Arts / New book to explore brothers’ 2,000km cycle adventure to Unst
A BOOK detailing two brothers’ 2,000-kilometre journey on bicycles through the UK to Unst is in the works.
Travel writers Simon and Chris Raven – known for books such as Driving the Trans-Siberian – reached Shetland earlier this summer after their long cycle north through the UK.
They plan to release a book about their adventures in 2026.
The idea began in a “small, cluttered shed” at the back of their family home in Daventry, near Northampton in England.
The brothers stumbled upon two forgotten mountain bikes, and instead of throwing them away they decided to restore them and embark on their journey to the northernmost point of the UK.
With the bikes finally road-ready, the brothers set off from the street where they had learnt to ride a bicycle as kids.
The journey would take them thousands of kilometres across diverse landscapes in England and Scotland.
The brothers admit the trek north was not without its challenges – both physical and mental.
However “during these difficult times that their brotherly bond truly shone”, a blurb for the book said.
After a month on the road, they finally reached Scrabster, where they boarded the ferry to Orkney and then on to Shetland.
After reaching Unst, the brothers’ trip came to an end – but their bicycles’ “new lives on the Shetland Islands had only just begun”, they said.
“A kind local offered to take the mountain bikes and arranged for them to be upcycled by what is surely the most northerly charity shop in Britain,” the release about the book said.
“For the brothers, it was a huge pleasure in knowing they could give something back to the local community.”
It continued: “For the Raven Brothers, the journey was about much more than reaching Unst. It was a chance to reconnect with each other and with the simplicity of life that cycling brings.
“They learned to appreciate the small things—the warmth of the sun after a rainstorm, the kindness of strangers, and the beauty of nature and the world around them.”
The Raven Brothers’ new travel book will be published by Samosir Books in November 2026.
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