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We are Jon and Marry, and we are two retired special education teachers from Suffolk. Since 1997, we have been cycletouring across various countries in Europe as our primary mode of vacation during the summer months.
How did we get started!
We share a passion for the great outdoors, especially camping. We have both done a fair amount of hill walking and climbing in the past, either in this country or in the Alps; in addition, the two of us have ascended a few of summits in the Himalayas. But regrettably, in 1996, Marry had a chronic pain condition in her back as a result of having Scheuermann’s illness when she was a youngster. This was a direct outcome of having the sickness. This indicated that she was capable of ascending mountains without much difficulty; but, she struggled mightily when it came to descending them. Due to the tremendous discomfort in her back, Marry had to be carried off of several of the mountains on multiple times. Because of this, we came to the conclusion that climbing was not an option for us, and instead, we needed to find another activity that would allow us to experience the great outdoors. Marry discovered that riding a bike didn’t seem to give her problems with her back, so it was actually Marry who suggested that we have a go at cycletouring (something I always remind our friends when they say to me isn’t it about time you took your wife on a proper holiday that involved hotels and relaxing on a beach!). We had both been avid cyclists since we were children, and Marry discovered that riding a bike didn’t seem to give her problems with her back.
Already in possession of a number of inexpensive hybrid bicycles that we had purchased only for the purpose of puttering around the house on, together with a few inexpensive racks and panniers, we took our very first journey down the coast of Norfolk in the year 1997. We fell in love with the independence that bike touring provided, and ever since then, we haven’t stopped doing it; we are currently in our 21st year of travelling by bicycle across the world.