After getting published, I rather naively envisaged a whole series of light-hearted books (Tim Moore in style) in which I tackled cycling routes in the footsteps of famous generals or explorers – just as I had done with Hannibal and ‘Climbs and Punishment’. London to Rome (Caesar); Paris to Venice (Richard the Lionheart); Venice to Athens (Marco Polo); Marrakesh to Porto (Othello) … The idea certainly had legs.

First up, the sequel would follow a Napoleon-themed ride from Paris to Moscow. I’d have called it ‘Tour and Peace’ (of course) and I was even prepared to attempt some kind of two-wheeled retreat in the height of winter. But my publisher wasn’t having any of it, so that’s all gone on hold. I had subsequent proposal for a book on ‘The Perfect Tour’ (an in-depth look at the history of the evolution of the Tour de France route, coming up with the perfect 21-stage race) turned down. Ditto an alternative history of cycling told through the prism of siblings involved in the sport. This followed research which showed that around a third of Grand Tour winners also have/had a brother who was a professional cyclist. When this was also passed, I used some of the research I’d done and wrote a feature for Rouleur magazine. It also helped in the Re-Cycle feature I did on Gustaaf Deloor, the pioneering Belgian who won the first two editions of the Vuelta in the 1930s with help from his brother, Alfons.

Another idea of mine currently on hold is an extended extended biography of Alex Virot, the pioneering French radio reporter who, in 1957, became the first journalist to be killed while covering the Tour de France. The larger-than-life Virot was the principal subject of my chapter in the Cycling Anthology, and the focus of a longform piece I did for Eurosport, which includes a long-lost piece of radio footage that I managed to track down, recorded on the morning of the motorcycle crash which took his life.

Yet another thwarted project was a Climbs and Punishment-themed book off the back of the Transcontinental Race in 2015. My friend Rowan and I had been accepted to take on the self-guided and self-supported ride from Flanders to Gallipoli. But we later pulled out because of personal reasons. Instead, we went bike packing from Cherbourg to Barcelona (via the Massif Central and the Pyrenees) during the same window: a cycling challenge, but on our own terms and without the pressure of taking part in a race.

After several setbacks in getting writing projects over the line with my publisher, I decided to get the ball rolling on a life-long ambition and write a novel while juggling with my other commitments. I started tentatively in 2017 and it has been a real labour of love. The first draft of my art-heist comedy thriller was completed shortly after the birth of my son in 2019. Things went on hold but I eventually managed to iron out some plot holes and come up with a second draft in early 2021 around the time my daughter was born.

A select few friends and family members have now read ‘Provenance’ and the feedback has been positive so far. But I’m aware that it needs a larger third edit before I approach any publishers or pass it on to my agent. This will be the backbone of my winter project for 2021/22 with the hope of having a polished manuscript ready for the spring. But I am also on the hunt for another project – whether that’s writing, translating, editing, or something completely different – to keep me busy before the next cycling season.