Welcome to the December newsletter.A warm Seasons Greetings to all of you, wherever you are in the world and however you celebrate this time of year. We’re continuing our tradition of spending every Christmas somewhere different and this year we’ll be cycling through Andalucia in southern Spain. While we’re away, enjoy the latest articles from TravellingTwo.com and watch for more over the coming weeks, including a new podast interview!

» Beer Cycling Through Belgium » Tips for Sponsored & Charity Bike Rides » Bike Touring Guide To Brazil (and it’s free!!) » New Santos Travelmaster Bicycles. Woohoo! » Getting Visas For Foreign Countries While Bike Touring » Refelections On Cycling In A Snowstorm

Tip Of The Month: Cleaning Dirty Hands

It’s common to need to do at least a little bike maintenance on tour and that usually means dirty, greasy hands.

How can you get them clean, without access to a lot of soap and water?

The answer can be found in your collection of cooking supplies Olive oil. Salt. Sugar. Just pour a little olive oil into the palm of your hands and a spoonful of salt or sugar.

The olive oil breaks down the grease and the salt or sugar acts as an abrasive. Scrub away and then just use some water to rinse. Not only does it get your hands clean, the olive oil makes them nice and soft!

Gear We Love: Folding Bowl

We received gift certificates for the local camping store, so off we went to pick out some new toys, including the Sea To Summit X-Bowl.

This collapsible bowl is made of food-grade silicon, with a hard base that doubles as a chopping board. It’s over 2 inches deep and quite wide; big enough to hold a healthy serving of pasta.

Because the X-Bowl folds flat, it barely takes up any room in your bags. There are also handy measuring marks on the side of the bowl. We’ll be throwing this in our panniers for our upcoming trip to Spain and giving it a test run. Some people say these bowls are slightly hard to clean but otherwise they seem to get very good reviews.

You can buy them from REI for as little as $6.83 (the green and red bowls are mysteriously half the price of the other colours).

Featured Bike Touring Blog: Mike On A Bike

As you’re sitting there, waiting for winter to break so you can get back out on your bike again, spare a thought for Mike Boles, who’s currently cycling across China.

The journey that brought him this far began in summer 2009 in Alaska. Since then, Mike has posted a series of entertaining, insightful and reflective journals describing his experiences on the road. From Azerbaijan, Mike writes:

“I’m no stranger to the generosity of others, but in Azerbaijan that kindness melds beautifully with an energy, honesty and insatiable curiosity that makes my heart ache in all the right places.” Check out Mike On A Bike for more tales from the road.