England – Following Rivers, Canals https://eu18.mayosmith.org And Other Waterways Sun, 15 Jul 2018 03:23:57 +0000 en-NZ hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 https://eu18.mayosmith.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-Media_Library_‹_Europe_16_—_WordPress-2-32x32.jpg England – Following Rivers, Canals https://eu18.mayosmith.org 32 32 Epilogue https://eu18.mayosmith.org/epilogue/ Wed, 11 Jul 2018 13:56:51 +0000 https://eu18.mayosmith.org/?p=745 Continue Reading →]]> Well, the bike is once more boxed up. Debbie and Aaron are now somewhere in the Bay of Biscayne with Royal Caribbean and I’m about to head back to New Zealand, if only for a few weeks. It’s been fun. 10 countries, over 3500 kilometres of cycling, even used boats, buses, trains, planes and car in the travels.

But the overall theme (if there is one) was waterways. Cycled the Rhine and Danube as well as Belgium, Dutch and English Canals. With Debbie and Aaron we toured the Loire Valley by car – can’t really say I cycled it as 10k in Samour doesn’t count.

Met some interesting and great people along the way, too many to mention. Only used my “cold weather” gear 3 times as the temperature was consistently hitting 30C + all the time.

In the spirit of today’s trend of having the “Ten Best of…..” My top 10, in no particular order are:

  • The cycle paths of Belgium, Holland, Austria, France. (Worst by a long shot were England and Hungry)
  • Madeira – very pleasant surprise
  • Best Bridge – the wooden bike/Foot bridge near Kelheim
  • Best Campsite. – Vilshofen an der Donau, totally geared for cyclists
  • Bad Days – None, well there were some not so good days but then without them the good days would be ordinary
  • Accident free days – all except one – when the bike and I parted company on a bridge
  • Punctures or mechanical failures – none
  • Best piece of gear – My ultra light weight camp chair with the Brooks Saddle coming in a close second
  • Best website/app – hands down Komoot.com in combo with the Garmin Edge.
  • The people you meet along the way.

 

 

]]> UK leg complete https://eu18.mayosmith.org/uk-leg-complete/ Fri, 11 May 2018 15:27:30 +0000 https://eu18.mayosmith.org/?p=178 Continue Reading →]]> Well, I’ve completed the UK leg of the trip, admittedly it’s also the shortest and took only 3 days in good, if cold, weather. Now it a bit of a wait for the Ferry to Holland. I hate hanging around for hours. The ferry leaves at 11pm – only another 7 hours to go – whoopee!

Harwich, where I am right now, isn’t exactly a picturesque seaside town. The water looks like someone stirred up a pot of left over cold… mud. Still it is a port first and foremost.

Tomorrow Holland and by the look of it – rain for a few days – ugh.

]]> A Perfect Spring Day https://eu18.mayosmith.org/a-perfect-spring-day/ Thu, 10 May 2018 20:42:24 +0000 https://eu18.mayosmith.org/?p=162 Continue Reading →]]> So far the weather has been different each day. Today was cool with showers early on followed by breezy conditions. England can be quite gorgeous in late spring. The countryside was bursting with blossoms and fresh greenry. I passed quite few pheasants and even a fully plumed peacock.

At times I expected Elizabeth Bennett to be out strolling under a Parasol – such was impact the Georgian period houses and countryside had.

The hills are still hills though….still the legs were fine .

]]> The real start… https://eu18.mayosmith.org/the-real-start/ Wed, 09 May 2018 18:13:23 +0000 https://eu18.mayosmith.org/?p=143 Continue Reading →]]> So, an early start and by that I don’t mean the cycling. Normally it’s at least a week in before I’m doing Debbie Tech Support. Not this time, 3am day 3 (okay I was already awake) in order to fix a printer on the other side of the world.

Anyway I started out at 5am discovering that some of London’s “bike paths” were designed by people who hated cyclists, or thought an obstacle course would keep cyclist mentally agile. Also after yesterday’s balmy 28 C , it was 6 C in the morning so a slight change of clothing needed.

This little green hut is only one of the few left in London, a whole bunch of them were built in the early 1900s to provide shelter and food for London’s Cabbies – And to keep them out of the Pub. Now just 13 remain, But it certainly serves a good, cheap and large egg and bacon sandwich.

After some 40 kilometres I had passed thru London and set about enjoying the camel and bike paths. And the scenery changed from this

To this

By the Way. – did I mentioned that this year’s theme is Waterways

]]> Day One – starting with a foggy jet lagged mind https://eu18.mayosmith.org/day-1/ Tue, 08 May 2018 08:12:05 +0000 https://eu18.mayosmith.org/?p=123 Continue Reading →]]> Well, it’s day 1. Actually day 3, but who’s counting the flights and dubious pleasures of LAX – standing in lines, removing shoes, belts, answering myriad questions. All just to go thru a 2 hour layover. But hats off to Air NZ for great hospitality and a relaxed flight.

I know London is expensive but it has a remarkable ability to vacuum money off you in no time at all. Still it is good to be here and even better to get out of here tomorrow.

And now for a Multiple Choice Question…….

Where is the location of the photo above (no, not the one of the plane, the other one with flags and stuff). Is it

  1. London
  2. London
  3. London
  4. all of the above

It seems Flags are very much in vogue right now. Tomorrow I actually have to start cycling

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