Across Turkiye on a Tallbike (Video)

Hi, I’m Alex. I’m 23 years old and have been cycling around the world on a tallbike alongside a stray puppy since May 2022, when I was 19. I grew up in the UK to British and Italian parents, and from an early age, I was drawn to the outdoors, nature, and animals.

In my early teens, I discovered a fascination with bicycles; they were recreation and freedom, and also a tool. I collected £5 bikes from the local dump whenever I could afford to, and taught myself how to take them apart, repair, and modify them. By 15, I had built many fully functional bicycles. Eventually, I started tinkering with all the scrap parts left over from broken frames, wheels, and other parts, using these cheap building blocks to explore new ways to define and push the boundaries of what a bicycle is.

In 2018, I built my first tallbike, a bicycle nearly as tall as I was. It was incredibly rewarding to ride something I had put together myself, and the novelty of being so high up was surprisingly enjoyable. At that point, the tallbike was more functional than practical, but I used it for everything within my local area.

Over the next three years, I refined my designs and built dozens more custom bicycles, including lowriders, tallbikes, and experimental builds of all shapes and sizes. I also tested out my first long-distance tallbike journey, pedalling roughly 800 kilometres around central and lower England. I had never travelled by bicycle before, yet the tallbike was proving surprisingly practical in almost every way.

By 18, I found Mambo, the tallbike I’m currently halfway around the world on. It had been built by a friend in Bournemouth, and seemed perfect for me with its longer wheelbase and more considered frame geometry. I spent the next few months modifying and rebuilding the bike for long-distance travel, preparing for something bigger.

My first cycling trip that left England was entirely spontaneous, taking me all the way from my home in Norfolk to the lochs of western Scotland. It took 10 days to reach Glasgow, and it was the deciding factor in giving me confidence that this tallbike had much more potential than just touring the UK.

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By 2021, I was planning a trip across Europe, and in early 2022, I finally set off, taking the ferry to the Netherlands to begin my journey, setting my destination as Cappadocia in Türkiye, 8,000 kilometres away. The destination later changed, but you’ll discover how in the video.

As I made my way through Germany, Switzerland, and towards Eastern Europe, I picked up a cheap camera to pair with my GoPro and began taking my filming more seriously. I had originally planned to document the journey casually for social media, but once I had a proper camera in my hand, I started to see the adventure in capturing my travels in a more professional capacity.

Then, in July 2022, I found a stray puppy, just two months old, alone on the side of the road at the Romania-Serbia border. I tried to find someone in the local village to adopt her, but no one showed any interest. I named her Nova, got her vaccinations and passport, and made a space for her inside the cargo bay of the tallbike. From that moment on, she became part of the team.

After five months of cycling, a few flat tyres, a stray puppy, and three welding repairs (mostly my own fault), we had finally reached Cappadocia. At that point, I hadn’t planned our next steps. Cycling back towards the UK would take up to five months, and I knew that pet import rules for Eastern European dogs were costly and complicated. I had to decide whether to head back home or keep travelling east into Asia. The story will be continued in future videos.

About this video: At 51 minutes, this is the longest video I’ve made so far, pouring almost five months of my life into editing alone. I have no education or experience in filming or editing previous to this video series, which is why it took me a couple of years to grasp the basics, and three years to bring this journey from my camera to your screens. This film follows our time crossing Türkiye, exploring the joys and challenges of travelling by tallbike, Nova’s life growing up on the road, and our encounters with the Turkish people and culture as we cycle deeper into Asia.

You can keep up with Alex’s travels on Instagram and via his website.

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