Cycle to Africa 2007

Thursday 6th December: Heart House, Dublin

2007-12-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

I arrived back in Dublin on Tuesday afternoon and within hours I had caught a cold. Heart House had kindly put on a welcome back home event with coffee and mince pies and it was an opportunity for me to hand over a novelty over sized cheque representing the 5,000 euros raised so far. I'm delighted to see that the target has been broken and with further sponsorship to come in the final amount will be even greater. Many thanks to Kerry and Mary for today's event. and a huge thanks to everybody who has donated and supported the Cycle to Africa.

The Final Day: Saturday 1st December: Gaucin to Ceuta (75km)

2007-12-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful morning, blue sky and warm. The road down to the port of Algeciras was mostly downhill and allowed me to complete the 70km in about 3 hours.

The scenery was fantastic and so green compared to other parts of Spain. As it is close to the Atlantic it has the benefit of being warm and fertile and with the longest evenings in Winter in Europe, Cadiz provence ranks as one of the best places to live in Europe in my mind.

Once I got to the ticket office in Algeciras I began to be reminded of Morocco. A good bit of shouting and Q jumping. I was delighted to make the 3pm ferry to Ceuta. I had NO idea what to expect. I had been in Tangiers last year and it is a huge difference from Europe.

If Ceuta was anything like Tangiers It was going to be fairly stresful. Like the Tangier ferry last year the boat was fast and modern so I couldnt read anything from that. The crossing was amazing. It is only about 10 miles but during it you get to see 2 continents, Spain, the Rock of Gibraltar, the Atlas Mountains and Ceuta all at the same time. One of the great crossing points of the world. As we pulled into Ceuta 40 minues later and all looked calm. The Spanish flag was flying evrywhere and I could pick out christmas decorations on land from the deck. I went down to the car deck and waited for the door to open. What was going to greet me, was this going to be chaotic. Not at all, I quickly realised that this was not going to be the culture shock I was expecting. The streets were quiet, empty and clean. I cycled out from the port and made my way to the Tryp Ceuta, my hotel for the night. The city looked a little like Cadiz with its defensive walls and as it it was almost 25c and sunny fely like a real summers day. Within a few minutes I was in the centre and at my hotel. This was It. After 3,855km on the road, the hotel marked the end of the journey from Dundrum through Ranelagh and Ringsend to Dublin Port to Wales, London, Paris, Lyon, Provence, Barcelona, Valencia, and the South of Spain. I tried to remember it all at once as I went. I had arrived. I presented myself at the check in desk and for the last time I wheeled my bike into a hotel for the night.

Friday 30th: Ronda to Gaucin (45km)

2007-12-03T12:23:00.000-08:00

The shortest day of the trip but I didnt mind. I was having some problems with my front tyre and brakes and didnt want to risk the long downhill without getting them seen too. Besides Gaucin was the obvious stopoff point on the way to the coast. It is a high hill top town about 65km from the coast and the first place where you can see Gibraltar and on a good day the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The road from Ronda had a fair bit of uphill but nothing compared to yesterday. The road runs through the stunning Genal Valley and every few minutes I found myself stopping to take photographs. I was shocked to later read that they are planning to build a motorway through the valley. About 3km before Gaucin I reached a pass and knew it was all downhill from here. It was warm and 4pm and from now on it was flat or downhill to Africa. I decided to celebrate with my first beer during the day of the trip. I enjoyed it and took a photo of it and send it to a few people. Gucin is a beautifully located town of 2000 people, 300 of whom are english. The town is quiet now but the few places that were open were busy and alot wilder than you would expect from a rural village.

Thursday 29th: Malaga to Ronda (110km)

2007-12-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

I had resigned myself to cycling along the coast to Marbella today, an easy flat trip of about 60km. But after talking to the tourist office and some googling decided to take the much harder but more rewarding inland trip via Ronda. The cycle was now 110km and rather than being flat involved a climb to over 4,000 feet. Worst of all I had ade the change of heart at midday so now only had 6 hours of daylight to get there. Getting lost on the way out of Malaga was a eal bonus and so it was almost 1pm by the time I was clear of the city and on my way to Pizzaro. Pizzaro marked the beginning of the "Sierra de las Nieves" and I stopped for some lunch and to get some water. From Pizzaro the road climbs steeply and I was hurting after 10km of uphill. The next 10km were flat and I whizzed along treating it as downhill. There were three towns along the route, each invloving a sttep climb followed by flat terrain. I knew I had to get to 4,000 feet so I welcomed the lack of down hill. The last town on the way to the pass was El burgo and 5km before the town I reached a pass of 820m so I was almost two 3rds of the way there. Then to my shock the road descened for the next 5km undoing all my good work. I now faced a 2,500 foot climb over the next 11km and was not looking forward to it AND it was getting dark in an hour and I still had 20km + to go. I ate some peanuts and braced myself for the steepness. In fairness it was tough especially as most of the climb was in the first few km and the rest was fairly level until the final slope to the pass. I reached 1,190m just as the sun was going down and I was very happy and proud to be here as I could have taken the easy way to Marbella. The next 11km were all downhill into Ronda, a nice end to a memorable day.

Wednesday 28th: Salobrena to Malaga (100km)

2007-12-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

I´ve been looking for a laundrette for the last week and I was over the moon that a dry cleaners in Salobrena agreed to wash ALL my clothes last night so it was with great glee I picked up my bag of clean clothes. It is so nice having everything clean again. I had to wait till 11am for the clothes so it was late enough when I headed off. The 13km road from Salobrena to Almunecar was corniche like and quite scenic. I was getting hungry and droppped into Almunecar for food but also to revisit a town where I have stayed for two weeks in March 1999 to learn Spanish. It was weird seeing the place again and after some of the places I´d been through It reminded me that it was one of the nicer resorts. The road corniched on until Nerja, a pleasant enough place which proclaims itself as the "Balcony of Europe" due do a short promenade that juts out onto the med. From Nerja the road is fat and striaght and the resorts dull and reminiscent of some of the dull Costa Blanca towns. The road surface was bad and I remembered that wind and road surface are the two most important factors when cycling. Uphill is less of a problem. I was tored of the road and relieved by the time I reached the suburbs of Malaga. I was quite impressed by the town and after checking in explored the city. After a fewhours looking around, I think Malaga has the potential to become a mini financial or IT centre. It has excellent and good value air links with the rest of europe and the high speed AVE trains will cut the trip to Madrid to 2 and a half hours from Dec 24th. All the people who work hard in London but deserve nice outdoor weekends should begin the move down here and the city itslef should continue with its self improvement. Watch this town.

Tuesday 27th : Almeria to Salobrena (140km)

2007-12-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

There is a daily ferry from Almeria to Algeria and the arabic script on the road signs around the port reminded me of my proximity to the African coast. The coast road out of Almeria is dramatic and cut into the side of the mountain with a constant risk of falling rocks. Its a lovely ride and ends in the resort town of Aquadulce some 11km further on. Aguadulce marks the beginning of the Campo de Dalias, a vast sea of plastic tents housing the intenstive farming of fruit and vegtables. It stretches for thousands of acres and is ugly close up. The main town in the area is El Ejido and I had heard and read a lot of bad things about the place so I wasnt happy that it was on my route. Expecting the worst I was actually pleasantly surprised and thought that it looked a prosperous place. As soon as I was out of the city I was into the tents and as there was only motorway ahead I had to zig zag through tiny lanes through the tents to reach the sea. This was the closest I got to being lost on the trip and the vast tents, litter and stray dogs left me a bit edgy. I also developed quite a cough from only having to spend 30 minutes close to the pesticides, I can only imagine what it must be like to live there. Once I hit the coast the road stayed close to it for the rest of the day. The almerian resort of Adra wall dull but once the road started to climb around the cliffs the scenry became much more interesting. Maybe it was was the cliffs or I was day dreaming but I looked at my watch thinking it was 3pm but it was 5pm and I still have 40km to go. Wiuth the head down I managed to get to Calahonda by 6pm but that meant the last 20km was in the dark so on came the yellow jacket and flashing light. In Salobrena I stayed in a lovely guesthouse run by a frenchman and his wife near the old town. Salobrena seemed to quite spanish with few foreigners for the costa, although it was mid week at the end of november.

Monday 26th: Aguillas to Almeria (135km)

2007-11-28T01:29:00.000-08:00

Todays cycle would take me into Andalucia along the driest coast of Spain. It is thankfully not too developed and where there are towns they tend to be low rise. The cycle out of Aguillas was nice as I snaked through the sand dunes along the coast. I stopped off for a morning coffee in a bar with a vast amount of pottery hanging all over the place. The ride along the coast was pleasant. Soon I was in Mojacar the biggest development on the Almerian coast. It was alot nicer than the resorts further north and I stopped off for lunch in a modern cafe where the staff were extremely helpful. It gave me a good feeling for Mojacar. This area of Spain was very depopulated in the 1960s so much so that the mayor offered free land to anyone willing to develop within a year. Luckily the lack of roads helped save this coast from the mistakes made elsewhere. The road from Mojacar to Carboneras was one of the most dramatic of the journey. The first half is a climb to a viewing point followed by a terrifying descent as you can see from the photo. Once I reached Carboneras I had to head inland as the road did not continue all the way along the coast. There is an electricity plant at Carboneras that emits 3.2 millon tonnes of CO2 a year the most polluting plant in Andalucia and the fifth most in Spain. I would have liked to follow the coast down to the Cabo de Gata national park. I had visited before by car and it is a lovely spot with very laid back resorts and some of the least spoiled coastline in Spain. Due to the lack of roads I had to use the motorway for 10kms which I wasnt looking forward to but in the end it was fine as it had a wide pullover lane. Once off the motorway I had to cycle through the vast fruit plantations again. Alot of the fruit we buy in Ireland is produced here with the help of migranr labout and the towns around the plantations looked very poor with mostly african workers. The sun was now shining brightly and it was pushing 22c as I enjoyed the beautiful views of the med on the road into Almeria. Almeria looked like a lively and pleasant place and I checked into the oldest hotel in town, a 2 star that apparently movie stars used to stay in when maling spagetti westerns in the nearby Tabernas Movie Studios. Alot of westerns used the studios as the scenry around Almeria looked like the Wild West.

Sunday 25th: Carthagena to Aguillas (100km)

2007-11-28T01:02:00.000-08:00

It was a bit of a wet morning so i didn´t look around Carthagena any further and hit the road. Today was slightly unusual as I was only going to pass 2 towns on the whole 100km journey. The first destination of the day was Mazzaron, a town with a resort attached. Once clear of Carthagena the scenry improved and it was a lovely cycle up to a pass before whizzing down towards the sea again. The land here is very dry but quite uninque and impressive to look at. After the usual lunch of salami and bread I prepared myself for a further 55km through some very isolated mounatins. There were no real towns between here and aguillas so I stocked up with water before heading off.

I started to see the large fruit plantations covered in plastic. This area of Spain has made a lot of money from intensive farming of fruit in huge plastic covered fields. There not very attractive to look at though. The road began to climb and climb and climb and I felt I was in a very remote place. There were a few county houses and the the mountains were impressive.
There seemed to alot of dogs around but thankfully none game any chase. After an exhausting climb I reached the summit pass and enjoyed the longest freewheel of almost 20km into the seaside resort of Aguillas. It was 4.30pm and I knew I should do another 20km but I was tired so checked into a hotel that advertised the fact It had internet.
I asked the chain smoking grandmother at the reception for a room and she asked me to wait for 5 minutes for her son to return. She managed to squeeze in another 2 fags before her scrufy looking son arrived and gave me the key without looking at me. To be fair the room was clean so after a shower headed out to have a look around.

Saturday 24th: Alicante to Carthagena (115km)

2007-11-26T13:26:00.000-08:00

All the photos on todays blog are from the morning in Alicante as once i started heading south there was little to look at. In fairness the weather was bad and the first 20km or so from Alicante is pleasant but the area around the resort of Torrvieja is terrible. Very depressing to cycle through and although I know Mar Menor can be nice my mood had beeen soured by then. I was looking forward to tonights destination of Carthagena. An almost forgotten corner of spain. The city has a fantastic natural port and the small centre is atrractive enough. I enjoyed the utter spanish-ness of the place and I managed to have good night chatting with the locals in an Irish and Spanish bar near the hotel. I wouldnt be in a rush back to Carthagena but its certainly a millon times nicer than Torreveja and its environs.

Friday 23rd: Javea to Alicante (105km)

2007-11-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

Javea is a pleasant town and I was delighted to be able to have breakfast outside at a beach cafe. It´s lovely to be able to do this almost all year round and not be locked away inside for many months of the year. I had to rejoin the road to Alicante that I had deviated off yesterday and this involved a fairly steep climb to the village of Gatos de Gorge. The name gave me a hint of what type of terrain to expect on the road to Calpe.

The uphill stretches were rewarded with lovely scenery and the downhill towards Calpe was very beautiful. The big resorts between here and Alicante are Calpe, Altea and Benidorm.

There is no town in Spain that can compare with Benidorm. Forget the costa del sol for tower blocks, Benidorm leaves Torremolinos in the shade. One of the hotels is almost 60 stories high, more than Canary Wharf. It looks like a mini Hong Kong from afar. The weather was begining to darken so I didnt get the chance to visit and decided to push on to Alicante. I cycled over a poster advertising Danny la Rue playing Benidorm this weekend.

I stopped for a bit of lunch and to shelter from the few drops of rain. There was a large group of germans enjoying lunch and the english owners seemed to be a bit over stretched. The weather deteriorated sharply after lunch and thunder and lightening greeted my arrival into Alicante.

I got a total soaking as I cycled in the centre. I may as well have gotten into a bath. The cars passing me added there contribution too. I finally found a place to hide and phoned a hotel recommened in the guide book and was cheered to find it was only 50 meters away from me.
It turned out to be a lovely place in what I think was an old convent. I had a four poster bed for the first time on the trip. Once the rains ceased I headed to explore this very spanish ´city.

Thursday 22nd: Valencia to Javea (120km)

2007-11-24T01:53:00.000-08:00

Having looked at the map I was excited at the prospect of cycling through La Albufera, a large lake (although only now 10 per cent of its original size). Once I had cleared the suburbs I was delighted to find my slef on thr right road theat runs through the villages of Perrollon, famous for producing the best Paella in Spain. The swampy terrain is perfect for the growing of rice and it was unusual to be cycling through paddy fields for the first time in my life. The natural enviroment was lovely and it was only scarred by the terrible pink seaside skyscrapers that that dotted the landscape. The spanish have done parts of their coast no favours at all. It could be some much better. Once i hit Gadia and Olivia I re-entered the resorts again and it was nice to make it to Denia the first town resort I had seen since Tarragona. Denia is the quickiest crossing to Ibiza and Formentera and a boat was about to leave as I arrived at the port. As I had stayed in Denia a few years ago I decided to push onto Javea 10km further. These 10km turned out to the be the toughest and possibley most scenic of the trip so far. A lovely stretch of nature and coastline that deposited me in the nice resort of Javea. There was a much more in season feel to the place with many pensioners from northern europe enjoying the mild climate.

Tuesday 20th: Peniscola to Valencia (150km)

2007-11-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

As i was the only guest and the owner had gone I let myself out of the hotel and made an earlyish start on the road. The road to Valencia was covered in Orange trees and had been fought over for many years due for its fertile lands. The skies were a bit grey this morning and by the time I hit Benicassim it had started to rain slightly. I stopped in the centre of the town for lunch. It was nice to go to a cade in the main town for lunch and enjoyed olives, jamon serrano and manchego cheese under covers. Benicassim was different to the resorts I had passed through and it thankfully had trees which made a town so much nicer. The rain never really happended and I pushed on with little of merit to distract. I stopped off in a trucker cafe and enjoyed a lovely selection tapas for virtually nothing. Valencia started about 15km from the centre and it was dark by the time I reached the hotel that I had selected from the rough guide. After checking in I had a look around and was delighted to discover that the town had a great selection of bars and restaraunts to celebrate the news of the birth of my brothers new son "Harry Joseph".

Monday 19th: Tarragona to Peniscola (140km)

2007-11-21T12:13:00.001-08:00

It was only in the morning sunshine that I realised what a nice spot Tarragona was. Enjoying a large amount of roman remains, it has an envious location overlooking the med. The streets were pleasant with many cafes with tables outside. An nice place that warranted another visit. I headed out of the city towards the resort of Salou. Salou is a popular destination with Irish holiday makers visiting the Port Aventura resort. I have never seen a greater collecion of petrochemical, packaging and nuclear power industries than I have seen strung out along the road between Salou and Tarragona. The air was gettting a bit heavy as I cycled through the smog. Salou was errily quiet with only about one on ten shops open but the nearby resort of cambrills was a bit better with 1 in 5.

I had been informed that the coast between Tarragona and Valencia was a bit boring with few nice beaches or points of interest. I would have to concur but feel that the locals could do a lot more with this strech of med coastline. The river Elbre flows into the med at an ugly town that if in France would have taken advantage of its location. This coastline could be a lot better but seems to suffer from a lack of interest. Plant a few trees and it could start to be a much nicer place.

Peniscola was the location of the film El Cid and it is a striking medievil castle located on an penisula jutting out to the med. It had a very out of season feel as I walked past many IOS style bars and restaraunts that had been closed for the last month or two, The castle is lovely and the modern beach is both as ugly and as useful as any other on this strech of coast.

Sunday 18th: Barcelona to Tarragona (100km)

2007-11-21T11:53:00.000-08:00

The old roman town of Taragona was the obvious destination for today at only 100km allowed me a bit of a lie in. After a nice breakfast and bit of internet I was on the road. Getting out of Barcelona was never going to be as easy as getting in. I knew if I made it as far as the airport I would be fine as there was a road I could pick up from there. After a lot of too-ing anf fro-ing I made it to the airport by 1.30pm had picked up the very scenic road to Sitges.

The road passed through the lovely town of Garrof before following the coast to Sitges
Sitges is spanish enough to feel lively on an out of season Sunday and the sun was shining as I made my way in. The clock was against me as I only was only leaving Sitges at 3.30pm and had another 60km to go. I decided to go for it and put the yellow jacket on as dusk fell.
The coast from Sitges is not great until about 20km from Tarragona when it opened up to one of the nicest sunsets that I have had on this trip.

By The time I reached Tarragona it was dark but I was struck by how tidy the streets were and checked into the basic but excellent value hostal (18 euro)
I was impressed by how lively the streets were for a Sunday evening.

Weekend in Barcelona

2007-11-21T01:36:00.001-08:00

Friday 16th Girona to Barcelona (105km)

2007-11-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

I had spotted a nice cafe bar near the hotel so decided to nip down for breakfast.

The cafe was full of people nipping in for a quick coffee and read of the papers. I managed to get a good sopt at the bar and with the coffee ordered started perousing this mornings papers in catalan. The big story today was yesterdays weather. Apparently the winds got up to 112km per hr and it was the coldest november day in history i think. So things can only get better i thought as I gestured for another cafe. It was a bright sunny day and the cycle down from Girona to the coast was a joy. I had to take a few side roads to avoid motoways and this brought me through some lovely scenry. In the distance i could see snow on the peaks on the pyrenees. After 50km or so I reachd the coast and joined the busy road that runs the final 50km into Barcelona. Along this road there were one or two nice spots but for the most part it was busy traffic and almost continuos development. For the last 20km I was able to get off the busy road and onto a cycle lane that ran the whole way to the ramblas. Barcelonas skyline could be clearly seen with the sun setting behind the Port Olympic skyscrapers. Other cyclists joined for the last few kms and by soon there were many strollers, roller bladers and other cyclists along the busy promenade. The sun was just setting by the time I got to the Ramblas. I had booked a room for two nights in a guesthouse I´ve been trying to stay in for a while. Its called Bonic http://www.bonic-barcelona.com/ and its just of the bottom of las ramblas. The owner is very helpful and the guesthouse is beautifully designed.

Thursday 15th Narbonne to Girona (165km)

2007-11-18T01:40:00.000-08:00

The weather has improved since last night so after breakfast I had a quick look around the town. There was an amazing Cathar castle in the town square as well as a section of the old roman road that ran from montpellier to barcelona. After yesterdays wind I was praying that today it would be in my favour,and too my delight it was. The scenery south of Narbonne is attractive and at various stages I could see the med sparkling away in the distance. It was 75km to Perpignan and I was able to get there by lunchtime. I had spent a night in Perpignan a few years ago and didnt think too much of the place although it looked reasonably pleasant as I rolled along. It was now 2pm and I still had to cros over the pyrenean pass. The last thing I wanted was too be stuck up in the mountains as night fell. A sign said Girona 85,and I new from previous trips that the Dalian town of Figueres was about 40km north of Girona so if I could just do 45km over the next 3 and half hours I would be safe. I stopped at a petrol station for a power lunch that included a large Yop Energie to give me strenght. The first 20km out of Perpignan were flat and the scenry beautiful. At over 10,000 feet Canigou, the sacred Catalan mountain dominanted the mountains ahead. As I got closer I could see the small villages up high in the hills. Within 5km of the border the road began to rise. It was a gentle climb and only lasted 4km until I got to the french border town. So in the end I needed have worried about the mountain pass and there was no need for my Yop energie . These border towns most have thrived in the pre EU days but this one looked a bit tacky and was full of off licences. I could see the big advantage of frech booze prices over spanish. But there is a big difference in Petrol prices with france at 1.40 a litre and spain at 1.10 so the garages on the spanish side were busy. I though it was windy on the french side but my god the wind was seriously strong over the border. At one stage I got on my bike and without pedalling i was pushed along at 35km and hour. Thankfully it was in my favour and so I whizzed along and made it to Figures by 4.15pm. Delighted with progress I decided to take the gamble of being able to make it to Girona 42kms south in the hour and a half of daylight left. I began to think this was a mistake on the ring road of figueres where I was now facing a different direction and had to get off the bike a number of times for saftey. The sun began to dip and I still had 25kms to go. On came the luminous yellow jacket and my back blinking light and with head down I pushed on through arriving with only the last half hour in darkness. Girona looked likea very prosperous place as I cycled in. One thing it seemed to be short on was hotels and the only ones I could find were full. This was the first time this had happened on the trip. I had always assumed that I could turn up and get a room. One receptionist gave me a list of hotel numbers after I inferred that there were not enough hotels in Girona. I phoned a pension in the old town and too my delight it had a room for me. The reception was on the 2nd floor and when I rang the bell an old man brought me up a further 3 stories to my room. I was almost out of breath but he seemed fine. I mentioned that I had a bike and the response was 3 euros. So for 3 euros I got the job of carrying my bike up 5 flights of stairs after a 165km day. I was tired and after a some peanuts and a pint in an Irish pub accross the way fell asleep for the next 9 hours.

Wednesday 14th Montpellier to Narbonne (100km)

2007-11-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

At the end of yesterday´s cycle I noticed that one of my spokes had broken. On closer inspection last night I realised that in fact six had gone. With this many out of action I had to get the bike serviced. I remembered passing a bike shop last night on the way in so I went down and enquired if they could fix the wheel.

The repair guy took a look and said he could he have it ready for next WEEK. This was not the reply I was expecting. He showed me his book and said there was no room. The repair guy in Paris had done it on the spot in 10 minutes. If only he could make an exception he would be saving me alot of money and time. But with my poor french I was unable to explain the urgency.
Remembering that Decathlon and Intersport fix bikes I went into an internet cafe and got the address of the local stores. They were a good way out towards the airport but luckily both situated close together. Intersport told me their repair guy had resigned last week. Oh this wasn´t going anywhere.

He recommended a specialist cycle company called Culture Velo that was nearby. On the way over I remembered what the bike shop in London had said about getting a stronger back wheel. When Culture Velo were unable to fix it on the spot I decided it was time to buy a stronger wheel. I explained to the guy and he sold me his strongest back wheel at what I thought was a fair price. The new wheel had only 20 spokes while my current weak one had 32. I was a little concerned so phoned my bike expert in Ireland who explained that the number of spokes is not the key to wheel strenght.

By now it was almost midday so I knew I would not be covering a huge distance today. I orignally hope to make it to Perpignan but would now be happy with Narbonne about 100km to the west. The cycle was going well and about 30km out I saw the Meditereanean for the first time. I stopped to take a picture. Once I reached close to Sete the wind picked up.

There are three boats a week from Sete to Morocco and this saves the long drive through spain for many of the returning morocans. After Sete the wind got stronger and stronger. It was a side wind so allowed me keep a reasonable speed but every now and then would hit me or try to push me into the middle of the road.
I reached Adge a seaside resort but it felt cold and very out of season with the strong winds. I pushed onto Beziers and was delighted to see the Canal du Midi, the canal built to link the Atlantic with the meditereanean. Although getting late I decided to push on the extra 30km or so to Narbonne.

By the time I got there it was darka and raining which along with the winds made for some of the nastiest conditions so far. I used the rough guide again to find a cheap BnB and went for a nice meal in the old town.

Tuesday 13th: Montelimar to Montpêllier (157km)

2007-11-13T10:18:00.000-08:00

Everything changed today. Winter ceased. For the first time on the cycle it was warm and the sun shone as if it was summer. I passed cafes with people outside without coats. Some many beautiful colors as I cycled through Provence and into Languedoc.

This morning was freezing (again) as i left but within 90 minutes I had covered 35km and was leaving the cold Rhone Valley and into what could be described as late summer at home.

The beautiful stone villages were dotted along the route and here all the trees and vines had there leaves. The trees were even green and the vines a beautiful dark red or honey.

I was able to ditch my jacket and enjoy an outdoor lunch in the sun.
Today was the longest day so far and it was getting dark as I aproached Montpellier.

From the outskirts you could tell that this was a well planned town with pedistrian and cycle routes running along side the road and a Luas tram up the middle.
The streets were spotless and by the time I reached the old town I noticed the centre was a no car zone. The centre was beautiful and bustling and full of people siitng outside.

As I wandered around looking for a hotel each corner or square got nicer. Montpellier is beautiful, lively and warm. Its in the running for my favourite french city so far.

Monday 12th: Vienne to Montelimar (128km)

2007-11-12T09:23:00.001-08:00

Wind can either be a cyclists nightmare or his best freinds and today I got to enjoy the benfits of being good freinds with Le Mistral.

Le Mistral is a cold wind that blows north to south along the Rhone and resulted in a 50kmph tail wind pushing me along.
I noticed that instead of cycling between 20 to 30kmph I was now pushing 40kmph with no extra effort. Today was set to be a record day as I flew down the N7 and made Valence by lunch. Unfortuantley I also managed to suffer my first puncture on the road that ate up about 2 hours trying to sort out. I think that the extra speed meant I was pounding holes in the road with much greater force. Despite this setback I managed a respectable 128km and am looking forward to progress tommorow. My guidebook describes an invisible line between Lyon and Valence where the cold secnery of the north is replaced by the warmer and softer land of provence and I would have to agree that the landscape has changed and the sun is much stronger and the light is much more intense. While there seems to be a cold spell in France at the moment, you can see the snow in the Alps in the distance here
I'm managing to keep ahead of the worst of the low temperatures. I made it to Montelimar tonight and managed to stay in the cheapest place so far on the trip but also one of the nicest.

Hopefully this a tradition that will continue in the south. Montelimar is apparently the home of Nougat and every second shop is selling the stuff and the towns main attraction is a big musuem devoted to Nougat and Bonbons. Will have to get over my aversion to the stuff.

Sunday 11th: Lyon to Vienne (31km)

2007-11-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

As ed and george's flight to Dublin was not till after 4pm I was only on the road at about 3pm today. Spent the morning having a look around the city and enjoyed the way they have developed the Rhone quays with cafes, restaraunts and clubs all situated in old boats.
With sunset at 5pm this resulted in about an hour and a half on the road and hence the shortest day so far. Getting out of Lyon was almost as easy as getting in and after a short while I found myself in Vienne, an attractive town directly on the rhone with an astounding amount of Roman remains. Some very large ones in excellent condition. I was feeling a bit dissapointed with my progress as well as tired after the weekend in Lyon, so I lay down for 2 hours before heading out for dinner. Sunday night is dead in a lot of french towns and the only restaraunt that looked OK was an Alsace Lorraine themed place with a very distinct menu and good service. Had a good value meal with a pichet of wine and headed back home to catch up on missed sleep

Weekend in Lyon

2007-11-11T02:49:00.001-08:00

Thursday 8th: Tournus to Lyon (100km)

2007-11-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

Although my bedroom was fifteen feet from the busy Route National outside I barely heard a single truck. Whatever sound proofing these rooms had was terrific. The forecast for today had been rain and so I was delighted that at 9.30am I was on the road in sunshine and a good deal less wind than yesterday. Macon was 30km away and stopping there for a very early lunch I was a bit dissapointed as my guidebook had talked it up alot. For the final 70km I followed the busy route national for half the way into Lyon as far as Villefranche before crossing over the Saone and to Trevoux and enjoying one of the nicest strecthes of cycling I've had so far. The last 15km into Lyon are mostly along a cycle path that follows the wide river Saone as it makes it way into the city. The architecture has now changed completely and the buildings remind me more of Genoa and Italy rather than Paris. Lyon looks and feels totally different to Paris. Cycling into Lyon has been the easiest large city I've had to cycle into. Once in the centre I get a hotel near rue merciere and begin my wanderings. Lyon is at the confluence of the rivers Rhone and Soane and the centre is between the two rivers. I instantly liked Lyon and nipped over to Vieux Lyon to mark the end of stage two and 1,590km done with a cold pint.

Wednesday 7th: Dijon to Tournous (100km)

2007-11-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

Everything I needed was within 300m of my hotel. The delicous restaraunt where I had Boeuf Bourgone last night, the internet cafe and now the laundry, where I found myself at 8am this morning ready to begin the big wash. Self service laundries attract a select bunch and I wasn't sure that I wanted to fit in with this group. Lots of waiting and staring but no talking. Leaving Dijon at 11am with a whole set of clean clothes was a luxury and enjoyed the fact that this was as far west as I was going to go. I was now at 5 degrees east. A full 11 degress east of Dublin and as a result the sun was setting around 5.15pm instead of the 6.30pm that I would enjoy in southern Spain. From now on my journey was south and west. This would result in progressively longer evenings and warmer tempatures. Warmer tempatures would have to wait as I was about to endure the coldest day of the trip so far. The termometer barely hit five degress for the duration of the day and coupled with a strong wind I found today tough. The road from Dijon to Beaune was lovely as I passed through pretty villages that would have meant more if I had been drinking Cote de Nuits et Cote de Beaune over the last few years. I arrived in beautiful Beaune by lunchtime and continued south towards industrial Chalon sur Saone before calling it a night at Tournus, a pretty village situated along the banks of the Saone. The village was attractive and I found myself a good value 2 star and stocked up in the local Monoprix to enjoy a dried ham and pate dinner in my room before hitting the sheets at an alarmingly early 7.30pm.

Tuesday 6th: Noyers to Dijon (110km)

2007-11-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

What a great nights sleep. I went to bed last night at 11am and here I was waking at 8.30am without a single interupption.

That doesn't happen often enough. I had arranged a 9am breakfast so packed up and went accross to the house for my coffee, bread and jams.

I cycled the 32km to Montbard along beautiful but very quiet roads, barely passing a single car. Montebard is a small rural village whose life line seems to be the its location on the Paris - Dijon TGV line. This rural backwater, 200km south of Paris is only 3hours from the new St.Pancreas Eurostar station in London. The entire cycle today was along small roads and either due to the altitude or local climate it was the coldest day so far.
About 20km before Dijon I reached the village of Pasques where the temperature was only 5C and coupled with the wind made this a naseauting stretch. Things only improved when I aproached Dijon and was cheered by Lake Kir, a sign saying Paris was 350Km away and the late evening sun.
I had a quick look around Dijon before finding a guesthouse. It is a seriously beautiful city with a great buzz and no end of good restaraunts. Once Ryanair starts flying from Dublin, Dijon will make a great weekend destination.

Monday 5th: Sens to Noyers (105Km)

2007-11-06T00:47:00.001-08:00

I had a few things to do in town this morning so it was almost Midday by the time I headed over south over the river Y'Onne. It was a lovely morning and despite being only 12c or so it felt warm in the sun. I had decided to avoid the busy N6 and instead take the quieter D grade roads. My job was made simple as there were a series of beautiful villages strung along these backroads.
I follwed the river as far as Joigny where a freindly car salesman invited me into the local Renault dealership for coffee and to meet his staff. He was a cyclist too and although his english was limited it was a very freindly break and gave me a lift as I streered the handlebars in the direction of Chablis. I had had a few glasses of Chablis in my time but the idea of visiting the town was exciting and the Kilometres seemed to fly as I gazed at the vine covered slopes that surround the area. I arrived in Chablis about 3pnand was very tempted to stay and enjoy a "degustation'" but I knew I needed to make more ground. My target for tonight was Noyers sur Serein, a medieval village 30km further. The village is beautiful and they take there medievel status serousely to the point of not permitting mobile phone networks.

This rendered my plan of calling the hotels in my guidebook useless and I had to use the services of the local toursit office. A room was araned for me in La Tabellon and I wandered down to it. I met the owner on the way down and she was instantly charming and gave me tea and cakes whilist the room was been prepared. She spoke great english so we were able to talk about the wonderful restoration work that she has been doing on her large house. My room turned out to be a Gite.

A huge apartment with the best shower I've had yet. About 8pm there was a knock on the door and her daughter down from Paris invited me to join the family and freinds for champagne before having dinner with them. This was a real treat, and for the first time on the trip I found myself sitting down around the family dinner with delcious local produce washed down with local chablis. Although my french is limited I got the jist of most of what was going on and they kindly translated to me when I looked lost. It was a great evening and was followed by a 9 hour unbroken sleep. Vive la France!

Sunday 4th November: Paris to Sens (145km)

2007-11-05T01:47:00.000-08:00

I knew it had been a mistake to have that last beer, but at least I had said no to the nightclub . A quiet dinner the night before ended up in a hostel bar called the three ducks where we had stayed too late. I was very glad that I had at the last minute turned down the option of "the best night ever" as it had been sold and skipped the club part of the night. After saying my goodbyes to Roberta and Ethienne, I headed off.
Although I had been staying in the south of the city I decided to cycle through the centre to get some photos in the morning sun. It was a lovely quiet morning and I stuck on the Ipod and drifted past the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysee etc with The Frames "Star Star" as a soundtrack. Paris is a big city, after 30km I still had not hit the countryside.
Eventually the buildings gave way to trees and fields and with the wind in my favour I was making good progress. About 15km north of Fountainbleu I entered the famous forest that I was to enjoy for the next 30km. At this time of the year the trees were beautiful, all golden brown. I was surprosed to see a number of prostitutes standing along the side of the road at one section, a very rural red light district. These were quickly replaced by hikers and families on a day out. The town of Fountainblue has a fantastic chateax and although not warm many people were sitting outside having lunch.

My target for tonight had been Sens and I had expected it be about 25km further. I was prety disappointed to see a sign saying 54km. It was now 3pm and I was tiring but with no town of any great size inbetween I had to put the head down. By the time I got there it was 6pm and I had cycled 145km the longest day so far. My arms were shaking from the vibrations of the handlebars. I could only find one open hotel in town and it seemed to double as a home for old nutters, but it would have to do.

Weekend in Paris

2007-11-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

Thursday 1st November: Beauvais to Paris (100km)

2007-11-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 31st: Montreuil to Beauvais (135km)

2007-11-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

I was the only one at breakfast this morning. The room had a stage in it which furthered my suspicion that the hotel was an old theatre. Had a quick look around the village before heading off. The fortified walls of the town were enermous and were very thick and doubled up.

The weather this morning was pleasant and the scenry passed quickly by as I made the 45km journey south to Abbeville. I stopped for lunch in the town. I read that it had been badly bombed and its modern red brick centre contrasted shaply with Montreuil. It was only lunchtime on Halloween but already some over zealous kids were out trick or treating.

The road to Beauvais was long but scenic and I found myself arriving after dark. After checking in at the very central Hotel Cygne I went looking for some traditonal french food for dinner. after a good hours roaming I was dissapointed.
The centre was mainly shops and I couldn't spot anywhere I wanted to eat. In the end the window of a local chinesse tempted me. It was a take away and it only had three tables. I order the food "sur place" and sat down.
No sooner than I heard the ping of the microwave the food arrived in a plastic bowl on a plate. Not the best presentation but the 1 euro heineken made up for it. The shop was very brightly lit, as if they were shooting a movie. There was only one other dinner with me and as time went on I realised that it wasn't two women having a loud chat but one mad women shouting loudly at herself.
I dont think she wad drinking but her mood varied from utter joy to deep sorrow. Every now and again the owner would shout "would you ever shut up" at her. This was not my idea of fine french dining so I bid adieu and wandered back to the room hoping to catch the end of Star Wars in french.

Tuesday 30th: Canterbury, UK to Montreuil, France (110km)

2007-11-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

Awoke at 7.15am to the sound of my alarm. Today has been the first day on the trip that I have had to set it. I had a boat to catch and if I wanted to make it beyond the port of Calais tonight it was going to have to be an early one.

By 9am I was already 10km already out of Dover and enjoying the early morning and the fact there was a lot less traffic on this stretch of the A2. The countryside was flat but looked nice in the morning sun. I kept looking in the distance hoping to catch the first glimpse of the sea but it was only when I was a mile from Dover that it came dramatically into view.

The road went steeply down as I freewheeled into the port with the sun shining strongly onto the sea ahead. It was a lovely scene. It was 10.15am and I knew there was a boat at 10.50am.

A mad dash through ticket sales, customs, check in and embarkation got me on boat with a few minutes to spare. The boat was quite large and I always enjoy checking out the facilities on board so this took a good while.

I then went on the top deck to enjoy the famous white cliffs as they fell away into the distance. Only a few minutes into the crossing Calais began to come into view. I settled into a comfy armchair with a good view of the French coastline and spent my last sterling on large cups of coffee. Just before docking an announcement on the PA asked that all those who wish to return immediately to the UK please go to reception to get their ticket stamped. It seemed a shame to me to head back without even having gone ashore. So even with the abolition of duty free it must still be worth doing the 'booze cruise'.

My route today was to take me along the Cote D'Opale to the port of Bologne about 40km away. I really enjoyed this stretch. Even 40km into France you could look back across the wild coast and see the cliffs of Dover in the distance.

Along the way I stopped at a garage for a sandwich. The garage did not have a shop but advertised Sandwiches on the window. As I was leaving a man fixing a car called to me and I said I was looking for something to eat.

He then got out from under the car and went inside and 2 minutes later had a great fromage et jambon baguette for me. It was yum and not even the tiniest taste of oil.

Hitting Bologne at 4pm I decided to push it a bit and go the extra 40km to Montreuil, a beautiful walled village where I was to spend the first of my many nights in France.

Monday 29th: London to Canterbury (105km)

2007-10-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

At last, sunshine. The last few days have been very grey and drizzly. So for the first time since arriving in London I was able to cycle around in the sunshine.

So taking advantage of the good weather, I said goodbye to Fergal and headed off from Shepard's Bush in the direction of France.

I always thought Dover was south of London but it actually west and the route follows the A2 built over the straight as an arrow old roman road.

Getting from Shepards Bush to Greenwich was nice but after that the road became a very busy triple carriageway with roadworks continuing for miles and miles.

There was no hard shoulder and trucks roared by within a few inches of me.

My prayers were eventually answered when I reached Rochester and the A2 became a pleasant single carriageway road that meandered through the various "Medway Towns".

The countryside south of Faversham and I was delighted to see Vineyards for the first time. A real sign that I'm headed towards warmers climes. With the clocks having gone back my cycling day now only lasted till 4.30 and it was at that time that I branched off towards Canterbury.

There was nice looking BnB right in the centre, and the friendly owner gave me a huge room with double bed and BATH for 30 pounds. This is the first time I've been able to have a bath so It was with great pleasure I settled into a hot bath and almost dozed off. Its only a few hundred years from the BnB to Canterbury Cathedral, so I wandered in that direction.

Canterbury is lovely. It is by far the nicest town I've stopped off in or seen en so far. There is a good buzz in the centre in the evening, lots of cafes and pubs with people even sitting outside. The building are attractive, the shops are not the usual mix of chains and there is a good few local food shops and some very inviting cosy pubs. I may have to return.

Weekend in London

2007-10-27T09:55:00.001-07:00

Thursday 25th: Luton Airport to London (52kms)

2007-10-26T04:37:00.000-07:00

The breakfast in the hotel was self service so I had a leisurely start with too many cups of coffee. I knew today was going to be short but at I was also thinking that its these easy days that throw up the surprises. I was expecting to hit an urban landscape the whole way in from Luton but was pleasantly surprised that there was pockets of countryside in as far as Edgeware. I stopped for lunch in Subway in St. Albans just outside the M25. You could tell straight away that St. Albans was a town with money in the same way that you could tell that Edgeware was without. Once I hit Edgeware it was 15kms of buildings and super stores before I started getting to areas I recognised from my time in London before. Once I hit St. John's Wood I knew I didn't have far to go. The rain was coming down now and it was cold and very grey. Not quite as I imagined my entry into the city. I hit Marble Arch and Hyde Park and I had arrived, 515kms at an average of 19.7km/hr.

Fergal had kindly invited me to stay with him in Shepard's Bush so I had a couple of hours to kill before he finished work. I cycled around all my old haunts, around Piccadilly, Trafalgar, house of parliament etc. I slowly made my way out to Shepard's Bush stopping for coffees every 30 minutes or so. Fergal got back about 7pm and his flatmate Lolly had prepared a great dinner so with a few glasses of wine we toasted the end of the first stage of the journey.

Wednesday 24th: Rugby to Luton Airport (115km)

2007-10-26T04:14:00.000-07:00

Another freezing cold morning. so I waited till about 10.30pm before setting off. Coming out of Rugby I passed through a massive distribution centre called DRIIFT.

Hugh warehouses and lorry ferrying goods all over the place. This was followed by a huge power station, so it was a welcome relief to arrive at Althorp, the family estate of the Spencer family and the last resting place of Princess Diana.

The Diana memorial is only open during the summer so I went to the local pub, the Althorp Arms for lunch. The pub was lovely and I enjoyed a great but expensive lunch and coffee before continuing onto Northampton.

I made my first navigation error here and ended up going 10kms out of my way. I needed to get on the A508 and did so, but ended up heading north rather than south. Northampton didn't seem particularly nice unless its centre is drastically different to its suburbs. By 4pm I managed to reach Milton Keynes. Because the day was so grey all the cars had their lights on and it felt dark. I was happy to be on my bike as I cycled past miles of traffic jams and looked down on the gridlocked M1. By the time I reached the outskirts of Luton it was fully dark and finding no hotels in the town, I decided to head to the airport. A seriously steep road took me out of the town and through various industrial estates as I began to panic a bit that I was getting lost. Eventually I saw a reassuring sign and pedaled down a quiet road with a pedestrian bridge over it. As I got closer I noticed a young man with a large rifle on the bridge. I had my High Vis jacket on and all my bike lights were flashing so I would have been an easy target should he have decided to pick me off. Maybe it was the long day on the road or the lack of light that got me panicked but I put the foot down and weaved from side to side so he couldn't get a clean shot. When I eventually calmed a mile down the road I noticed that my max speed had hit almost 50km/hr. Arriving at Luton I made my way to the nearest hotel (Hotel Ibis). The lobby was full of passangers coming and going and people asking for wake up calls at 3am and other ungodly hours. I read in one of the newspapers in the lobby that the Accor chain of hotels had started to train their staff on how to deal with sleepwalkers. Apparently, there had been a 70% increase in nude sleepwalking at their hotels in the last year and staff now keep towels in the lobby to "protect their customers dignity". I chuckled as I enjoyed my well earned pint.

Tuesday 23rd October: Stafford to Rugby (93km)

2007-10-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

A very cold morning again, 1c according to the television weather that resulted in another hour in bed. After a complementary breakfast (thank you Swan Hotel) I walked across the street to the local library to use the Internet. I've learned a few thinks about England on this trip. 1) After 6pm the pedestrian town centers are dead and 2).
There are not many Internet Cafes in the country towns but the local Library are excellent and provide free Internet access. The librarian in the Stafford Town Hall was very helpful and jolly and although conscious that I was eating into my cycle time I managed to update the blog, check bank balance and weather until almost 11am. Leaving Stafford was easy and every 6 miles or so there was a reasonable sized town to aim for. After Tamworth I found myself on a very busy dual carriageway although the passing lorries help speed me along with their wind draft.

Arriving in Nuneaton at 4pm I stopped for a very pleasant afternoon tea before pushing onto Rugby for the night. Rugby has some impressive suburbs and there was a different feel to the town that what I had experienced before although again the town centre was dead. I stayed in the three horses inn and was again offered a generous discount and the owner was very welcoming. After a shower I wandered over to the (excellent library) to use the Internet and went for a simple but very expensive Thai meal. I'm finding England expensive. After dinner I went back to the hotel to listen in on the Pub Quiz which was still going on as I made my way to bed at 11am. I could still hear the questions as I tried to sleep upstairs.

Monday 22nd October: Chester to Stafford (87km)

2007-10-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

A very cold and grey morning today. Not the sort of weather that you jump out of bed for. I forgot to bring my razor and toothbrush so headed off to get some in the local boots.

Chester is a nice town with an impressive cathedral, although the cold weather made me want to head south. Leaving chester I followed the Shropshire Union Canal http://www.shropshireunion.org.uk/ as far as Nantwich. I remembered it as the location of Mark's stag night in Peep Show, and this took my mind of the grey skies.

I had bought a detailed map so I was able to avoid all the major roads and instead spent the whole day going from small village to small village. Every second house was a large farm and I noticed that a lot of the had branded their farm and were selling their produce. I stumbled across Beeston Castle http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.13495 and passed many lovely pub situated in great old buildings. The tempature relly droppped by mid afternoon and I heard two old lays discussing whether it would snow or not.

Deciding the only way to stay warm was to keep cycling I pushed on and made it to Stafford, the county town. Stafford city centre is dead after dark and the Swan Hotel http://www.theswanstafford.co.uk/ was the only welcoming lights I could see.

The hotel was lovely and the lady at reception knocked 60 euros off the room price when she heard about the cycle. Had lovely shower and headed across to a cosy italian restauraunt for dinner. The dinner was great but I noticed that everytime somebody new came in the door ALL the staff shouted "Waaasssup". As it was 7pm this was happening every few minutes. Even the lady putting black pepper on my pasta shouted "Waaaaasup" as she stood grinding in front of me. Headed back to the hotel and went to bed at 8pm to watch telly.

Sunday 21st October: Bangor to Chester (108km)

2007-10-23T02:11:00.000-07:00

There wasn't a cloud in the sky as I set off from Bangor this morning.

The road to Conwyn was a motorway with tunnels but they had built a cycle lane the whole way along it making what would have been a nightmare trip into a very pleasant run along the north wales coast. This part of wales is beautiful with Llandudno jutting out into the sea and the mountains of Snowdonia as a backdrop. Conwyn is a beautiful walled town with a gorgeous harbour and would make a nice 1 night away trip from Dublin.

It is also home to the "Smallest house in Great Britan" which I thought was quite roomy compared to some 1 beds in Dublin. From nearby Colwyn Bay a cycle lane runs the whole way along the coast to england. It was very well used and a passed over 100 cylists before I reached Abergele.

The good weather continued and I had lunch at a beach cafe. After Abergele the coastline becomes very tacky and I thought Ryhle was the nastiest seaside resort I'd ever seen. Putting the head down I pushed on to Chester arriving just before sunset. Again I picked a hotel in the rough guide for 28 pounds. It was a tiny room with a camp bed and I didn't sleep too well.

Saturday 20th October: Dundrum to Bangor, Wales (60km)

2007-10-22T01:37:00.000-07:00

Ed kindly prepared a send off breakfast this morning for me. So after leaving Dundrum at midday I headed down to Ed's for a feast of smoked trout, fancy cheese and salad.

Keeping an eye on the clock we both left at 1pm to make the short run down to Dublin Port. The port is an odd place about two miles beyond the point depot. Its a smart enough terminal but it was so quiet with only a hadful of people there.

With the bike, I had to cycle in with the cars onto the boat and once on the boat it was a very pleasant and short trip accross to Wales. The weather had been gloomy and dull in Dublin but the sun was shining in Holyhead and it was a perfect start to the trip.

Holyhead is an island off an Island off wales and Bangor is the first town on the welsh mainland proper. The 45km took 2 hours and the highlight was the views accross the Menai strait. Bangor is in a lovely position with views across to Anglesey and Llandudno.

I picked a hotel in the Rough Gudie that was down at the Pier and after 2 pints watching the World Cup fell asleep at 9.30pm.

The Fundraising Begins

2007-10-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well at last the fund raising has begun. Last night at my Wicklow Uplands meeting I told the group about the cycle and received my second generous donation.

When I got home I created a Facebook group and invited 60 friends to join. I then fired off a short email to about 70 friends and went to bed. When I woke this morning I was delighted to find that people were joining the group and donations were starting to come in. Thank god for the internet, this would have been a lot slower to organize 10 years ago.

This afternoon I went into the Mater to meet up with Mary and Kerry from the Mater Foundation and to get my photo taken with my brother Joseph in front of Heart House. Joseph was directly involved with setting up Heart House and gave my a tour around the facility. Kerry and Mary are spreading the word about the cycle so hopefully this will give a boost to the fund raising efforts. Only one full day to go now and I have stacks of non cycle stuff to do so look like it will be a late night tonight.

Planning the Route

2007-10-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Only five days to go till Saturday so I've been busy getting ready for the cycle as well as tidying up all the Wonderful Ireland ends before I head off.

I've more or less selected a route although this will be open to change depending on conditions, advice I get and weather.

I've selected a route that minimises the amount of distance I cover by boat. This means travelling to Dover which adds over 800kms to the trip versus taking the Rosslare to Cherbourg boat.

I've divided the journey into five loose stages and mapped these out using Google Earth and Via Michelin.

The distances I've printed on the maps are for cars so you an very roughly add 10 - 20% onto these for a bike.

Preparations Begin

2007-10-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

With only 12 days to go to the cycle I thought it was time to start the blog. This also marks the beginning of any serious preparation for the trip. I dropped my bike in to get a service today and my spending on cycling paraphernalia has risen dramatically in the last 24 hours. I have the Rough Guides to the UK, France and Spain as well as the corresponding maps and I am trying to find out information on prevailing winds on the continent. For example, one of my potential routes follows the Rhone valley and I've heard of a strong wind called "Le Mistral" in the area. If it is a northerly wind it would be a great help but a southerly wind could make the Lyon to Avignon cycle a bit of a nightmare. The best information I found on Google was that many cyclists before me have found the Lonely Planets Cycling Books very helpful so I'm off to the bookshops now to pick up a copy.