Wonder if this is a national thing? The blurb on the Visit North East England website says: Accommodation within the Cyclists Welcome scheme gives cyclists the confidence that when you book, your needs will be well catered for. A separate and secure facility should be provided with a […]
French language pun there…(tumbleweed crosses screen)… Anyway, they have – the Sustrans maps arrived that is if your French isn’t quite what it should be. Much time will be spent pouring over them in the course of the next few days. To my relief, campsites are noted on […]
Just been to town for an early morning coffee… and the place is strewn with litter – this being just an example. Get me out of here!
I’m not one of those people who thinks that the trains in Britain were far better before privatisation – they certainly were not – they were much worse; just like TV in the 70s and 80s, the clothes, public services, schools, museums…. Most things are much better now. […]
More useful info from the CTC forum: “We camped here in 2001. Marshall Meadows Farm BERWICK-UPON-TWEED TD151UT Tel: 01289 307375 The site was basic with no shop, but does have toilets and showers. It also has the main rail line running past it, although we didn’t find it […]
A reassuring post on the CTC forum that I set up:“No suggestions on campsites, I’m afraid – I stayed in B&Bs and Youth Hostels. But don’t get too worried about the wind. We did it south-to-north and had some really rotten wind in Northumberland – “beasterly easterlies”, I […]
MSN are very brave: they attempt a ten-day weather forecast! The BBC only go as far as five days. In ten days, it will be the 1st August – the day I will travel up to Berwick-upon-Tweed to kick off my Pennine Cycleway trip. The full ten-day forecast […]
The EuroVélo 5 route has a Facebook group… so I joined of course. The other two members are Ian Hendry – the man from Adelaide who I’ve mentioned and quoted from before and a guy called Massimo Mazzone who writes in his opening post:“Let’s improve the route! It’s […]
From Mark Beaumont’s blog: “Today (Tue 21st) was a frustrating day on the bike. I woke to find a puncture and then punctured again within ten miles. That means three punctures in as many days! Two of these punctures have been the at the valve and not a […]
I have a reply – from a certain rapidfire72 – here it is:“I did the Pennine Cycleway a few years, but only from Settle to Berwick, but I only B&B and YHA it. I can recommend the Pennine View Caravan & camping in Kirkby Stephen, very good and […]
OK, a bit of Internet research has poured scorn on my first choice of tent (see below: the Karrimor which is a nice colour but which one reviewer witheringly described as a “…Peter Storm tent [those are the very cheap ones you get from Millets] with a different […]
The July issue of the Italain National Geographic (Volume 24, number 1) has an article all about the Italian part of the Via Francigena: “Un viaggio ‘dolce’ lungo la via percorsa nell’antichità dai pellegrini diretti alla tomba di Pietro attraverso Val d’Aosta, Piemonte, Lombardia, Emilia Romagna, Toscana e […]
I’ve just started a CTC forum thread asking for advice and top tips on cycling route 68: here is the link.The kit I bought today is cracking – £60 for the cycling shorts is a bargain if they continue to be that comfortable after a week of hard […]
The headline suggests I have chosen the wrong year to cycle to Italy. Might have had plenty of time this summer! How to cope with kids all summer? Become a teacher and escape them! Grumpy old man time: is it just me who thinks it is now rude […]
Call me fickle, I don’t care! Waking up with thoughts of boredom on my mind and a desire to spice up my trip to Yorkshire this summer, I have abandoned it! This is great news. I don’t now have to trudge from Reading through to the Peak District […]
…I’m bored already. Very tempted to set off north this coming weekend and make a longer trip of the whole thing. How crazy is that? Only problem is that the weather is bloody miserable: grey skys and wind.
40 years ago today, Man first walked on the Moon. I walked home from Reading earlier this afternoon counting the number of people I passed who I thought were likely candidates for an adventure cycling to southern Italy. I counted zero. So on a day that we celebrate […]
Fear not followers of Puglia 2010. It's just a bike pulled out of Caversham lock in Reading.
So, can I really buy the essentials needed to travel to Yorkshire this summer on £300. Let’s have a go. I need to think about three things: the bike, myself & camping. All prices rough estimatesfollowing today’s foray into the outdoor adventure shops of Reading.Panniers £70Handlebar bag £40Cycling […]
The bike is having a rest for a week – my aim is not to use it at all until next weekend – so this morning I set off on foot to window shop in the bike / adventure shops of Reading. I only found two that were […]
Ian Hendry, the guy from Adelaide has been in touch again and gives some useful musings about distances etc (he is in blue, my comments in red):I was anticipating 100km+ per day from Waterloo to Central Rome (only going to Rome as it will easier to fly out […]
You wouldn’t believe how many takes I did! Perfectionist at heart 🙂
Already worth the £36!Just found this route description – not particularly detailed – but worth a look (England to Israel in 1979!). You’ll need to be a member of CTC to access it.
According to the little vote countdown over there on the right, it is now 365 days until I set off at 9am on Monday 19th July 2010. Actually, it isn’t as it is still Saturday 18th July 2009. But anyway, P-365 is looming and is now within hours…I […]
Well I worked it out and it appears that I am (see previous post). There is the Wikipedia entry over there on the left with the added links – the route link and the link to this blog at the bottom. I’m impressed but at the same time […]
If you type in “EuroVelo Route Number 5” into Google, you get 5,420 answers (put the accent on vélo – I am a French teacher after all – and, strangely, you get 5,570). Whichever way you do it, entries number two and three are me! The blog is […]
Just recived the following email from a guy in Adelaide. My comments to his various points are in red….Hey Andrew,My name is Ian Hendry and I’m from Adelaide, South Australia (yes, Tour Down Under territory). I have just been reading your Puglia 2010 blog after googling away looking […]
I’m no train spotter but on the occasions when I do have to take the train – like today as the bike is in for repairs – I do enjoy the experience. It is such a nice, relaxed way to kick off the day. Mind you, I might […]
I wrote a couple of days ago about having decided upon a date to set off: Monday 19th July 2010. This shall be known as P-Day. P being of course for Puglia.Next Sunday is therefore P-365. A whole year.I’m going to give myself two full weeks to prepare […]
At the risk of sounding like Humphry Littleton…. I have received two letters, well, two emails. Both of them asking about the same issue: the route I will be taking in 2010 to Puglia.Firstly from Constantin Anastasopoulos:“Hi,i am planning to follow your route but in the opposite direction, […]
To state the obvious, I have arrived. In Trafalger Square to be exact. It hasn’t been the most strenuous of rides. Around 50 miles – the kind of distance I will need to knock off each day en route to Yorkshire. Anyway, back in the Square, a phalanx […]
Coimbra from the Pedro & Ines Footbridge, PortugalOriginally uploaded by apsykes A bit off task this but I have just been in my Flickr account – see post yesterday where I encouraged myself to get back into Flickring – and set it up so that I can post […]
This is Sian and Alexa and Sian’s sixteen week old son, Owen. We had a barbecue at Alexa’s flat this afternoon although it rained so we decamped inside. I mentioned my plans for this coming summer – Berkshire to Yorkshire – and Sian was very concerned about my […]
Mark Beaumont (the guy on the left), the man who cycled the World and who I wrote about back in August / September last year when his programme was on the TV is at it again! He is currently in North America, cycling from Alaska all the way […]
How about this email I have just recieved from Claudio in Parma:“Salve Andrew. I’m not really familiar with blogs and all this kind of things, but I’minterested in your idea to cycle the EV5 if I understood your palns. I Live near Parma and maybe I can help […]
A dream start for Britain’s Mark Cavendish who won today’s 2nd stage of the Tour from Monaco to Brignoles. Spectacular scenery in the south of France. Catch the action on ITV4.
This blog is supposed to be about cycling from Berkshire to Puglia in August 2010 and about my steps towards that goal. The last couple of posts have appeared more like therapy on a confessional blog. Today’s is back on the point – cycling. The views are both […]
There is a fun supplement in today’s Sunday Times all about cycling. With features by Alistair Campbell (pictured here), Olympic gold medalist Victoria Pembleton and Robert Elms amongst others. Cycling does seem to be increasingly the reserve of the middle-aged man, which is no bad thing for me […]
Just been checking availability of the youth hostels and they are fine until…. The Peak District. Many seem to be closed for “summer camps” in August, including Alstonefield and Crowden. Alstonefield is not really a problem as there are the other two places I have already identified, but […]
OK. More progress planning my trip to Yorkshire this summer. I have identified some Youth Hostels en route, or just off the route in some cases, that I could use. Although they are by no means equidistant from each other, they do split the journey into a 6-day […]
OK. Three maps and one route from Reading to Yorkshire. The middle map – Leicester, Coventry & Rugby – is twice the size of the other two so that section is a bit enlarged on the second picture. When you mark the route on the maps it doesn’t […]
Swine flu is a bit worrying…. let’s hope we all make it to August 2010. A British Airways member of cabin crew is reporting flu like symptoms after having returned from Mexico City and has been hospitalised. Mmmm…Anyway, my new friends in New Zealand have replied:“Thanks for that […]
A couple of new links – and useful ones by the look of them.I was contacted by a lady in South Africa a couple of weeks ago who goes by the name of “Amawalker”. She had seen this blog and has kindly put a message of the Yahoo […]
Despite the technical problems with my chain and the resulting train journey to work on Monday, the rest of the week went to plan, to the extent that I have a “plan” in the first place for my cycle from Reading to Henley-on-Thames and back! It’s about 16 […]
My commuting to work by bike – usually a 30 minute early-morning workout – takes a step back as I have had to resort to the train with my broken chain. I will take the bike to be repaired this afternoon. All things considered – broken bike and […]
My Saturday evening reading has, temporarily, brought my mind back to Pulglia 2010 and my plans to follow the Via Francigena to Rome and beyond. The book that I am reading – Vroom With a View – recounts the travels (on a 1961 Vespa) of the author, Peter […]
I bought the maps and got the 3 for the price of 2 offer…. except that the Peak District “Tour” map won’t arrive until the end of the month. It’s fun however, with the two maps that I have got, following the route. It doesn’t actually seem that […]
Now this map shows the no-brainer routes from Reading to Stratford-upon-Avon and from Derby to Huddersfield (covered by the two maps mentioned below). The question is whether I continue via Birmingham (the blue circle on the left) or whether I continue via Coventry (the red circle on the […]
My focus must now be on what I have predictably called “Yorkshire 2009” (no change of website however!). And I am making good progress already. Thanks to the National Cycle Network, my route planning is more or less done for me. This probably won’t be the case next […]
Today will go down as a milestone on my road to Puglia 2010. Many good things have happened, one an out of the blue but “why didn’t I think of that earlier?” idea that I shall come to in a few moments (the map on the left is […]
No wonder they are going down the pan. My books were delivered this morning – at 8.30am. I was in, getting ready to head off to the swimming pool. The postman must have arrived, discovered that he was not able to fit the books into the small letter […]
The handbook is ordered. Cleared up the confusion over the publication dates at Waterstones this afternoon. It looks as though the 2004 edition is the most recently updated. The 2007 version was simply a reprint. It should be here on Wednesday of next week.In the meantime, I am […]
There is a risk of this blog becoming a bit monotonous: I just went swimming again this morning but refrained from sending a Twitter message…Jon in Australia has emailed back. I had told him that I aimed to get from Reading to Berkshire in a maximum of six […]
I got an email from a chap in Brisbane today – he is planning on doing the trip in May 2010. This is what makes the Internet such a fantastic tool! Nice of you to get in contact Jon (if you are reading this). Anybody else out there? […]
I spend far too much money on too many books that I never finished reading. But I bought one today that is about travelling through Italy. It’s got a naff title: “Vroom by the Sea”. I did look at cycling books but there was nothing on offer in […]
The are some questions to which I need to find a definitive answer over the course of the next few weeks. Let’s set 10th June 2009 – my 40th birthday – as my deadline. The questions are:– Do I do my cycle ride for charity?– If so, which […]
This blog has become (for the reasonable price of $10 or £7.70) http://www.puglia2010.com . And just to make life simple, I have renamed the email address: puglia2010@hotmail.co.uk .
It’s been a long winter break but I am back to update my blog. Cycling to work in the cold, wet, snowy winter months, my mind went off cycling, but as the spring warms my little life in Reading, Berkshire, so the enthusiasm for cycling to southern Italy […]
The first numerical milestone, although you could argue that 699 is more of a change. It will take about three and a half months to knock off each 100 days and I look forward to being as committed as I am now to doing the ride in the […]
Edging ever closer to the 700 day point, I have just started to re-read Tim Moore’s book called French Revolutions. A month before the Tour de France in 2000 he decided to spend 6 weeks cycling the route of the tour. That year it was 3,630 kilometres – […]
A few developments since I last wrote:1. I have been discovered – by the people I know who spend their summers in Puglia and whose idylic holiday destination / yoga retreat you can link to over there on the right under “The destination in Puglia”. Check out their […]
It is a strange thing, but being on holiday for six weeks every summer means that you forget the passage of time and struggle to say what day it is. With my blog vote (still four votes), however, I can say that it is 714 days until I […]
Still waiting for my maps!
I have another vote – and my plan is still “inspired” after (only) 4 votes!I couldn’t sleep last night so when I eventually did nod off it wasn’t until 10.30am that I woke. Expecting to feel very stiff after yesterday’s efforts, I was glad to discover that my […]
Was it the fact that Britain won its first Olympic Gold in Beijing in cycling or was it my good mood (see earlier post). I decided to cycle to London via Windsor and then catch the train back from Paddington. I did all that – it took about […]
It is so nice to have had a good night’s sleep and to wake up without a hangover from excessive alcohol and late night stodgy food. It is one of those feelings that you really wish you could bottle and open up on the days that you don’t… […]
I have a third vote over there. I’m still inspired. 🙂After the British Library, I went to the British Museum to meet two friends and to see an exhibition about Hadrian – the Roman Emperor. He was refreshingly liberated in his personal life :).In the shop afterwards, I […]
This morning I went down to London, applied for and obtained a card to become an official “reader” of the British Library (sounds grand but the entrance criteria were not tough!) and found my document. As I sat in the manuscripts reading room I made the following notes:“I […]
I bought (at great expense) some updates for my Filofax (which must use more this year), including year planners for both 2009 and 2010. It looks like the summer holidays in 2010 will be from Friday 23rd July to Monday 6th September. I could aim to do the […]
I mention below my need to get my Italian up to scratch for the trip and this afternoon I enrolled on a course at the University of Reading School of Continuing Education (posh words for “night school!). It all kicks off on Thursday 9th October.
Well they got back to me with the correct reference: I wasn’t too far away – it is “Cotton Tiberius B V Part 1, folio 23 verso to folio 24 [TEXT ONLY]”. They call it the “correct foliation”. I can see a facsimile on CD which they have […]
I have just spoken to a very helpful gentleman at the British Library who explained the procedure for accessing the original document – it doesn’t look as though that is a possibility as it is such a rare and delicate part of the Cotton Collection – but they […]
“The manuscript collections of the antiquary, Huntingdonshire landowner and administrator, Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631) contain many maps, charts and plans. Cotton’s collecting was driven by a blend of patriotism and a passion for antiquity. The latter accounts for the presence of one of the earliest detailed European world […]
“ManuscriptsSigeric’s journey back from Rome after receiving his pallium (either AD989 or AD990) is recorded in a manuscript… in the British Library. The manuscript forms part of the Cotton collection: Tiberius B.v., folios 34 and 35.”
The document is from the International Francigena site (a German organisation I think – hence the cycle route being in German and English?) http://www.francigena-international.org . But is it the original handwritten script of Segeric? At the very bottom of the document it states that this is from the […]
Adventus archiespiscopi nostri Sigeric ad Romam : primitus ad limitem beati Petri apostoli : deinde ad Sanctam Mariarn scolarn Anglorum: ad Sanctum Laurentium in craticula : ad Sanctum Valentinum in ponte Molui : ad Sanctam Agnes : ad Sanctum Laurentium foris murum : ad Sanctum Sebastianum : ad […]
“Usually the pilgrims were men, but women could undertake the trip as well. The person had to pay his debts, prepare a will, receive from his local priest his pilgrim costume, ask forgiveness of anyone whom he might have offended and finally to say goodbye to everyone before […]
A good, clear picture of the route from Cantebury to Rome and confirmation, if it is needed that “The roads that Sigeric followed became known as the Via Francigena (the road to France) or “Via Romea” (the road to Rome)”. Hence the name of the blog.http://www.san-quirico.com/francigena_eng.htm
Here is a picture of the serious monk himself – at Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset complete with plaque….
I speak fluent French – I teach it. 700 days should allow me to bring my Italian up to a very good standard. Another incentive. There is a course at the University of Reading that I shall sign up for today… For the bit across German-speaking Switzerland, I […]
Two people who have completed the pilgrimage twice – first on horseback then on bike – have produced a very detailed blog and two guidebooks. The blog is at http://www.pilgrimagepublications.blogspot.com and the guides can be purchased athttp://www.pilgrimagepublications.com/EUShop/PayPal/ppvfbooks.html . They seem t be cheaper at Amazon.co.uk…..
“Thanks to the work of the International Scientific Committee, we are today in a position to retrace this route on the basis of a document left to us by Sigeric, Archibishop of Canterbury. In 994, on his way back to Canterbury from Rome, he described the itinerary and […]
Wonderful quote:“The Via Francigena is a historical itinerary leading to Rome from Canterbury, a major route which in the past was used by thousands of pilgrims on their way to Rome. At the beginning of the 11th century mainly, a multitude of souls “looking for their Lost Heavenly […]
Archbishop Sigeric, our friend who first described the route of my trip (from Cantebury to Rome) has a couple of local connections. According to Wikipedia he was elected Abbot of St Augustine’s in about 975 to 990, and consecrated by Archbishop Dunstan to the See of Ramsbury and […]
I have 723 according to Blogspot (see the vote I have just put over there on the right) assuming that I leave on the 1st August 2010.
That is up for discussion. I certainly won’t be cycling back to the UK. The beer that I have with my friends near Ostuni in Puglia will be well deserved and I won’t be repeating the journey in reverse. That said, I have been thinking about travelling back […]
Good question. And a complicated answer. I have just turned 39 and am beginning to enter a “mid-life crisis”. Summer 2009 is too short a time to make the changes I want to make to my life. In two years however, I think I have a chance. Cycling […]
Where is the adventure in that? Plus it is not very green. I gave up on my car more than 12 months ago and have been cycling the 8 miles to work in Henley-on-Thames (and back) every day since, so I have been in training to cycle (albeit […]
I live in South-East England – Reading, Berkshire to be exact, so not far from the start of the route in London. I have a friend who has bought a house in Puglia – the heel of Italy – and he has invited me to visit. I have […]
…is to cycle the route from London to Brindisi in the summer of 2010.
The route starts in London, passes through Canterbury, Dover and Calais, Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Basel, Luzern, Milan, Parma, Siena, Rome and ends on the the Adriatic coast in Brindisi.
Originally…The ancient route from Canterbury to Rome, followed by archbishops travelling to receive from the pope their symbols of authority as well as ordinary pilgrims en route to Rome or onward to Jerusalem, has become known as the Via Francigena. It was first formally described by Archbishop Sigeric […]
