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.

Always interesting to do a reverse journey. With 5 weeks under my belt the hills weren’t steep and the miles rolled by with ease – But, as is often the case, just when you think things are sorted, they unravel. Which they did in Harlow.

Now Harlow is not, what one might call the glowing rose of England. It suffers from too much post war architecture (ie a lack of style, coherence or imagination) and this seems to seep into the general atmosphere. So knowing my feelings towards it, Harlow decided to get its own back by insuring that the place I’d booked for the night had my reservation but no room available. Eventually I found a Travel Lodge down by the Station which was ok and the bike and I slept fitfully in the room -that is until the PitStop in Auckland, NZ called to remind me about the Car Warrant being due and the Dentist in Mission Bay called to say it was time for a check up.

The next day was quite a lovely ride thru London’s assault course to Esther and Phils place in southeast London

Anyway…. I now in Madeira now for a week of R&R. Despite what you may see in this picture, the sun is shining and the bike is tucked away, awaiting my return to take on either the West Country or France. It really will be a coin toss when I fly back to London…..