840 miles, 8 days, one fixed gear

Mechanicals:

• Puncture x 1
• Snapped bottle cage
• Pedal bearings loosened
• Replaced a frayed cable (bar bag safety)

Gear ratio: 44t x 18t (64.5")

Tyres: 700c x 25c (Front : Michelin Lithion / Rear: Schwalbe Marathon Plus)

Luggage: Front: Topeak Tour / Rear: Carradice Nelson Long Flap

Bristol - Berlin update

Ich bin ein Berliner! .. or at least "ich bin in Berlin angekommen"

Excellent news (for me at least) ... I trundled into Berlin at 1pm on Saturday to be greeted by John and Liz with a huge outstreched banner they made for my arrival.

Possibly the hardest, most rewarding thing I've done on two wheels and although I travelled through Northern Europe - very much the "developed" world - it still felt like an adventure.

The landscape here is amazing; huge open arable land, peppered with medieaval towns, half timbered "Hanzel and Grettle" houses and affable people.

The cycling is also superb. I had been to Berlin before, once on holiday with John and once to "race" (drinking with a bit of bike riding thrown in for good measure) in the singlespeed world championships and developed a huge amount of affection for the place. Holland and North Germany show the way forward for a cycling infrastructure and riding across both countries was extraordinary.

East Germany - (the former DDR) was great, I lost track of the friendly hello's and waves exchanged with people on their doorsteps, at work or riding the minor roads and lanes that criss-cross the landscape.

Highs and lows of the last days from Höxter - Goslar - Bernburg - Berlin.

The hostels were universally top notch - clean rooms and bed sheets, welcoming staff who let me sign in late, responded to questions and generally tended to my needs in a relaxed manner.

The breakfasts were amazing, fresh bread, cheese, yoghurt, muesli and fruit in abundance. Talk about fuel for a day's riding! There was always somewheer to stash the bike but I doubt that any of these places have the kind of petty bike theft that you have to be vigilant against in Bristol.

Stumbling upon the Hartz steam railway in Wernigerode, Deutsche Bundesbahn steam engines being fuelled and watered, simmering in the sunshine alongside the road out of the mountains into the Hartz Forland.

The farming landscape, a farmer tending sheep with a German Shepherd, the farmer arriving in a Lidl car park in an old cart pulled by two stout working horses in his green overalls and huge moustache. Birds of prey wheeling overhead and the endless birdsong of skylarks almost too high in the sky to see.

Paved or fast dirt cycle paths that wandered away from the road and disappeared over rolling hills into hidden folds in the landscape.

Being invited to join the party at the neighbouring table at the little hotel I found in Beelitz when I realised that Potsdam was too far and the hostels were fully booked. Chatting late and discovering I was in the premier Asparagus belt of Germany!

Asking directions and finding the lady I asked was from Colorado, a geology lecturer at the University of Potsdam and being able to show her the timetable for the asparagus season that I acquired from Jürgen, one of the guests I chatted to the previous night. In her own words "I never expected to find an english cyclist equipped with information I wanted on Asparagus and when it would appear on the local menus". Apparently Beelitz asparagus is a very big deal in Berlin!

I still have the leaflet and was amazed to see an Autumn festival devoted entirely to the pumpkin "Over 10,000 pumpkins, 400 varities from all over the world". It turns out that it's not just asparagus that is a big deal in Beelitz.

Not having to pop ibuprofen or rub ibuprofen gel into my ankles. The last couple of days were practically pain free, my body having suddenly stopped complaining. I chose to make slower, smooth starts with less immediates strain on my ankles. Even the hilly ride east from Goslar was ridden without resentful grumbling from my body.

Lows were few and far between:

Riding 40 miles into a relentless headwind on arrow straight roads north of Bernburg, trying to make up time.

Cobbled roads on some of the older East German roads had worn away and dodging fist-sized cobbles became hard, jarring work on 100+ mile days. I know keen cyclists are supposed to relish the "pavé" but I'm no fan of being buffeted whilst desperately trying to cling to edges where accumulated soil and dust smooth the way.

Narrowly avoiding a collision with a weekend rider who suddenly stopped, blocking the path on a fast section through the "Grünewald" between Potsdam and Berlin. Anglo-saxon english popped immediately into my head after days of talking in German.

Eating purely for fuel - a diet of bananas, fruit-soaked muesli bars and ibuprofen wears a bit thin after a while!

Bristol - Berlin Update

Münster - Höxter
Another big day but one that went smoothly - mainly thanks to a good nights sleep and my current close companions Ibuprofen and Bio-Freeze!

More huge open landscapes and more road mileage, avoiding some of the more meandering parts of the R1 in favour of fast easy pedalling. Too much stop start riding and I could sense my legs and ankles getting disgruntles again. The batteries died on the camera but i'm not sure how many huge open fields and distant horizons i wanted to record.

The descent into Höxter was a gem - you could see the hills around the town from some distance and I chose the waymarked route for the final 10 miles and was really glad that I did. A fast bike track clung to the edge of the hills and zipped down past tall woodlands and streams into the town.

The hostel was up a bitch of a climb but the reward was a terrific view from my room of the Weser valley and more wooded hills.

There was group of teenagers with special needs staying at the hostel. one of the boys got told off for descending on me as soon as he saw me open my packet of banana chips. They were really cool and were a bit fascinated by this weird english cyclist and his tall tales of long distance cycling. After another huge breakfast - (the boys consumed huge amounts of nutella) I was given a great send off with much high-fiving and exclamations of "it's a new world record ... 1000km in 5 days".

Quite an emotional couple of day really!

Bristol - Berlin : Update

A quick update as I'm just about to set off from Goslar and another fab hostel, perched on the edge of a hill with a bedroom looking out onto half timbered buildings and wooded hills.

The last couple of days have been good, weather staying dry and warm - I´m even sporting some tan lines although mainly on one side as I'm consistently heading east!


Arnhem - Münster
I arrived late at the hostel and thought I was lost until by chance I stumbled upon the independant StayOK! hostel. The young guy on night duty pandered to my needs bringing frequent tea and rounds of chees and ham "toasties". The closest I could get to a high carb meal at short notice!

This was the first day of getting to grips with the R1 - the "signposted" route from Calais to St Petersburg that I aim to follow until Berlin. The first few miles wandered out of Arnhem up some steep wooded areas into the sandy conifer forests east of the City. A combination of fire roads and back streets meant that there was quite alot of map reading and route checking. This ate heavily into my schedule and after a lazy coffee and cake stop in the most stunning, modern glass fronted cafe in the middle of the woods I decided to take a more direct route where possible. This became especially necessary as the clock ticked past and mile after mile of huge countryside opened up before me.

A rollercoaster day with my body complaining again at back-to-back centuries.

A highlight was definitely crossing into Germany across a quiet unmanned border control.

I donned my ipod and cranked it up for the last miles into Münster, fortunatey the road I chose had the equivalent of a bike motorway alongside it and with a tailwind i absolutely flew into Münster and signed in for the night at 9.30pm! A long day in the saddle as I started from Arnhem after an early breakfast at 8am. Thanks Amy McDonald for providing the perfect soundtrack to spin a 44t x 18t gear.

The hostel in Münster was smart and modern with a whopping all-you-can-eat breakfast. It felt like a posh 'backpacker' hostel and as the city has large numbers of students and young travellers I was suprised to be sharing breakfast almost exclusively with German families. I should have twigged as the hostel is a "Jugendherberge" and you have to have International Youth Hostel Association membership to stay there.

As is becoming the trend, everwhere I stay has first rate bike storage.

Bristol - Berlin - Update

I may not be able to update the blog so easily as the next couple of days are in small towns in the Hartz mountains so I,ll just put in a couple more edited highlights.


Camberley - Harwich
A bitch of a day that nearly finished me off! My ankles took a hammering on the slow grind through London - 125 miles is hard enough on a fixed without the stop-start-stop riding on the A12 to Essex.

The highlight was the Thames path south of London, a traffic free oasis of calm all the way from Staines to Kew Bridge past some of the great sights such as Hampton Court Palace.

There was even a cute little bicycle ferry to get you across at one point (near Shepperton I think) .. all you had to do was ring a little bell and a man comes down the slipway to get you across.


I also got chatting to a one of the bike cops who patrols Hyde Park - I shouted across to him as he was cycling in a ´no bikes´ lane and he stopped and chatted for ages. It pays to be cheeky sometimes, he was telling me that they work closely with teh Terrence Higgins Trust as they supply sexual health advice in the park
I arrived at the night ferry to find my passport had expired. Doh!! Some panicked calls and an emergency Bed and Breakfast in Harwich and I threw myself on the mercy of the passport office in Peterborough on Saturday. I just managed to get a 4 hour passport with only hours to spare.

Hook of Holland - Arnhem
A bigger day than I realised with over 115 miles through two stunning cities - Rotterdam and Utrect - tehn into an amazing picture postcard landscape of canals, dykes, little farmhouses and villages. Arnhem is wooded and sandy and rather reminded me of where I grew up - the heathland and woods of army areas - Bagshot heath, Aldershot, Camberley, Minley etc ... The second world war has an eerie presence here with old tanks on the main road and memorials to the airborne forces - especially with the landscape so reminding me of army training grounds in the UK.

Big Up Everyone!
John as ever, thank you so much for staying in touch every day, being an emotional crutch and getting me through the passport fiasco with kind words and patience. See you in Berlin!!

My mum - thank you so much for helping rearrange all my hostels and being supportive - especially as my Dad has been in hospital this last week.

Steve, Calum and Matt for staying in touch and giving me "cyclists" encouragement on a daily basis.

Everyone who donated so far and been otherwise supportive.

Bristol to Berlin : Unterwegs!

I´m writing this post from a really smart Youth hostel in Mµnster. Like everything else on the trip the surroundings are unbelievably civillised although I´m increasingly feeling quite the opposite.

The distances are huge and yesterday was a rollcoaster, elated at crossing into Germany but arriving in Mµnster at 9.30pm having ridden another 120 mile day and my body starting to complain about doing back to back centuries on a fixed gear with luggage!

Holland and Germany are a cycling paradise with almost no need to share carriageways with cars even on main roads. Yesterday, I blitzed the last 25 miles on the cycling lane alongside one of the main routes into the city at 20plus miles/hour - it was like riding a two lane motorway for cyclists.

Everyone here either rides sit-up-and-beg bikes at a gentle pace or are trying to emulateemulate Tom Boonen, glowering at you from behind wrap round shades in team kit and on carbon fibre road bikes. Doesn't seem like there is any middle ground!

Holland was surprsingly beautiful - possibly the most immaculate countryside and towns I have ever witnessed. We went there last year camping but rather whizzed through on the way to the North German coast. At this more leisurely (?) pace I was treated to mile after mile of brick built, thatched farmhouses with animals grazing on neat pastures alongside arrow straight waterways. Every scene looked like someone had arranged it for decorative effect.

When I was feeling on less of a high, I wondered what sinister things were really going on behind those pretty brick windows.

One a minor note - there is a very weird ratio of shops in Dutch and German towns´- there are about ten times as many chemists, opticians and hardware shops as there are any other shops. Also, coming from England, it is odd to be somewhere where all of the shops seem to be closed for most of the day.

Day 1 : Bristol - Berlin

Bristol - Bagshot

Well this is it, the trip is underway with a 100 miler back across Salisbury Plain to my folks in Surrey.

Harder than last time despite another cracking day's weather as the last 20 miles or so my shoulders were really feeling it.

I had a couple of minor mechanicals - for some strange reason the pedal bearings loosened despite having been good for the last couple of years hard use! Oh and a bottle cage snapped as I was rolling out the house! Fortunately I had company out of Bristol (cheers Steve and Dan) who came to my rescue with a replacement.

An "old school" garage on the road out of Devizes leant me their spanners to affect a roadside repair on the pedals.

I checked them again in Ludgershall at a local bike shop - the owner surprised himself when he tried turning the cranks and realised I was on a fixed wheel. Friendly chap and very chatty - an almost universal feature of bike shop owners I find.

Thanks to everyone for their support and loads of people spotted me in the Evening Post.

And thanks again to John for all his harrassing, fundraising and general support. I appreciated the hug on the doorstep and being waved off down the road!

Bristol - Berlin - Eek! Big hills!

I was curious to see what the Hartz Mountains are like - being as it's the only "lumpy" part of the route.

This part looks like the Cheddar Gorge on steroids!

Hmmm .. now maybe I could get by with one less pair of socks and maybe it's time to cut the toothbrush in half? Actually I've already cut the toothbrush down once already!

Bristol - Berlin : Training Diary

The view of Chew Valley from the Mendip Hills

A pain in the neck

A busy week meant just one evening ride and some sessions at the gym. I've been suffering a bit in my shoulder from a combination of riding and sitting at the computer all day. The gym has been all yoga and stretching to try and free things up.

I got a nice surprise when the Terrence Higgins Trust organised a massage session out of the blue.

Oh to be wealthy, it's one luxury that I would be hooked on!

Publicity!

The Bristol Evening Post is going to take a picture on Monday and I'm hoping they will feature the ride. A bit of publicity, especially for the Terrence Higgins Trust wil be great. I had a letter in the week from the THT about the fund raising, It's sad that they say "HIV is not a popular cause".

I managed to get a 50+ mile ride in on Sunday down to Cheddar. Amazing weather again and a wonderful traffic free whizz down the Gorge. Most of the visitors had gone by early evening so the car parks were mostly empty and the roads free of people and cars which can make the final twists on the Gorge road "interesting".

There are families of goats that live on the slopes of the Gorge that were ambling about on the road when I arrived.

It does seem a shame that the foot of such a towering natural wonder is lined with car parks. It's like Stonehenge - the drama of the location almost completely lost through provision of somewhere to stick a load of coaches and bloody cars.

OK .. I'm off my soap-box now!

Bristol - Berlin : Training Diary

There are some very alarming signs on Salisbury Plain

Bristol - Berlin : Training Diary

Bristol to Bagshot (via Salisbury Plain)

The flight of locks at Caen Hill, Devizes.

I'm not going mad, it is possible to ride a fixed gear, with luggage for 100 miles!

After shaking off a dratted chest infection I wasn't sure if I'd be feeling fit enough for my planned 'dry run' across to Mum and Dad's in Surrey.

It was OK as a) I felt fully recovered and b) the weather was amazing.

A great ride, re-visiting some old haunts, the flight of locks at Caen Hill (29 locks in a continous flight on the Kennet and Avon canal) where we used to take the narrow boats and then riding across Salisbury Plain past Tidworth - the army town where Karen and I were born.

I changed to an 18 tooth cog on the back - only one tooth more than I usually ride but I'm convinced it made all the difference!

The carradice saddle bag was great - it's small so it's going to limit the amount of stuff. I'm convinced the only way to tour on a fixed gear is with a minimal amount of luggage. Keeping everything down to basics is fun - I must have re-packed the bag half a dozen times! Do I really need this jersey??? Can I manage with one less pair of socks???

Unforunately the tool bag still feels too heavy.

I'm really looking forward to getting to Holland and Germany and riding traffic free paths and minor roads. The driving this weekend was shocking! Fortunately nothing that impacted on me too much, but the sunshine seemed to draw people outdoors, indulging in manic, suicidal driving.

Argh! Bleeurgh!

Oh yeah! I really needed to get a lung infection in the final weeks before riding out to Germany!

So it's a week of antibiotics and about as much daytime TV as a chap can stand before going completely MAD!

The good news is I'm just really looking forward to a week of doing nothing but riding my bike and hanging out in Berlin with John and Liz.

And the donations keep coming in .. something that really makes it all worth while.

Bristol – Berlin planning

I had to rethink the route after discovering problems with the Oostende ferry and lack accomodation in Dunkerque.

It didn't help that the one hostel that i could find was described as "like a prison without the benefit of any wardens!" .. knowing how brill the hostels are in Holland and Germany i decided to rethink the route to use the Hook of Holland ferry.

I'm excited as it now means I'll be going right through central London and it's always amazing to cross the Thames on a bicycle with all those massive landmarks stretching out towards the horizon. I've never ridden out into Essex and Suffolk and hope the route proves scenic.

Plus it' always amazing to head into a port and catch a boat to the continent!

• 02/04 Thursday Bristol - Camberley (100 miles)
• 03/04 Friday Camberley – Harwich (105 miles)
• 03/04 Friday Overnight ferry Harwich – Hook of Holland
• 04/04 Saturday Hook of Holland – Doorweth (Arnhem) (83 miles)
• 05/04 Sunday Arnhem – Münster (114 miles)
• 06/04 Monday Münster – Höxter (115 miles)
• 07/04 Tuesday Höxter – Goslar (75 miles)
• 08/04 Wednesday Goslar – Dessau (134 miles) bail-out route: 88 miles
• 09/04 Thursday Dessau – Potsdam (95 miles)
• 10/04 Friday Potsdam – Berlin (20 miles)

Bristol - Berlin : Training Diary

Sunday 50 hilly miles around Bath.

Long shadows cast by the fading sun - another glorious day. Hope it sticks around as there is a definite taste of Spring in the air!

Bristol - Berlin : Butterflies

Blimey – just over a month to go – I’m getting butterflies already! Maybe that’s just because spring has arrived and John spotted some in the garden?

Or maybe the dawning reality that I’ve got 700 miles to ride before I get to Berlin?!

It's probably not helping that the choice of accommodation on offer in Dunkerque (after one of the longest days) is looking decidedly iffy!

A big thanks to everyone who's put their hands in their pocket's - It's been amazing - you've all got big hands and deep pockets! I really can't get over how generous you've been.

Bristol - Berlin : Training Diary

Nick and Graeme look after my bike during our local 'tour de cafe stops'

Thank god for milder weather - it has meant that I can get back on my bike and ride again.

Last weekened involved a Saturday morning "training ride" - meeting up for a mountain bike ride with Nick (coffee-stop in the Centre) and then Graeme (got a puncture and then we stopped for tea / bacon roll in Ashton Court) .. Stunning weather .. dry(ish) trails and plenty of cakes and beverages - probably no more than three hours out riding.

Sunday was a morning "training ride" out to a cafe stop in Chew Valley in the company of the worlds smallest fixed-gear club! Sociable, good weather and toasted tea cakes - was out for about 4 hours but not sure about the distance - probably only about 40 miles?

Will have to up the mileage over the next four weeks - I need to be certain that I'm good for 100 miles with luggage!

Bristol to Berlin "B-Day Landings"

Planning the trip has certain logistic elements - like where to aim for each day and most recently, where to cross the channel!

I wanted to go to Oostende but turns out the ferry company doesn't take foot passengers. How odd? I can't think of a reason why ... they could get a few quid and I wouldn't take up any space!

An evening spent on Google maps plotting my route (Gmaps pedomoter - thanks for the info Calum) has largely been wasted as I now have to piece together a route from my new ferry destination "Dunkerque".

I'm now going from Bristol to Dover and then crossing via the channel to Dunkerque. Then forward to Arnhem and over the border into Germany and on to Berlin. As far as I can tell I'm practically retracing the Normandy landings! Maybe I'll have to paint the bike olive green and put on a tin hat?

Bristol to Berlin - Route

I've just been piecing the route together:

• Get an idea of distance
  
• See what are manageable stages
  
• Give me some idea of where to aim for so I can pitch up and get a bed for the night!

It's shaping up like this and I'm hoping to save it properly using a Google Map. (Over to you Conrad?)

The distance is working out at approx 700 miles excluding the ferry crossing!

• Bristol - Ramsgate
• Oostende-Arnhem
  
• Arnhem – Munster
  
• Munster-Hoxter
  
• Hoxter- Goslar
  
• Goslar – Dessau
  
• Dessau – Berlin

Automobiles Anonymous

A quote from an AA spokesman that I rather liked:

"Andrew Howard, head of road safety for the AA, said people feel they still have to drive, even when all other forms of transport have ground to a halt.

He said: "You know we all accept that trains don't run, that aeroplanes can't land. But we never seem to accept that a car driver can be late or not come at all."... 

 

The big freeze

Lorries stalled on The A37 Wells Road outside our house. We heard about this on the radio over breakfast .. and there they were stuck in the snow outside !

Bristol - Berlin : A word to my sponsors!

A big thanks to everyone that has chipped in with sponsorship. You've all been generous at a time when I know you may be feeling 'the pinch'! (or should that be the crunch?).

John has been ace as usual sending out emails to all and sundry with donations coming from surprising corners of the internet!

If you are thinking of donating, it's only February and there are two months before I trundle out of Bristol so there's plenty of time to chuck some pennies in the pot.

Bristol - Berlin : Leather fetish

As I'm riding to Berlin - the spiritual home - of all things 'leather') I made a token gesture and invested in a Brooks leather saddle.

It's a work of art and has big copper studs which John reckon makes it look a bit S&M as well.

Hopefully rubbing this weird lemon scented cream into it on a regular basis will make it even comfier.

It's all part of the ritual apparently and not just plain perverted.

View from the Bar

The only bar I will be visiting for a while should look like this:

A view down the lanes above Compton Dando on Sunday. It had rained a lot but it was lovely out, fresh and wintery but pretty mild and sunny.

Bristol, Bath, Bradford & Brass Knocker Hill!

Damn, it's so hard to make these 'training rides' look hard on camera!

Parked up next to Iford Manord (Bath stone grandeur, italianate ornamental gardens and the river Frome rushing by under a beautiful stone bridge)

But look ... in the distance you can make out the 1in4 climb back out of the valley! It was a hard ride honest!

A shorter ride than last week but took in all the 'son of a bitch' climbs I could muster in a 60k route from Bath - Bradford and back. Crawling the twists and turns of Brassknocker Hill made more arduous by the coaches lumbering up behind looking for places to pass (there are none!)

Climbs: Bathwick Hill, Freshford, Turleigh/Winsley Hill, Brasssknocker, Peppershell Lane

Bristol to Berlin by Bicycle - Bike Geek Info

In case anyone is the least bit interested, I've been pimping my ride to get it all nice and comfy for Berlin.

The bike I'm using has been my daily ride for some time so I know it, trust it and kind of love it!

I'll stick some pictures up, but in the meantime here's the low down:

• Cotic 'RoadRat' steel road frame
• Mavic A719 touring rims
• Schawalbe marathon plus tyres
• Up front: Schmidt dynamo hub connected to a Solidlights LED dynamo light
• Out back: Goldtech track hub with a 17 tooth fixed cog
• Stronglight 165mm cranks (44t)
• Shimano XTR pedals
• Chris King headset
• Bontrager oversize carbon road bars (ergonomic profile)
• Bontrager carbon seat post
• Brooks swift (titanium )saddle
• Shimano v-brake (front only)
• Superlight BMX chain
• Tubus rack
• Mudgaurds
• German "Pit Lock" security kit (burn in hell, bike thieves!)

Bristol to Berlin by Bicycle - Training diary

Went out last Saturday and rode the Jack & Grace Cotton memorial ride - 100k of steady riding up the Severn valley from North Bristol.

I was able to hook up with some other local riders thanks to Steve Downs of the South Bristol club and we had a cracking day, all riding a fixed gear on the back lanes of Gloucestershire. No hills worth speaking of so it was a perfect opportunity to do a reasonable distance.

A memorable cake stop a Leyhill Prison, the organisers laid on a feast of home made cakes. The highlight being a really tasty fig pastry.

We looked but couldn't find any files or hacksaw blades hidden in the cakes!

Oops, sorry this was supposed to be a "training" ride wasn't it?

Bristol to Berlin by Bicycle - First Steps!

Well I had to get my finger out really and make this ride to Berlin a reality.

I'm really excited as the first step was to book the flight BACK from Berlin. That way I'm committed, no turning back and all I've got to do is get on my bike in April and start praying for a westerly breeze to give me a tailwind!