Cycling Menzies

The wash up Amsterdam to London July 2025
I love reflecting on the trip that was and wish it was still going! Cycling Menzies has been a huge part of our family’s life over the past 17 years. For context Estella has been on 12trips at 17years old equating to 14000 of which she ridden 8000km herself! The twins have almost spent one year of their 13, in Europe meaning we have slept on the ground in a tent for over a year!!
This year we had 17 riding days for our 900km drinking over 300 water bottles, 20 liters at least of beer, same goes for wine consuming 150 crème brûlées 70 baguettes. I fixed 8 flat tyres and two broken racks as well as Clancy’s front brakes.
Now all that is left is rebuild all the bikes and hopefully get one of our cargo bags back as it is still missing from the flight! Thanks for joining us!

Day 28/29 London to Brisbane
With some last minute packing to be done before the van collects our boxes I am straight back into it after breakie!
The gang had fun yesterday which is great! I just want to get the job of getting us and all our kit home done!
We have a window for collection of between 11 & 3, the van shows up at 11 and I am still taping the boxes…. Nichole starts negotiating with the young Indian driver for me to accompany our gear which he is not keen on but before he knows I have talked him into a driving off to help him with his other deliveries! I spend the next couple of hours picking up and dropping off all sorts of things! Even a massive sofa bed!😂
It turns out to be a fun experience which reminded me of doing anything to earn money back in London in the 90s!!!
He then is so appreciative of the all the work I have helped him with he pays the 6£ drop off fee to drop me right at the front door of terminal 3! What a legend!
The gang meets me a couple of hours later and we are on our first flight to Singapore.
Now the Singapore to Australia was not looking good for us as there had been all sorts of plane issues that were cancelling flights… here we go again!
Nichole head’s straight to the transfer counter and with thanks to Singapores incredible efficiency we are on a flight to Brisbane not via Sydney as originally planned!! Pretty different from last time!!😂it even allows us to celebrate Archie’s birthday in multiple Timezone’s! Happy birthday machine!

Day 27 England
Today strangely enough is one of the most important days of the trip! Not because of what we will see or do but purely because I need to go on the scrounge for 6 bike boxes to pack our bikes in to bring them home!!
The local one in Wimbledon is my first port of call. You should have been here half an hour ago, we sent 20 empty boxes back to head office for recycling! Is the response. Not taking no for answer I ask them if they are building up any bikes today and if so can I help… sure is the answer. Now we are getting somewhere! We pull new bikes out of boxes, and I prep them to travel which means I put occy strap around them and then attach a shoulder strap to them so I can ride the 15 minutes home down the main road. What can possibly go wrong!!?😂😂
For the next 3 hours this is the process and it is over 30 degrees. I can’t tell you how happy I am relieved that I have the boxes but they still need to be packed. So it goes until the team get home that evening for a fast turn around to head into central London to go to the West End to watch the Michael Jackson story! I tell you there is never a dull moment!!!

Day 26 England
A tale of two cities.
After our first night in a bed for 3 weeks, Nichole and the team head to Oxford to spend an evening with Estella’s exchange family from last year whilst I will stay here in London to get the bikes ready to bring home.
I think I got the the rough end of the pineapple as the mercury in the back yard hits the mid 30s! Rack bike needs to be throughly cleaned before being disassembled and boxed…, that is future Grant’s problem as I don’t have any boxes yet.
The team head to Oxford and are warmly received by the Wood family with icy drinks and delicious homemade lasagna before heading to local Folly Festival for a bit of a taste of local!
I am getting my own local on when Ryan gets home from work. We head out for a 42km loop for London’s version of the river loop!! Including Subition, Kingston, Hampton Court, of course loads of Thames vistas, Twickenham and finishing it all off with Richmond park! What a way to finish. London has so much to offer off the beaten track you just need to know where to look!!

Day 25 Ouistreham, France to Wimbledon, England
The classic day of trains, planes and automobiles rounds out our time on the Continent. Another epic trip for the memoirs!
We get up early to pack down and be at the wharf to catch our cross channel ferry, or as we had sold it to the kids the cruise 😂.
As bike rider your are given the royal treatment and are first through customs and onboard of course then jagging the prime lounges for the trip!
There is not a cloud in the sky and the channel is like glass, perfect for a boat ride!
All sorts of random entertainment attempts to be kill off the 6 hours including a magic show! It would have been rude not to have a beer!
On in Portsmouth again we are first off a ride the couple of kilometers to the train station, destination Wimbledon.
It is stinking hot do we are very keen to get the last couple of k ‘s done ( I have to say I love that last moment when I finish a trip, you know you have achieved something special and have done it with your family!) to our great mates Ryan and Sherinne’s place a couple we met 19 years ago whilst riding in Cambodia. It was that long ago Nichole was still my girlfriend!!
As always it is great to see them and we sit for hours catching up over a few drinks in their beautiful garden!

Day 24 Caen, France 🇫🇷
The spectacle the is the Tour de France is in town and after years of near misses the family are finally going to experience what I have told them so much about! They know all the riders and the teams and want to get completely immersed! The TT or Time Trial is an individual race against the clock. Better know as the race of truth. It is the perfect day to experience it all, as it is all in one place.
After riding the 13km into town the gang are immediately overwhelmed at the enormity of it all! The buses, the bikes, the riders and the amount of people!
The gang use their cunning and front to wander past the armed guards to get to the area where the riders are, scoring water bottles along the way and an up close experience to boot!
After taking a few different vantage spots we jag a table next to the start house with a clear view of the big screen to watch riders out on the course, perfect!
The business end of the the afternoon sees the top placed riders punch it out! It was the current World and Olympic champion who takes home the lollies!
When we thought you couldn’t fit anything else into the day, the crew get the attention of Ben O’Connor at the Jayco Team bus who gives the kids some Jayco merch and autographs it for good measure!
Top day! We roll home for an early night, tomorrow the boat to England!

Rest day by the sea 🌊…

Day 23 Ouistreham, France
Our second rest day since getting on the road over 800km ago.
The team are looking to combine a bit of shopping with some classic beach holiday fun! The option we take keeps it local too!
The beach and the village centre are just 5mins up the road where we can do the lot.
First things first, we do the washing and tick bucket list at the same time! We wash our clothes at a vending machine outside a shopping center…. I rekon there is something in this!!
With washing done and hung we roll up the street to the village for some retail therapy before hitting the beach for frites and mayonnaise before hitting the go carts! Audrey describes it as the funnest, scariest thing she has ever done!😂
Easy late afternoon before Nichole and I head up along the river for a belated anniversary dinner…. Steak and mussels, how good and the pepper sauce! So good!!

Day 22 Bayeux to Ouistreham 51km
Today is our 18th anniversary and it is not an auspicious start. It has rained steadily all night. This where the little things come into play. The chill out, relaxation room is warm and dry and perfect for breakfast. Our new tent setup although big enough and has, I have to admit surprisingly good in all aspects it is still good to get out of!😂
The rain is due to ease over the next couple of hours and by the time we leave at Midday it is still overcast and windy but it will be in our favour.
To complete the coastline we need to see the battery at Longues sur Mer and the hilltop view from Arromanches where the Mulberry Harbour was built.
Once we have ticked these boxes we head back the way we came a couple of days ago with a nice tailwind!! The beachside scenery is still fantastic. Our anniversary dinner didn’t go quite the way we planned…. Always tomorrow!

Day 21 Bayeux
Our decision to ride out to Omaha Beach yesterday is vindicated with rain setting in overnight. Archie also falls victim to the traveling lurgy poor bu**er but wakes up not too bad thanks to Nicholes medicine chest which has been getting a bit of a workout to be honest!
After a bit of a lazy start first port of call is the Bayeux Tapestry that is over 1000 years old and tells the story of William the Conqueror and the battle of Hastings in 1066. It is 84ft long and you are herded along it as the story is told. Simply unmissable.
Next stop to round out our D-Day immersion is the Museum that tells in depth the story. Now after some of the museums that we have visited despite the amazing exhibits the need for a bit of a refresh and some interactive audio is a must.
We again catch an hour or so of the Tour before dinner.

Bayeux loop 45km
The weather is due to change tonight so I thought it best we head out to the D-Day beaches to finish off what we began two days ago. It has been amazing to experience the entire length of the invasion front. The sheer mass of men, machinery and logistics behind it is hard to fathom. Especially when the serenity of what we are experiencing is in stark contrast to what went on in 1944.
We start at Pont du Bessin where Commando’s captured the post to enable a pipe to be laid from England to fuel the invasion.
We stick to the bike path which winds its way across headlands gives stunning views!
The American cemetery where 9000 lay is our final destination at Omaha Beach the site of some bloody fighting. The site is serene, informative and dignified.
Ringing home we have a tail wind and use it it to get home to watch the first stage of the Tour de France and more importantly before the rain sets in!!