Translate this Page

What if your application is declined Payday loans UK How do I apply
Jul 142011
 
Bookmark and Share

 
image

image

image

image

The road we are currently following is undoubtedly one of the best of my ride so far. The climbs are gradual, as are the descents…and the views are, without exception, amazing.

Take a look at the pictures above to see the places we’ve passed (and the dive boards we’ve jumped from!0…

& when you’re done looking at those, take a look at the video below. It was taken at ‘Marko’s Caffe Barr’ in Baric Draga, Croatia. As we covered Italy so quickly, we can now afford to spent lots of time in the nicest of places. This was just such a place, and we duly spent the afternoon diving off the platform, playing cards and just enjoying the opportunity to relax.

When it came to sleeping, we didn’t realise until we were settled in our camp spot that the nice concrete platform that formed our bed was in fact the top of the cess pit. Nevertheless, we had a fine nights sleep, with a picture postcard view…and when the sun broke through in the morning, we were able to walk just a few metres before hitting the azure blue of our Adriatic swimming pool…
 

Thoughts about this post…?

Join the conversation by leaving a comment in the Livefyre comments box below…

Never used Livefyre before: Just add a comment, click on ‘Post comment as’ and then complete the simple, one time registration box that pops up. The username you choose will be the one that displays on your comment, so try your own name as the username!
The next time you visit and want to add an instant comment you may need to input your username and password; so do make them easy to remember!

Enjoyed this post…?

If by any chance you enjoyed reading this journal entry, please feel free to share with others using the social bookmarking buttons below…
 

Jul 132011
 
Bookmark and Share

 
image

As I’m sure is the case for many other cycle tourers…what looks to be a particular type of road on a 1:1,000,000 scale map is often very different from the reality! Having such low resolution maps has certainly added some spice to my journey thus far…and once again, the map threw up a curve ball!

We probably could have stayed in Senj last night – a nice little coastal town. But we thought we could do better! We had visions of a beach bar, azure blue sea and a nice breeze. By 7:30pm, we were happy for anything that resembled a coastline (the road south from Senj goes inland and climbs fairly consistently for a good 15km). By 8:30pm, we were happy with anywhere that wasn’t craggy and that had a breeze.

By 8:45pm, we were camped near to a mountain, had very little breeze, and were pretty sweaty to boot! Pretty though the location was…I was soon desperate for the sea – particularly because wave after wave of midges concertedly destroyed my effort to sleep under the stars!

Take a look at the video to see where we stayed (as usual, I’m only able to upload my mobile phone video – so you’ll probably have to turn up your volume to hear the audio)

 

Thoughts about this post…?

Join the conversation by leaving a comment in the Livefyre comments box below…

Never used Livefyre before: Just add a comment, click on ‘Post comment as’ and then complete the simple, one time registration box that pops up. The username you choose will be the one that displays on your comment, so try your own name as the username!
The next time you visit and want to add an instant comment you may need to input your username and password; so do make them easy to remember!

Enjoyed this post…?

If by any chance you enjoyed reading this journal entry, please feel free to share with others using the social bookmarking buttons below…
 
 

Jun 182011
 
Bookmark and Share

 
Sleeping in disused factories…next to cemeteries…under the stars on private property….

It’s fair to say that my current ‘normality’ is anything but normal! However, though these things are momentarily challenging, they are the things that I will almost certainly reflect upon most fondly. For me, the biggest challenge of all so far has not been the cycling, or the ever-present fear of being ousted from a wild camping spot. My biggest challenge was taking that first step out of the door…

I am sure anyone that has ever done something unconventional will know all about the gremlins of self-doubt that emerge from the dark recesses of the mind. For although I am sure I wasn’t asked the ‘why’ question very often, the mere spectre of being asked such a thing meant I spent an inordinate amount of time tumbling the question around in my head.

At such times, I was grateful to be able to stand on the shoulders of the giants that have gone before me. The videos and books of other people that have done similar things have helped ensure that the ‘why not’ always prevailed over the ‘why’…

With this in mind, I hope you enjoy watching a few of the videos that helped me to get this far…

 


Tim Cope – recumbant cycling from Eastern Russia to China;


Visit Tim Cope’s website click here
 

Rob Lilwall – Cycling Home From Siberia


Rob Lilwall’s Cycling Home From Siberia ; the full lecture ~ Rob Lilwall on Vimeo

 

Mike Beauchamp – The Cross Canada Project; Documenting a Bicycle Tour;


The Cross Canada Project: Documenting a Bicycle Tour Across Canada; ~ Mike Beauchamp on Vimeo

 
 

Enjoyed these videos…?

Join the conversation by leaving a comment below. Better still, share a video that has inspired you! & if you think someone else will enjoy reading this post, share it with them using the social bookmarking buttons below…
 
 

Jun 162011
 
Bookmark and Share

 
It had all been going so well!

With 90 or so kilometres already in the back pocket, I perhaps should have been happy with my days progress. But it was only 5pm. I was enjoying a rare tailwind, my Ipod was delivering an epic soundtrack, and the French countryside was delivering some of the best cycling roads of the journey so far (grand vistas, with hills that crested long before my energy wained!).

I therefore decided to do a Formula 1 style evening meal. I had my half kilo of 35 cent pasta cooked within 10 minutes of stopping (my MSR Whisperlite gas burner is a vicious creation; it sounds like a rocket, and burns like an Acetyline torch!). Whilst that was cooking, I boiled my water for a rushed coffee, sent my baguette into the abyss, and waved at the motorists that were honking at the rather strange sight unfolding by the roadside. Within 20 minutes, I was underway once more.

Much like War of the Worlds, I was completely oblivious to the wrath that was heading my way. It’s a strange nuance of this part of France; whereas near the northern coast, the changes in the weather are quite pereptible, the weather in this part of the country seems to turn so completely, and with almost no warning. So for two hours, I merrily blazed a trail through the countryside. I ruefully smiled at the numerous camping sites that I passed, feeling quite assured that I’d find a beautiful wild camping spot somewhere that evening.

& then things changed. That most glorious of things – a tailwind – deserted me. The wind began to shift direction, rushing towards me like the tide coming in at the sea. Huge towering gunmetal clouds began to appear on the horizon. I knew a storm was on the way, but I simply didn’t realise how soon it would arrive. I ‘raced’ through the industrial area of a small town, hoping to pop out again in some of the beautiful French countryside that I had enjoyed for much of the day. It didn’t arrive in time. Fingers of lightening began to touch down to my left, and directly ahead of me. I hoped the road would deviate from that which was on my map. It never did turn right.

As seems customary in France, every passably ok place to wild camp was either fenced or barb wired (the ‘right to roam’ in Britain really is a wonderful creation; because it seems to stop landowners from sectioning off huge swathes of the countryside in this way). I also wasn’t too sure how my tent would perform in an electrical storm. Surrounding myself with a metal exoskeleton didn’t feel like the wisest of decisions. Thus, with a very real pressure to find somewhere sheltered to sleep, it’s fair to say I became a little desperate! So with few other options available, I plumped for the ‘Premier Inn’ of the industrial world;

Awesome Flickr Gallery Error - Photoset not found


 

My thoughts on my ‘accommodation’…

Escaping the storm, and arriving at the steelworks;

Sitting in the ‘bedroom’, listening to the storm;

Having given up on trying to sleep in the shed, I moved outside;

The morning after the night before!!

Cycling away from a very grim place!!


 
 

Thoughts about this post…?

Join the conversation by leaving a comment…
& if by any chance you enjoyed reading this entry, please feel free to share with others using the social bookmarking buttons below…
 
 

May 292011
 
Bookmark and Share

 

It’s always a wonderful treat to have a bed for the night. Combine this with an exceptionally hospitable host, an idyllic location and a steady stream of interesting holidaymakers, and one soon has a rather unforgettable experience!

With this in mind, here are a couple of videos from my time spent at ‘Les Ombelles’ – a very rustic, homely Gite in Dangu, rural France…!
 

A walking tour through ‘Les Ombelles’


 
A few thoughts about my ride up to that point (early June, 2011)


 
 

Thoughts about this post…?

Join the conversation by leaving a comment in the Livefyre comments box below…
& if by any chance you enjoyed reading this entry, please feel free to share with others using the social bookmarking buttons…