Cyclist: Hey Sam. You have quite an unusual background for a bike tour operator. Tell us a bit about your experience both on and off the bike?
Sam Wood: Yes, I’ve been lucky enough to lead a pretty diverse life! I’ve always loved the bike, but I originally trained and worked as a Roman archaeologist around Europe. I’d travel, often by bicycle, from excavation to excavation, from Italy to Greece, across UK and even to Ukraine (almost two decades ago… and I didn’t ride to that one!). I’d direct excavations in places like Pompeii in southern Italy or Chersonesos in Crimea for big US and UK universities. It was a great life.
Then I took a job at the British Museum in London, another lovely place, but soon got itchy feet. So, I proposed to the BBC, with my two brothers (one a BBC journalist) the idea of a TV documentary cycling in the footsteps, a six-part mini-series. Unfortunately, they dressed us up like The Wiggles in red, green and blue respectively. But it was great fun and was sold to over 70 countries worldwide, including coming here to Australia on the Nat Geo channel. The BBC was setting us up for our second series following Napoleon from Paris to Moscow when all three of us brothers decided to have children. Although, it is still on the cards for a future date!
