The Baltic Bicycle Adventure (BBA) 82 days, 3170km. Starting and ending in Riga, Latvia. Circling the Baltic through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Aland, Finland, Estonia and back to Latvia. Jen and Greg's 2025 cycling adventure. Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Gdansk, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn and all the countryside and cities in between. This cycling adventure just kept giving and giving. A wonderful experience. 14 video stage on our YouTube channel. Links through this blog.
CONNAL Kit Cycle Clothing
CONNAL Kit provides cycling clothes for men and women who cycle for fitness, fun and adventure. Clothing comfort is important, both for body and mind – stylish, functional, comfortable, easy care clothing to feel and look good, both on and off the bike. Adventuring out on a cycle tour, riding the trails, a ride with the bunch or just down for a coffee, we encourage you to find the joy of just riding and exploring.
... Just Ride ... Go Explore ...
Cycle Touring - Stories from Recent Bike Tours
Connal BCA Tour Balkans Cycle Adventure 2024
Posted on August 22 2024
Balkans Cycling Adventure - BCA Tour 2024. Starting and ending in Sofia, Bulgaria, then cycling through North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, touching Italy, Slovenia, back through eastern Croatia, Serbia and returning to Bulgaria. 8 countries, 10 weeks, 46 Days of cycling over 2400 km. Cycling and walking adventures. Just the 2 of us, wearing Connal Kit cycling clothing on our self- supported Connal Tour. Just ride and Go Explore. An adventure awaits around every corner and over every hill.
Connal ABC Tour Adriatic to Baltic Cycle Tour 2023
Posted on October 22 2023
Adriatic to the Baltic Cycling Tour - ABC Tour 2023. Starting and ending in Prague, Czech Republic, train to Verona (Italy) to our cycling starting point, then cycling to Chioggia to touch the Adriatic Sea, before turning and heading north. This took us through the Alps and all the way to the Baltic Sea. Cycling through Italy, Austria, Germany, Poland before turning and returning to Prague through Czech. 5 countries, 8 weeks, 36 Days of cycling 2500 km.
Connal Cycle Tour T1 Wheatbelt Western Australia
Posted on October 22 2023
Connal Tours Wheatbelt Cycling Tour WA #1 in the Autumn of 2021 (when travel restrictions were wearing us down) - a 5-day, 510km, 3170vm road cycling tour through the mid wheatbelt of Western Australia. We rounded up some friends & took them on a cycle touring adventure – The Wheatbelt Pub Crawl. Toodyay, Goomalling, Dowerin, Wyalkatchem, Yelbeni, Trayning, Kununoppin, Nungarin, Bruce Rock, Ardath, Shackleton, Kwolyin, Pantapin, Quairading, Greenhills, York, Spencers Brook, finally returning to Toodyay.
Cycle Touring - The How-Tos
Cycle Tour - Choosing Gear - Bags and Panniers for Luggage - Part 2
Posted on October 30 2024
Choosing Gear for a Cycle Tour (Part 2) – Bags - for luggage, food, water, repair equipment, first aid, electrics, camping gear. There is a massive selection of bags to choose from, or you can make your own, however your style of journey will narrow the field. For any length of journey over 2 days, bags attached to the bike will need to carry all supplies. It is essential to keep all your packed gear dry and clear of the mud. Consideration needs to be given to weight distribution and where the centre of gravity is.
Cycle Tour - Choosing Gear - Bicycle, Saddle, Tyres, Pedals, Gearing - Part 1
Posted on October 20 2024
Choosing Gear for a Cycle Tour (Part 1) – Bicycle, Saddle, Tyres, Pedals and Gearing. Everything we purchase must be durable with multiple trips in mind. Here we provide examples based on our 2024 ten-week journey through the West Balkans of how we went about choosing the gear to ride with, and hopefully you can use this process for your situation. What you use will depend on your budget, length of time on tour, using hire bikes or taking your own, type of riding, country you are riding in, where you are staying.
Katharine CONNAL
Katharine ("Kit", "Kate") Connal was an adventurer, elite sportswoman, leader, motivator and achiever. Born 1912, science graduate Leeds University, a 1936 Berlin Olympian, a WWII WAAF Squadron Officer, post war Control Commission in Germany, then to a new life in rural Western Australia. In a time when women were not encouraged to lead or achieve or voice their opinion, Kate, stood strong and determined in everything she did. Our She Wolf who led the pack, protected, nurtured, loved and stood strong as herself. We take our inspiration from these stories …. our families’ stories (Jen Connal).
The Importance of Wolf
Cycling, Cycle Touring and Bike Adventures are more fun with the support and encouragement of the pack. The pack being all who support in any way along the journey. Kate Connal's sense of adventure was strongly inspired by the writings of Rudyard Kipling.
"Now this is the Law of the Jungle - as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, ..., ...,
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack."
... from Kipling's poem "The Law of the Jungle"
As cyclists and travellers, we feel the wolf spirit when exploring - that deep desire for freedom and to live each moment. The wolf’s commitment to family is inspiring, their communication skills supreme and their movement fluid. Join our Pack.
Cycle Touring - Stories from Tours pre 2020
Cycling Tour Prague to Kraków
An invitation to attend a commemorative ceremony at the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic was the catalyst for this particular trip to Prague. Then to add a cycle tour from Prague to Krakόw was suggested. A chance to return to our favourite city and cycle and explore more of Czechia tracing some more family history along the way.
Cycling Tour Coast to Coast England
This cycling adventure in England followed on from our Cycling Tour of the Scottish Highlands. After our cycle in Scotland, we met with our good friend Tony in Edinburgh and headed further south into England, to cycle the Coast to Coast from St Bees on the west coast to Whitby on the east coast. Tackling the Hardknott and Wrynose passes in wild storm conditions. From Whitby we relocated to Ilkley and rode some of the Yorkshire countryside as well as following up on some family history in Leeds.
Cycling the Scottish Highlands
A Connal Cycling Tour in Scotland, retracing a cycle tour Kate Connal did in 1934; paying tribute to the Czech Special Operations Executive (SOE) paratroopers who trained in Arisaig during WWII; and exploring the Scottish Highlands. Our brand name and this ride were inspired by the discovery of a photo of Jen’s mother (Katharine Connal) taken in 1934 whilst on a university cycling holiday in the Scottish Highlands. Using postcards she'd sent home, we plotted her 1934 route and based our own cycle route on this and some of Greg's research into his mother's Crawford ancestry. Kate and a friend cycled Scotland from 31/7/1934 to 9/8/1934. 12 Days 660 km. Our own Scottish Highland Cycle Tour: 16 days; 1060 km; 11787vm.
Cycling tour Pyrenees, Spain and France
Cycling Tour Spain, France, the Pyrenees. The first Connal Cycling Tour. Discovering the Basque Country, the Pyrenees, the wine region of Rioja, food heaven at Extebarri, Col du Tourmalet, Col de Tentes, Guernica, Guggenheim Bilbao, Picasso, Salvador Dali, Barcelona. Rugged coastlines and mountains to climb. Just ride.
Testimonials
Be Inspired
We met Jen and Greg through Dunsborough’s cycling community. They’re great inspirers and encouragers to all who want to ‘go explore’... Jules O.
Quality
I purchased padded liner shorts. So nice I may even wear them outside my mountain biking shorts!! Excellent quality....Paul M
Best for Travelling
I used my new Connal Kit clothes for a ride in Europe. They were incredibly comfortable, they washed and dried overnight and I felt comfortable popping in to a restaurant for lunch. I'll be ordering more. ... Fran C.
Traditional Custodians
We, Connal Kit, acknowledge the Traditional Custodians, the Wadandi people, on whose land we cycle, walk and live,
and pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging.
