About a year ago, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to ride the Silk Route with TDA Global Cycling. Now, the trip is almost here – I leave for Shanghai on May 12th.

Named after the ancient trading route known as the Silk Road, the Silk Route is a 133 day, 12,160km bicycle expedition from Shanghai, China to Istanbul, Turkey. Along the way it also crosses through Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran.

The staff at Tour d’Afrique handle most of the tough stuff – logistics, arranging lodging, carrying our bags, and cooking our food. All I have to do is show up and ride my bike (a Kona Rove Ti)!

I will be posting frequent updates to this blog throughout the ride, from May to October. Follow along by visiting the site, or receive new posts by email by signing up at the bottom left of the page. You can follow my latest progress on The Route page.