Cyclist goes on Polish adventure

8:33am Thursday 19th July 2007

AN ADVENTUROUS cyclist is planning to travel across Europe on a £20 bicycle he bought at a car boot sale.

Wacky James Aykroyd, who is currently living with friends in High Wycombe, saw the Scott road bike at a car boot sale in West Wycombe last Saturday and decided it would be the dream mode of transport for his trip back to his new home in Krakow, Poland.

The silver bicycle caught the 47-year-old's eye at the boot sale and after haggling with the owner, James managed to get £5 knocked off the original price and paid £24.30 for it.

Now the cyclist, who took up bike riding only nine months ago, is planning a 30-day trek across England, France and Germany en route to Poland along the E40 motorway. He plans to travel light with only one change of clothes as well as other bare necessities.

As for accommodation, James plans to enjoy nature at its best by snoozing under the stars by trees and in barns along the way.

The cyclist, who lived on a narrow boat for many years, is hoping to travel at least 50 miles a day and his journey will begin when he sets off from High Wycombe to Dover in just over two weeks time.

James said: "When I moved to Krakow I took up cycling and used a bicycle to get around Krakow. I already wanted to travel by bike from Poland to London but my friends said I was crazy. So now I'm going to try doing half of the round trip, from England to Poland."

James moved to the Eastern European country after falling in love with Krakow during his extensive travelling around the continent.

Having returned to England to work as a carpenter to save up more money, James is now looking forward to taking a more scenic route back to Poland.

He said: "I'm looking forward to the challenge and hopefully the weather will be nice whilst I'm travelling."

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