I am now sitting on my cheap Ikea office chair typing this blog post on my desk in my apartment in Berlin. This morning I woke first naturally at 4:30am, and then was woken again by the alarm clock on my phone at 5am. I raised myself in my sleeping bag and unzipped the panel which opens onto the “porch” of my tent. I had no muesli today, but had good bread, and I pasted it with jam and had my coffee and read the one day old news on my phone (there was no Wifi at the campsite). Read more...

I’m in a campsite in Trelleborg, the town on the southern coast of Sweden and the ferry port. I just showered and hand-washed my underwear and shirt which are now hanging out to dry. I got out of bed a later today, both because I had relatively late night and because I was in no hurry, I only had 15km to Gothenburg and then it was a train and another short ride to Trelleborg. Read more...

Another troublesome day with the bike. As I settled down in my tent last night there was a group of four or five teenagers in the tent next to mine who were talking and laughing until midnight, and somehow, although they were not being overly loud, managed to annoy me as I was trying to read. At 4:30am there was a crash of thunder (but no rain) which woke me up, and I guess most other people on the campsite including my neighbors, but they were the only ones who decided to chat about it for half-an-hour. Read more...

The middle aged man on the bunk oppsite to me got out of bed at around 5am, I woke up and dozed intermitently before getting out of bed at around 7am and packing my stuff up. I hoped that the hostel had a kitchen where I could make my breakfast. I went down with my bags and asked at reception “Do you have a kitchen?” “Only the ones in the rooms”. Read more...

My bike wheel and derailleur completely destroyed today. I woke up in the campsite and had 3 helpings of museli and jam and one helping of coffee, then went to fill my water bottles and wash my pots. I cycled away in the wrong direction but quickly realised my error and doubled back. Again, the cycle route was not direct and I just stuck as closely to the motorway (which goes directly to Gothenburg) as possible. Read more...

The hostel provided free coffee in the morning and, as hostels often do, free food. Free food is food left by other guests, and there was a bag of coffee in the free food cupboard, which I took advantage of when the morning coffee wasn’t available, I also purchased a bag of coffee for the following days, for it was now the plan to do at least three more days of cycling. Read more...

When the girl came around to collect the money for camping, it was actually very cheap, only 60kr (about €6) - cheapest so far, almost by half. It was quiet enough and I was initially camping on the tent pitch on my own, but later joined by two other tents, but they were at a good distance from each-other and not noisy in any case. There was a small party happening in one of the caravans on the other side of the site making noise until around 12, inducing me to put my ear-plugs in as I read three chapters of “Memoirs of a Geisha”. Read more...

It appears to be Friday the 13th. Today was a hard slog, most of the route was hilly and there were no “natural” rests along the way - no ferries or tunnels or places of note. I stopped for lunch at the top of a long climb. Valhalla It was cold again last night and hard to get to sleep, I woke up multiple times and ended up putting my trousers on in the sleeping bag and pulling my arms inside of my t-shirt to achieve a level of comfort. Read more...

This morning I woke with a stomach ache and there was lots of groaning as I packed up my damp tent and filled my water bottles and tenderly made my way back to the road. The sky was and is overcast and has been so all day, but it hasn’t been raining. The cycle route went indirectly around the coast, but there was another road cutting straight across the land which saved around 15k. Read more...

Now sitting on the step of the sanitary block of a campsite by a Fjord surrounded by high-rise mountains. The campsite cost 170kr (almost €18) for the night, but the shower and cooker both cost 10kr each. I paid for the shower, but used more of my increasingly precious camping gas to cook dinner. The Wifi is at least free and so far I haven’t encountered a campsite that requires you to pay to use the toilet. Read more...

I think it was the coldest night so far - relative to my sleeping bag and comfort level. I didn’t sleep great and had a hard time motivating myself to get out of bed, but eventually I got out and had breakfast, did my business and left the campsite. I looked for the old man I had spoken to the previous evening who said, that if he was on reception he would show me the route to Trondheim. Read more...

It had stopped raining when I woke up, and I slept quite well, only getting out of bed at 7:50. I ate the little remaining museli I had and had my mandatory coffee. It was the coldest it has been so far last night, and pushed the confort limits of my sleeping bag (I slept almost fully clothed). It was monday morning and I left the campsite, I was going to go in and ask if they had any camping gaz, but there was a queue so I just left and went to the supermarket 1km down the road, and did a “big shop” buying one pack of museli, one pack of pasta, 2 cans of baked beans, a french baguette, a big bag of mixed nuts, and a separate bag of salted peanuts. Read more...

The sun was shining when I crawled out of my tent and was greeted with an amazing view over the fjord. Clouds were dripping off one of the further cliffs. Leaving the campsite Today I would get a ferry and make prgress northwards, to Førde or Naustdal. I rode the 13km to the ferry, and as I rode along side the fjord I could see the ferry slowly making its way over, and with a kilometer to go I knew I would catch it. Read more...

I got out of bed at the hostel at around 7am and went to the kitchen to make some coffee, I decided not to have breakfast as I wanted to leave early, so I just used some of my Muesli and one of the hostel people put the coffee on. I sat down and was joined by Katrina from the “team” and then by a new Spanish arrival who was studying in Trondheim and had gotten the plane to Bergen for the weekend. Read more...

It was waffle night in the hostel. It’s a hostel run for 3 summer months by students from a certain University in Chicago, there are 7 of them here and they form a “team”. During the rest of the year the facility is used for something else. It’s very sociable and friendly. I have decided to cycle east to Oslo - I am potentially missing some very nice mountains to the north, but it’s half-time and I need to turn back. Read more...

Woke up in the campsite after a pretty good nights sleep, made the usual breakfast - the coffee is very important. I don’t feel human without it. I packed my stuff up, filled my water bottles. I saw William (the American cyclist I spoke to the night before) preparing to leave and I went to pay. “Do you want a coffee?” asked the campsite manager, I thought about it, and refused “I just brushed my teeth, it wouldn’t taste so good”, I waited around for a few minutes checking my route. Read more...

The woman came around at around 9pm to collect my payment for the camping. We went into the previously-closed reception area and I paid about €15 with my card and I asked if there was anywhere I could sit down and do some work on my laptop. The reception was connected with a largish common room, but it was not being used for that purpose currently, but she showed me some outdoor plugs and where I could sit down under the eaves of the building. Read more...

I took a rest day at the hostel in Stavanger, it was a nice hostel, the staff were friendly and helpful. I tried to maintain my bike, attempting to first fix my gears (I think I made them worse overall, but at least now I have a better understanding of how to adjust them) and I tried to fix my sinking handlebar bag, but ended up tightening it too much and breaking off one of the bolts - there were 3 bolts and one of them is now rounded and stuck, the other broke off, and another one is fastened far too tightly but is the only one holding the whole thing on now, and I’m too scared to loosen it up and adjust it properly. Read more...

I was undecided as to whether I would stay another night at the campsite. It was a friendly, trusting, campsite and they had an area where I could work and it was a good place for running, but I also knew I couldn’t spend any time in my tent. I was woken up to an already too-hot-for-comfort tent, the sun was scorching it, and I decided to leave. The Path Read more...

It is now almost 11pm, it is still light and I got into the campsite about 30 minutes ago. It has been an extremely long and beautiful day, even if I couldn’t find a suitable place to do wild camping. Lake I left the campsite at 8am without thinking too much about where I was going to stay. I followed the EV1 up until the point where I noticed there was a way to avoid the coast section (which just went out and back-in again) and cut straight over the land to rejoin the cycle path. Read more...

Another good nights sleep and I augmented my breakfast once again, this time with chocolate milk - Muesli, jam, chocolate milk and coffee. I set out to follow what officially seems to be the EV12 but is marked on signs and on my phone as EV1. I was soon confused having arrived at a closed pedestrian/cycle bridge and yet all the while seeing people cycling accross it - where were the going? Read more...

I am now on the ferry crossing to Norway. Feeling a bit hungry but unwilling to pay the €30 asking price for the on-board buffet (the ticket cost €42) but everything has gone to plan so far. Woke up early after a good nights sleep, had muesli again, but this time mixed with jam in addition to water, and drank my morning coffee from the camping cooking pot - which is actually better in some respects than the thermal mug as it loses heat quickly, meaning I can down the whole lot after about 1 minute. Read more...

Today marks 7 days of cycling and I’m in good shape, so far I’ve covered around 806km. I’m slightly behind my so-called “schedule” as I had intended to be ready to get the ferry to Norway today, but I will only be able to do that tomorrow with some effort. Slept adequately last night, but was uncomfortable due to the deflating air-mattress, I think the other night I was camped on softer ground. Read more...

My cycle computer broke today, I don’t know how many kilometers I did or how long I was riding for, this was the zeroeth problem. But it was a good day. At 11pm last night it was still light. I slept well. I didn’t wake up until 7am, and then dozed and woke up late an hour and a half later. I made my coffee and had muesli (moistened with water). Read more...

I am now sitting under the eaves of a chalet in a Danish campsite, my tent is pitched in front of me and I’m overlooking a pond with ducks swimming in it, the sun has shining. I was sceptical about this campsite to start with, it was just off the main road and there were plenty of other options further off the track in more desirable locations, but I had done my time for the day so I risked it. Read more...

Slept badly in the campsite last night. It was cold and my air matress seems to have very small puncture and it deflates impartially, just enough so that my body to intermittently come into contact with the ground when I’m turning in my sleep. I woke at 2am, 5am and 6am, before finally waking for good at around 7am. Again, only bread and peanut butter for breakfast with a nice cup of coffee. Read more...

“n another campsite and there is loud “Oktoberfest” music playing from somewhere in vicinity. It’s damp, and I’m sitting in a lean-to sheltered from the spitting rain. I seem to be on a regular bike-touring path as there is a old cycling dutch couple on the pitch next to mine, and a french couple on the opposite side. The weather is supposed to be improved on Tuesday. I woke this morning in my tent in Zeven at around 5am, then dozed until about 7am and planned my breakfast, I didn’t have much, just some bread, peanut butter and coffee. Read more...

I woke up this morning at 7am to the sound of pouring rain. The bed was comfortable but I felt exhausted and my head hurt. I got up and looked in the mirror, I had bags under my eyes. Yesterday was a hard day. Today would be much better, but I didn’t know it yet. Breakfast was served from 7 and I went down at half past, the lady was already there and had prepared my place. Read more...

Time and distance are estimates as I still haven’t hooked up my cycle computer. Very rough map I am sitting on the bed of my room in the hotel Strangmeyer in Diepholz. I had planned to make it to Bremen today. I estimated it to be 135km, I would head north west and join the D7 cycle route which would take me first to Bremen and then I thought I would carry on the next day to Hamburg. Read more...

A prerequisite for a cycle tour is having equipment, and bags to carry it all in. So I started the day by picking up the last missing items in Berlin. My large rear pannier did not turn up, so I bought a new one (€75) and tried to find a solar powerbank, but couldn’t find the one I wanted, so I picked up a 20000ma standard powerbank, which should be enough to keep my phone going for a week or so. Read more...

It has been decided that I will get the train to Bielefeld tomorrow. I have a ticket from Berlin (€53 direct train, 3.5 hours). There is no going back now (it’s an inflexible ticket). My bike has been picked up from Weymouth and is being driven across England now as I write this blog. At around 19:00 hours tomorrow I should be picked up from Bielefeld station by my brother and escorted to a camp site where I will be reunited with my bike. Read more...

I have been working in Berlin for almost a year, and previous to that I was in London for 6 months. So that means I have not been travelling for over a year and a half. Time to do something. To Norway! My Bicycle is in Weymouth, I am in Berlin. The bicycle needs to come to me, or I need to go to the bicycle. I originally planned to get the plane to England, the train to Weymouth, and then get my bicycle, get the train back to London to retrieve my touring equipement (which is stashed in the basement of my brothers friend). Read more...