When cycling to work this morning, I was thinking that if ever The One Show were to have an article about the Eurovelo 5 on their programme then surely I would be the person they would turn to. This was tossing over in my mind (it’s amazing what I think about while cycling to and from work) as a result of having been contacted four times this week by complete strangers wanting to delve into my brain for information about various aspects of my trips.

First there was Kim, who wrote;

Found your site and was delighted.  Keen amateur cyclists and last year we cycled Caan to Marseille along the rivers and canals of France. The journey unassisted took 12 days and this year we were planning to continue where we left off and get to Palermo.  However the route looked too traffic heavy and after using Eurovelo routes in the past your journey is the one for us.  I loved the diary and I did keep one for our journey and shall publish it as yours has been so useful.
Thanks for the effort happy cycling.

Thanks for your comments Kim. Much appreciated. Next up was Stuart who sent the following;

Going to use EV5 as far as Northern Italy then go to EV8. Concerned about ending up on roads without cycle lanes. I see that you have plotted points but i have not been able to find detailed info on cycle lanes as I have with the cycle line books for routes through Northern Europe. Is it easy to stay on cycle lanes? Is EV5 easy to follow by signposts?

It’s the age-old problem of no detailed map of the Eurovelo 5 existing Stuart. At the end of my trip, I was glad it didn’t as it gave me a bit of wiggle room and I just aimed for the main places along the route. The traffic in Italy was never anywhere near as bad as everyone told me it would be. I stuck to minor roads when I could and it worked out fine. The lack of cycle routes was not a massive issue. As for signposts… You have to wait a while for those. All that said, Eurovelo 8 – my next trip at some point in the future – is better described. See the document down there on the right that you can download from this site. Good luk with your trip.

And then there was Beatriz from Spain;

I’m thinking about doing part of the route Eurovelo 5 this summer. I’ve looked for information on the Internet but I haven’t found many things. Actually, I only  want information about the exact itinerary. Is it marked at the way? I’ve looked for information at your page, but I haven’t found the itinerary. Could you help me, please?

I suppose I just answered that in my response to Stuart. I would just make the decision to plot the whole thing out as you go along.

And I have even been contacted by John asking about camp-sites along the Pennine Cycleway!

Keep the questions coming; I love to receive them (if only to prove to me that someone is reading this drivel…) & sign me up for The One Show!