We got vısas!

After much delay and toing and froing (which is none too easy when your on a bike I can tell you) we've just received our visas for Iran. Hoo RAAAAHHHHH!! If we hadn't gone through Iran it would have been a hell of a long, hard detour so three cheers for the Iranian embassy :-)

I have spent a significant amount of my time checking out scarf wearing styles to see if i can work out which will be the most aerodynamic and able to withstand fast downhills. I'm sure there will be more pictures to follow. So now we'll start to concern ourselves about acquiring one for Pakistan, tis a never ending quest.

Turkey has been amazing so far. People are incredibly kind going out of their way to help us, not only giving directions to where you want to go but actually walking you there so you don't get lost, which can be a bit of a mare when you actually already know what you're doing but hey de ho. People also have a complusion to feed us. In rural villages people who have been working in the fields run up to give us food, at one point we had 5 melons (we would have had more if we hadn't stopped the flow). To save us carrying them we ate the lot in one sitting resulting in us rolling around at the top of a hill with turkish melon belly. Its quıte pleasant.

We've been staying in Cappadocia for the last couple of weeks which has been stunning. The whole place looks like something from a star wars set (I think some of it actually was). All caves for scrambling around in and amazing valleys. This was all enhanced by our campsite having a swimming pool, great views AND hot showers.

The campsite itself seemed to have a gravitational pull for people on crazed round the world trips (and if you think we're hard core we met a Kiwi couple who have been cycling for 4 years). So we've had chance to get the lowdown on places we are going to and witness a blindfold nutella competion with surprising results. But enough frivolity we're back on the road tomorrow heading east to Mount Nemut Lake Van and Iran. Brıng it on baby.
x

Its all relative

Slovenia to Serbia the peaks and plains - thoughts in bullet points highlights and lowlıghts of post-yugo tours

Slovenıan heart attack cake
Originally uploaded by t wi an e

Slovenıa
Home of the heart attack cake. Sugar, cream, lard and pastry served in deadly slabs...approach with caution.
Very crumpled land, if you imagine the alps as rolling crushed velvet, Slovenia would be crumpled tissue paper, as soon as you climb you come back down again, steep and sharp.
Riding in really hot conditions for the first time, found a thermometer reading 31 degrees in the shade, combined with constant climbing its a bit of a do.
Postonja caves, huge, huge, huge, magnificent cave networks, you get on a little train to take you underground, a bit of a James Bond baddıes, underground lair/weapon stash transport affair, which as you can imagine thrilled me almost as much as the caves.
Pretty wreathes of wild herbs hanging on doors.
The Proteus - loved it so much i bought a sticker.
A very pretty place, lovely meadows, generous people gıvıng us salt and pepper just when we needed it though how they knew I'll never know.
Slovakian cycle tourists paying for a support team but supporting themselves as far as we could see.

Croatia
Happy, happy people loving their country, for all the right reasons.
Zagreb lively city, their tourism leaflet touts it as great for cycling.
NOT great for cycling! Crazy (and sometimes a little bit tipsy) drivers and potholes you'd need a specialist team to recover you from make for a teeth shattering, hairy ride. (Please, please rıde on the pavement if you ever go here, everyone else does.)
Beer on sale in petrol stations and a handy little bar to drink it in...how thoughtful!
Stork Village, highest concentration of storks per house in Europe. The houses are great little timbered affairs beautiful but probably a wee bit drafty in the winter. Usually occupied by traditionally dressed and scarfed little old ladies, stooped by years of labour in the fields of communism. (Never wanted to wear a freak tshirt more).
Bullet holes in walls and minefields on borders with Bosnia and Serbia. They're still there, they can still blow bits of people off. Quick to forget sometimes.

Bosnia
Only spent 2 days cyclıng along the northern border so not obvıously not a good overview but...
Stunning untouched wooded hills.
Sunflowers and corn in the breeze.
Cheaper than cheap.
However desolate streets blown up and overgrown. Eerie eerie place. I had no idea what went on in the conflicts and various wars of independance but it made me want to know. This really affected me, ethnic cleansing, dereliction, new homes being built next to the shattered ones. Made me want to hire a bulldozer just to give people something a bit less raw to look at each day.

Back to Croatia

Serbia
Instant change of vibe crossıng the border from Croatıa from happy happy we love our country to something a little more spiky. In fact we had to cycle about 30 miles more than we had planned as the road we had planned to cross at which was still on our map was removed after the war.
Plains with melons and corn as far as the eye can see................ f-a-r
Pastry and cheese - the national diet it would appear and cause of my weight gain.
Communities living on municipal dumps with their goats.
Serious staring - cycle tourists obviously quite unusual.
Coffee in cafes on our morning rides.
Eating melon, mmmmm.
Watching sunset on the Danube. Dining on the Danube. Dancing on the Danube. Watching sunrise on the Danube. Following the Danube.

Romanıa
DOGS! DOGS! DOGS!
People without exception smile and wave (if you do it first).
Children waving at us from wındows in derelict apartment blocks. No idea what they were living on. Nothing for even the goats to eat.
Horses and carts.
Undeveloped towns with open drains.
No food in the shops.
Horrific potholed roads with lorries hurtling past drive us back to Serbia.
But somehow great coffee!?
Would love to come back to bike through transylvanian alps but will prepare myself first (with a dog stick primarily).

Return to Serbıa
Eastern Serbia has much easier going attitude than plains to Belgrade, more homely and welcoming but perhaps that's cos we'd just returned from Romania. It is all relative.

Footnote to Eastern Europe
A lot of the time I was pretty stunned that I was in was Europe, I mean I went on a bit of a bike ride to get there. There are constant reminders of war all along the borders. People live in new houses whilst the old ones remain as a constant reminder, bullet holes and spray paint untouched. No food in shops. Open drains. People living on dumps (I like a good skip raid as much as the next greeny but this was serious shanty town stuff). Blah blah you might already be aware and I was the only one asleep but eyes wide open now baby. And damn it I want to know more about history, its what makes us who we are even if we don't know it. This may seem a bit dark and some of it was but there were also lots of beautiful ups and laughs (moslty at the slovakian cycle tourists, they were so cool) and simple pleasures are what keeps most of ticking along thankfully.

txx

How can you cycle 2,500 miles and put on weight...

...pastry

Upping the pace, abandoning plans and choosing the high road - France to Italy

I've just reread my last post and can't believe how long it's been or how many miles we have covered. When we first set out it felt like it would take us 10 years to complete this round the world affair never mind our estimate of 1.5-2 years but our pace has improved dramatically, perhaps that's no surprise as we crossed the alps and all has been fairly flat since (apart from Slovenia but I'll get to that later).

We headed off from Strasbourg raring to go, partly because we'd had a rest but possibly because Fred was just so enthusiastic about our venture. Leaving Strasbourg (as leaving any city has proved to be) was somewhat stressful due to my navigational skills. Despite strapping my compass to my map holder I was still directionally clueless. Which left me arriving in Germany with a bit of a strop on. You will be pleased to hear though that over time I have become map woman and have progressed from 1:120,000 to ably getting us through countries on 1:535,000 scale maps. Initially James was looking at the detail and scale dismissing these as useless but as we have moved further east and road quality declines it's pretty safe to say that if that little road which would be favoured in western Europe is not featured its you wouldn't be able to ride on it anyway.

Germany like France proved to be a pleasure. As France had its fine wine and lovely food, so Germany had fantastically cheap yet high quality beers as well as cherry strudel that blew my mind (I think its fair to say I've been getting on and off the vegan wagon pretty regularly, a woman can only live on crisp sandwiches for so long). A note on bike lanes though - the German bike fraternity has developed an amazing network of cycle lanes all over Germany, so many that getting lost on them unless you have appropriate maps with accompanying guide books on places of interest along the way is fairly easy. As we were headed for the Black Forest i thought we should follow the Kinzig Valley cycle path (its fairly flat, goes in the right direction, seemed a good idea at the time). However although its flat and pretty much car free it wasn't particularly inspiring leading us through industrial estates and more pleasantly cherry orchards (scrumping skills duly employed). It didn't take too long before we got hacked off with going through mile after mile of detours round quiet streets and industrial boredom before we jacked in the cycle lanes and started following the little roads through the black forest proper which was the best move we had made. Finally we got to see the Black Forest we came for, deer on hillsides, traditional buildings (also on hillsides), stunning forest (hillsides) discovering the most amazing campsite (terraced upon the edge of hill) over looking one of the numerous valleys. The view was breathtaking, as was the schnapps which accompanied it. At night there was such a huge electrical storm I was able to photograph the lightning by just poking my camera out of the tent flap. Cycling up and down the hills was the most strenuous thing I think we have done yet (it made the alps seem easy by comparison) but we were always rewarded by amazing view, downhills, and stunning scenery throughout.

From there we headed a bit further south than intended to cycle along the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee), again another beautiful spot which although a popular holiday destination is still lovely and we caught our first glimpse of the Alps. Whilst choosing local wine in a supermarket I was recommended one by Bernhard who ended up inviting us home to his family, feeding us and letting us camp on his lawn complete with a view of the lake and Alps.

After Bodensee I had planned to head over to Austria and cross the Alps into Slovenia but somehow the Alps just drew us in once we'd seen them and we crossed from Bavaria after joining the mass of American tourists visiting looped Ludwigs castle. We were greeted with mile after mile of the most amazing scenery to date, crystal clear lakes, spectacular mountains, beautiful free range cows with bells on (though why they need them I've no idea as they were all fenced in at some point, maybe they graze on the mountain tops at some point with Heidi in tow). There were also wildflower meadows we would labour over to create and maintain at home, traditional buildings new and old (solar panels and wind turbines as common optional extras) and curious hay stacking techniques which I have bizarrely taking to photographing (along with cows of the world). I can not recommend cycling in the Alps enough, if you have a bike and the will please do it, there are some amazing cycle paths and detailed maps (thanks again to the German bike fiends)which lead you beautifully into Italy and apart from the Fern and Reschen pass areas all are pretty free of cars and even here the cars expect you.

If there's one thing I have learned form this part of the journey its that the hilliest road is not always the easiest but is often the most rewarding.

Hello, hello, hello!

Well we've broken the 500 miles mark and so far it has been fairly easy going, but perhaps that's because we've been taking it easy at a friend of James's uncle Fred's house in Melsheim. This has been so lovely, it is helping to erase the memory that was last years 'holiday' in the champagne region. For those that managed to miss my entertaining stories about this think tick infested fields and groins, more than one embarassing 'me being caught naked in otherwise empty landscapes' moments, calamities in french toilets and a distinct lack of champagne. Anyway I am actually growing to love France, its beautiful old buildings, preserved way of life and the bread and jam which starts my day. I've even manged to eat vegan in restaurants and there wasn't a limp lettuce leaf in sight. Fred has been a legend at showing us the highlights of Alsace, being so hospitable as well as giving us free reign on his internet connection.

True to form I am still making it up as I go along, looking for additions to my bike to make the going easier as well as taking bits off. I also still don't really know where I am going (frequently in the wrong direction, I may need to attach a gyroscope to my handlebars) but I'm having a good time along the way regardless. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that James is better at reading maps than me, although its infuriating and makes me want to push him in ditches almost daily and has made me fling my bike in one once, fortunately he's quite good at cycling at a reasonable distance behind me which helps make me feel better about it all.

The first part of our ride was conducted along flat canal tow paths following a fairly straight line from Calais to Strasbourg as James's bike is just so heavy the thought of going up hill was likely to make him get off and push. The first week or so we had a hefty headwind which made the pedalling become a bit tiresome, even having to pedal downhill. Though once we'd moved onto hillier ground it actually seemed to become a bit easier as at least there was a nice veiw to look forward to as well as the downhill.

Things that have made me smile include growing to appreciate France, it's amazing buildings, cathedrals, countryside, bread, jam and brioche au sucre (I know they're not vegan but I just can't help myself). Charleville-Mezieres and Metz were also high points as we had no idea they would be so lovely. The troglodite houses built into the cliff in Graufthal in the Vosges were another happy encounter. I have gleefully met with success in managing to secure us camping space in a friendly farmers field through a combination of BAD french (me) and complicated mime (farmers wife and me). I even have a suntan! There has been an abundance of baby animals around, ducklings, cygnets, foals and we even saw a brand new calf which could barely stand being cleaned of ick which fell over again pretty quickly, as well as a baby sparrow on its first flight using my bike as a handy flying practise perch (that's the little fella at the beginning of this post). We have also spotted a wild boar (I had my glasses on and everything), deer and assorted birds of prey. The countryside here is teaming with wildlife no doubt aided by the fantastic wildflower verges and flower beds in towns, which has prompted me to yet again wonder where has all of Englands gone? Other happy moments include my deft removal of a tick from James using a pair of pliers, only injured party was the tick, which frankly had it coming.

Minor downs are my gears are not entrily functional (though passable). I may have them looked at when we pass through Germany though I have managed to make them work better which is some consolation. I have also been going through some serious hayfever, my eyes can stream all day but the french have good drugs for this and so should be fine from now on. Prior to aquiring these though I was getting to cafes with a mucky tear streaked face giving me the appearance of a sticky child, nice.

Some of you may be surprised to hear that I have also had the pleasure as sampling some fine beers and wines, may I take this opportunity to recommend Leffe Ruby (but just the one as they're a little bit fruity to make a satisfactory all night breverage) as well as the local Alsace wine, but maybe do it when you are here where it is cheap and lovely. I am hugely looking forward to sampling some of the local German brews.

The plan, flimsy though it is, is to follow some of Germany's fine national cycle routes through the Black Forest and Bavaria (maybe Munich but maybe staying lower down) to Austria, over the Austrian Alps (the lowest bits we can find) to Slovenia and Croatia but that's just the plan today, it could all change tomorrow but that's all part of the fun of the ride.

In the beginning...

How last minute this has all been I can't even begin to explain, only this morning, even though we set off yesterday, i was removing parts of my bike which were surplus to requirements. For the last few weeks i have been beavering away to sort myself out for the biggest trip of my life. I've been working like a dog to make everything good for the off, rebuilding my bike, being vaccinated for most know diseases, ditching my belongings and saying goodbye. It's been emotional and my feet have barely touched the ground but now we're off.

We cycled yesterday from London to Ashford, 60 odd miles along the less than beautiful and sometimes a little bit scary A20. I shall be aiming for more scenic routes in the future. However the journey for me was a long but good one though James's new and as yet unbroken brooks saddle may have somewhat lessened his enjoyment. Every now and then I would have small moments of the realisation that this is to be my life, journeying around the globe, going under my own steam, seeing... I don't know what but i'm looking forward to it.

I have been talking seriously about doing this for about two and a half years, in fact since i got my first bike in London. So many people have helped to get me this far, family being supportive, friends for their enthusiasm and ever welcome top tips, Therese at Hackney Bike Project for teaching me cycle maintenace, Arup for building my wheels (looking good!). Thank you so much all. This time tomorrow we'll hopefully be on the ferry to france and so it begins, my heart is pounding.