cycle-touring – devizine.com

Four Dauntsey’s Sixth-Formers have been awarded travel scholarships, and plan to cycle all the way from their school to Bonn in Germany, shortly after completing their A-level exams this summer. Helping at food banks, documenting their journey, and rating chips along the way!

The group, Flo Lee, Will Fittock, Tom Sharples and Mika Jessel said, “while simply a group of friends, we also bring a very good physical ability to the table. We have successfully completed our Gold DofE Expeditions together in a group, enjoying our experience together.”

Both Will and Flo have completed in and won, respectively, the DW race, and won, respectively, the Brecon’s challenge together with Tom. Tom is a nationally ranking cross country runner. “While all of us enjoy and have done varying amounts of cycling,” they said, “Mika has prior experience in bikepacking through both Europe and Morrocco.”

Using EuroVelo Cycle Network, they have planned this route themselves. “While it is not perfect,” Flo explains, “it is the best option to find established cycle paths across Europe.”

The direct route from Devizes to Bonn takes just under 1000km, taking the ferry from Dover to Calais. It will take them through London, the French and Belgian coasts, the Netherlands, and finally, Germany.

The other countries are less of a concern than England. Flo continued, “Belgium and especially the Netherlands are famous for their bike infrastructure and the route we are taking through Germany goes along the Rhein river, which, speaking from experience, is easy cycling.”

“If we take two weeks to do this, including two rest days, that comes out to just about 80km a day, with manageable elevation. Judging by previous experience and the fitness of the group, this is easily doable. Keeping this in mind that we will try to keep our daily goals flexible in case this estimate is wrong. However, with both interval and long ride training, we are positive this won’t be the case.”

Their aim is to inspire other young people their age to take on ambitious bikepacking challenges, and to show what is possible with determination, planning and teamwork.

Along our route, they will also be volunteering at food banks across England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. “We are committed to making this journey not only an adventure, but a socially responsible one,” Flo told me.

This will be happening in summer 2026, thus “bringing Mika home” after they finish their A Levels, “which will reduce his carbon emissions and let us have one last adventure together as a group,” Flo said. “Ideally, we will leave a day or two after speech day (6/7th July) and arriving in Bonn two weeks later (19/20th July.)”

As part of their project, they will be producing two short films; an article documenting the journey, and regular social media content.

“We are going to document our adventure,” Flo explained, “using our phones and my Sony camera to make two short films. The first will be to document our trip for nostalgia and to show our family and friends, however the second will be related to our volunteering. We will interview those people we meet during our volunteering, hopefully both volunteers and those in need, to help spread awareness for those who are unaware to the extent of the poverty and food waste problem throughout Europe.”

You may remember, Flo has published some articles on Devizine, including youth gig reviews and including interviews, of which we are of course very grateful for. Though she hasn’t so much recently, because Flo has been rightly concentrating on her exams, we will give her a big golden key, access to the platform so she they can publish their adventures along the way!

But why, dare I ask, are they calling their Instagram account called ‘Tour des Frites 2026?!’ “To follow our progress,” Flo explained “we will make a public chip-rating Instagram account. We will showcase ratings online, hopefully gaining traction and potentially showing the highs and lows of our expedition. The idea comes from the fact, that especially the Belgians, are particularly proud of their Fritten!”

“The chips will be rated out of fifty, in categories on crispiness, creaminess, cut, coating and colour, character and presentation, with four extra points if it stays crispy when cold and tastes as good as it looks. We think that this can be a fun way of documenting the cultural side of our trip, while enjoying some delicious meals along the way!”

Camping in local campsites, using lightweight tents and trying to gain sponsorship from different cycling companies, will hopefully keep it in budget. They will be cycling for two weeks straight, which I don’t even want to think about, but we wish them all the best of luck and look forward to hearing about their adventures!

Follow the Tour de Frites on Instagram, HERE.