I'm home
Well I did it. 1134 miles from start to finish.
It sure hurt a lot, and I better write this down before I forget it all!
Wednesday (Stanstead - Oslo Torp/Hirtschals)
I flew from Stanstead airport to Oslo Torp. I was incredibly paranoid about my bike after building it up in Norway I found I had lost a bolt from my stem and a water bottle! I cycled to Larvik to catch the world's nicest ferry to Hirtschals in Denmark. You would not have believed the views - even from the loo! The first night I stayed in a pension in Hirtschals. A pension is like a second house that Scandanavians tend to convert their second floor into. After finding the first hotel would have cost me close to a £100(!) I cycled through town looking for signs saying Hotel or Zimmer about half nine. I watched House and fell asleep.
Thursday (Hirtschals - Viborg)
Day two started with a nice enough day, and very quickly I started to realise that I would be wearing damp shorts for the first hour of every day. I rode 10 miles to Hjorring to get some breakfast, water bottle and a lock(!) before launching into the first (of many) 100+ mile days I ended up at Viborg. I had planned to cycle to Randers, but Viborg was much closer to the eventual direction I wanted to go. After finding a pizza shop the guys there pointed me to a B&B (Cheapest place in town!) Nobody actually came round to pick up any money so I ended up not paying... So they were right! Dinner that night consisted of pasta I found in the kitchen...
Friday (Viborg - Haderslev)
Day Three I left quite quickly and at the first bike shop I could find in Silkeborg just had to buy some new inner tubes and a bike rack. My back was aching so bad I had to take some weight off it. I eventually ended up putting my whole bag on the rack and cycled to Haderslev. Don't remember too much about here, just that my knees really hurt.
Saturday (Haderslev - Husum)
Husum was where I cycled around for about an hour trying to find a Youth Hostel. After the desk clerk trying to say I couldn't stay there the boss said I could for a small surcharge. I stayed in a room with two very surly Germans and an incredibly smelly cycle tourist. I knew I stunk a bit after 8 hours in the saddle but the first thing I did was to jump in the shower.
Sunday (Husum - Aveslohe)
Stopped at a random hotel at a crossroads here. The owner wasn't around and I really had to walk around and hunt her out. She let me lock the bike in the shed and although the restaurant was closed she did make me dinner! This is where I really started to get into a habit of declothing, jumping in the shower while filling up the sink with washing liquid and then washing all my clothes and fixing my inner tubes.
Monday (Aveslohe - Lingen)
The place I tried to stop in first was not actually a guesthouse. But the place I stopped the owner said his aunt ran a pension. He tried phoning but nobody answered. We cycled up there and she wasn't there so I had something to eat in the restaurant. The owner's sister stopped by and Herman (the owner) said I was English so she should chat to me. She used to teach German in Hereford. We had a good chat and then as I finished my dinner Herman's aunt arrived home. I went and dropped off my bike, stuff and had a shower and had to go back to pay my bill. I ended up at a BBQ there with 15 of Herman's family and drank a lot of wine and found that I had an incredible craving for salad! Eventually went to bed at around 3 in the morning.
Tuesday (Lingen - Zutphen)
This day I got hit by a car in Bremen. As I was crossing a road a German car knocked my back wheel. The fucker drove off before I could get any details unfortunately. I disconnected my rear brake and still had to try and true my wheel a bit before I could ride it. I got really depressed and started really considering getting a train to the Hook of Holland and catching a ferry home. Sheer stubborness and determination made me ride 20 miles to Syke where the guys at Per Pedal were kind enough to not only sort me out with a new rear wheel, but also swapped my cassette, tyre and tube over and put some more air in my tyres. I did another 60 miles that day to get to my last stop in Germany, a lovely place just across from the border. Lovely double room and a fantastic breakfast.
Wednesday (Zutphen - Eersel)
I do remember stopping in both Arnhem and Nijmegan to have a look around. Saw the big famous bridge and it was quite a hot day. The Dutch have a terrible habit of putting their cycle paths on top of dykes in windy places. Tried to stop at a big group hotel thing and had to ride 5 more miles to an Indian hotel. Pricey hotel here costing 60 Euros.
Thursday (Eersel - Lichterveld)
Today I managed to forget my phone and had ridden for 20 miles before I realised. Had to do a 40 mile detour and because of this the big push through to Calais just didn't happen. At about nine I just couldn't go on anymore and as I got to the top of a hill I saw a hotel and crashed.
Friday (Lichterveld - Calais/Home)
Had a 70 mile trip today to push through all the way to Calais. Rode through Dunkirk and saw the beach. Got approached by cheap French beggars with leaflets (Leaflets - with a picture of a baby that they were trying to say they had to feed. Cheeky fuckers! One even asked me for some of my lunch and didn't understand when I told him to fuck off in the strongest possible terms). I eventually got to Calais after asking my brother to put some money in my account (ran out by this point). Thankfully he put enough money in for me to catch a P&O ferry back to Dover where I met a great family who had done a tour around the north of France. I could not wait to get on the train all the way back to Campsey Ashe. Nine hours of train travel and a half hour cycle and I finally was able to get in my own bed!
It sure hurt a lot, and I better write this down before I forget it all!
Wednesday (Stanstead - Oslo Torp/Hirtschals)
I flew from Stanstead airport to Oslo Torp. I was incredibly paranoid about my bike after building it up in Norway I found I had lost a bolt from my stem and a water bottle! I cycled to Larvik to catch the world's nicest ferry to Hirtschals in Denmark. You would not have believed the views - even from the loo! The first night I stayed in a pension in Hirtschals. A pension is like a second house that Scandanavians tend to convert their second floor into. After finding the first hotel would have cost me close to a £100(!) I cycled through town looking for signs saying Hotel or Zimmer about half nine. I watched House and fell asleep.
Thursday (Hirtschals - Viborg)
Day two started with a nice enough day, and very quickly I started to realise that I would be wearing damp shorts for the first hour of every day. I rode 10 miles to Hjorring to get some breakfast, water bottle and a lock(!) before launching into the first (of many) 100+ mile days I ended up at Viborg. I had planned to cycle to Randers, but Viborg was much closer to the eventual direction I wanted to go. After finding a pizza shop the guys there pointed me to a B&B (Cheapest place in town!) Nobody actually came round to pick up any money so I ended up not paying... So they were right! Dinner that night consisted of pasta I found in the kitchen...
Friday (Viborg - Haderslev)
Day Three I left quite quickly and at the first bike shop I could find in Silkeborg just had to buy some new inner tubes and a bike rack. My back was aching so bad I had to take some weight off it. I eventually ended up putting my whole bag on the rack and cycled to Haderslev. Don't remember too much about here, just that my knees really hurt.
Saturday (Haderslev - Husum)
Husum was where I cycled around for about an hour trying to find a Youth Hostel. After the desk clerk trying to say I couldn't stay there the boss said I could for a small surcharge. I stayed in a room with two very surly Germans and an incredibly smelly cycle tourist. I knew I stunk a bit after 8 hours in the saddle but the first thing I did was to jump in the shower.
Sunday (Husum - Aveslohe)
Stopped at a random hotel at a crossroads here. The owner wasn't around and I really had to walk around and hunt her out. She let me lock the bike in the shed and although the restaurant was closed she did make me dinner! This is where I really started to get into a habit of declothing, jumping in the shower while filling up the sink with washing liquid and then washing all my clothes and fixing my inner tubes.
Monday (Aveslohe - Lingen)
The place I tried to stop in first was not actually a guesthouse. But the place I stopped the owner said his aunt ran a pension. He tried phoning but nobody answered. We cycled up there and she wasn't there so I had something to eat in the restaurant. The owner's sister stopped by and Herman (the owner) said I was English so she should chat to me. She used to teach German in Hereford. We had a good chat and then as I finished my dinner Herman's aunt arrived home. I went and dropped off my bike, stuff and had a shower and had to go back to pay my bill. I ended up at a BBQ there with 15 of Herman's family and drank a lot of wine and found that I had an incredible craving for salad! Eventually went to bed at around 3 in the morning.
Tuesday (Lingen - Zutphen)
This day I got hit by a car in Bremen. As I was crossing a road a German car knocked my back wheel. The fucker drove off before I could get any details unfortunately. I disconnected my rear brake and still had to try and true my wheel a bit before I could ride it. I got really depressed and started really considering getting a train to the Hook of Holland and catching a ferry home. Sheer stubborness and determination made me ride 20 miles to Syke where the guys at Per Pedal were kind enough to not only sort me out with a new rear wheel, but also swapped my cassette, tyre and tube over and put some more air in my tyres. I did another 60 miles that day to get to my last stop in Germany, a lovely place just across from the border. Lovely double room and a fantastic breakfast.
Wednesday (Zutphen - Eersel)
I do remember stopping in both Arnhem and Nijmegan to have a look around. Saw the big famous bridge and it was quite a hot day. The Dutch have a terrible habit of putting their cycle paths on top of dykes in windy places. Tried to stop at a big group hotel thing and had to ride 5 more miles to an Indian hotel. Pricey hotel here costing 60 Euros.
Thursday (Eersel - Lichterveld)
Today I managed to forget my phone and had ridden for 20 miles before I realised. Had to do a 40 mile detour and because of this the big push through to Calais just didn't happen. At about nine I just couldn't go on anymore and as I got to the top of a hill I saw a hotel and crashed.
Friday (Lichterveld - Calais/Home)
Had a 70 mile trip today to push through all the way to Calais. Rode through Dunkirk and saw the beach. Got approached by cheap French beggars with leaflets (Leaflets - with a picture of a baby that they were trying to say they had to feed. Cheeky fuckers! One even asked me for some of my lunch and didn't understand when I told him to fuck off in the strongest possible terms). I eventually got to Calais after asking my brother to put some money in my account (ran out by this point). Thankfully he put enough money in for me to catch a P&O ferry back to Dover where I met a great family who had done a tour around the north of France. I could not wait to get on the train all the way back to Campsey Ashe. Nine hours of train travel and a half hour cycle and I finally was able to get in my own bed!