Meet the Team
The core crew
Joe Reid
Joe has been pedaling around Europe since 2011 when he quit his job as a charity fundraiser to cycle to Cape Town on his own adventure into alternative living. He's now well experienced in starting up and running grassroots environmental initiatives. He's a lanky bean at 6'3 but those long limbs have powered him through ultra marathons, Iron Mans & cross continental bike rides. He struggles with basic spelling.
Tom Shakhli
Tom came on the Milan to Barcelona tour in 2017 and liked it so much that he joined the team! His background is in social entrepreneurship, having headed up the Brixton Pound for four years. A well-travelled guy, he has lived and worked in Barcelona, Bonn, Brussels, Prague and Siena but has been settled in south London for almost a decade. He is a member of Brixton Cycles CC and no matter what the weather, he can be found every morning in Brockwell Lido.
Phil Moore
Phil's proudest cycling moments include riding the length of Italy, circling Cuba on a single speed and cycling to Paris in a day. In 2014 Phil upped sticks from London life and traveled through Central and South America with his partner, volunteering their way from Mexico to Argentina. Returning in 2016 and hitchhiking the length and breadth of the UK visiting permaculture projects, organic farms, smallholdings and community projects they set their sights on Wales to create their own eco-oasis. Phil now lives in Wales where he and his partner have purchased land and are working on leading an ecological life and creating a viable land-based businesses.
The tour leaders
Chris Kell
Favourite cycling spot:
This would have to be in the Kalamata Mountains in Greece, having worked for 9 months there as a bike guide. Perfectly tarmacked roads, no traffic, stunning scenery and of course great weather - who could ask for more?
How fast can you change an inner tube?
I have to say changing an innertube is probably my greatest cycling skill! If only I could climb mountains as well as I can fix a puncture!! I'm going to go for it and say I can change an innertube in under a minute ;-)
What do you do off the bike?
Life outside of riding my bike is still all about biking. I manage the MAVIC and ENVE Customer Service Team in Barcelona, so spend most of his working day talking about bike stuff, which is great!
James Ballantyne
Favourite cycling spot:
Like most children of the Eighties, I grew up with a limited world-view when it came to bikes. You were defined by your choice of racer, mountain bike or bmx and so it was I found myself struggling around beautiful Brittany on an overweight Raleigh mountain bike.
This was upgraded to Raleigh hybrid ahead of a teenage biking trip around Scotland, and this set the tone for my cycling career thereafter. I still ride a hybrid and love the wide open skies and rugged mountains of Scotland
How fast can you change an inner tube?
I reckon 2 minutes 45 seconds. Not going to break any records, but since when was Brake the Cycle a race?
What do you do off the bike?
I am occasionally caught out claiming with equal measures of pretension and vagary to be a "writer", "consultant" or, worse, a "digital nomad". In reality I am a former foreign policy hack and government climate official pretending I still have the inside scoop behind the political chicanery.
Rosie Riley
Favourite cycling spot:
No place like home: the quiet lanes in Northumberland in August and September.
How fast can you change an inner tube?
I mean...I'd get it done...eventually!
What do you do off the bike?
I'm a Director at Adventure Uncovered, a project that aims to accelerate social and environmental change by getting people exploring and adventuring outdoors. I also do environmental research at Imperial College into how we can make our cities healthier, more sustainable and equitable places to live
James Wight
Favourite cycling spot:
I don't really have a favourite place to cycle, to be honest I just love the freedom of two wheels wherever that may be.
How fast can you change an inner tube?
It depends on time of day and varying factors, including my grumpometer, but let's say approximately 5 minutes all things being equal (which they often aren't).
What do you do off the bike?
I'm self-(un)employed and lead hustler/newbie entrepreneur, as Founder at Adventure Uncovered, a platform to promote purposeful adventuring.