to my attention :-))
DeleteHi again. Amazon confirm they have resolved the issue for Itish customers - hurrah!
DeleteIf you experience any further problems, please shout and I'll get straight back onto them. However, they have confirmed everyone in the entire world should be able to access and buy my e-book. Enjoy!
Thank you very much again for bringing it to my attention.
Best wishes
Andi
Great book. So many cycle touring books end up as tourist guides to an area (the cycling becoming secondary) and I then tend to "switch off". I enjoy reading more about the cycling challenge and the logistics. Your book covered these things in a warm and relaxing style. Well done!
ReplyDeleteA pal and I are doing our first tour from northern Spain and then up through France in a couple of months time, and we also have a blog on http://cyclenorththrofrance.blogspot.co.uk/ .
Like you, I have a Blackberry from which I will update our blog but will rely on finding wi-fi, because the roaming charges worry me. How did you keep those down on your trip, if you were updating your blog from within your tent?
Also, my BB (it's the 9300) will not show expanded Posts nor Comments from the blog, (nor any webpages once they get a little too big!) so I'm also taking a 7" wi-fi tablet pc, which is a nuisance. What model of BB were you using please?
Kind regards.
Hi Elan.
DeleteMany thanks for your lovely comments about my book, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I certainly had the best time imagineable on the tour, Grump Day and all!
Your trip sounds fabulous! Your blog is looking wonderful, too, I'll be sure to keep up to date on your progress.
Yes, the scary prospect of excessive mobile phone bills whilst away! I'm with O2 on a Blackberry Bold and, when in Europe, texts were included in my normal package, no extra charge, and phone calls were taken from my inclusive minutes + 50p connection charge, no matter how long you were on. So a great package. Care needs to be taken in terms of how O2 define "Europe", it's not necessarily per the actual map of Europe! For me, Switzerland was treated as if I were in America or Australia and cost a bomb to stay in touch. I'm sure you will be fine with the Spanish element and know for sure France was fine. Do check with your provider before you go, it's worth sorting out in advance to avoid potentially sky-high charges.
In terms of internet access, emails, etc., it was better to access wi-fi where possible, resulting in no charges. Otherwise, I'm struggling to remember the charges on 3G but they were not unreasonable. I seem to recall it was a daily charge, something like 50p a day, so, once you'd sent one email, you may as well continue and write loads or use the internet for whatever you need - weather forecasts, places to stay, etc. I accepted it as a cost of the tour and it was important to me to stay in contact with everyone, especially on my own. Switching on phone at the end of the day and receiving all the messages was the best thing ever - wonderful to have everyone with you every step of the way :-))
I had the same problem as you - being able to read the blog on the internet via the Blackberry. I set the blog up so that any updates would come through via email so I was able to see exactly who had written what. You can then make use of internet cafes to see it in its entirety if you wish as you pedal along. I was fine with receiving the email updates.
I do hope that's answered all your questions. Shout if you have any more, I'm happy to help as much as I can.
And have absolutely the best time on tour. Let's hope you have great weather, too, it definitely helps!
Best wishes
Andi
Thanks, Andi. That information is really helpful.
DeleteHope your book sells well. I can readily recommend it to anyone reading this comment and thinking of doing a cycle tour.
Kind regards
Elan
You are very welcome and very many thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteBest of luck with the tour!
Andi
Hi Andi,
ReplyDelete3/4 of the way through your book and am really enjoying it. I am as keen a cyclist as you and have read many cyle touring books including the one that you were reading on this tour and I have to say yours is up there with the best.
Felt like I was on the tour with you.
A very well written and inspirational book.
Good luck in the future, and write more books.
Steve C (Middlesbrough)
Wow, thanks so very much for those wonderful comments, Steve, it's really kind of you to take the time to let me know. And to think I laughed when someone first mentioned that I should consider writing a book about the tour! I'm really flattered at your comments, thank you.
DeleteHappy pedalling and I very much you have considerably less snow and warmer weather in Middlesbrough than we're currently experiencing in Siberian Ilkley.
Best wishes
Andi
Just finished your book on kindle and its got me raring to go. Me and my partner Richard have a one way ticket to the south of France - Nice and will be cycling home to Doncaster in south Yorkshire in July. Your book has given us some useful tips to look out for (hard ground for tent pegs for one!) As we are flying to Nice we will need to buy gas bottles for our camping stove down there so are hoping we can find somewhere. We believe there is a decathalon store in really need to look at doing a blog like this. Great idea. Lisa x
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa
DeleteA very big hi and you must be so excited about your tour now! I'm excited for you!
I'm really, really pleased my book has helped with some tips and got you raring to go! And definitely look into doing a blog - it's so wonderful to pick up messages, sometimes from complete strangers, at the end of a long day on the bike. Let me know if you do write a blog, I love reading other people's cycling adventures and stories.
It depends which gas canisters you need. France have loads in every supermarket, just not the screw top ones that my trangia uses. Decathlon definitely stock them so grab as many as you can whilst you can if these are the ones you need!
Have a fantastic time!
Best wishes
Andi
HI Andi
ReplyDeleteI posted earlier in the year on your blog after reading your on line book. It inspired me to write up our own story of our cycle tour from the south of France to Doncaster in south yorkshire. We have also done our own photo diary but have never really shared with anyone other than close family, so I thought it would be a nice surprise for Richard (other half) for me to get our diary published on Amazon as an e-book.
I finally completed it yesterday and it is now on line. Im sending you the link as you may wish to read it - you get a mention :-)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Give-Up-Everything-ebook/dp/B00FU647JE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381671969&sr=1-1&keywords=grandcourt
The book is called "Give up, give in or give everything" by L C Grandcourt.
I'm no JK Rowling but I am quite proud of my first effort.
The trip was fantastic but hard going. We completed it in 16 days so in hind sight we could have spent a bit more time sight seeing but we didn't want to not complete the trip fully.
Hope you have other challenges planned.
Best wishes
Lisa
Hi Lisa
DeleteIt's great to hear from you and what fantastic news that you've written your own book. Many thanks for letting me know - I've bought it and can't wait to read it. The photo on the front cover is AMAZING!
Happy cycling and touring :-))
Best wishes
Andi