This Blog Is Closed.

Hello fokls.
For the next week or so, this blog will be closed while I finish my trip across Europe.
If you'd like to follow my progress, check out the map here

Godless Brother In Love.

If you click on the picture, you'll get a version that tells you what everything is...

It doesn't look a lot to last two weeks, across four countries and about 1300km does it? It'll feel a whole lot more when I'm dragging it across Europe though.
So I'm almost ready to go. A nice meal tomorrow night and then a steady start on Saturday. A few of the boys from the club are joining us for some of the ride to Cambridge which will be great.

My parents came round tonight to wish me well. I could tell as they left that they were worried about me. It got me thinking about whether or not what I was doing was irresponsible in some way. Was it unfair on the people who care about me? Was it just a really selfish thing to do?
I need to think more about this, but I guess they should be happy that I'm doing something that I will get an awful lot from. I never really consider the dangers of cycling but when I do, I usually conclude that as a cyclist I am best placed to judge how safe or otherwise it is.

As a reminder, if you want to track our progress between Leicester and Poland, please take a look at my map on Track My Tour.

Well, t'ra then. Write to you next from on the road somewhere...

Arriving Slowly.

Well, that's it. The 'training' is done (training that consisted of just riding a lot really). I've bought the last few bits and pieces I needed and it's just 3 more days at work before we leave for Poland.
I spent Saturday afternoon in the sunshine, studying the guidebooks that cover the route from the Danish/German border down to Berlin. It's about 700km of riding that will take 6 days to cover.

The guidebooks, like all maps, are invitations to future adventures. To some people they would just be colourful lines on the page. For me they are the scenery I'll see next week. Those simple orange lines on the page will be the hard miles of pedaling. The clusters of grey squares are the houses in town whose character I will get to understand as I pass through.

What I really look forward to is the idea of arriving in places SLOWLY. These days it is too easy to jump on a plane and leave home and two hours later be somewhere that is completely culturally and geographically different. The most striking examples I have experienced of this are travels to Morocco and Iceland.
Flying to Poland is similar. The contrast is stark enough traveling from familiar England, with all the things I love and because of the familiarity, so many things I hate to a country interesting in so many ways but so different. But what lies in between, in that gap between the two?

Our trip will mean that the change won't be so instant. The landscapes, the people, their lifestyles will evolve steadily over the days as we travel east.

Anyway, as a reminder, if you want to follow our progress across the continent, please take a look at our map.

Trial Run.

The weekend before last, Rob and I rode to Ely for an overnight mini-tour to 'shakedown' before we set off on our ride to Poland.
En route, I used the excellent Track My Tour app. Every so often, you compose a brief update of your progress and update it to the site. These show as waypoints. You can see the result of our Ely trip here.
When we leave for Poland, I'll be updating this map, so maybe you'd like to add it to your favourites now...


The ride was hard work. We ended up doing 162km on Saturday and 155 on Sunday, all towing a large amount of kit. Most of Saturday's was done into a brute of a head wind. We don't intend to ride these sorts of distance on tour, but needed a test to gauge our limits.

The long, flat, straight Fenland roads, heading due east, directly into the teeth of the gale were soul-destroying, particularly the 5 mile straight after a place called Ramsey Forty Foot:

Not quite as bad as the wind in this video, but hard work when carrying such a load.
Cambridgeshire roads:

On the way back I decided that I could do without riding through the middle of the city and so opted to head home via some Leicestershire hills. Stupid, STUPID idea. 
Leicestershire roads:

I was proper tired after the trip and had worryingly painful knees, but we learned a few lessons. We have a better idea of the sort of distances we can travel in a day and that kit needs to be kept to an absolute minimum.
My list is below. I never usually make lists. My packing tecknique is to get a big bag and walk around the house putting things into it. If I don't happen to see something then it won't come. A list seems to be a good idea for an adventure such as ours...


So, what do you think? Too much? Did I forget something?

Kit

bob yak trailer

yak sak

bar bag - topeak tourguide

cycle computer

Personal Kit

2 prs cycling shorts

2 cycling tops - Shutt Velo Rapide merino sportwool = many days with no stink

2 prs cycling socks.

cycling shoes.

1 pr comfort socks - big, thick woolen bridgedale ones.

cycling helmet cycling cap.

2 base layers - short (Icebreaker)/long sleeved howies merino again

Swrve WWR shorts

Altura Waterproof jacket

Berghaus Deluge waterproof overtrousers.

1 Windproof (montane)

Cycling gloves.

Cycling glasses.

zip off trousers.

1 short sleeve T-shirt.

buff Merrel trainers

Underwear.

Swimming shorts

Wash kit (toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, soap etc.)

Lifeventure light weight towel.

montane smock (windproof and thermal)

Watch.

Bike Repair + Maintenance Kit

Spare inner tubes

trailer tube

Puncture repair kit.

Multi tool

tyre levers

frame pump.

Small plastic bottle of general lube.

1 spare folding tyre.

shifter cables

spare spokes chain links

Other Gear

2 large drinks bottles.

guide books, maps

camera

powermonkey + ADAPTOR

tripod

pen

Passport, E111, ATM card.

Waterproof stuff sacks.

Earplugs (for noisy camp sites)

lock and cable

First aid kit (plasters, anti-inflamatories, etc.).

Sunbloc

Insect repellant

chamois crème

washing powder for laundry and twisted elastic drying line.

Mobile Phone

notebook and pencil

Camping Equipment

Vango Banshee tent

sleeping bag probably Vango ultralite 1100 but might be Ajungilak Winter if I can fit it in)

spork

thermarest

pillow

stove

fuel bottle

pan

spatula

emergency food (breakfast bars, clif bars etc)

pepper

handwash

bowl

Washing up liquid and sponge.

Headtorch

Leatherman

fire steel and zippo lighter.