Journal entries for my 2011 cycle from Nordkapp, northern Norway, to Tarifa, southern Spain. Forgive any spelling mistake / inaccuracies — I wrote all of this on an iphone at the end of long days on the bike.
EUROPE 40 23/07/2011 DAY OF REST I set the alarm for 7 this morning but, after a general consensus that another hour’s sleep was needed, got up and started packing at 8. We quickly cycled the 15 miles or so to Valladolid, but had a bit of difficulty finding the city centre. After asking for,…
EUROPE 39 22/07/2011 FLYING It was cold this as we packed up this morning – a product of sleeping at 900m! Nevertheless, we made it into Burgos for 9 this morning attempting to find a new wheel for Lewy’s bike. The first port of call was the tourist office but, upon finding it didn’t open…
EUROPE 38 21/07/2011 ALTITUDE After a late night the morning seemed to come all too soon, but we still managed to get packed up and on the road by 8.30. The first couple of miles set the trend for the day: a steady, unrelenting, uphill that gave breakfast little chance to settle. We were going…
EUROPE 37 20/07/2011 PILGRIMS The weather hadn’t seemed to improve much overnight, it was still overcast and damp as we packed up camp this morning – not what we were expecting from Spain in July! The first order of the day was to get breakfast in Pamplona: we found a café and ordered a huge…
EUROPE 36 19/07/2011 THE PYRENEES The campsite office had put up severe weather warnings last night, and we weren’t disappointed: there were storms over night and it was still raining this morning. We still managed to hit the road by 8.30 after a copious amount of ‘Cruesli’ – a chocolate muesli Sam recommended. It was…
EUROPE 35 18/07/2011 FRENCH COAST We were up at 7 this morning, which came as a bit of a shock to the guys I think, but no complaints and we were out of the campsite for just past 8. Breakfast from a bakery, and we were fuelled up and on the road. We made good…
EUROPE 34 17/07/2011 CUSTARD CHICKEN I had a pretty bad nights sleep with the burn – I couldn’t get comfortable for ages, and kept waking up whenever I rolled onto it. I woke at 6 and couldn’t get back to sleep, so packed up – which took far longer than usual as most movement of…
EUROPE 33 15/07/2011 – 16/07/2011 REST IN BORDEAUX It made a nice change on the morning of the 15th to be able to lie in for a bit, and not have to pack up all my gear and get back on the road. But I was up soon enough, and cycled into the city to…
EUROPE 32 14/07/2011 MILESTONES I was woken by the sounds of the carnival setting up for the day around 6, and could’nt get back to sleep, so packed up and hit the road early. There were some tough climbs early on, but with those out of the way I started to lose altitude as I…
EUROPE 31 13/07/2011 LIZARD There was a massive storm overnight, and I woke several times to thunder booming outside the tent. I’d resolved to get up earlier this morning to beat the heat, but abandoned that plan when I awoke at six to find that the bad weather had persisted through the night. I went…
