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...

This is my new blog. There have been many like it. But this is my new one My website has been down for over a year. This is the new one! The old site is backed up, but there wasn’t anything interesting on it. $ cowsay 'Hello' _______ < Hello > ------- \ ^__^ \ (oo)\_______ (__)\ )\/\ ||----w | || ||

Slept badly last night, was itching and I had globs on my skin. Got up in the middle of the night and went to the bathroom to inspect myself so as not to wake the other people in the dormitory. In the end I just determined to not itch and to just stay calm until I fell asleep. In the morning the globs had gone. Spoke to French girl this morning: Read more...

My card finally arrived this morning, (thanks Ana for letting me know). I withdrew some money to ensure that it worked before finally checking out of the Pousada de Juventude. It had been a productive 2 weeks, but the inertia got to me. When the card arrived I had only enough money for one more night. So, I headed out eastwards to the heart of the Algarve, Faro. The airport city that keeps the Algarve well stocked with tourists. Read more...

Last tuesday I phoned my friend Franck in Paris “Hey Franck, hows it going?” “Yeah, pretty good mate.” “All my stuff nicked, I need to ask you a favour” “Sure” “Can you pick up my credit card from the bank, and send it over here.” “No problem” Thought it would arrive maybe the next day, maybe the day after. I am staying in a Youth Hostel in Lagos, its a pretty good deal. Read more...

So. I have finally met a “crusty-hippy-permaculturist”. I was sitting down for breakfast, and was having a conversation with a Dutch guy, who was driving around in a hired car. We were in the middle of a sentance when.. English? We both looked around Are you english? - she addressed the Dutch guy, I kept my nationality a secret Err… no … I am dutch. Oh, well thats allright then. What about you? Read more...

Now one week at the Hostel and only €130 left. Hoping card will get here tomorrow, one entire week seems a long time for a first card letter to go from France to Portugal, but its possible all the same. Have started running again, today was the third consecutive running day. Legs are aching, but tendon is fine. I started off with a small run on my second day here, 20 minutes to a beach, swim, then 20 minutes back. Read more...

Five days and I am starting to perceive the routine of this place. Beginning to become habituated to the routines. The staff sitting down in the court yeard chatting. Scrambled eggs on Wednesdays. Each morning I sit down for breakfast at 8:30 and speak with Walter before he goes to surf school, often misunderstanding what he is saying to me and saying “what?”. Paid for Carlos to stay one more night at a cost of €12 Read more...

Met Carlos. Unemployed Portuguese guy staying in Hostel for the night. Very talkative and triste. Life is tough my friend Yeah Four fucking times, four fucking times they stole my bike Yah, yah, life. But, you have to stay positive, you know? Thats the key We went outside and and somoked My brother is dead How did he die? He is dead. He died 4 years ago, life. Yep. I have no money, you know there is no work Yeah I have nothing, no food, don’t like begging . Read more...

Finally managed to speak to an employee of my bank in Paris. She explained that nothing, no action, could be taken with my card without a written authorization. An authorization delivered in the mail and signed by me. I found out however, to my gratification, that I could ask one of my colleagues in Paris to pick the card up on my behalf, if they had the aforementioned written authorization. Read more...

Slept well last night. I was the sole occupant of a 4 bed dormitory. Chatted with a French guy called Walter. You travelling? I asked err… yes .. erm.. on holiday I speak french I was glad to be able to chat in French, and Walter and I had many chats over the next few days. He was over here attending a surf school, and was currently “signing on”, that is, drawing unemployment benefit, whilst waiting to be admitted to the French police academy. Read more...

Apparently trip advisor ranked this place no. 1 in a poll of “15 up-and-coming destinations”. I spoke to a guy in the Hostel in Lisbon who said that, paraphrasing, this place was being colonized by the English. Its full.. of people .. of your people .. people like you! This is the south coast of Portugal. I rode into town and was surprised to pass an bookshop selling English books, I made a note to return to it the following day, thinking that I would be leaving the following day and I could call in on my way out. Read more...

I rode into the center of Oporta. Struggling up the narrow, ancient streets with my heavy bicycle. Passing by residençials (cheap hotels) that looked to run-down for me to stay in. Finally I passed into a larger street and found the residençial indicated on my map, the Saint Antonio. The entrance gave on to a short corridor leading to a flight of steps to the first floor where the reception would be found. Read more...

What happened today? No idea.

So Dad left yesterday, and I am left alone in Santander. I found a pension for €20 a night, but without internet connectivity. In the morning I went down to a café for a refreshingly cheap coffee and an internet connection. Checking the news, answering emails, and having that lightness of mind that comes with having no cares and no plans. I called in at the bakery on the way back, getting some bread and cakes, next stop was the supermarket for some cheap wine. Read more...

Dads last day, we rode into Santander, going straight to the Ferry terminal where Dad would be setting sail for England - but it was deserted, we eventually spoke to an offial who said that the passenger terminal had been temporarily moved further down the road. After assertaining the location we went to search for some accomodation for me for the night, then a coffee and adios! In 2010 I rode with Dad from St. Read more...

Breakfast surprisingly good and plentiful. Left hotel at 8 45 am only to discover that Dan’s brake blocks were badly worn necessitating a visit to cycle shop opening up at 10 am. Eventually underway at 11 am via Sodupe on hilly inland route involving one 5 mile climb (and 5 mile freewheel descent) from Ramales de la Victoria to Arredondo and hotel in La Cavada with lovely mountain view.

Rained heavily in night and left hotel at 8 40 am on a day of intermittent sleet and heavy rain showers on a mountainous route to Ondarroa via Lekei then inland to Gernika and eventually into a bustling Bilbao. Hotel found with difficulty and told by owner that bikes cost 10 euros to be garaged, and no eating allowed in rooms! Our room however had nice view of river. We dined out in restaurant area of bar populated by elderly people playing cards. Read more...

Awake before 6am reading War and Peace (39% read). Left hotel at 8 40am in sleet and snow through a desolate Biarritz. A welcome and partial drying out café in St Jean-de-Luz. With the weather deteriorating Dan decided we should cycle just 8 miles further to border town of Hendaye and take train into Spain and pre-booked hotel at Deba (with 40 minute changeover at San Sebastian where we sought to stay warm by waiting room radiator). Read more...

Another DIY breakfast. Light rain when we set out with coffee at Vielle St Giron. Dan received phone call from hotel booked the previous night to say reception was closed from 3 to 6pm. We aimed to go fast and arrive before 3pm and did so comfortably including a quick lunch at Souston. Started to watch film Abraham Lincoln on laptop but gave up because of poor sound quality. 62 miles. Read more...

From Dads journal: Accompanied Debbie to tram for trip to airport at 8 30 am. Dan and I left hotel at 9 30 am making gradual progress towards coast out of Bordeaux in wind and rain. We had coffee near Facture and lunch at Parentis en Born, then on to Mimizan where we booked into hotel for 58 euros and dried our wet clothing on the bathroom radiator. Yet another dining-in night involving baguettes! Read more...

From Dads journal: Another day with Dan delivering croissants at breakfast time. I cycled to the riverside and ran 4 miles on grassland then cycled along long promenade again in warm sunshine. We visited Musee Des Beaux Arts which was very disappointing but coffee outside in the cathedral square was lovely. With the temperature just about warm enough Debbie and I had evening meal in evening in venue near quayside.

A lazy morning. Muesli in bed and Dan arrived with croissants from the bakery. As the sun shone we went to Museum of Contemporary Arts featuring a display of carrier bags, rubble in woks and a large mural by Gilbert and George. In nearby park I removed my shirt for brief time as we revelled in the sunshine. Debbie cooked a meal and we had drinks outside Place de la Victorie, again very pleasant evening. Read more...

From Dads journal: Leisurely cycle ride to Bordeaux along quiet roads with stop for coffee in bright sunshine at Branne. Reached hotel (with cooking facilities in room) at 1 30 pm but room not ready and hassle parking bikes. Debbie arrived at 4pm and in the balmy evening the three of us strolled into town and in relaxed mode drank lager outside a bar, then an excellent meal in Italian restaurant. Read more...

Awake at 6 20am. Excellent breakfast. On a sunny day Dan (slightly sunburnt) decreed that we take a scenic route to Bordeaux via La Force. Stayed the night at Castillion la Bataille just 29 miles from Bordeaux. Started to watch 1954 classic film Sumari on laptop but fell asleep after hour or so. 58 miles.

From Dads journal: It was raining when leaving the hotel at 8 40 am. Dan bought a few items at giant sports shop on city outskirts. Coffee and croissant at Terrasson la Villedieu. I was annoyed seeing Fois Gras factories with pictures of smiling ducks displayed at entry gates. Into Perigueux and Ibis budget hotel from 2pm approximately. I walked into town and spent time inside huge cathedral, then got lost and jogged the streets until I recognised surroundings! Read more...

Left hotel at 8 35 am having a coffee at Engletons where the bar owner noticed Dan’s Marsille Marathon” T-shirt (apparently he ran same race. Next stop Tulle Cathedral where we had baguette snack prepared by me earlier in the day. Then on to Brive and one star hotel with shared toilet and shower in room that was mouldy in many parts. I enjoyed an early evening walk into the city fascinated by an abundance of knotted trees. Read more...

Robb left in car for Paris with Dan’s friends at 6am, thus enabling several hours leisure time in city before Eurostar boarding. Dan and I ate a good breakfast and set out at 9am travelling through Volvic on a hilly route stopping for coffee at Rochefort where much snow had fallen. Onwards to snow-bound Ussal and three star hotel by railway station with supermarket nearby enabling top up with provisions. The owner spoke very good English and the night was comfortable. Read more...

This event was: purpose of our journey. event that made me wait until the end of February before leaving. reason I had been training for 2 months what gave our journey a sense of purpose This was the trail de vulcain, three races - 21km, 42km and 80km - in the mountains around Volvic, near Clermont Ferrand, in the Massif Centrale region of France. I was to run the 80km with Eric, Dad (my travelling companion) was to run the 21km and the others the 42km. Read more...

After a leisurely morning including another sauna experience we boarded train to Riom at 12 21pm and reached Ibis budget hotel early afternoon. Dan collected Robbie by train from Clemont Ferrand and returned at 6pm. Dan’s workmates (Frank, Eric, Jordan and ?) from Paris arrived at same time. I bought extra provisions at supermarket for a ravenous Robb.