europeblog

Dep 10:00, arr 5:00, dst 79km.

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Dep 10:30, arr 5:30, 95km.

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(This post is being made in an Internet cafe during a nice big thunderstorm… power has already gone out once and it’s been blinking on and off. I suppose it will clear up by tomorrow morning — well I hope!)

Surely I was going to carry less gear this time than last year, having been taught the hard lesson of pushing bike up hill. But alas no, I couldn’t reduce it very much. Decided against chopping 3/4 off the dish washing sponge to save weight, though I’ve seen it done.

So anyway, here is the list, in case you might be wondering how many pairs of undies I am taking.

• Bike
• 4 x pannier bags
• Handlebar bag
• Helmet, gloves, sunglasses
• Tent 2kg
• Ground sheet 2×2.5m
• Bright yellow nylon Tour de France rain poncho — makes a good rain cover for bike
• Light-weight self-inflating mattress
• Sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, pillow case
• Old sheet to sit on and for rags
• Monster U-lock plus python-like cable
• Key for above lock, plus magnetic compass keyring which never works
• Cycling shoes
• Chain oil, pump, degreaser, rags, disposable gloves, spare tube, puncture repair kit, bicycle multi-tool, the other set of pedals in case I get new shoes, cable ties, gaffer tape
• Food bag (sleeping bag cover) and various amounts of food
• Microwave bowl, knife, fork, spoon, teflon/aluminium camping cup, tea towel, sponge, dishwashing liquid
• Camera, spare battery, 2 x 1GB SD cards
• Mobile phone
• GPS logger, 512MB SD card, SD card reader
• Chargers, cords, EU power adapters for the electrical items
• Passport, some money
• Lots of maps
• Tolstoy’s Anna Karenin (reading it the second time)
• Small Tagenbuch, 2 x red pacers, Ubuntu pen
• 2 x black lycra shorts, 1 x shy shorts, 1 x red jersey, 1 x soccer shirt, 1 x soccer training jacket, 1 x yellow rain vest
• 2 x pairs of cycling socks
• 3 pairs of other socks (actually I’m not sure why I brought these)
• 5 pairs of undies, two under t-shirts, boxer shorts
• Shirt, t-shirt, shorts, trousers, belt
• Red gore-tex jacket (also a pillow)
• Thongs
• Little smelly travel towel
• Washing powder
• Toilet bag, etc: toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razors, nail clipper, a couple bandaids, soap, sun cream, moisturiser
• (most importantly) hair wax

Can you see why touring is such hard work!?

Yes, last year’s Bike Tour! I spent a while clicking with Google maps to make this. Ah sweet reminiscenses. Unfortunately, I lost interest at Strasbourg, so most stops when cycling from there to Hamburg aren’t present. I would also like to copy out my Tagenbuch but it’s too much effort and I might have to censor a bit, given the audience.

All up I think it was more than 3700km. Three train legs, one big ferry journey, lots of little ones in Belgium and The Netherlands, the rest cycling — well except when I was pushing the bike up the hill — and perhaps that happened too often. The best was Luxembourg (the whole country, not only the city), easiest — The Netherlands, most difficult — Poland, fastest and biggest supermarkets — Germany, scariest locals — Greenwich UK, friendliest — a three-way tie of Belgium, Holland, and Germany, smelliest and most uncivilised — well France of course!