OP
OP
zigzag
Veteran
the first thing i would like to do after reading this thread - to thank and hug every one of you for the support and good vibes you've been sending my way! what a fantastic bunch of people you are! i'm now sat at the internet cafe near taksim square, catching up with things in the virtual world having spent last 12 days in the real world, i.e. ride, eat, sleep
. i'll come up with the ride report hopefully by the end of next week as there is the whole tracklog to analyse and a mountain of random thoughts to put together. there was no particular reason why i chose the route via romania - i simply put two dots in bikeroutetoaster (stelvio pass - istanbul) the night before and that's the route it came up with.. i didn't even check that the border crossing between romania and bulgaria was a ferry crossing operated only four times a day (i thought it was a bridge..) - i was so happy to get on the last ferry of the day and not need to camp there and wait until the morning one! re the total distance - my gps was telling 3408km at the finnish - it might be the longest one of the lot! the biggest hurdle that kept me from going quicker was sweltering heat every day 36-40 degrees, not the temperature i'm acclimatised to. morning and evening cruising speed were about 27kph, while throughout the day i could only average 18-20kph. the whole ride was a big learning curve on self-sufficiency and time management. my body coped well, no saddle sores or numb fingers, only numb toes from newly purchased and not fully tested shoes. the bike gears were 42/34 and 11-28, i.e. not a single chainring in the front. all equipment worked fine, the only slightest technical problem was one puncture in austria. some roads were in a very dire state, as i understood later kept by village communities that way to prevent the traffic speeding through. this race was certainly the most adventurous experience i've had on a bike - highly recommended if you think you would be up for it!
thank you and i look forward to seeing you on the road (or a pub) very soon!!
p.s. @swarm_catcher my plane lands at 14:25 at gatwick north terminal on monday the 19th; if my bike arrives safely, i'll be riding back to london/greenwich
. i'll come up with the ride report hopefully by the end of next week as there is the whole tracklog to analyse and a mountain of random thoughts to put together. there was no particular reason why i chose the route via romania - i simply put two dots in bikeroutetoaster (stelvio pass - istanbul) the night before and that's the route it came up with.. i didn't even check that the border crossing between romania and bulgaria was a ferry crossing operated only four times a day (i thought it was a bridge..) - i was so happy to get on the last ferry of the day and not need to camp there and wait until the morning one! re the total distance - my gps was telling 3408km at the finnish - it might be the longest one of the lot! the biggest hurdle that kept me from going quicker was sweltering heat every day 36-40 degrees, not the temperature i'm acclimatised to. morning and evening cruising speed were about 27kph, while throughout the day i could only average 18-20kph. the whole ride was a big learning curve on self-sufficiency and time management. my body coped well, no saddle sores or numb fingers, only numb toes from newly purchased and not fully tested shoes. the bike gears were 42/34 and 11-28, i.e. not a single chainring in the front. all equipment worked fine, the only slightest technical problem was one puncture in austria. some roads were in a very dire state, as i understood later kept by village communities that way to prevent the traffic speeding through. this race was certainly the most adventurous experience i've had on a bike - highly recommended if you think you would be up for it!thank you and i look forward to seeing you on the road (or a pub) very soon!!
p.s. @swarm_catcher my plane lands at 14:25 at gatwick north terminal on monday the 19th; if my bike arrives safely, i'll be riding back to london/greenwich
so I'll not be able to give the map my full attention (like I just did) so I'll update the distances in..
