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.