Cycling Round the World

Yo guys,

Grettings from Hua Hin!!!

Well this should be a quick one. No introspection in Thailand. You don’t get the time. Everyone is just too damned friendly and everything is just too damned interesting. You couldn’t be an introvert in this place if your life depended on it. Even riding your bike is a social event. People on motorbikes pull up beside you and just chat along to you. Trucks go past with scores of people on the back and they all wave and smile at you. Thais are the smiliest people on the planet.

I left Athens on the 11th. I took a bit of a chance with the bike and didn’t bother packing it. I had to sign a waiver saying that if they accidentally threw my bike out the plane, I couldn’t complain about it and I had no real choice but to sign it. I wish airports would try and be a bit more accommodating towards cyclists but there you go. While I was on the plane I was selected for one of those “what do you think of our service” questionnaires and I sat boring the poor stewardess to death with how airlines should really do more for cyclists. Of course it was pointless as that wasn’t her department so I have to hope the “looking after you baggage” guy asks me the same questions next time but I get the feeling he doesn’t do customer satisfaction surveys. Luckily bike survived in tact and we had an emotional rendezvous at Bangkok airport.

The journey was about 24 hours in total. I had a 9 hour stopover in Dubai which was an opportunity to buy more books and then read them straight away. I read a PJ O’Rourke book which was too right wing and now I’m reading a Chomsky book which is too left wing. I need a book in the middle somewhere to suit my vague middle of the ground politics. Vague middle ground people never seem to write books though.

I also broke new ground and bought myself a Lonely Planet guide for Thailand. I did this for a number of reasons. First reason is I get the feeling Thailand is the type of place you can get yourself seriously ripped off if you don’t know what the score is. I’m interacting with the service industry much more over the next month and it really helps to know which guest houses to aim for, which restaurants to eat at and what I should pay. The second reason is that along with NZ, Thailand is one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit and it really helps having a guide. I’ll never be a fully fledged tourist, doing all the usual tourist things, by the very nature of what I’m doing but it helps to know which towns to head for and what to expect.

I arrived in Bangkok on the 12th at about 19:00. The traffic outside the airport was just mental and, with it being dark, I decided on a safety first policy and caught a taxi. The taxi was a fiver for a 15 mile journey which seemed worth it all things considered. It was a wise decision as there’s no way I could have found the main guest house area and that’s assuming I would have survived the journey which is open to debate. I headed for Banglamphu and the main strip known as Th Khoa San. It’s the mad, decadent place you always see in the movies. I got propositioned by three prostitutes just trying to find a guesthouse. I have no idea why they’d think a guy pushing a 50kg bike would be cruising for sex but maybe there’s some really kinky cyclists out there who can only perform with a fully panniered bike in the room. Personally I just wanted to hear one of them say “Me love you long time” but alas I doubt many of them have watched Full Metal Jacket.

I found a guest house just off the main strip. It was 120 baht for the night which is less then 2 quid. Don’t get me wrong we’re not talking the Hilton here but to a man who’s spent over a month in forests, drainage ditches and abandoned houses anything with a bed in it is luxury. After dumping all my stuff in my room I headed out to check out Bangkok by night. Seemingly a guy wandering round on his own in Bangkok must be looking for sex because I was some sort of prostitute magnet. They tap you on your arm as you walk past which I’m guessing is code for “Me love you long time”. I guess without the bike I was more of an attraction. I met a few fellow travelers on my wanderings as everyone is very friendly. Obviously all the conversations are very much in the “where you been, what you done mold” and obviously my story is pretty interesting even to people who have just spent a month milking yaks in Nepal or whatever crazy travelers do for kicks nowadays.

I only stayed in Bangkok the one night as it’s probably just a bit too decadent for me. There’s just too many Western guys going out with Thai girls for my liking and while it’s not for me to cast aspersions on the relationships of others, I’m just a bit suspicious of the validity of such relations. I’m not sure who’s exploiting who but there seems to be an awful lot of it going on and it just isn’t for me. I don’t like meeting people and having to question their motives all the time.

I intended to leave Bangkok super early before the traffic became utter madness but the plane journey really knocked me for six and I didn’t get out of bed till 11. This meant hitting the streets at 12 which, as expected, was chaos. In reality I didn’t find it that bad and found the drivers better than in Athens. I don’t think I had a single moment where I felt in danger but maybe Athens has readjusted my danger levels a bit. It took me ages to get out of the city although I was impressed I managed it without getting lost.

Once out the city, things improved somewhat. All the main roads here have big hard shoulders which are populated by me and a load of friendly motorcyclists. It was 85 miles to my intended target which, with my late start, meant an hour ot two cycling in the dark but with the hard shoulder and all the motorbikes I felt completely safe. I arrived in Phetchaburi last night at about 20:00. I found my guesthouse eventually and as per usual it was stupidly cheap. A room, a meal and about 5 pints ended up costing me around 8 quid. Pretty much every town has budget accommodation and if you lay off the beer you could manage bed, breakfast and a quality supper for about a fiver.

I set off this morning at 9ish. I had a choice between doing 40 miles and finished the day early in Hua Hin or heading to Prachuap Khiri Khan which would have made it 100 mile day. tbh it seems like a crime to rush Thailand so I opted for the 40 miles and I’ll do the 60 miles tomorrow. The toughest part of cycling in Thailand is actually getting my lazy arse onto the bike. It’s just so fantastically interesting and the people are so wonderful that I don’t want to leave. Deep down I’m probably also a bit apprehensive about Oz. I’ll still stick to my 60 mile a day because I really need to get to Oz early October but I’ll take it a bit easier than I did in places like Serbia. Rather than cycle every hour God sends, I’ll try and bang in my miles quick and early so I can enjoy the country a bit.

If any of you are a little undecided on your next holiday destination I’d honestly consider Thailand. It’s a place I have a feeling I’ll come back to and maybe next time, bring some fellow cyclists along and do a big circuit of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia. It’d be a fantastic experience doing it with a couple of mates, just chilling and I reckon the money you save here offsets the additional cost of a plane journey to somewhere like Spain.

Anyways I’m off to the beach.

Later dude and dudettes and as always lots of love,

Craig.

XXX

Yo peeps,

Greetings from Atina!!!

Well I made it. The European leg of my journey is complete. It’s a very tired yet mildly euphoric Craig sitting here. Just over 3000 miles in total in 46 days for an average mileage of 65 miles per day. I’ve had two rest days since leaving England and used a campsite 3 times. The rest has been hard riding and hard sleeping along with some fantastic experiences.

First of all I’d like to thank everyone for their support so far. I don’t think I would have gotten this far without you. The phone calls, the emails and the general well wishes have been over whelming. Obviously my closest friends have been fantastic as I expected. More surprising has been the support from people I hardly know. People I haven’t even met or only met once in my life. In an age of cynicism it’s great to experience such altruism. One of my hopes was that this would increase my faith in people and it has.

I’ll start with the positives about Greece. It’s a beautiful country as most of you know. When I saw the Aegean sea, it was incredibly emotional. The last time I’d seen the sea was in Denmark and it was an immense feeling knowing I’d cycled from the Baltic to the Aegean sea.

The great thing about this journey is that you get to see the real aspects of a country. It’s the Greek love of hospitality that’s stood out for me. On numerous occasions I’ve entered a cafe on my own for a bite to eat and been asked to join a group of people. I’ve had no idea what they’ve been talking about but like the English, the Greeks just shout at you if you don’t speak the language. They also have a habit of slapping you affectionately which is great but they tend to be big hearty slaps from big hearty men and after 3000 miles I don’t have much meat left to absorb the blows. I met a bloke in a small fishing village in NE Greece. He was obviously the town lothario even at over 60 and after insisting he cooked me a meal we sat watching the sea while he shouted at me and slapped me heartily. That represented Greece for me and it was by no means an isolated example of the hospitality I’ve experienced while here.

As some of you will know I’m mildly asthmatic. This seems to have completely disappeared on my journey and I haven’t used my inhaler since Newcastle. Ben the Frenchmen joked that maybe I’m allergic to England. I was trying to figure out which European country I’d choose as an alternative and it’d be Greece for me. The weather is obviously perfect for what I’m doing and I’ve slept under the stars every night since I arrived with no fear of rain. The downside of this is that it makes for tough cycling but I modified my cycling slightly and tried to make sure I was up with the sun and so got a good 30-40 miles in before the heat got unbearable. Then I’d find a cafe and sit and get shouted at and slapped till it cooled down.

The downside to Greece is the hills. It’s a seriously mountainous country and unlike other countries in Europe, the nature of the mountains means it’s impossible to go round them. Usually I’ve tried to stay close to the motorway as one thing I’ve learnt is that motorway engineers know their hills. The secondary roads have still been tough as they would have been built before people had the means to blast through mountains or build bridges so they tend to wind up the side of the mountain. Sometimes I’d be climbing for ages and look down to find out that even though I’d covered plenty of ground as the crow flies, I’d moved maybe 20 feet. One day I got a bit bored of following the motorway and set off for the coast which turned out to be a bit of a mistake. To get back on track again I had to cross a 1500m mountain. I reckon I was climbing for over an hour and, if my math is correct, it was an average incline of 15%. Bessie doesn’t like mountains at the best of times and it was tough climb. At one point I cycled through a section of fruit trees and it seemed like every fly within a 5 mile radius decided to swarm me. If I stood still I reckon I had upwards of 60 flies following me. 6 miles an hour got it down to 40. At about 10 miles an hour they disappeared but 10 miles an hour wasn’t really on the cards so, when shouting at them didn’t work (flies don’t seem to take things personally), I wrapped my shirt round my head and used it as a make-shift mossie net. God knows what people thought of the mad Englishmen swearing his way up the mountain with a shirt wrapped around his head.

At some point, my minimal daily target of 60 miles per day turned into 80 miles. The strange thing about Greece is that I found it difficult to motivate myself. I think this was for a combination of reasons. For one, cycling in Greece doesn’t really feel right. Imagine you find yourself in Greece, you’re on holiday and you’ve just woken up. Naturally you’re looking forward to a day by the pool but someone comes along and says you have to cycle 80 miles in 32C heat. It felt a bit like that. I’d wake up, look at the beach and head off into the hills. I think the other problem was that after Serbia, the numerous distractions were just too tempting. The Greeks are experts at predicting when and where you want to buy something so, on numerous occasions, I’d climb some monster hill and there’d be a little Greek guy with ice-cream and ice-cold coke standing at the top. Sometimes they’re a bit too enthusiastic and at the top of one climb, I noticed an out-of-business shop which had sold jeans. I have no idea who’d want to buy jeans at the top of a mountain in 32C heat and the answer is obviously nobody. I think the other problem is that Greece was the last country of my European leg and when I arrived at the border it felt like I should be finished. I’d aimed for Greece for so long, it’s like I expected something and that something wasn’t another 500 miles of monster hills. The 50 miles I did this morning was unusually difficult. My body suddenly decided it was time to remind me of all the aches and pains that I’d been ignoring for the last 3000 miles. I know it’s just psychological though as I’d gotten this far without noticing them.

Now I’m in Athens. I friend had told me that the Greek drivers are crazy and, up until I hit Athens, I’d assumed he was just making it up. Man I’ve never seen such chaos. I’d like to say it works but on the way in I saw two car accidents and some guy get knocked off his scooter. You have to cycle assuming the guy behind you knows what he’s doing even though everything in front of you pretty much contradicts this assumption. Initially I rode like I do in England, all polite and ordered but I wasn’t getting anywhere so I started following the examples of the scooter riders and made it here unscathed. Still, with that and the heat, it’s great training for SE Asia.

I’ve booked myself into a hotel for a couple of days. My original plan was to campsite it but the one I headed for turned out to be closed so I headed for the nearest hotel. I’m happy I have as, ignoring the cost, it’s great to have my own space just to sort myself out. I had my first bath in about 10 days when I got to my room and the bath looks like a water buffalo’s had a wash in there. It’s great to have a bit of time to do things like wash clothes, camping kit and do some bike maintenance. Bessie has taken a bit of pounding and some work will be needed for SE Asia. Now I have to organise the next stage of my journey and the complexities of traveling with a bike and 30kgs of equipment. It’ll be interesting to see what the airline make of all this. Macmillan have kindly provided me with a letter explaining the nature of my journey so hopefully this will give me some leverage but we’ll see.

At a personal level I was trying to figure out what and if anything has changed. I’ve lost weight. Probably in the region of 7-10 kgs. I also seem to have picked up numerous cuts and bruises. My feet is the thing I’ve noticed the most, probably because I stare at them when I’m groveling my way up the mountains. They’ve gone all dark, hard and with numerous cuts and scars. With the feet and the weight loss I look a bit like a Mexican fruit picker. Like I’ve spent too much time outside and not enough time in the bath. Apologies to any Mexican fruit pickers on the mailing list btw. Someone told me I look like Jesus the other day which opens me up for plenty of Christ on a Bike jibes.

Mentally, I’ve obviously gotten tougher. One of the most important aspects of this journey is patience. I know it sounds strange but it takes a lot of patience to continuously get up every morning and put those miles in. Most days you barely make a dent in your map. It also requires motivation. Many a day I’ve just wanted to lie there and watch the world go by instead of tackling the hills I know are waiting for me. My confidence has increased as well. Some people would argue that my confidence wasn’t really an issue but it’s different. Whereas before, I’d never feel at ease in situations outside my comfort zone, now I do. It feels easy to talk to complete strangers whereas before it didn’t. As mentioned, my faith in people has increased. The kindness and interest shown has been fantastic. I’ve also experienced an increased interest in people and places. I mean an interest at a personal level rather than what you’re read in a newspaper. When a guy says he’s Albanian and definitely NOT Serbian why is it so important to him and what aspects of Albanian history is he so proud of? It’s these things that I want to find out. It’s a strange trip because it’s like you want to do it over and over. You want to do it once and find out what you don’t know, stop and educate yourself and then go back again and find out what you still don’t know. It’s also shown me the travesty of border controls which keep talented people from traveling and increased my belief that the European Union should be continuously expanded to give those people a chance to prosper. I know people worry about the homogenisation of cultures but from what I’ve seen, people are still culturally proud whether part of the EU or not.

All of this is given me thoughts about what I want to do with my future. The thoughts aren’t complete as yet but they’re getting there. I have another 13000 miles or so to make them concrete and then hopefully, this journey will have given me the motivation and discipline to put them into action. As with everything, we’ll have to see. 13000 miles is a long way and there’s plenty of things to come. Both good and bad.

Anyways I’m off to enjoy Athens now, have a few drinks, relax and enjoy a good hot meal. Once again apologies for the introspective nature of the email but 10 hours a day on a bike is a lot of time to think. My next email will probably be from Thailand so bye until then.

As always, lots of love,

Craig.

XXX

Hey folks,

Greetings from somewhere in Northern Greece!!!

Well I’ve made it to the last country on my European travels. You can’t imagine the sense of elation on so many different levels. Pride, relief, just so many different emotions.

In my previous email I mentioned unfriendly border guards but this proved to be way off the mark. Having said that this could be that on trying to exit Hungary I used the wrong border post and tried to use the bilateral one instead of the international one. They seemed to find plenty to smile about sending me to the next border post which involved a 40 miles detour. Ah well I guess it’s all miles in the bank.

Serbia was a tough ride. Probably one of the toughest experiences of my life. It’s a tough country to ride. As you’d expect from a former communist state and recent war zone, it was hardly a tourist trap. I’ll start with the bad bits first and then move on to the better bits.

For one, it rained all the way through Serbia. The great thing about this trip is the sense of relativity it teaches you. You think it rains a lot in Germany and then Serbia takes you to a whole new level. You think the roads are bad in Hungary and then Serbia takes you to a whole new level. Difficult to find places to sleep at night, new level. You get the picture. I arrived in Serbia last Sunday and it started raining on the Monday and didn’t stop till I left. When I say it didn’t stop I mean it in the literal sense. I worked out that I cycled for 20 hours over a two day period and for 19 of those 20 hours it rained constantly. When it stopped raining it made no difference anyway because the Serbians haven’t yet figured out the concept of drainage so if it isn’t raining, you’re cycling through rivers anyway. Now normally, I’d cycle round the massive puddles but this meant driving out into the road and that’d involve making myself more of a target for the Serbian drivers. The puddles were a risk themselves because most of them housed potholes that could swallow me and Bessie whole but being swallowed whole by a pothole was preferable to the 20 ton trucks that were trundling by.

On the subject of the Serbian drivers, that was a challenge in itself. I’d read a lonely planet page in Budapest which stated that Serbia wasn’t cycle aware. This is a complete lie, they’re very aware they just don’t care. The biggest risk was from a row of cars coming towards you. The varying degrees of car quality inevitably meant that there was a Lada in the front with 55 Serbians in the front seat and a high powered BMW behind it. No problem, just overtake and bollocks to the guy coming the other way on the bike. Self preservation dictates he’ll pull onto the verge which I obviously did. Add this in with the rain and the roads which threatened to vibrate my fillings out and you have a tough, tiring ride. At the end of each day I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Sometimes I just couldn’t take anymore and I’d just pull over, sit on the side of the road, in the rain and wonder what to do next. Equally disconcerting was the Serbian habit of putting the graves of people who die on the road right next to that section of road. It’s like driving through a graveyard. You’d expect this would make the drivers think twice a little before their next near suicidal overtaking manovure but no such luck.

On the plus side this meant I was always keen to keep moving. I managed three rides in excess of 100 miles last week. Another three days were 85 miles plus for a total of 620 miles for the whole week. This was also helped by the difficulty in finding places to sleep. I couldn’t find any trees so most nights it was a case of just sleeping next to the road which sure as hell makes you get up nice and early. That was the interesting thing about Serbia, there is no luxury. Every other country there was always the option of bailing out and maybe finding a quality campsite for the night. Granted it’s an option I rarely took but it was there. Serbia doesn’t have any campsites. In 500 miles I saw one hotel that looked tempting. Sometimes I’d feel like a bar of chocolate just to lighten the occasion but the chocolate would taste like it was from the communist era. There was just nothing you could do to alleviate the difficulty. I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining btw. This is all part of the experience and I knew it would be. It’s made me a better, more appreciative person and I’m thankful for it.

Another strange thing is that I didn’t meet any Serbians. Not in Serbia anyway. I met plenty of Albanians, Croats, Hungarians, Slovakians just no Serbians. Every person you meet defines themselves by not being Serbian. “Hi I’m NOT Serbian, I’m Hungarian” is a common greeting. It’s very odd. I have no idea where all the Serbians are. Maybe they’re in hiding with Slobodan Milosevic avoiding prosecution for war crimes. I don’t know.

On a positive note all the non-Serbians you meet in Serbia are kind, friendly people. I’d stop at traffic lights and people would chat and offer me cigarettes which means they’ve kind of misunderstood the idea of cycling 100 miles a day on a 50 kg bike but it’s the thought that counts. I’d sit down at a cafe for a rest and a non-Serbian would give me a cup of coffee free of charge. It was these random acts which kept my spirits up.

On my first day in Serbia I met two non-Serbians who were two of the kindest people I’ve yet to meet. It was getting dark and for the life of me I couldn’t find a single tree to camp near so I headed for a town. One non-Serbian was mock offended by my observation about the lack of trees and pointed out they had one 6 kms down the road so I pointed out that if this clump of trees needed a direction and some distance, then they could do with more trees. I was cycling through town just looking for anything when a guy fell in beside me and asked if I needed any help. He was on a top end MTB bike which in Serbia is a rarity. I explained I needed a cash machine and after helping me he asked if I’d mind sitting and chatting with him for a while. He introduced himself as Bela and we sat talking for a while and you could tell he was in love with cycling. We sat and spoke about cycling for a while and then he offered me a place to sleep on his boat for the night which I was obviously grateful for.

Bela then explained he needed to do some training before turning in for the night and tbh I thought he was joking but he wasn’t. He asked if I’d mind sitting reading for a few hours and seen as my social diary was looking a bit bare for that night, I agreed. Off he went and five minutes later he returned in full team kit with his attractive younger sister Judith in toe. I expected 84.6 Father Christmas’ to turn up as well but no such luck. An internet test told me btw although it didn’t ask if I had a habit of doing stupid things like walking in front of cars or cycling through Serbia. This was one of the more surreal nights of my life. I was sitting on a park bench in Serbia, chatting to his lovely non-Serbian sister while in the background he kept whizzing past at 20 miles an hour as he did circuits of the town centre. To add to the experience, Bela had told the locals kids about my journey and two young kids came over and asked for my autograph.

I slept in Bela’s boat that night. It was the closest I’ve been to a real bed since I left. In the morning Judith brought us breakfast and coffee. Man how I wanted to take her round the world with me. Later they showed me the town which killed all of 13 seconds and then it was back to the boat. Judith was some kind of athletic goddess and taught the local kids how to kayak in her spare time and seemingly up for anything at the moment, I asked if I could have some lessons (kayaking that is). Apparently I was a natural and there was much debate about me lying to them and refusing to reveal my previous kayaking experience. Tbh, it the balance aspect of it isn’t dissimilar to surfing so yeah I guess I did have a slight advantage.

Before I left we had a meal at a local restaurant and it was the least I could do to pay for the meal. I guess it was pass it on for the meal in Austria. Everyone had fish, coke, beer etc and the cost for everything came to 6 quid. More than worth it for the kindness they’d shown me. Bela and I agreed to to a tour of Croatia one day. Apparently the coast line is an experience to behold and I’ve marked it down on my list of things to do. I gave Judith a book I’d been reading as a leaving present. It’s called History of the World in 10-1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes and really is a cracking read and one I recommend wholly. Man, cycling round the world, kayaking and book reviews. Next watch me juggle.

After I left I met someone else. A guy who worked in a bike shop. I wasn’t too sure about him though and didn’t stay for too long. He was one of those fast talking guys and one thing this trip has taught me is that if I’m not 100% about someone, I just walk away.

Eventually I left Serbia and entered Macedonia. Tbh I cheated in Macedonia as I couldn’t find any small roads so I cycled on the main highway. Now I know it’s illegal and I know my mother will be fretting but I didn’t have any choice. Anyway it was the safest 150 miles of my trip. I had 12 feet of hard shoulder to myself and the well wishes of the entire trucking community it seemed. On top of that I had permission from the Macedonian police. I stopped off at a cafe on the motorway and parked the bike outside. Five minutes later two policemen walk in and asked who the bike outside belonged to. I figured the game was up and at best would be told to leave the motorway. They asked where I was going so I said Australia. This seems to impress pretty much everyone so they asked if I minded if they joined me (Ummm YES) and we sat down and discussed my trip. Once again two fantastic guys. Just as they were about to leave they asked if I knew it was illegal to cycle on the motorway. I couldn’t lie so I said yes and they laughed and said now I had official permission to use it all the way to the Greek border. Armed with this knowledge (and their names) I nailed it through Macedonia in under a day. Helped by a glorious tailwind and some quality tarmac I was big ringing it at speeds between 15 and 20 miles an hour. Big ringing it isn’t some sexual deviance for the non-cyclists amongst you but refers to using the biggest ring on your front mech and the smallest on you back. Basically your toughest gear.

Now I’m in Greece. An interesting thing about my knowledge of southern Europe is the lack of it. I thought when I hit Budapest it’d be a quick trip down to Athens. Well Serbia is one big country and even though I’m in Greece I’m still around 400 miles from Athens. Hopefully that’ll be about 4 days riding and then it’s on to SE Asia. I think I’m going to try and make Oz by October. Sure it’ll be tough riding but it’s preferable to trying to kill time elsewhere and it means I hit other parts of the world at preferable times such as the States. As I’ve said previously, my current rate for exceeds anything I expected but I’d rather have a bit of time at the end than be killing time now and having to rush with the seasons later.

Anyways best go as I still have to find a place to sleep. Apparently it’s Saturday night night but it makes no real difference to me.

Kind regards to you all and as always lots of love,

Craig.

XXX

Hey guys,

Greetings from Szeged!!!

Well it’s Sunday morning and I’m about to leave Hungary and enter Serbia and Montenegro. I was up at 6am this morning and got a quick 20 miles in so a coffee and an email seems deserved before I head for the border.

I left Slovakia about 3 days ago and it’s there that Ben and I went our separate ways at a non-descript bridge on the Slovakian-Hungarian border. He headed South-West to Croatia and I headed South East to Budapest. It felt strange saying bye as you get used to cycling with someone pretty quickly. It was good to have the company both from the companionship aspect and also the sharing of the responsibilities.

Bratislava was a fantastic city. One of my favourites so far. We played tourist for a few hours, looking at the beautiful architecture and soaking up the exotic ambiance of an East European city. For the single guys out there, the city also had the best looking women I’ve ever seen in one place. Ben and I agreed we had to leave or maybe we never would. For once, leaving the city proved to be pretty easy as we just headed for the Danube and carried on East.

We spent the night in a small town called Sap and pitched on the local football pitch which the locals generously offered to us instead of continuing to the next camp site. As it was going to be our last day cycling together, we treated ourselves to a meal at a local restaurant. Everything is much cheaper since I left the EU and I had baked salmon, two desserts and two beers all for about 4 quid. As a bonus the people were also friendly with a local beauty translating the menu for us as both mine and Ben’s Slovakian is a bit lacking. Best food I’d eaten since leaving the UK but tbf it was mainly up against pasta and the like.

The day after and I was in Budapest. Three European capitals in four days. tbh I made a bit of a mistake as I arrived there around three in the afternoon so didn’t have as much time as I’d have liked. It’s a fantastic city and the people were incredibly friendly for a big city. Three groups of people approached me separately, asking me questions and offering well wishes on my journey. At one point I was trying to hold a conversation with two groups of people as others would overhear and come and listen. Earlier in my trip, people always commented on how far I had to go and how little I’d done but now the miles are increasing, the emphasis has changed to an interest of where I’ve been. One guy in Budapest even gave me some money as good luck for the road ahead. Maybe that’s what got me out of Budapest as it’s a tough city to leave. The roads are pretty busy and not really designed for cyclists so I had to have my Bradford Road awareness head in full operation. It didn’t help when my front rack broke and I needed to do some emergency repairs on the road side.

As a cycle route, Hungary has been great. It’s as flat as a pancake and yesterday was another 100 mile day. I saw a campsite on the map and promised myself I’d treat myself if it was after the 100 mile mark. Turned out to be 99 miles so I carried on another few miles and slept in the forest. I must have chosen to sleep near some kind of local lovers lane as cars kept pulling up and I’d hear giggling and talking before driving off (presumably she said no). Last night was also the first night I chanced sleeping under the stars since Denmark as the weather has been awesome. Luckily no rain and a good night’s sleep. The people of Hungary have also been very accommodating regardless of the language barrier.

Hopefully the flat terrain will continue. I haven’t seen a hill since Amberg in South Germany and it’s been bliss. The downside is I reckon my legs have forgotten what a steep hill feels like and I’m hoping they don’t complain too much when called back into action. I’ve had a quick look at the map and I reckon south Serbia and Montenegro is when the hills start and then continue all the way into Greece. I have a friendly face to meet up with in Greece which is something to look forward to.

Not sure when I’ll hit Athens but I’m reckoning on 10 days. I’m still undecided about India as doing the sums, even if I cycle round SE Asia 10 times I’d still get to Oz too early for the end of the rainy season. I’m considering doing the opposite and heading straight to SE Asia from Athens and then trying to get to Oz before the rainy season starts. This would have the obvious disadvantage of cycling Oz in the summer, but would also mean I’m doing NZ at a more pleasant time of year and then across the States in the spring. Then I’d probably come back through Europe from Spain or Portugal, through France and then England. I’m still undecided but I’m leaning in this direction as the idea of having to slow down just doesn’t appeal to me. I love putting the big miles in and I’d rather continue in this vein rather than just feel I’m passing the time.

Catch you all later. A border post manned by what will no doubt be an incredibly unfriendly man awaits me.

Lots of love as always Craig.

XXX

Yo dudes and dudettes,

Greetings from Bratislava capital of Slovakia!!!

Thought I’d send another email as I guess the northern European leg of my journey is over as I now enter Southern Europe specifically the Balkans.

As irony would have it, since my last email I’ve done nothing but meet people. I guess it was to be expected as the Danube Cycle route is a cycling mecca and so the opportunities increase exponentially. The cycle route itself is fantastic. Over a thousand miles of flat, mostly tarmac extending from south-west Germany to Budapest. The German section appears to be a favourite holiday route for families and it’s not unusual to see entire families including grandparents and kids. As an introduction to touring it’s ideal with beautiful cities and historic sites all along the route as well as plenty of camp sites and rooms for rent.

In Passau I met a dutch guy and we spent the night drinking and talking cycling. Interesting bloke who broke up with the love of his life four years ago and decided he wanted some time out and has been cycling round Europe since. Seems a common theme that massive cycling tours start with something sad.

On the way out of Passau I hooked up with a French bloke called Ben and we’ve been cycling together since. It’s been good to have the company and it’s also helped on the cycling front as we share the lead and managed 105 miles on our first day together. The contrast between the two of us is interesting. He’s basically has a tent, a duvet and a few days clothing. I almost feel embarrassed when I pull out my state of the art camping equipment. I cooked him his first hot meal in two weeks as he basically survives on bread, cheese and tomatoes. He’s also a lot more forward then me and is happy to ask people if we can camp in their garden over night. Being typically French he has no real idea where he’s going. I think today we’re going to go our separate ways as he heads back home via Zagreb and I head down to Budapest.

Last night we met two Austrian women. We’d stopped off in a small town to ask for water at a house. We were going to ask if we could pitch in the garden but it was a B&B and it felt a bit cheeky. As we were leaving town we saw two women, one whose bicycle had a puncture. Being the man carrying the entire world I offered to fix the puncture as they were on a short tour so weren’t carrying any equipment. They were also looking for a room and I pointed them in the direction of the B&B we’d been given water. I then had the bright idea of getting them to ask the owner if we could pitch in the garden as we all know men are a sucker for a pretty female. Obviously the guy agreed and so we had a prime bit of camping for the night. Afterwards we joined the girls for dinner (after they suggested we shower) and they insisted on paying for the meal. As usual, the bar had the standard local drunk who insisted on singing Bob Dylan songs to us and inviting us to a party which we had to decline as I suspect the party consisted of just him. I told him I was trying to break the world record for solo cycling round the world so had to be up early. It just goes to show what a single act of kindness can achieve good company, good food and a cracking night.

Yesterday we also did a quick tourist tour of Vienna. Another beautiful city but like Hamburg a bit too city. I prefer Bratislava as, apart from being cheaper, it seems a lot more personal. I’ll probably head out from Bratislava this afternoon down to Budapest. Being on my own again will be difficult to get used to as it has been enjoyable having someone to ride with. I guess the Danube trail has been a break for me from the usual hardship of hills and sleeping in the forest. After Budapest it’s down to Athens which I’ll approach from the north-east and then fly to India. The weather also seems to have improved as I’ve headed south which was my intention from the start. Chasing the sun.

I may have a few days off in Greece. Maybe lie on the beach and read while I wait for my flight to India. We’ll see as always. One thing that this is teaching me is that anything can happen so plans need to be pretty loose. The miles keep clocking up and I’ve done just under 2000 miles.

I’m off to see the sights of Bratislava with Ben the Frenchman now before we say our farewells.

Catch you all later and as always lots of love.

Craig.

XXX

Up until a few nights ago I’d say my memory of Germany would have consisted mainly of rain. Lots and lots of rain. The campers amongst you would know that rain is your enemy. Everything gets wet and then it stays wet. You never get to dry anything so, at night, you just get back into your wet tent, on your wet mattress into your damp sleeping bag. Then you get up and cycle in your wet clothes on your wet bike. You get the picture. On more than a few nights I haven’t been able to find anywhere to pitch the tent so it’s a case of climbing under the tarpaulin and trying to get some sleep which, once it starts raining, just doesn’t work. To get round this I bought a bivvy bag. Basically a waterproof sleeping bag. Easier to pitch and requires much less ground space. Turned out to be an inspired buy because it hasn’t rained during the night since. Just rained lots during the day. Now I need a bivvy bag for cycling in.

On the cycling front it’s also been a lot tougher than Denmark or Sweden. It’s been difficult to keep up my target of 60 miles a day as the landscape has taken on an almost Norwegian feel to it but without the 16 hours of sunlight so I’ve had less cycling time. The hills have been short, sharp and painful. An analogy I thought of while riding was that it reminded me of a time when I was a kid and I got trapped in the surf break in Durban. Everytime a wave hit me and I’d come up for air, there’d be another waiting for me , looming, ready to break. That’s what the hills felt like In South Germany.

On a personal note it’s been tough. It’s mainly my fault for picking a non-tourist route and for not learning German. It’s been very difficult to meet people and that, coupled with the rain and the hills meant I’ve had a few of those wtf am I doing moments. My idea has been to initiate a plan I call the Pob plan. It’s a bit like town twinning but of some actual use. The idea is that each town nominates a group of Pobs. Their basic role is to ensure that if a foreign visitor turns up in the town then a Pob is called upon to meet him in the pub. From there they get drunk together and then in true Pob style they just shout at each other so language becomes irrelevant. After 4 pints or so they basically speak the same langauage anyway. The night will end with the foreigner being invited round for a night of poker where he’s fleeced for a fiver or two.

On the subject of rain it was the rain that led to one of the more bizzare nights of my life. I’d been riding in the rain as per usual except this was torrential to the point I couldn’t see where I was going. I took cover under a tree in this field that contained a massive tent. German heavy metal music was coming from the tent so I figured I’d stay pretty much where I was. I was just about to leave and Rolling Stones started playing and I figured what the hell, anyone playing Rolling Stones has to be half decent maybe they’d let me camp there for the night. Went round to ask the question and it turns out I’ve walked into what appears to be a Hell’s Angel meet. About 20 bikers standing there looking as hard as nails. I can’t back out now so I ask the question and luckily a couple of them speak English so they agree on the condition I sit and have a beer with them. “No I’ll just camp thanks” didn’t really seem to be on the cards so I figure wtf, in for a penny and all that.

Turns out to be one of the best nights of my trip so far. Nicest bunch of blokes you could wish to meet. The president was hammered but seemed to take a shine to me and even though he couldn’t speak a word of English, after 4 double JDs, neither could I so we just said cheers all night and kept knocking them back. Every time I had an empty glass someone would bring me a drink. At one point I had three glasses of booze and two plates of food in front of me. On top of that they even gave me my own tent so I didn’t even have to pitch. We stayed up till 2ish singing German songs as by this time I was fluent in German and generally having a cracking time. This was the type of thing I’d come for. German unification was discussed and it was great to hear how people feel about it. The differences between the older guys who felt East German and the younger who felt German. These guys loved their bikes as well and I was given a full tour of pretty much every bike with the differences and reasoning for the differences explained. Later on in the night they made me an honoury member and gave me the badge of the club to be sewn on my panniers at a later date. In the morning I set off and they’d keep motoring past me shouting “Englishman” and generally scaring the shit out of me.

Since then it’s been mainly hard riding again. I’m currently averaging about 400 plus miles a week. After the hills of Southern Germany I joined up with the Danube trail at Regensburg which is a cycling mecca. It’s hundreds of miles of flat cycle path which follows the River Danube all the way from South West Germany to Budapest. I haven’t had a day off the bike since Gothenberg but last night, I found a great little campsite in the centre of Passau and decided to give myself a full day off before I head out into Austria in the morning. I’ll probably stop off again in Vienna and then it’s a case of deciding whether I want to head down into Italy or the Balkans. The Balkans seem favourite at the moment as this would negate the need for a ferry across to Greece.

The speed of my progess has led a few people to question if I’m giving myself enough time to enjoy what I’m doing. tbh it’s also the sense of achievement of putting the miles away that I’m enjoying. I know when I reach the right place I’ll take a breather. I knew Hamburg wasn’t the right place. It’s a great city but too cold, too city. Today for example I’m going to play the tourist. Passau is a beautiful city built where three rivers join and has what looks to be a great cafe culture. More importantly it has some bookshops which I’m hoping have enough English books to get me to Vienna. I finished my John Irving book yesterday and one thing the lone traveller needs is a good supply of reading material. Then I’m going to hit the cafes and sit, read and watch the world go by.

I’m still enjoying what I’m doing. It’s different to how I imagined. It’s much tougher for one and I’m aware it’ll get tougher. The thing is that I know I can do it and tbh that’s a great feeling. Everyday holds the potential for something different although in Germany it’s usually just been rain but hey it can’t all be fun and games. The interesting thing is the appreciation it gives you for the smallest things. I kind gesture from a stranger, a conversation, a piece of music, a sunny day. Everything just feels more important. I’m still not sure how this will end. I mean how it’ll effect me. In terms of distance I’m around 10% of the way through so I’ve tried to analyse how it’ll change me if at all but I’m still not sure. When I started I thought it’d change me into someone who was more inclined to seek people out. Less introverted. I don’t think it’s going to be like that though. I’ll still be the guy who sits and watches people. It’s just the way I am and maybe this is more about accepting that than changing it. We’ll see.

Apologies for the introspective nature of this email but as I said at the start this is also for me. I’ll look back at these email and it’ll be interesting to identify how I felt and why. I gues that’s the defintion of an introvert. Someone who looks inside for the answers.

Anyways catch you guys later. Once again a cafe awaits me.

Love Craig.

XXX

Yo all,

Greetings from Hamburg!!!

New country and a new keyboard. Damned Germans have moved the keys around again.

Man Gothberg seems like years ago but alas it isn’t.

Well my day in Goteberg was brilliant. Luckily my alcohol tolerance has dropped to zero. I say luckily because at 5 pound a beer you don’t to be spending too long in the pub. I met a cool Swedish cyclist and we sat and compared notes for a while and judged the Miss Sweden on a Bike contest that was obviously going on while we were in town. You can see why so many people cycle because it really is the best way to watch all the beautiful women on bikes. I treated myself to a Chinese afterwards which after a week of canned food and bananas was heaven.

On the way out of Goteberg two lovely swedish women in a car asked me if I needed a lift. maybe they were joking or maybe they just wanted to use me as their sex toy all the way down to Malmo but being the dutiful round the world cyclist I am, I declined their admittedly tempting offer.

After Goteberg I arrived at Varberg were the ferry leaves for Denmark. Originally I’d intended to cycle down to Malmo and then go across to Copenhagen but when I arrived in Varberg the ferry was leaving in 15 min and it seemed like a sign. On hindsight it was probably just a ferry but off I went to Denmark anyway.

I originally intended to then cycle round to Copenhagen to meet up with Jorgi but it turned out she couldn’t get there till the 13th which would have meant about 3 or 4 days hanging around an incredibly expensive city which I just couldn’t afford so I scrapped those plans and headed for Germany.

I enjoyed Scandinavia a lot. Their approach to life is incredibly relaxed. For starters their day seems to start so much later than our own. Even in Goteberg on a Friday morning at 9am the place was still quiet. Only at about 11 did life start picking up.

On the cycling front it’s one of the best places I’ve ever cycled. Their approach to traffic is entirely logical in that the most vulnerable tend to have the right of way so the pedestrians are more important the cyclists but the cyclists are more important than the cars. It isn’t a half-arsed approach like we have in the UK where someone paints a few lines on the side of the road at inappropriate places and then the cars just park in the cycle lane anyway. It’s all carefully thought out and hangs together perfectly. The effect this has on the community as a whole is obvious as people are always out and about on their bikes or walking. The stop and talk, they cycle as families, they spend time together. I think in the UK by becoming a car culture we’ve surrendered our communities and now people are scared of the world outside their houses and their cars.

Entering Germany has been a new a different challenge for me. For one the sheer number of people mean many more towns and towns are an obstacle for a cyclist. Each town entered has to be exited and you’d be amazed how difficult it is to leave a town by bicycle. Most towns are designed for cars and so numerous exits aren’t an option for me which has meant a lot of lost time just navigating my way around. The other difficulty is that they seem to operate a very similar system of land ownership to the UK so most land is fenced off or farmed. This combined with the number of towns obviously reduces my options for wild camping. Last night I found a good spot after about 50 miles but I wanted to press on past 70 miles for the day so carried on only to struggle for a spot. Then it started raining. I found a spot in the end but I’d lost the light so it was just a case of crawling under my tarpaulin, try and stay dry and get what kip I could. It’s another lesson really that I should try and do more of my cycling in the early part of the day so I don’t feel the need to press on so late.

It’s all lessons learn’t. On hindsight I think I bivvy bag would have been a much better idea than a tent. Most nights I don’t bother with the tent as it’s too visible and just takes up too much space on the ground. The idea initially was that I’d be spending so much time in a tent that I’d be thankful for the additional space but in practice it hasn’t turned out like that. I just stop cycling, get to sleep and then start cycling again. I bivvy would have been more suited I feel. At some point I may send the tent back to the UK and buy a bivvy bag. We’ll see.

As for the future, Germany is a big country and I don’t think I’ll be able to blast through it like I have the other countries. In a way that’s a shame as I find cycling over a border to be great motivation. I expect Germany to take me around two weeks to cover as I’m covering it from North to South which is going to around 1000 miles in total. Then I’ll head to Austria and then Italy. Just take it as it comes.

Entering the euozone has also meant a serious reduction in prices. I found it impossible to keep to my tenner a day target in Scandinavia but in Germany 6 pound a day has proven to be the norm. This also means I may be able to up the number of days I use campsites which is useful for keeping both myself and my equipment in good condition. More importantly I can now afford the odd beer.

Tomorrow is my intended rest day so I’ll head south from Hamburg today and then find a camp site tomorrow and spend a day resting and do some equipment maintenance.

Catch you all later,

Love Craig.

XXX

Mmmmmmm well the more geographically aware people will have noticed I’m a bit further than anticipated. Since I last emailed from Larvik I’ve averaged around the 70 mile mark per day. Number of reasons for this. For one Sweden is thankfully been a bit flatter than Norway. For two I’ve had a tail wind since the Swedish border and so I decided to make some hay. My rest day was supposed to be yesterday but I decided to take my rest day when I hit Gothenberg as aside from being a bit more interesting than nowhere, nowheresville, it’d allow me to do a bit of Craig admin. I’ve booked into a camping site just outside the city and now I’m treating myself a bit. I’ve cycled almost 500 miles since last Friday and tbh when your time is divided between cycling, camping and eating you don’t get much of a chance to meet people and so a day in the city was called for.

My current rate of progress does give me a couple of problems. At my current rate I’ll hit Australia far too early so I’ve changed plans slightly. I’m going to head for India after Europe because this will put a few months between me and Oz. My plan is to get out of Europe as fast as
possible. Mainly because it’s just too expensive. Any notion of some time off the bike just isn’t viable at the moment whereas a week off in Asia isn’t going to break the bank as much. I’ve also changed my mind about getting a ferry to Denmark once again for cost reasons. Instead I’m going to cycle from here to Malmo and then cross over to Denmark for free. Hopefully that’ll be perfect timing to meet up with Jorg.

Since Larvik it’s been mainly tough cycling and tough camping. When I started off I said I’d treat this as a 9-5 job which has proven to be a bit naive as it implied cycling followed by watching Eastenders. It’s really nothing like that. The main problem is that in reality I’m not a tourist and I don’t have tourist money. My day is more like start cycling at 9 and finish at 9 with a couple of breaks thrown in to get food and eat and then I start looking for somewhere to sleep. I’d say the wild camping aspect of it has been the toughest for me. My fitness of probably at a stage now where I can cycle all day without too much discomfort. The tough bit is really not knowing where I’m going to sleep that night. I start looking for places around 9 at night as this minimises the time I’m visible before darkness. Obviously by the same token I have to make sure I buy my food at the right time as if I buy the night’s food too early then I have to carry it till I make camp. Too late and I may have missed the last shop. I’ve also taken to carrying a 5 litre bottle of water which apart from making to bike even heavier gives me a lot more leeway for any mistakes. It’s all a learning curve and a very satisfying one at that. I can feel things just clicking into place as I rise to the challenge.

When I started I was following the North Sea cycle route. I abandoned this idea somewhere after the border. Mainly because in essense it’s a tourist route designed to take you to places where the price of an ice cream makes you wonder if they misunderstood my question as “can I buy your entire town please”. The other reason is that when I arrived in Sweden I just couldn’t
find a map. I asked at a petrol station and he suggested I try Stromstad. I had to point out that I needed a map to get to Stromstad. I eventually got one but only after accidently wandering onto the E6 which is the same as our M1. It’s not as bad as it sounds because the drivers here in the main are fantastic. The give you plenty of room and are very courteous. It was here I found a map. This is probably better as following a preplanned tourist route isn’t viable in the long term so I may as well start now.

As for people I’ve met I was pretty lucky to have met a German guy called Chris who as luck would have it lives on the Danube cycle route which is on my route. He was on his way to Bergen with his gf and I suggested that rather than double back to Oslo maybe he could circle round to England. He’d been an exchange student and said that the family he’d stayed with weren’t very clean and we had a laugh at national stereotypes. I was going to suggest that maybe it’s because he bombed their chippy but then I remembered the Fawlty Towers sketch and kept that one to myself. We’ve exchanged numbers and I’ve got a place to stay and some cold beers when I reach Tootling. I have no idea if that’s how you spell it but I prefer there’s something quaint about my spelling so I’m sticking with it.

Apart from that it’s just been the usual encounters where people ask me where I’m going, I tell them and they tell me I’m mad. There something satisfying about the Scandanavians telling you you’re mad. Now I just need the Italians to tell me I’m a passionate hopeless romantic and my life is complete.

Tonight I’m going to wander the streets of Gothenberg and just enjoy being amongst people before I head off around 11ish tomorrow. Buy an English newspaper and watch the world go by. I’m forcing myself to have 24hrs off the bike as the legs have taken a bit of a hammering since Kristiansand. I feel strong but I don’t want to push it.

This is pretty much my second week at this and yes it is tougher than I imagined. Yes I’ve had to come up with little aims and goals to keep myself going. Yes I’ve started talking to myself but it’s good intelligent conversation. It is enjoyable though and it is rewarding as I improve both physically and mentally.

As an side I think I’ve found a cure for life going by too fast. I know to you guys it feels like I sent an email a few days ago but to my it feels like a lifetime. At this rate I’ll have lived 100 lifetimes in the next 18 months.

Anyways I best go as a street side cafe and a newspaper has my name on it somewhere.

Catch you guys later,

Love Craig.

XXX

Hey everyone,

Greetings from Larvik!!! Home of Ralph

This may be a short email for two reasons, I only have half an hour and Nowegian keyboards are different to English ones and it’s doing my head in.

Well Norway is an interesting place. Not sure if any of you remember the Monty python sketch where he has a choice over how he’s killed and chooses a load of bare-breasted stunners on rollerskates? Well Norway is a bit like that except they’re all on bikes. Serously the women are lovely and they all cycle. I mean what is that all about? One came over to me and mentioned how big my bags were and it took all my willpower to avoid the obvious jokes.

Another thing about Norway is that its hilly. Most days have been like going up and down Millrow for the entire day. The lakes and fjords are just stunning but it also means that everytime I reach an area of unsurpassed beauty, I have some serious climbing coming my way. I’ve even done some offroading. I had a section just after Grimstad which the guide listed as undulating. I should have learnt by now that undulating is a euphensim for Mt Everest. On top of that it was gravel. Not sure how many of you have tried to get a 50kg bike up the side of a gravel mountain but it isn’t easy. For one you have no grip. For two once you lose grip the bike is too heavy to push. I had about 5 sections where I had to unload the bike, take the bags to the top and then go back down for the bike. Hours of fun. My love affair with Norway and the beautiful people almost ended right there.

Luckily I met a nice Norwegian bloke called Ralph (so wanted so shout Wizaaaarrdddd at him). We had a laugh about the undulating mountains of gravel and then I forgot about them and remembered how much was enjoying Noway. He even tried to pay for my coke and after discussing politics, religion and the meaning of life I agreed to send him a postcard from a place I thought may be of interest to him. I also told him about the Rooster and he’s planning on coming over for a visit sometime and I’ll show it to him in person. The Nowegians seem pretty philosophical as a whole. I asked a guy for directions and he asked where I was going. I told him and he said “yes sometimes you feel like the house and the car own you”. I agreed because it sounded so cool.

Norway has been a place of many firsts for me. I’ve answered the eternal question of whether a Craig does shit in the woods and in the process discovered a cure for Dan’s analness. I’ve wild camped for the first time and enjoyed waking up by the side of a beautiful lake at 6am. I’ve also had some downs. Obviously there’s times when you feel alone. Ironically it’s usually when you’re amongst people. You do feel a bit of an outsider as you’re the only one sitting on the park bench firing up your stove for a pot noodle. In fact I think the food side of things has been the toughest. They just don’t make food in handy little eating on the park bench sized packs. Any tips for people touring Norway is to make sure you get enough food to get you through the weekend as it’s stupidly expensive from petrol stations.

On the cycling front I seem to have settled at a distance of around 60 miles a day. I expect to increase that once the terrain flattens out a bit. Today I’m taking it a bit easy as when I woke up in my forest hideout, it was belting it down so I slept in a bit and then went the supermarket for my park bench breakfast. Plus I wanted to write this email.

On the whole I’m enjoying myself. It’s tough with the wild camping, the food side of thing and the endless hills but at the same time I’m learning an awful lot about myself. Norwegian people aren’t the friendliest on the planet but the ones I’ve spoken to have been interesting and good company.

I expect to be in Sweden in maybe three days time. The terrain seems to be calming down and the weather cooling so I’ll try and get 40 miles in today and that should put me in a position to make the Swedish border by Wednesday evening.

Anyways best go as the bibioteke internet police are looking at me like a man who hasn’t showered for 4 days, cycled 200 miles and yet still has the cheek to know how to use a computer and type with such authoritive speed.

Lot of Love

Craig

XXX

Hmmmmm……. interesting few days.

Well the goodbyes were pretty tough and emotional. tbh the first 30 miles or so were a combination of intense sadness at saying goodbye to pretty much everything I love and care about and intense happiness at saying hello to the rest of everything I love and care about. None of this was probably helped by the banging hangover I had. On the way out I cycled past a bunch of guys from Halifax Imps who shouted out “Hope you enjoy your holiday Craig”. It felt nothing like a holiday and tbh it felt like cycling in 30C heat with zero energy and a lot of confused emotions.

I stopped off in Skipton for 25 glasses of coke and a bite to eat. This seemed to improve matters no end. Got back on the road again and headed for Leaburn in North Yorkshire. Arrived there around 20:00 pretty tired and looking forward to a good meal. Found a nice campsite which was convieniently located on the top of Mt Everest. Just what I wanted after 60 miles on the world’s heaviest bike. Treated myself to a pub meal and then hit the sleeping bag with a passion.

Next morning had a breakfest of grapes and milk and started to notice the universal truth that a mad bloke on a bike weighing 50kgs plus attracts conversation. People just wander over and ask me wtf I’m playing. To coin Pob’s phrase “what are you doing you idiot”. It’s good though as it’s a chance to tell people why I’m doing this and raise awareness for Macmillan. As I’m to find out later this can have some great results.

Plotted a course for a place called Beamish which is about 15 miles outside Newcastle. I really wanted to break the back of it over the first two days so I was as close to the Ferry as possibe. It was another baking day and the hills were killers. At one point I was going up a hill at a whole 4 miles an hour. I had these humilation visions of people walking past me so I pushed on for 5 miles an hour. Ever competitive.

I stopped off in lunch in Bishop Auckland. One of my motivations for doing this journey was just the chance to meet new people and maybe learn some new languages. Didn’t realise it’s happen as early as the second day though. I asked the Geordie bird what sandwiches she had and even after repeated herself 4 times I didn’t have a clue. I took a guess and said ham and cheese but it turned out to be the only place in the world that doesn’t do ham or cheese sandwiches. Eventually we negotioted a couple of sausage sandwiches and 32 glasses of coke.

Set off again and I’m sure someone had turned the heat up. On top of this my arse was starting to get sore so the next 35 miles to Beamish were pretty tough again. There really is a world of difference between cycling my 7 kg Cannondale up hills and dragging the beast over hills. I know things will improve as my fitness and strength improves but that didn’t make it any easier. I just plodded on, each hill on the horizon almost bringing me to tears.

I arrived in Beamish about 19:00. Another 60 miles out the way. Luckily the campsite was at the bottom of Mt Everest but even that of satisfaction was wiped out because it meant I’d have to climb it first thing in the morning. I’ve learnt the universal truth that campsites are either in valleys or on hills.

I set up camp only to find out the guy at reception had put me on someone elses plot. Ended up in a bit of an argument with a drunk Geordie but after he found out what I was doing he become my best mate and kept coming over and asking me questions about my trip. I’ve learnt another universal truth that Geordies are the nicest people in the world sober but the worst when drunk. It all ended well and as per usual I gave out the justgiving website. It’s worth a shot.

Cooked my first meal on the stove and had a few cups of tea. It felt great tbh and It’s amazing how the human bodt can forget pain. A few hours befoer I’d been grovelling up a hill begging God for mercy and now I was feeling thankful for a cup of tea and some good company. The hills forgotten.

Set off next morning for the ferry about 11ish as it was about a 20 miles ride. Crawled back up the hill but as it was first thing, it didn’t feel too bad. Lots of well wishes from people as I was cycling through Newcastle. Sober you see. “Where you gannin pet?”, “Gaanin Roond the World Like was my reply. I think most said “Champion” and then took their shirts off or some other cliche.

Got to the Ferry and asked for the queue for the ferry to Norway. Women looked at me blank. Figure this isn’t good as a big ferry is the type of thing I expect she’d know about. Turns out travel agency have screwed up my tickets and I’d missed my ferry by a day, champion. Lots of phone calls later and the travel agency admit thir mistake and set about sorting it out. Lots of options investigated and eventually they get me a ferry for the Thursday. In their defense it was a mistake and they sorted it out to the best of their ability. The girl who took the booking also too my website address so hopefully more donations will be fortcoming. People make mistakes and as long as they sort them out I’m not bothered. Plus they put me up in a hotel for 2 days which gave me a chance to sort my bum out and buy various things I’d realised I needed along the way. Oh and I got to see Superman Returns.

I also bought a new simcard so I can make and recieve calls internationally. I’ll email the new number once I remember it.

Well my ferry is today so it’s bye to merry England and hello to Norway.

Hopefully this email isn’t too long but tbh it’s also my record of where and what I’ve done.

Miss you all tons,

Craig xxx