Day 6 July 1^st Holten- Osnabruck

 

What a lovely warm sunny day and how nice it is around this part of Germany. I am saying no more I don’t think I need to.

 

Distance 88 Miles

Total Distance 7009 Miles

Av Speed 14.2 mph

Time 6.11

Day 7 July 2^nd Osnabruck to Syke

 

I am amazed how every German town I pass through (and I try to pass through as many as possible to break up the monotonous riding) is very similar and they are all incredibly well presented with street cafes dominating the centres along with all the usual high street shops. Today I passed through Bramsche, the twin town of Todmorden where I grew up and visited on a school exchange when I was 14. My main memory of that trip was actually the ferry journeys where we managed to wind the teachers up to the point where they said they would never be doing a school exchange again! I do hope Mr Jackson (chinny) has calmed down now. The amazing thing is that despite the small size of many of these towns they have an incredible number of shops and cafes. Take Bramsche for example which is supposed to be the same size as Todmorden but has millions more shops, cafes and bars.

 

Distance 78 Miles

Total Distance 7088 Miles

Av Speed 13.5 mph

Time 5.47

Day 1 July 3rd Syke – Stover

 

I feel like I am living my own Groundhog Day. It’s still sunny, hot, flat, and green and I am riding into a constant headwind. In the end I found myself doing interval training just to give me some excitement in the afternoon. Although it is windy I am so happy it’s sunny as the contrast between the green fields and the deep blue sky is at least attractive and I am at least getting my tan back! It would appear that the majority of the world’s strawberry production comes from around here; I have passed so many strawberry fields and stalls selling them fresh from the ground.

 

Distance 100 Miles

Total Distance 7188 Miles

Av Speed 13.1 mph

Time 7.35

Day 2 July 4^th Stover – Gromitz

 

Germany was in full World cup fiesta mode with red, yellow and black flags dangling everywhere and everyone building themselves up for a big disappointment. Still for me a change was in the air, after 2000 similar days my arrival in Lubeck, a very nice medival city signalled an alternative view. That of the deep blue Baltic Sea. Here on Germany’s north coast I was amazed to find numerous holiday resorts with fine white sandy beaches. It seems Germans are on one long holiday everywhere in Europe, even their own country. On my way to the coast a bridge had been demolished and replaced with a tunnel for the motorway traffic I got very confused as the bike path signs disappeared into the rubble which was not very German. I hadn’t realised one of the signs was actually directing me to a free shuttle bus which took you through the tunnel with regular efficiency. I watched Germany being kicked out of the world cup in a local bar with I have to admit a little pleasure watching them in fits of rage despite their support in the Portugal nightmare. It’s funny despite the hospitality I have been shown in this country and however impressed I am with the majority of it I there could never be the same romance as with countries like Spain and France.

 

Distance 84 Miles

Total Distance 7273 Miles

Av Speed 12.7 mph

Time 7.08

Day 3 Gromitz – Vordingborg (Denmark)

 

Back to the flat roads and headwind. In fact the wind was worse than ever today and it seems to take forever to reach the 45 minute ferry crossing to Denmark. Once again all the riding was done on bike paths, 10 miles of which followed a dusty track round the fantastic sandy coastline. Eventually I did make it across the water although there was no dramatic change in scenery; it was still flat and windy. One highlight was the incredibly long bridge which took me from one island (Lolland) to Zeeland with great views of the Danish coastline. Only 2 days to go before Lizzy joins me in Copenhagen! Come on France don’t let us down tonight.

 

Distance 78 Miles

Total Distance 7351 Miles

Av Speed 13 mph

Time 6.01

Day 4 July 6^th Vordingborg – Copenhagen

 

Wow I didn’t realise the Danish could be so boisterous! While enjoying the French beat the diving cheating Ronaldo and co the TV room erupted with drunken Danes shouting at drunken Danes and I don’t think it was about whether Carlsberg was the best beer in the world. Anyway I made it to Copenhagen by late afternoon and it was a relief to some normal looking people once more. It would seem the Danish have a real problem with obesity, perhaps it’s too much bacon?

 

Distance 74 Miles

Total Distance 7424 Miles

Av Speed 13.2 mph

Time 5.34

Week 18 Day 2 July 12^th Copenhagen – Bastad

 

After a weekend spent dodging the rain and the diving bugs Lizzy went home yesterday and I am back on the road once more. A well needed boost in the form of a tailwind blew me to the 20 minute ferry crossing over to Helsingborg in Sweden. From there my enthusiasm was well and truly buried as I messed up badly. I had no map and despite attempts in every Garage could not get hold of one but thought as long as I headed along the coast northwards I would be fine. Unfortunately the coast I was heading up was actually a jagged edge (albeit an attractive jagged edge) sticking out into the ocean and I only realised upon reaching the point. 30 miles since leaving Helsingborg I was about 7 miles away from it again. Then the wind changed to a headwind, the heavens splashed down on me and I finally finished soaked through in a muddy campsite just as a fight was breaking out between the rowdy Swedish kids, the campsite owners and the families that had been disturbed by the noise. 

 

Distance 98 Miles

Total Distance 7523 Miles

Av Speed 13 Mph

Time 7.31

Day 3 July 13^th Bastad – Asa

 

The kids managed to get even more aggressive and totally hammered during the night and decided to run round the campsite at 2am this morning waking everyone and banging on all the tents. The highlight of today was meeting the Falkenburg cycling club out on a training run. They passed me as I was suffering into the wind so I jumped on the back of the group of 8. I was bowled over by the friendliness of the entire group who let me sit on for twenty miles each of them taking it on turns to have a chat. I even received a present in the form of a banana. Towards the end of the day I finally came across some hills and forests nestled beside the deep blue ocean. Please let this be a sign of things to come.

 

Distance 89 Miles

Total Distance 7621 Miles

Av Speed 13.6 Mph

Time 6.30

Day 4 July 13^th Asa – Udevalla

 

After much deliberation I finally decided to purchase a different saddle having had an alright relationship with my Brooks but not fallen in love as many have. It was only when I sat on the new padded Fizik I suddenly realised how comfy the Brooks was! However I immediately noticed cycling felt much easier and more power coming from my backside. Hopefully the pain will subside as I get used to the new one. I kept the Brooks in my pannier just in case. I arrived in Gothenburg very relaxed and planning a few sneaky coffee stops. This I managed however I also got online and found a very cheap flight to Iceland (I had by now given up on the ferry crossing from Bergen which was ridiculously expensive and would have taken me about a week to get to Iceland). The flight is at lunchtime Saturday meaning I had about 280 miles to cover in 48 hours but I fancied a challenge and the cheap as chips price gave me much pleasure. My task was made all the more difficult by a very surprisingly difficult passage out of Gothenburg which led me round the city suburbs and industrial areas. Once I was finally heading in the right direction at around 4pm I was given a gift from the heavens when the wind finally swung round to the south and blew me through the ever improving Swedish scenery. On that note the Swedish people really do live up the reputation as being incredibly good looking and also incredibly friendly and happy. Perhaps Hungarians should come here for their holidays? I finally finished at 10pm exhausted having spent 30 minutes following a signpost for a campsite which no longer existed.

 

Distance 107 Miles

Total Distance 7719

Av Speed 13.5

Time 7.46

Day 5 July 14^th Udevalla – Askim

 

Why did the wind have to change overnight? I seem to spend my days talking about the wind but when you have nothing much to do in a day except ride your bike it really becomes important so sorry for going on about it! Anyway my aim was to try and reach Oslo airport today and hoped I could do the 130 Miles it appeared to be. With a strong headwind which lasted all day and a late start I realised it just wasn’t going to happen just after lunch when I reached the Norwegian border. Luckily since changing my saddle I have felt much better and I pushed as close as I could. My spirits were however dented when I got talking to a Nordic skier who informed me that the airport was another 30 miles north east of Oslo and I resigned myself to an early start tomorrow to reach the airport in time for the flight to Reykjavik.

 

Distance 115 Miles

Total Distance 7834

Av Speed 12.6

Time 9.10

Day 6 July 15^th Askim – Oslo airport

 

Luckily everything went like clockwork today. I was lucky enough to witness Norway at 6am on a crisp, clear, windless day which was undeniably beautiful. At this time in the morning though it appears Norwegian kids practice there rally car driving, however they don’t seem to realise that skidding their old “garried” up old Volvo’s is particularly cool. I also witnessed some local ‘parents’ letting the cat go to the toilet and was wiping its rear end clean for it. It made me feel rather sick.  I am now sitting on in the airport having just been asked to get back off the plane because of a mechanical problem. Four hours later I am still at the airport and have now been told the flight is cancelled and we will be staying in a hotel overnight. It was certainly better than sleeping in a tent anyway! Today I got the news that there is going to be a fourth member of the riding team. Dan 'the big girl' Bull, a friend from school, is meeting me when I return to Oslo on Wednesday and will be riding to Stockholm. It should make good reading to hear of his antics!

 

Distance 62 Miles

Total Distance 7896 Miles

Av Speed 13.9

Time 4.42

Week 19 Day 1 July 17^th Keflavic – Reykjavik

 

At least I made some friends out yesterday’s nightmare…there were numerous Americans using the flight as a means to get home and Svava , an Icelandic girl living in Oslo and training to be a nurse was visiting her very sick father in Reykjavik. Despite a few more hassles along the way this morning and a premature diversion to Stockholm I made it to Iceland to be greeted by a fantastic deep blue sky and a biting cold wind. The night was spent in my tent realising how completely ill equipped I am for Iceland. Everything I have is designed for the European summer not for the Icelandic ‘summer’ where the maximum temperature yesterday was 9 degrees and a low which must have been close to freezing. By the end of the night (whenever that was it never even got dark!) I had all my cycling clothes on, my casual clothes on over the top and I even resorted to turning my laptop on at one point and putting it inside my laptop for more heat! Enough of me being a girl, in one day my mood changed from Iceland being a bit of an inconvenience to wishing I had allocated more time (and more equipment) for a real tour. It really is unlike anywhere else, a feeling of immense energy invigorates you as soon as the bracing air hits you and the scenery really does take your breath away. I managed a quick tour of the mossy, lava fields of the south west of the Island taking in the major tourist attraction the Blue Lagoon with its milky blue body of water heated by the nearby geothermal power plant. An amazing place where I could quite happily have stayed in the steamy open air bath all day. My trip ended in the surprisingly large capital, a truly intriguing city which deserves far more time than I had given it. I hear weekend nights here are something to savour and you can really believe it although the hundreds of coffee shops make it pretty satisfying during the day as well. To sum Iceland up its grey and wet and yet having only seen a tiny glimpse of it I loved every second of it and anyone who knows my need for warmth and sun will understand what that means.

 

Distance 51 Miles

Total 7947

Av Sp 13.4

Total time 3.47

Day 2 and 3 July 18^th – July 19^th Iceland – Norway

 

Fortunately the return journey was much easier and I arrived back in sunny Norway to meet my new riding partner. On the way home I heard the sad news that Svava’s Dad died yesterday just 1 day after she got to see him. Upon my arrival back at the ‘only’ airport in Oslo today I searched high and low for him only to discover Ryanair flew to another ‘Oslo’ airport on the south coast of Norway and Dan was waiting in arrivals there! That put paid to any cycling today as I sit and wait for his train.

Day 4 July 20^th Jessheim (Oslo airport) – Torsby

 

After a few beers and pizza and Dan’s 11 hours sleep last night we set off a little late this morning but fortunately we were greeted with a nice calm day and the made up some good time before lunch. After 2 and half hours of riding Dan thought we had only done 15 miles but it was actually 40! At this point the sprinting for speed limit signs was introduced to spice up the day a little. As we moved away from Oslo the traffic dissappeared then the houses then the people and we left with vast open expanses of water, forests and moose warning signs. In the afternoon despite a few refuelling stops the miles continued to build up pretty quickly with the lack of wind and the constant sprinting. Once we had crossed the Swedish border we were left with the problem of having no map and not really knowing where to head for evening. This became slightly worrying when we cycled for around an hour seeing 10000000000000 trees but no shops and the towns we did pass having populations from 1-5. We eventually found a campsite at around 70 miles but with no facilities except a hole in the ground we decided to take a risk and push on for something a little better. Eventually like an oasis in a desert a garage appeared on the horizon and we finally had a map and even better the owner directed us to a campsite about 15 miles away. And what a friendly family run campsite it is…they even had the man who walks with the fridge on his back visit them.

 

Distance 108 Miles

Total 8055

Av Sp 15.2

Total time 7.02

Day 5 July 21^st Torsby – Rada

 

We never really got going today with the search continuing for a decent map, a decent coffee and confirmation we had somewhere to aim for which would have at the very least a campsite. When we finally did get hold of a map which gave us the information required it confirmed what we already thought, we had the choice of stopping soon or it would be another 60 miles or so before the next decent sized town. So we stopped and finished the day with a swim in the lake and a BBQ which we finished just as the rumbling clouds finally made there way over our heads and soaked us.

 

Distance 41 Miles

Total 8096

Av Sp 14.9

Total time 2.49

Day 6 July 22^nd Rada – Ludvika

 

We really are in the middle of the wilderness now. Today we went through only two very small towns and the rest of the day was spent cycling through the fresh pine forest and populated with moose, wolves and allegedly brown bears. There was a touch of excitement at one point when we were stopped at the side of the road and one car overtaking another ended up touching and we got involved in the post accident discussion with the perpetrators. We also made friends with the owner of an incredibly isolated café where we were treated to waffles with incredibly sweet jam made from berries that grow on the forest floor (the gold of Sweden!) and then given an amazing ice drink made from a plant she grew in her garden. Her refuelling made the legs strong once again and we would have carried on but it looked like another storm was about to soak us again so we stopped for the day in the biggest town we had seen all week.

 

Distance 80 Miles

Total 8176

Av Sp 14.4

Total time 5.32

Day 7 July 23^rd Ludvica – Uppsala

 

The hotel provided the rocket fuel this morning and the legs did the rest despite spending the first 20 miles feeling like we may be seeing the pancakes, muesli and bread once again. Full credit to Dan who showed his true Yorkshire grit and stuck with it all day at what was a pretty decent speed with a fully loaded tank. The first half of the day was spent on nice quite, rolling, country lanes but as we headed towards Stockholm the towns were increasing in size and the traffic became much heavier. We managed to hit 17 mph average at the 100 mile mark which made it my fastest day yet with a swirling yet very light wind. We narrowly missed yet another impressive thunderstorm as we rolled into Sweden’s fourth city.

 

Distance 106 Miles

Total 8283

Av Sp 16.6

Total time 6.24

Diary Week 20 Day 1 Uppsala – Stockholm

 

The morning was a long one as we waited for the tents to dry, the people of Uppsala to appear and the coffee to mask the affects of yesterdays prolonged effort.  The ride into Stockholm was relatively simple and we reached the outskirts by around 2pm. However as has become quite customary in the big Northern European cities the combination of numerous motorways and a maze of unhelpful bike lanes made the going difficult into the centre. Luckily the tailwind and the thought of seeing some real people was enough to get us through it pretty swiftly and we even got to enjoy 5 miles of forest trail riding. Stockholm was an impressive sight, especially when you have not seen much except trees and lakes for a week. We were certainly impressed and that was before we found the incredibly pretty old town, royal palace and some of the hip suburbs spread across the islands. Incredibly the Swedish receptionist at the hotel had lived in Leeds with her boyfriend for a year working at the Weetwood Hall hotel (across the road from Louise’s house!) which got us a nice discount. Unfortunately that was time up for Dan as he was up and off at 3am in the morning with at best an hour’s sleep. Thanks for making the effort to get over buddy I hope you managed to enjoy it!

 

Distance 59 Miles

Total Distance 8343

Av Speed 13.5

Total time 4.15

Day 2 July 26^th Stockholm - Helsinki

 

My last ferry journey for a few months thankfully and the trip got off to an impressive start. Heading out of Stockholm centre through the narrow passages between the many green and forested islands that make up the Stockholm archipelago is a fantastic sight. The “cruise itself” was an experience in itself. Many Scandinavians use the ferries as a way of getting hold of cheap tax free alcohol and also the opportunity to party. The Viking line was more like a floating Benidorm with cabarets, magic shows, an English pub, and 2 horrific clubs.

Day 5 July 28^th Helsinki – Karhula

 

Having spent the last 2 days sorting out my Russian visa I finally picked it up at noon today after my third trip to the consulate and left Helsinki. Helsinki was an interesting mix of modern buildings and 60’s tower blocks but apparently the best thing the city has to offer is the extremely vibrant nightlife however I was tucked up in bed so I cannot comment! About 30 miles from Helsinki was the small, ancient and pretty town of Porvoo Broga with its cobbled streets and picture postcard painted timber buildings.  My day should have ended at around 90 miles when I arrived in Kotka however I was immediately concerned by the number of people in the city. It turned out there was a huge music festival in town and every single room was taken. An hour and a half later I had been to 6 full hotels and finally found a room in a town that reminded me once again of South Wales – Karhula and was joined by two German cyclists who were in exactly the same boat as me.

 

Distance 103 Miles

Total Distance 8448

Av Speed 14.1

Total Time 7.22

Day 6 Karhula – Poljany (Russia)

 

Well this was this was the day I was anticipating a major twist to my journey and I was not wrong. I have to admit to a lot of apprehension about crossing the Russian border fuelled by some of the travel reports I had read. About 15 miles from the border I was curious about the line of trucks by the side of the road. Eventually it became obvious this was actually queue for the border crossing. The border crossing itself was actually ok, the border guards were very helpful and I even managed a conversation and a smile with one although his sarcastic expression of good luck did not instil much confidence. After entering Russia there was no apparent difference in the scenery except for the disgusting amount of rubbish by the side of the road. Scandinavia was so clean I could not remember seeing ay rubbish at all, even by the side of busy main roads. So it would be about 35 miles before I reached the town of Vyborg where I planned to stay for the night. The road condition was pretty good; the traffic was light except for the odd thundering car transporter and the only people I saw was the berry sellers on the side of the road. Only when approaching Vyborg did I suddenly get a shock. Coming from the clean, orderly, English speaking, Volvo driving Scandinavian countries to the dusty, crazy, definitely not English speaking, Lada driving Russian city was enough to accentuate the early apprehension. Luckily for me the word ‘hotel’ is even used here and I managed to find 3 in pretty quick succession (as well as another 4 miles out of the centre) unfortunately for me they were all full, as I learnt ‘no numur’ to mean, due to another  festival in the city. I had no choice to go on to the road for St Petersburg. On the map there didn’t look to be much for miles and in reality there was even less. Twenty miles in and I passed the first town which was no town but a military base that sent shivers down my spine looking more like a concentration camp with tanks dominating the skyline. By 9.30pm I had resigned myself to camping wild when I came across a building which looked at some point like it may have been a hotel. To my amazement there was a family stood outside that spoke English and sorted me a room much to the amusement of the 5 Russians who suddenly appeared. Turns out it was a sports camp in the communist days and was now used as a holiday camp for kids (some holiday!) So I went to bed with no water, no shower and having not eaten for 3 hours. Welcome to Russia!

 

Distance 118 Miles

Total Distance 8566

Av Speed 13.8

Total Time 8.31

 

 

Day 7 Poljany – St Petersburg

 

All being well today would be a nice easy day with a sneaky route around St Petersburg without having to pass through the sprawling metropolis. The temperature had dropped drastically overnight and with heavy grey skies only struggled to around 13 degrees which sent shivers to my hungry spine.  It was 2 hours of riding this morning before I finally found a shop and went to the numerous different counters to point at what I wanted. Finally fed and watered I flew to the Baltic coast where there was an air of affluence with numerous beach cafes and restaurants cropping up. There was even a bike path! The traffic was getting much heavier as St Petersburg loomed but the path lasted most of the way to the point my day hinged upon. According to my map a bridge went across between the mainland and Kronstadt, an Island across from St Petersburg, and then a bridge back to the mainland west of St Petersburg and I was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually true. However I sensed something had to go wrong and it did. The crossing back to the mainland simply came to a dead end with a miserable guard who was not prepared to help. I went into the town where a party was in full swing and my mood was lightened by the sight of a car ferry. When I showed the ticket woman where I wanted to go on the map she nodded her head and shouted something at me which sounded like she wanted some money. And off we went. The next 2 hours was spent riding towards the centre of St Petersburg finding a room and yet again I got lucky finding an English speaking family outside what I thought was a hotel and they sorted out a room for me. This time I even managed some dinner.

 

Distance 75 Miles

Total Distance 8641

Av Speed 14.3

Total Time 5.31

 

Day 2 August 1^st St Petersburg – Narva (Estonia)

 

I spent yesterday wandering around the centre of St Petersburg admiring its many palaces and feeling very satisfied that I did not have to ride through this enormous, sprawling city. I even managed to get my visa registered (important before you can cross the border again), eventually, despite three travel agents telling me no-one would be able to do it today and I would have to leave my passport with them overnight. I found a travel agent in a very dodgy looking room on the third floor of a very dodgy flat who did it in three hours. St Petersburg has the only tourist information centre in the whole of Russia which says much about the tourism aspirations of this country but its easy to see this ‘european’ city is at least making an effort with ‘tourist angels’ on the street and even some English menus in the restaurants.

 

Thanks to the location of my room near the massive palace in Peterhov, on the outskirts of St Petersburg, I was out in the countryside within 30 minutes where I remained for most of the day until I reached the ‘main’ road to Estonia which still only had about 1 car every five minutes on it. By mid afternoon I had reached the border and once again my nerves increased as I remembered the horror stories about the border guards extorting money out of you for nothing and generally making life difficult. Its all nonsense…everyone smiled one said thanks for visiting and I was through within 5 minutes. My lasting impression of Russia is one of extreme poverty but at the same time very friendly people (in there own way!), mostly very quite if sometimes poor roads and impressive palaces. The food is the worst I have ever tasted, the run down tower blocks and houses the most depressing vista imaginable and the air stinks of fuel but its all part of the charm right?!

 

Distance 94 Miles

Total Distance 8735 Miles

Av Speed 14.5 mph

Total Time 6.26

Day 3 August 2^nd Narva – Palmse

 

Estonia feels like another world compared to Russia. There are real supermarkets, no smell of fuel and thanks to the EU wonderful smooth freshly tarmacked roads. Narva is no paradise; in fact the whole area has been heavily scarred by industry and is now being rebuilt as the tourists are slowly moving in. With the benefit of a strong North Easterly wind blowing I flew through the Estonian countryside and took the coastal route which added distance to the day but improved the scenery. I was forced off the road at one point though as a truck overtook another truck both travelling the opposite direction and I had no choice but to get off the road before it took me out. Towards the end of the day I met yet another two German cyclists who had cycled from Lithuania and said Latvia was especially nice.  My aim for the day was to reach the forested Laheema national park which thanks to the tailwind was a pretty easy task and I was finished early just as some strange music festival was starting up.

 

Distance 100 Miles

Total Distance 8835 Miles

Av Speed 17.5 mph

Total Time 5.35

Day 4 August 3^rd Palmse – Tallinn

 

Thank you world for tailwinds. Unfortunately the drizzle spoilt the fun but I had a very strong wind on my back all the way today which was well timed as I was feeling extremely tired. The road through the national park continued the quite theme and I decided to take the main Tallin – Narva road for the last 20 miles into the city as it was very well surfaced (once again thanks to the EU) and with a large shoulder for cycling. However in the final 10 miles or so as the road entered the city the shoulder disappeared, the traffic got busier and then the smooth tarmac was replaced with potholed concrete making the ride into Tallinn a little hair-raising. Still it’s not a big city and with the wind on my back I was quickly in the fantastically preserved medieval old town.

 

Distance 56 Miles

Total Distance 8891 Miles

Av Speed 15 mph

Total Time 3.45

Day 7 August 6^th Tallin – Parnu

 

After a weekend of partying (well kind of) and wandering around the cobbled streets of Tallin I now have an easy week as I have 5 days to do around 200 miles and meet Lou and Mum in Riga (Latvia). Today was the one day I desperately needed my Ipod for sanity and to my distress this morning I found it hadn’t charged up overnight. This for me is the ultimate disaster any day but especially today as much of the riding would be on the straight, flat E67. And that was it, a dull day in bright sunshine with a strong crosswind. This was my first day of my journey south again and it was a definite bonus to have the sun on my face once more. Parnu is Estonia’s famous beach resort where apparently the Finn’s come to sample the health spas and the Estonians come to party. On arrival though I don’t see much sign of any parties’; just definite evidence of aging Fins.

 

Distance 85 Miles

Total Distance 8975 Miles

Av Speed 15.2 mph

Total Time 5.30

Day 2 August 8th Parnu - Salacgriva (Latvia)

 

Yesterday was spent on Parnu’s lovely white, sandy beach doing nothing except sleeping and eating. I somehow managed to burn my face, how on earth that happened when we are at latitude even further north than Scotland I have no idea but by the evening I was red as a berry. So today’s ride was once again flat, sunny and pretty windy. I cannot wait to get into some real mountains again its pretty much been flat since southern Belgium and I am worried I may have forgotten how to climb! I passed quite a few other cyclists today, one guy (another German) was doing the trip from Tallinn to Vilnius but he was taking 4 weeks to do it!! I worked out even if he went the long way down he must be doing around 20 miles a day. Judging by his lack of conversation he must be as bored as I would imagine. I was finished nice and early once again and wandered around the four shops and the beach that made up this town that was that biggest for miles and even had a tourist information centre (The Russians would be spilling their Vodka if they saw this!)

 

Distance 54 Miles

Total Distance 9030 Miles

Av Speed 15.1 mph

Total Time 3.30

Day 3 August 9^th Salacgriva – Riga

 

It seemed my hotel last night was a cyclist’s hotel with 6 Slovenians staying who were going from Helsinki to Riga and a Dutch guy who is riding from Holland to Tallin via Kalingrad, Russia’s isolated region, with what looks like nothing but a holdall attached to his road bike. Much of today’s riding was on the quite country lanes of Latvia; in fact the first 20km was on a dusty sandy track which was an absolute nightmare to ride on. I decided to take a detour to the ‘Switzerland of Latvia’ – Sigulda which was indeed attractive with its forested green hills but I hope no-one from Switzerland comes here as I think they would be rather insulated. Still it was nice to ride on at least one climb and one very fast descent. The rest of the ride to Riga was on the smooth main highway and with the sun on my face and the wind on my back it topped off an excellent days riding.

 

Distance 96 Miles

Total Distance 9127 Miles

Av Speed 14.7 mph

Total Time 6.30

Day 4 August 10^th Riga – Riga

 

I rode the 10 miles into the city centre to get my visa for Belarus. Riding through Riga was simple….one nice big simple road all the way into the old town centre. Naturally getting the visa was not as easy as I had thought it might be. The problem was when I finally found the embassy, nobody spoke any English and all the forms were in Belarus/Latvian. So I took a form and tried to get a girl in the café to translate it and even went online but I knew I was going to get it wrong so in the end resorted to going to a travel agent and handed over 100 euros for the pleasure. I now have a 4 day break with Mum and Lizzy to enjoy the city.

 

Distance 18 Miles

Total Distance 9146 Miles

Av Speed 11 mph

Total Time 1.44

Diary Week 23 Day 2 August 15^th Riga – Pasvalys (Lithuania)

 

After a fantastic weekend in Riga I was back on the road on my way south to the final Baltic country Lithuania. Riga itself was a lovely city if spoilt slightly with the drunken British stag parties, it really makes me wonder what the rest of the world must think of our nation when we seem to have drunken, abusive idiots in so many of these cities. If you do go to Riga and you don’t mind being a bus ride from the centre you might want to stay at the Hotel Annabella which is fantastic value and the family that owns it make such an effort it makes it a pleasure to stay. As a result of this weekend Louise is now calling me Dumbo rather than Monster as she has noticed one of my ears sticks out more than the other. Anyway today’s ride was another dull flat affair with a headwind all day punctuated with yet another friendly chat with the border guards as I headed into Lithuania one of whom apparently has a son at Manchester Uni. I also managed to get stung by a bee for the second time in three days. Unfortunately my destination for the day, Birzai, had no rooms available so I was forced into a long detour to the next town 15 miles away where luckily they had a room in the worst hotel I have seen since my Russian adventure but at £8 who can complain?!

 

Distance 98 Miles

Total Distance 9243 Miles

Av Speed 13.9 Mph

Total Time 6.58

Day 3 August 16^th Pasvalys – Vilnius

 

Character building as one Mr Miles might say. 112 miles into a strong southerly headwind in light rain with nothing but countless Heron’s too look at. In the end I took to the motorway as it was very well surfaced with a large shoulder and at least the large trucks gave me a welcome respite from the wind. Oh I forgot to mention I have managed to get down to just the two rear panniers and my handlebar bag now as I sent a bit more stuff home with Lou. This certainly helps when combating the head wind which is threatening to send me into a fever. All the effort was more than worth it though. I had heard from a friend Mr Marsh that Vilnius was impressive and for once he got it right. It is head and shoulders above the other two Baltic capitols and rates as one of the nicest cities I have been to. Ok a lot of the buildings are still being reconstructed but it has a much classier, relaxed feel to it than Riga and Tallin; more akin to a southern European city. Mind you it does help that the stag do crew have not made it here yet so make sure you get here before they do.

 

Distance 112 Miles

Total Distance 9355 Miles

Av Speed 13.0 Mph

Total Time 8.32

Day 4 August 17^th Vilnius – Minsk (Belarus)

 

I really didn’t want to pull myself away from this fantastic place but after another quick tour round on my bike I got on my way so that I could try and reach Minsk. Once again the wind was my opposition and to take my mind of things I turned my day into a one day cricket game (yes I am losing my mind). 120 miles to go with about 9 hours of light remaining. I made a steady start but lost a couple of early wickets at the border crossing as I ended up in the back of Belarus car with my bike sticking out the boot because I refused to give the border guard the dollar or euro he requested. About 60 miles in I had suffered a complete batting collapse and pretty much ground to a halt looking out for a hotel. Fortunately the tail enders managed a fantastic batting display and at the 80 miles mark my legs suddenly started working once more and 5 miles later the road turned slightly so the wind became a cross wind and I began to believe once more I could make the target. With darkness descending play continued and the target was reached as the last of the light faded away and I descended into the city on the wide Soviet streets. When I finally found a hotel room I was shocked to receive a telephone call in Russian which despite being told it was the wrong number continued until I understood the words Massage and Sex. Luckily she understood no thanks and left me along until about three in the morning when she tried again.  

 

Distance 123 Miles

Total Distance 9479 Miles

Av Speed 13.3

Total Time 9.15

Day 5 18^th August Minsk - Ivacevicy

 

Well that will be an evening to remember for a while! Worst of all it was completely my own fault. I had set myself the aim of reaching Brest on the border with Poland tomorrow the 19^th and it was this that stopped me taking a hotel at around 7.30pm as I wanted to get some more miles in. I grabbed the main highway as the motels appeared to line the busy duel carriageway. Unfortunately for the next 50 Miles this proved not to be the case, in fact there was absolutely nothing except for forest and by 8.30 the sky was darkening under heavy grey cloud. By 9.30 it was pitch black with the sky occasionally lighting up by an impressive storm in the distance. By now adrenaline was pumping through my body as the darkness invoked the same desperate feeling I had felt many months ago when riding in the dark in Spain. Eventually after riding 20 miles in the complete darkness a sign appeared offering an oasis of restaurants and hotels which was 10km away. So on I went in the dark unable to see my front wheel and praying the road surface held up. The sign appeared once more and pointed to the town of Ivacevicy where I headed into. Of course the signs disappeared and then the lightning show turned to a major storm as the wind whipped up and the rain came down in buckets. I found a light on in a building and asked for a hotel only to be shouted at and shooed out of the building. Eventually I showed her the Russian word for hotel I had written down in my book and also the picture of the Belarus word for hotel just to make sure and she understood hat was happening, especially when she got outside and realised how big the storm was. Luckily after 15 minutes of showing lots of excitement at the storm I was shown to the Lada of her and her friend and my bike was dumped in the boot for the second time in two days. I was not only shown to the hotel (well I think it was a form of hotel) but all essential Russian conversations completed. A massive thank you to my saviours.

 

Distance 137 Miles

Total Distance 9616 Miles

Av Speed 13.4 mph

Total Time 10.09

Day 6 19^th August Ivacevicy – Brest

 

I am writing this listening to what looks like a Russian wedding party dancing next door. Very soothing. Deep in the spiritual world it is said that every thing happens for a reason to unable you to reach your destiny. Well there is no doubt that this has been true for much of my journey so far and yesterday was clearly no exception even though I could not have understood this last night. I woke a little late this morning to a howling wind praying it was not going to be against me. To my dismay not only was it in my face but the light rain began to fall sending me into a low that could only be worsened by the realisation I had broken 3 spokes last night when I hit a large pothole in the dark. With only 1 spoke remaining I am left praying my wheel holds out to Poland where I have a chance of finding a bike shop. My day was brightened somewhat when after 3 hours of cycling I had managed only 30 Miles and I stopped for some lunch in a café and met a Belurusian guy that had lived in London for 5 years so I at least had someone to talk to. One he had left a Belerusian woman who lives in Germany proceeded to introduce me to her family before she then introduced me to her boot load of mushrooms at which point I said my goodbyes. If anything though the wind worsened, the worse I have had since the trip began and it was only my sheer determination to reach Brest that kept me going along the sometimes awful rough and potholed roads.

 

Distance 87 Miles

Total Distance 9702 Miles

Av Speed 12

Total Time 7.11

Day 7 20^th August Brest – Lublin (Poland)

 

The Russian War Memorial in Brest is a very moving tribute to the yet more people that died in World War 2 as the Red army defended the fortress against the German army. It really is incredible the widespread affect the world wars have had on all of Europe but even more especially so in the countries between the two super armies of Germany and Russia where many battles were fought. Anyway after my umpteenth history lesson I went to the border with Poland hoping for a slightly easier transition than my entry. Sadly this was not to be the case. The first border guard did at least speak some English, well enough to call me crazy and say I could not go through the border on a bike. So for the third time in Belarus my bike was in the boot of a car and I was sat with a family that didn’t speak English.  It took nearly two hours to get through to Poland but I was told it can often take more like a day or two when the border is busy; that really would have hurt! While at the border I got talking a German guy who had a girlfriend in Brest and he informed me of the dreadful Polish driving where I would be lucky to survive and the ‘bad Ukraine’ where everyone will be trying to rob me and get money off me. Don’t you just love this scaremongering talk? So however much I try to ignore this I enter Poland with some nervousness which was totally unfounded on the quite secondary roads. Only when I hit the main road to Lublin did his words become reality with narrow roads, no shoulder and fast, crazy drivers.just like England really. About 25 miles from Lublin the sky suddenly turned from sky blue to deep grey and within minutes the rain started slowly building to tropical torrential rain where once again I was riding the rapids where the roads used to be. By the time I made it Lublin I was the proverbial drowned rat and incredibly relieved to find the centre of the town was very attractive and options of hotels available.

 

Distance 107 Miles

Total Distance 9812 Miles

Av Speed 15 mph

Total Time 6.55

 

Week 24 Day 3 August 23^rd Lublin – Tomaszow Lublenski

 

If only every morning went as well as this. By 11am I had already done 50 miles and headed into the old own of Zamosk with a fantastic and colourful Italian designed Main Square. I set off once again after a coffee for the Ukraine border and received confirmation once again that I truly have something looking after me. Just minutes after passing a bike shop my left Speedplay pedal totally seized up making it impossible to turn. I tried greasing the bearings at the shop but this was fruitless and had to resort to purchasing new Shimano clipless pedals once again. This would have been an absolute nightmare had it happened in the middle of nowhere which was where I was shortly about to be. This and the intermittent thunderstorms were enough of a sign that I should have an early finish. With another 50 miles to the Ukraine city of L’viv and a potential delay at the border and to avoid any of the riding in the dark of last week I stopped in the depressing town of Tomaszow Lublenski.

 

Distance 78 Miles

Total Distance 9890

Av Speed 15.7 mph

Total Riding Time 4.57

Day 4 August 24^th Tomaszow Lublenski – L’Viv (Ukraine)

 

Well I read the signs well yesterday…shortly after I finished a massive storm came in and after 2 hours of torrential rain the road outside my hotel was flooded. This morning came yet another border crossing and as is becoming the norm I was in the back of a van after a 1 hour wait while the border guards decided what to do with me. After another 45 minutes waiting in the queue a different guard told me to get out of the van and go! So I made it to the Ukraine side of the border where I was shouted at in Ukrainian about what I have no idea and eventually they laughed, I understood the words Britain and was sent through. After clearing the border I then reached another checkpoint 5 minutes later where I was sent back as I did not have the necessary stamps on a little sheet of paper I had. So back I went to be greeted by cheers by the guards so I am guessing it was their little joke. Glad I am still providing amusement! So onto L’viv and the horrific surface of the main road; this managed to destroy another spoke and raised concerns about the likelihood of my back wheel making it to Cyprus. Unfortunately there is nothing but signs in the Cyrillic alphabet and I managed to miss the centre altogether and spent around an hour locating the heart of the Ukrainian city of nationalism. When I did I was greeted with a parade celebrating Ukraine Independence Day and a very friendly Californian who lived in Kiev pointed me to a good hotel and warned me the roads only get worse from here!

 

Distance 61 Miles

Total Distance 9951 Miles

Av Speed 15 mph

Total Time 4.01

Day 5 August 25^th L’Viv – Kalomyja

 

What a difference a few hours have made to my impression of Ukraine. The day began as it had left off eating fuel and generally trying to survive everything the awful busy roads could throw at me. L’viv is a city well worth visiting with a large old town and according to the American a much more European outlook than the capital Kiev. This was accentuated by the Independence Day festival with the majority of the locals celebrating in the street. To be honest though I feel I have had enough of cities and really need to make more of an effort to avoid them for the remainder of my trip. Anyway back to today and my fight for survival took me through the very lively city of Ivano Frankivs’k over some increasingly large hills as I headed into the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. Unfortunately the heavy traffic, stink of fuel, thick smoke from the old trucks and buses, horrific roads and grumpy people coupled with the paranoia over my back wheel and a fine drizzle falling made for a pretty miserable morning and I was desperate to make my way out of the country. On the plus side by lunchtime I had hit the magic 10,000 mile mark so Tania (a Ukrainian friend of Mum’s) I am sorry I didn’t make it to Kiev but at least I made the milestone in your country! The change I hinted on earlier eventually took place after I passed through Ivano Frankivs’k and suddenly I was in rural Ukraine where there were more Geese and horse and carts towing hey than heavy trucks, the air smelt much greener and the grumpy faces turned to smiles and waves as I headed through the villages. I even had kids racing me on their shopping bikes and worryingly keeping up. To finish the day off I had done quite a bit of climbing and found nestled at the top of the hill a lovely wooden cabin with a hotel and restaurant which managed a 3 course meal and a nice room for £15 in total. Happy days!

 

Distance 111 Miles

Total Distance 10062 Miles

Av Speed 13.5 mph

Total Time 8.11

Day 6 Kalomyja – Suceava (Romania)

 

It would appear my luck with the weather is unfortunately running out. Much of the morning was spent in heavy rain and made for a pretty miserable start to the day. This was worsened when I took a short cut on the secondary roads which I presumed couldn’t be much worse than the ‘main road’ Well I got that wrong! The road went right over some pretty big hills and disintegrated into a muddy, pebbly track that would have been tough going on a mountain bike let alone a touring bike with slicks. This really was rural Ukraine and the villages I found appeared to have missed the last century. It really was an interesting experience but I was very glad to finally return to some semblance of tarmac and finally I hit the main road which would take me to Romania. The hot sunshine finally returned and by 3pm I was at the Romania border expecting to be bundled into the back of some vehicle once again but was pleasantly surprised to fly through without much questioning. I was immediately hit by the smoothness of the tarmac and reached the town of Suceava just before a massive thunderstorm dumped hail the size of 1 penny pieces and flooded the roads. My initial impression of Romania was the incredible friendliness of everyone I came across, from the smiling border guards, the people on the back of the horse and carts to the kids cycling bikes 20 times too big for them

 

Distance 116 Miles

Total Distance 10178 Miles

Av Speed 13.4 mph

Total Time 8.36

Day 7 Suceava – Ungheni (Moldova)

 

Once again I awoke to the sound of the rain lashing town and I delayed my start as the receptionist told me to expect nothing but Rain for the next 5 days. Great. When I did finally set off once again there was some consolation. The rain was incredibly heavy but the wind was incredibly strong as well right on my back for the first 50 miles and I headed over the hills and really enjoyed myself despite being totally soaked to the bone. I then left the main road and headed east Towards Moldova on deteriorating surfaces through some incredible Romanian villages which became slightly where the curiosity towards me turned slightly intimidating as the locals lined the streets and the children started throwing stones as me as I past even though I’m sure they were all being friendly. My aim for the day was to make it as close to the Moldovan border as possible but with my good progress and the return of the afternoon sun I had made it to the border by 6pm where I purchased my visa and headed to the nearest hotel about 20 miles away. It was a fantastic evening cycling along the relatively decent roads in illuminated countryside surrounded by withering sunflower fields. When I did make it to Ungheni there had, not surprisingly given the nature of driving around here, been a big traffic accident involving a number of cars and much of the town was out investigating. On top of this, not for the first time, I had arrived for the countries’ Independence Day celebrations so it was pretty lively. To my despair though I found the only hotel in town had closed down and a fairly uninterested policeman sent me over a railway bridge where I was lucky enough to find someone who spoke English and was prepared to help out. It turned out this guy (can’t remember his name) was a Romanian who lived in Austria and was visiting some friends in the town and had all of his documents stolen yesterday. He was staying in some kind of refuge for the local railway workers and managed to get me a room there but he was full of warning about the safety of the town unsurprisingly after learning of his position now which meant he had no money for food, no passport to leave Moldova, no visa to return to Austria and the Police were being incredibly unhelpful. I repaid him for his assistance with some dinner, beer and cigarettes and at least had some company in this very strange land.

 

Distance 123 Miles

Total Distance 10302

Av Speed 15 mph

Total time 8.11

Week 25 Day 1 August 28^th Unghenhi - Tecuci

 

Unfortunately my experience of friendly people in Moldova was ruined last night by something which also destroyed any chance of me getting some sleep. My room had no lock on it but my Romanian friend advised me to put the cabinet behind the door after his experience the night before. Thankfully this probably saved me from having most of my belongings taken in the night as I was woken up by the screeching of the cabinet as the door had been pushed open and my subsequent shouting when I realised what had happened seemed to put the intruder off. When I looked outside the door I found the owner coming out of her room and someone else down the end of the corridor but as no-one spoke English I had no idea what was going on. So I put an extra chair behind the door so there was no way in and tried to get some sleep which was not helped by the constant roar of the trains which kept rattling past. The morning dawned with thick fog and I set of back to the Romanian border with no money for water or food as I had given it all to my Romanian friend but expected no more than 2 hours of easy riding. 4 hours later I had made my way through the worst roads I have seen on all my journey, the poorest villages I have seen out of India, been shouted at by the most crazy drivers I have come across and cycled up and down the steepest hills I have had for months. Needless to say I was pleased to make it back to Romania for some food and water.  The afternoon improved dramatically as I peddled through fantastic Romanian countryside with little traffic except for horse and carts, the sun made an appearance and the energy from the food hit my legs. With two hours of sunlight remaining I elected to push on and ride the 30 miles to Tecuci so I could hopefully complete the journey to Brasov tomorrow where I could have a day off. Fortunately this turned out to be a good decision as I flew along the quiet smooth roads. Upon arrival this initially turned to despair when the one hotel in town said they were full and I would have to carry on. Luckily he changed his mind and found me a room after some perseverance and I am now eating lots of chicken reflecting on one of the strangest days of my trip and my great fortune that nothing was stolen last night. The thought of being stranded in Moldova with no documents like the Romanian instead of heading to the Adriatic coast was pretty depressing.

 

Distance 133 Miles

Total Distance 10434

Av Speed 13.4 mph

Total Riding Time 9.53

Day 2 August 29^th Tecuci – Targu Secuiesc

 

The day began riding through the millions of fruit sellers by the side of the road that were even more highly populated than usual however the products they were selling were certainly no different. Huge watermelons, peppers and tomatoes just about summed it up. I bet if someone was crazy enough to sell something out of the ordinary they would make a fortune. Not for the first time a road was missing that was on the map meaning an additional 10 miles detour through Focsani. Of course every cloud has a silver lining and I found my first supermarket since Lithuania where I could actually choose something other than stale bread, cheese slices, awful meat and warm fizzy water. The climbing then began as I made my way to Transylvania. The gradient was very low at first through some typically poor villages then steepened as I headed up into the trees as the people disappeared. Unfortunately the tooting cars continued to speed past and they were beginning to drive me mad as they waited until right behind me and would then sound their horn. Finally I lost me temper as a white van brushed past me with a loud beep and I waved the hand signal more commonly used in the UK but didn’t expect him to understand here. It seemed he did and he stopped up the road and started shouting at me as I rode past. I shrugged my shoulders but he had to have the final word as he drove past and tried to push me into a parked car. So it seems the white van men exist in the middle of the Romanian Carpathian Mountains as well.  From there the scenery improved dramatically and it was a pleasure to be back in the fir clad mountains once more with stunning greenery, muddy rivers from all the rain and fantastic views down the valley. Instead of being one long climb I would occasionally drop back down only to begin climbing once more and as I gained height the villages began to appear almost alpine with wooden chalets dominating the skyline. That was when the road turned to rubble, then mud as I climbed to over 1200 metres meeting no-one but the occasional sheep farmer. Apparently this area has the most bears and wolves in all of Europe and it was so isolated I was expecting one to pop out of the dense woods at any moment. The descent down to 600 metres would have been fantastic for a mountain bike with at least a little suspension but for me it was 2 hours of fun but tired arms, legs and frozen fingers as the rain lashed down once more. Thankfully I was greeted with a fantastic place to stay called the Pension Tavern which was so tastefully decorated it would have been a pleasure to live in and the food was amazing.           

 

Distance 98 Miles

Total Distance 10532 Miles

Av Speed 11.2 mph

Total Riding 8.41 Time

Day 3 August 30^th Targu Secuiesc – Brasov

 

Yuk. That was horrible! A nice easy ride to Brasov was my plan for this morning. Heavy, freezing rain and a strong wind in my face combined with a narrow, rough and incredibly busy road put paid to that. According to the signs it was 10 degrees but it felt even colder than that and I dived into the first hotel when I finally made it to yet another town dubbed the new Prague. I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on my bed eating and watching the A-Team as the rain lashed down on my attic window- respect eh Jonny??!

 

Distance 37 Miles

Total Distance 10569

Av Speed 12.8

Total Time 2.53

Day 5 September 1^st Brasov – Pitesti

 

After a rain soaked day off in the slightly disappointing Brasov I made my way back out over the mountains through the much more attractive tourist towns of Rasnov and more especially Bran with its fairytales castle Transylvania is famous for. I was surprised to find the climb up to 1300 metres pretty easy and soon found myself winding my way back down the mountains. The descent was long and gradual if extremely bumpy and it wasn’t long before I had reached my destination of Pitesti, an industrial and pretty big city.

 

Distance 88 Miles

Total Distance 10657

Av Speed 14.1

Total Time 6.10

Day 6 September 2^nd Pitesti – Craiova

 

A nice easy day saw me head down towards the border with Bulgaria and my old friend the River Danube. The road is new and smooth and although hilly it all seems a little easy in the hot sunshine and I am finished by 3 in another pretty big city called Craovi.

 

Distance 75 Miles

Total Distance 10732

Av Speed 14.5

Total Time 5.08

Day 7 September 3^rd Craiovi - Zajecar (Serbia) (via Bulgaria)

 

A nice easy day was spoilt by two long border crossings and a severe lack of fuel which meant I didn’t eat anything from 8am until 8pm when I finally arrived in Zajacar. I made it to the River Danube and the border with Bulgaria around 1pm where I realised there was no bridge to cross the river and I would have to spend my remaining Romanian money on the ferry taxi across the water which I was told would be in 10 minutes. 2 hours later we finally went across and I sat off across Bulgaria hoping I could get some lunch somewhere during the 30 mile ride to Serbia. Unfortunately the only lunch I managed were the thick swarms of little flies that were obviously drawn to the big river. The route through the countryside was very nice but I spent most of it dreaming of my mums shepherds pie and then Louise text me to tell me she was having a Sunday roast which nearly made me cry. So I made it to the Serbia border to find it was border guard changeover time and I would end up waiting another painful hour before I could get through. My first impression of Serbia was not great, for some reason the border guards were shouting at me because I had gone past the window and ordered me to put my behind the line. He then refused to check my passport for another 30 minutes while he sat there eating a meat pie. Luckily the last 7 miles into the city was pretty much all downhill and the site of shops, restaurants and cash points in Zajecar was mesmerising.

 

Distance 94 Miles

Total Distance 10826

Av Speed 14.3

Total Time 6.33

 

Diary Week 26 Day 1 September 4^th Zajecar- Vrnjacka Banja

 

The day did not begin well. A long shallow climb into a strong headwind made my legs feel totally dead and it was 12 o’clock before I hit the 15 miles mark. However once I hit the peak a dramatic change occurred and the wind suddenly disappeared. The descent was smooth and meandered through some fantastic scenery, the sky turned a fantastic deep blue and best of all was an amazing restaurant at the bottom in a town called Paracin.  The incredibly tasty barbequed food was quite a treat after the bland eastern European tucker I had been used to. The afternoon was pleasant with the sun on my face along the wide open roads and I made it to Trstenik by late evening. Here I met a charming American couple living in the town who told me there was no hotel but to head for Banja an ancient tourist resort (not far about 5 minutes by car).  After taking a wrong turn and getting myself surrounded by about 10 people in a village all trying to help me I finally made it to the lovely village 1 and a half hours later. I had no idea what to expect of Serbia and so far I have been pleasantly surprised to find I really, really like Serbia and its people.

 

Distance 105 Miles

Total Distance 10931 Miles

Av Speed 13.1 mph

Total Time 8.00

Day 2 September 5^th Vrnjacka Banja – Mokra Gora

 

Today was the perfect antidote for all of the less than happy moments of recent times. I could feel the happiness overwhelming me and at times my legs were tingling with the excitement. Serbia is without doubt one incredible place. I know I have said the people are friendly in other places but really they are nothing compared to here. Never have I been so in amazement at the hospitality and warmth shown by a nation that is seemingly buzzing. Most people speak a little English which of course helps but everything is delivered with a totally sincere smile and a laugh and everyone I have met will go out of their way to help. Quite a few shop owners have actually come out of the shop to offer assistance in the form of local knowledge (this is how I ended up in this fantastic little village in the mountains surrounded by ancient steam trains!). I even had one guy driving at the side of me with his passenger window down having a chat about what I was doing. Must of the cycling today was through the mountains and with a lot of climbing but some lovely descents; it was one of those days when everything felt perfect and some of the Alpine views were stunning.

 

Distance 105 Miles

Total Distance 11037 Miles

Av Speed 14.2 mph

Total Time 7.25

Day 3 September 6^th Mokra Gora – Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

 

I had a bit of a nightmare this morning as a result of having nothing but Ukrainian money to pay for my nights sleep. When I checked in last night the receptionist told me they didn’t take visa but I thought she said there was a cash machine in the village and a bank (she didn’t speak English). Well there was no cash machine and I found out this morning the bank would not allow me to draw cash out on my visa card. Crazily the restaurant which was part of the hotel had a visa machine so I went back to the hotel and explained the situation to see if they would let me use it to no avail and I was told there was a cash machine about 2 miles away in a wooden village. This was 2 miles up an enormous hill and when I made it to this strange little village to my amusement the machine was not working and the strange little bank would not allow cash to be taken out on my card either. Once again I returned to the hotel and eventually after a million different conversations with different people the owner agreed to let me pay via the restaurant and off I went through the mountains to the border where the friendly Serbian guard proceeded to have a chat for about 15 minutes about where I had been etc. The same could not be said for the Bosnian side and the crossing marked an enormous change in the quality of life and the scars of the war made immediately obvious by the buildings riddled with bullets and the lack of infrastructure. Indeed the many graves with no names I past were a very sobering experience. I have read and learnt much of the world wars in my travels but to see such visible evidence of wars so recent is something else. My route was once again a wonderful mix of smooth roads, mountain views and long climbs followed by fantastic descents. The only downside was the number of sometimes long tunnels with no lighting and I was therefore plunged into total darkness unless I was lucky enough to be joined by another vehicle.

 

Distance 88 Miles

Total Distance 11128 Miles

Av Speed 13.7 mph

Total Time 6.23

Day 4 September 7^th Sarajevo – Mostar

 

The full extent of the devastating war truly hit home today as I cycled into the city of Mostar. Potoci, about 5 miles away appears to have been totally destroyed with nearly all of buildings either left as rubble, filled with bullet holes or in the process of being rebuilt. The large factories were still partially standing but smashed to pieces and Mostar was a similar story on an even large scale. The lovely old town with its famous bridge which was also destroyed has been restored and the cobbled streets have many tourists’ feet polishing them once again. The tragic site of the destruction aside the riding today was once again brilliant (aside from the numerous pitch black tunnels) as first I climbed to around 1000 metres, followed by a steep 6 mile descent and then a wonderful ride along the gorge created by the emerald green River Neretva down to the large plain containing Mostar. 

The road continued along the river Neretva for another 50 km through the Croatian border towards the coast and finally there were the clear blue waters I had been dreaming of for many days while in the cold and wet interior of Eastern Europe. The coast road although busy was a beautiful smooth, undulating route with more foreign cars than Croatian and it was nice at least to be shown a bit of courtesy. The views of the Adriatic coast were at times pretty spectacular with numerous little villages clinging to the hillside overlooking the coves. The road travels back through Bosnia and Herzegovina for around 5 miles, the only part of the country that reaches the coast but the border guards didn’t even bother with my passport. By mid afternoon I could no longer resist the allure of the clear blue water and dived into the ocean for the first time since I was in Italy, what pleasure. The famous coastal city of Dubrovnik was reached by late afternoon where I will be taking a day off to explore the incredible fortified old town and laze by the sea. Only 2 weeks, around 1500 miles and 6 countries to go until my finish in Cyprus and reaching Dubrovnik it all seems very close now. It’s going to seem very strange no longer having to pack up my panniers every day and set off on another day of adventure. I know one thing; despite all the trials and tribulations I am going to miss it.

 

Distance 92 Miles

Total Distance 11317 Miles

Av Speed 15.1 mph

Total Time 5.56

Day 7 Dubrovnik – Bar (Montenegro)

 

Cycling doesn’t get much better than this. The coastal route from lovely Dubrovnik south takes in yet more incredible scenery as the Dinaric Alps collide with the clear blue Adriatic. Once again it was very hilly but the views and descents more than made up for the tough climbs that at times were themselves making me smile as they hairpinned their way up the cliffs. I have been surprised over the last few months how few other touring cyclists I have met along the way. Yesterday I managed to find two (not surprisingly) Germans in the wonderful Dubrovnik old town who had just completed a tour of the Balkans. A pleasure to meet you fellas. At the border crossing into Montenegro I met a Swiss cyclist who had set off with plans to ride for a year through Asia but was now having second thoughts after 20 days of cycling and was thinking of finishing in Istanbul. Unfortunately he disappeared when climbing one of the many hills. Without doubt the highlight was a section of the road around the largest fjord in southern Europe which although ignoring the ferry route straight across cost me 20 miles or so was dream cycling. Little villages nestled in the coves with the backdrop of huge limestone mountains and incredibly clear waters. Another great day with perfect weather ended in the coastal resort of Bar with a swim in the ocean, like I said it doesn’t get much better than this.

 

Distance 98 Miles

Total Distance 11415 Miles

Av Speed 14.5 mph

Total Time 6.35

Week 27 Day 1 September 12^th Bar – Tirana (Albania)

 

I know I have said it many times but what a difference a day makes. This was most certainly not a perfect cycling day with heavy traffic most of the way and once in Albania flat roads into a nasty headwind. The worst was yet to come. Once I got close to Tirana, the capital of this rapidly developing country, suddenly the road deteriorated and madness erupted on the streets more akin to an Italian city. I was amazed to read that in 1991 before the fall of communism there were only 600 cars on the road as only the elite few were allowed them. 16 years on and the imported old German cars (mostly Mercedes) have taken over and made cycling into the city a lot of fun. In the evening I met two Kosovo Albanian refugees, one of whom spoke good English and helped me choose some lovely Kosovan food and invited me to eat with them. It was extremely interesting to actually meet and talk to someone so deeply involved in a conflict I have heard and read so much about. He has dreams of living in America, Canada or Australia-best of luck. Tirana is without doubt vibrant; the streets are full of bars, restaurants, clubs and most incredibly thousands of people. It was a normal Monday night and it was difficult to move with the throngs of locals out enjoying themselves.

 

Distance 86 Miles

Total Distance 11500 Miles

Av Speed 14.9 mph

Total Time 5.45

Day 2 September 13^th Tirana – Ohrid (Macedonia)

 

The 6 month anniversary of my start was also physically one of the toughest. A steep 20 miles climb took me way up into the mountains above Tirana followed by an even steeper 15 miles descent and then a really nasty shallow but windy 30 miles ascent back towards the border. This was topped off with a very steep finish over the mountain which contained the border itself before finally descending to Lake Ohrid and the town of the same name. I have definitely seen two sides to Albania; the dusty, noisy and vibrant city of Tirana where air pollution must be a serious concern and in total contrast the beautiful  mountains where the air is clean but sadly piles of burning rubbish litter the side of the road. The disgraceful amount of rubbish in the countryside of so many of the countries I have visited is a serious problem and something that needs drastic action before the attractiveness of the wilderness is buried under mountains of litter. Undoubtedly the main highlight of Albania though is the people themselves. Everyone I met had a smile especially the children who would wave and shout as I passed and some even high-fived me. Something else I noticed about Albania was the incredible amount of car washes there are everywhere. It seems they are so proud of finally having cars they want to make sure they are kept clean!

 

Distance 90 Miles

Total Distance 11590

Av Speed 11 mph

Total Time 8.11

Day 3 September 14^th Ohrid – Ptolmaida (Greece)

 

On my way out of this lovely town I met a great, incredibly enthusiastic couple from Slovenia cycling around the Balkans; her on mountain bike and him on a battered old recumbent. It’s these chance meetings with nice people that really make my days good. Like yesterday the route began with a long climb and short descent before gradually heading down once again into a headwind to another buzzing town called Botilo (Oh yeh I have noticed both Albanians and Macedonians are all charged on Red Bull which explains a lot). Then onto the Greek border. The landscape was very quickly changing from the pine clad mountains of Macedonia to the bare and scorched landscape of Greece. Another obvious change was the total lack of rubbish by the road and the peacefulness of every vehicle that passed no longer tooting there horn (actually this didn’t happen in Macedonia either). At this point I had to finally make my decision- head south through Greece and across Crete and a few Islands by boat to Turkey or the quicker route east and down through Turkey. Greece it was (my final decision was made when I realised the cars in Greece have my initials on them GR!!) as I have plenty of time in hand.  I had to laugh at myself when I took a picture of the landscape only to see I had just also taken a picture of a sign saying no photographs allowed. When I arrived in Ptolmaide I was surprised how subdued it felt on one hand with none of the traffic noise of recent urbanisations but also the number of cafes and bars lining the streets in what is a fairly small town. I was lucky enough to find a taverna in the evening where I am now writing this having met a guy from Germany now living here who was the waiter and they served up a fantastic Greek meal. If this quality and quantity of food continues though I will end up putting all the weight back on that I started with by the time I make it to Cyprus.

 

Distance 98 Miles

Total Distance11688 Miles

Av Speed 13.6

Total Time 7.08

Day 4 September 15^th Ptolmaida –Kastraki

 

Greece has so far proved a very good choice. Great empty roads, considerate drivers, interesting towns, hospitable people and of course clear blue skies. In fact I have nothing to complain about (for once!) I had some fairly long climbs today that must have taken me well above 1000 metres and a final long descent down where I noticed my wheel was suddenly incredibly buckled once more. Incredibly the point where my spoke enters the hub has snapped leaving me with just 31 spokes. .. I straightened the wheel up the best I could and fingers crossed it will be ok. It is disappointing as the Rohloff speed hub has been great with respect to the gears but the endless problems with the back wheel I have had would make me hesitate in recommending it on longer trips. Kastraki is a lovely little village sat just below Meteora…an incredible assortment of monasteries on the peaks of numerous large rock pinnacles. To get a good view involved one last long climb and seeing them up close made me wonder how on earth they managed to build them all those years ago.

 

Distance 105 Miles

Total Distance 11792

Av Speed 14.3 mph

Total Time 7.18

Day 5 September 16^th Kastraki – Amfisa

 

Well as ever it seems I spoke a little too soon about Greece, most of today was spent on busy roads with little if any scenery for the first 50 miles through industrial flatlands. It would also seem what I said about the lack of rubbish by the roads was errr total trash and it has got worse the busier the roads have got. Fortunately I met a Belgian cyclist on a holiday here for two weeks and cycled the first 30 miles with him. The afternoon was in all fairness a big improvement and the terrain was markedly different. A series of mountain ranges confronted me; each increasing with size. The fourth and final one which I hit at the 100 mile mark climbed over 1000 metres before dropping down about 700 metres and going right back up again to around 1200 metres. As the sun descended over the mountains I was left with one final fantastic 15 mile descent to the town of Amfisa. It was a strange feeling as the mountain top was getting pretty cold as the evening sun faded and I could feel the still fairly intense valley heat as I concluded my descent.

 

Distance 139 Miles

Total Distance 11931

Av Speed 14.8 mph

Total Time 9.21

Day 6 September 17^th Amfisa – Korinthos

 

Luck was clearly with me today as after 40 quick miles along the south coast I made it to the ferry crossing for the Peloponnese with no idea of the times of departure and there was a boat loading almost waiting for me. The thirty minute crossing though nearly sent me to sleep and it was a struggle to get going again on the other side. This wasn’t helped by my old foe the wind which was gaining strength as they day went on and once again had me cursing. The road itself was fortunately worth the struggle as it weaved along the coast through empty villages and pretty beaches. As I closed in on Korinthos it was all going downhill (unfortunately not literally) the road narrowed, yet got busier, the villages turned to industrial towns and the wind had my legs begging to stop. Korinthos was not a particular good choice either having nothing at all to please a quick visitor.

 

Distance 105 Miles

Total Distance 12036

Av Speed 14.5

Total Time 7.11

Day 7 September 18^th Korinthos – Nafplio

 

Oh I don’t believe it, it would appear as it’s now September and ‘out of season’ the ferry I have been aiming for from Kalamata to Crete is no longer running and having spent the last two hours on the internet it appears my only option is to make my way to Pireaus the main port of Greece near Athens in order to continue my journey or wait a week until Saturday for the ferry from Githio. So I am glad I decided to stop here in the first capital of Greece before I headed completely in the wrong direction. In truth I was feeling very tired this morning and the scenic ‘short cut’ I took over the mountains did me no favours. Early on I visited ancient Korinthos which is essentially an archaeological site of the once powerful city. Nafplio is without doubt a very attractive town but seems so expensive compared to everywhere else I have been in Greece and I still cannot find anywhere with a wireless connection! So it’s back to Korinthos tomorrow and then across the Korinth Canal and the potentially horrific ride into Greater Athens.

 

Distance 101 Miles

Total Distance 12182

Av Speed 15.1

Total Time 6.21

Diary Week 28 Day 1 Nafplio – Piraeus

 

After a big hug from the lovely old lady that owned the pension I stayed in last night the ride today was much less painful than I had anticipated. Ok the last 15 miles was on a busy 3 lane motorway but before that the road which ran parallel to a large highway was empty and finally someone had switched the