Some time after their eventful trip on the river, chronicled in "Three Men in a Boat", George, Harris and J. suffer a renewed attack of itchy feet and decide to take off on a 'bummel'. However they find that they get into more than a few scrapes on their cycling jaunt in Germany. Learning to cope with perilous tasks such as purchasing a cushion, taking a bicycle off a train, map-reading into the mountains - not to mention crossing the road - they learn that perhaps a change isn't always as good as a rest.
