Andy Stewart
Founder of The Road Ahead. Touring rider, route planner and the person who writes every guide on this site. This page is the evidence — the experience, the journey, the credentials and the standards behind the words.
15+ years on two wheels
Touring across Scotland, Europe and the USA — from single-track Highland passes to 2,400 miles of American highway.
Route 66, end to end
Rode the Mother Road Chicago to Santa Monica in 2024. Every ride day, restaurant, hotel, stop and lesson is in the journal.
Photography from the road
Every gallery image on the site is shot on the ride — no stock, no shortcuts. The light, the signs and the silhouettes are the real ones.
Gear tested in conditions
Jackets, helmets, chain lube and comms recommended only after being used in the actual weather they are sold for.
2,400 miles. 14 days. Eight states.
In 2024 I rode Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica with a group of riders, on hired Harleys, through a heatwave that topped 44°C in the Mojave. I kept a journal every day — the roads, the food, the people, the breakdowns that did not happen and the ones that nearly did. That journal is the spine of every Route 66 page on this site.
2,063
miles ridden
14
ride days
8
states crossed
39°C+
peak desert heat
Shot on the ride
Every photograph on The Road Ahead — the gallery, the ride days, the destinations — was taken by me, on the road, in the conditions described. No stock imagery stands in for a place I have not been. When a photo illustrates a stop, I was at that stop. That is the standard the site is built to.
View the gallery2010
First multi-day tour
A borrowed bike, a waterproof that was not waterproof, and a week in the Highlands. The start of everything that followed.
2014
First European tour
The Vosges and the Black Forest. Where route-planning stopped being a chore and became the point.
2018
North Coast 500
The first proper Scottish loop, ridden properly. The route that became the platform's first tour pack.
2022
The Road Ahead begins
Started documenting routes, gear and rider lessons for other touring riders.
2024
Route 66 — Chicago to Santa Monica
14 days, 2,400 miles, eight states. Ridden with a group; documented mile by mile, stop by stop, lesson by lesson.
2025
The toolkit
Turned the journals into the Route 66 Rider Toolkit — planners, calculators and guides built from the actual ride.