The important number for the next few days – 68
Berwick-upon-Tweed
The start! 2pm on 1st August 2009.
Great Quote
'I have never been a fanatical cyclist. Furthermore, I am a lousy mechanic. When I decided to cycle around the world I had never ridden a race and hardly knew the difference between degreaser and a derailleur. I didn't want to cycle around the world, it just kind […]
The Luxury of First Class Travel
I just wish I knew whether or not they were complimentary…
Kings Cross: The North starts here
A while since I was at Kings Cross but it still has the feeling of a northern enclave of London with the northern accents and northern names. Getting used to balancing the bike while it is heavily laden – I was a bit anxious about getting on the […]
Packed and err… illuminated!
Does that back wheel look as though it is smiling? Set off at 6am tomorrow.
Mark Beaumont on TV, this blog & the flu
It’s a bit strange seeing someone interviewed on TV as Mark Beaumont was this morning on Breakfast News knowing that you exchanged emails with them only a couple of days ago (unless Mark has a phalanx of flunkies doing his admin for him in the name of “Mark […]
Labels / Tags / Swine Flu (?)
Just finished going back over all the previous posts and giving them “labels” or “tags” (yes, perhaps I should get out more!). It’s interesting to see what is top of the list. This post, btw, does not have a label! Well, it wasn’t going to have a label […]
Bloody Weather
Here is the weather forecast for Appley – the half way point more or less – and it looks OK. Nothing more than that. The wind is 15-20 miles per hour… Could be worse. “Sprinkles” is an amusing way to describe the rain. Thursday and Friday look the […]
The Fat Cyclist
This puts everything into context. Wow. Click & read. Think about it while you watch his video: Six Minutes of Joy from Fat Cyclist on Vimeo.
Accommodation sorted, again!
Ingleton YHA got back to me: they do have space so I will be staying there on Wednesday night, not the farm, so it’s a royal flush of YHA places – I would have laid money on that not being the case if you had asked me this […]
Mark Beaumont and a Hangover
Drank too much last night but it was nice to get out and see friends – Las Inguanas is a good new restaurant in Reading! Another email from Mark Beamont in Canada:Hi AndrewThanks for your email.I am on a talk tour all spring 2010 and will be coming […]
How to organise a cycle trip to the English Pennines
Via Francigena / EuroVélo 5 Blogs of note:
Both Ian Hendry and Jonathan Scott have now got their blogs up and running! Ian has chosen the name “Hendo2010” and Jonathan “Cycling Via Francigena“. Ian is cycling London to Rome but probably a bit earlier than me in summer 2010. Jonathan is cycling Rome to London in […]
Accommodation sorted!
That was easier than I thought! All the accommodation is now booked – all YHA apart from Wednesday 5th when I will be staying at a place called Stackstead Farm: they have dormitory style accommodation for a very reasonable £11 per night. I think my camping mat might […]
Eight trains, Four Bookings, One Royal Palace
Spent the day at Hampton Court with a friend – very impressed – they have special things going on as it is 500 years this year since Henry VIII acceded to the throne. Before setting off I emailed the six YHA hostels at the places listed on the […]
What do you mean you want to see a little girl nearly being run over in Newbury…?
Mark Beaumont never had these problems…
An email from… Mark Beaumont!
I had to look twice at my inbox tonight on returning home after the morning ride to Newbury and the afternoon lazing in a Reading coffee shop with a friend (and getting frost bitten in the process: has anyone told the weather people that it is July?). I […]
Newbury
Second attempt at videoing while cycling. First attempt I nearly ran over a little girl!
Newbury first stop
First stop was actually Blockbusters but I decided having put all the gear on I’d head down the canal to Newbury. Perhaps beyond? Just passing under the brutal M4: shocking contrast.
Pennine Cycleway: Overnight stops
Need to decide where I am going to stay on each night: can’t risk having nowhere to stay. In order to do that, I need to decide which towns I’m going to stop in. Not going to list the places here. Will put them over there on the […]
Cyclists Welcome
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 […]
Problems…
Well, only one: the campsite near Lindesfarne is full. I had emailed just for a bit of reassurance that I did indeed have somewhere to sleep for the night, not really expecting any problem whatsoever but the campsite have emailed back saying that they are full “I am […]
Les nouvelles cartes sont arrivées!
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 […]
Escape needed
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!
Blue Sky!
..and my equipment is mounting up: I’ll be off on my mini adventure in exactly one week’s time. Still not convinced about that bar bag.
Beachcomber Campsite
I have to say, of the three that Edvardus recommends, the first one – the Beachcomber Campsite – looks wild and wonderful. Very close to the sea. The proximity to Lindisfarne is also an attraction. My first thought is to spend a couple of nights at the place […]
CTC Forum Update
Edvardus writes:There is the Beachcomber Campsite – http://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/beachcomber – near Goswick to the south of Berwick. It’s slap beside the Coast & Castles route. I passed it on the way north and it seemed ok but I can’t vouch for the facilities there. A (small) mix of tents, […]
Almost Derailed by Cross Country Trains
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. […]
Ups and downs in Reading
Today has been a funny day. Let’s start on a good point: my deliveries have started to arrive – Mark Beaumont’s book. But then it rained…and rained… when will this English summer start? I plodded up to AW Cycles, my bike shop of choice to invest in more […]
Cliff Camping in Berwick?
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 […]
Northumberland Wind
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 […]
Posting at 2am should be banned
Not sleepy so on the Internet. Just had a Facebook chat with Ian Hendry – he seems like a nice guy – I admire the guy’s motivation to come all the way over here to cycle London to Rome. Not sure whether I would go over to Australia […]
Couchsurfing
This is something that a guy called Matthew Abbott once talked to me about and I have just seen the link to the Couchsurfing website via Facebook and Massimo. I’ll get back to you on this – I need to do more research but I don’t want to […]
Puglia 2010: The Facebook Event…
My Puglian odyssey is catching on. My new Facebook friend Massimo Mazzone has set up an “event” on Facebook in honour of my journey. Wow! I’m a bit taken aback – delighted – but taken aback nevertheless.I’ll join up of course – it’s difficult to avoid an invite […]
Ten-day Weather Forecast
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 […]
EuroVélo 5 Facebook Group
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 […]
Puglia 2010 meets Facebook… and regional Italian elections
Having fallen out with Facebook a couple of months ago – all those people who, quite frankly you would struggle to have a conversation with if you actually met them face to face – I have just re-invited the friends who I actually want to be friends to […]
Deluded?
One person thinks so! Not many people who have visited this site have voted over there on the right (and I suspect that some of those who have, voted more than once thus skewing the vote…), but as of today, 17 of you have done so. Thanks! Until […]
Mark Beaumont’s tent
Combining yesterday’s topics quite nicely, I noticed this picture on Mark’s Flickr site this morning. Could his tent be a Vango Force Ten Helium 200?
This excites me…!
Expect something similar on here after I set off from Berwick-upon-Tweed…. The video above is from Mark’s Flickr page.
This worries me…
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 […]
Vango!
I wandered down to Carters this afternoon – “Busy Since 1830” it says on the sign, unless you choose to visit on Sunday or Monday when they are shut (see earlier post) – to see what they had to offer. Lots as it came to it but it […]
Stop Pess: Reply on CTC Forum
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 […]
The Vango Force 10 Helium 200
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 […]
Tents – decision time!
Must make a decision about tents.The choice is between these in Cotswold Leisure …….or these in Blacks. Here is a video of the Karrimor Alpha, available in Blacks. It is a nice colour and my current favourite!
La Via Francigena – remember that?
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 […]
CTC Forums: Pennine Cycleway Berwick to Derby
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 […]
Boris’ Public Information Film
I was all ready to be cynical about this video when I recieved an email inviting me to watch it, but it is useful and not pratronising. Well done Boris et al! See the TFL website page associated with it by clicking….here!
Starting to spend, sorry invest!
I look forward to the day when I don’t feel guilty about spending money. I’m 40 and I still do!Anyway, my “investing” in equipment for the journey has started. It does read a bit like a Mastercard advert without the “priceless” bit at the end:Cotswold Leisure:Berghaus Fleece & […]
Potential trains to Berwick-upon-Tweed on 1st August
Prices are for single tickets
Stealing from Waterstones – a campsite in Berwick
True (apart from the driving bit)
Flippant comments from the café
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 […]
Fickle? Me?
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 […]
One day into the school holidays and….
…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.
More research, more questions!
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 […]
Have I given up my plans?
Fear not followers of Puglia 2010. It's just a bike pulled out of Caversham lock in Reading.
New: The Puglia 2010 YouTube Channel
The Man Who Cycled The World…
Just ordered!This project is beginning to rule my life…
Equipment Budget: £300?
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 […]
Wanderlust in err…Reading
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 […]
Cycle Show 2009
Note to self: don’t forget to go! Cycle Show
Adelaide calling
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 […]
The Last Last Post…
You wouldn’t believe how many takes I did! Perfectionist at heart 🙂
Last post of a busy blogging day!
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.
Joining the CTC
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 […]
CTC Forum
My goodness, my morning of surfing the net is turning out to be full of surprises. I just found myself mentioned on a CTC forum! I must join and introduce myself.
Wikipedia
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 […]
EuroVelo Route Number 5 on the web
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 […]
End of 2008/9…
As the academic year 2008/9 comes to an end, the symbolic P-365 or P-1year date approaches. It is Sunday. Ironically, the upcoming week is the one that I have decided to abstain from the bike: after a long term of cycling Reading to Henley, my body needs to […]
An email from Oz
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 […]
Hats off to train travel – and this blog – 100 posts and going strong!
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 […]
Mark Beaumont’s view in North America
C24Originally uploaded by cyclingtheamericas Great photo
London: the day after
Apart from a bit of sunburn on my right arm (and my continuing issues with the left shoulder…), I have survived unscathed from yesterday’s 50 mile trip to London. Not even a bruise from the branch.The bike came off worse. Not from the branch, just generally. It has […]
P-Day
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 […]
Questions from Constantin & Ian
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, […]
Strange endings…
It didn’t end there. Strange things were about to happen in Trafalger Square. First of all, Cat Woman was removed and replaced. Just before she was replaced, I had been thinking what I would do if I were to be stuck on top of the plinth. I imagined […]
Arrived
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 […]
Cute little ferry across the Thames
Windsor: half way to London
Route 4 to London
Off to the capital for the day. The branch in the foreground just fell on me and the bike. A narrow escape!
Brindisi
BrindisiOriginally uploaded by apsykes But trawling through my pictures on Flickr is this panorama: I had forgotten that I spent a little bit of time at Brindisi train station back in 2007 when I trained around Europe.
Coimbra from the Pedro & Ines Footbridge, Portugal
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 […]
Flickr
This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.
Sian’s Opinion
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 […]
New departure date: Monday 19th July 2010
I have just been looking at the term dates for Oxfordshire Schools for 2009/10 and 2010/11. Term 6 in 2010 ends on Thursday 22nd July. Term 1 in 2010 starts on Wednesday 1st September. This means that I will have less than six weeks to cycle to Puglia. […]
Cycling the Americas… Mark Beaumont is back!
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 […]
Claudio in Parma
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 […]
Stop Press: Tour de France update
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.
Urban views and Alpine views
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 […]
The Times well spent
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 […]
Training
I am travelling north on a train. Although slightly to the west of my intended route later in the summer, with a blue, cloudless sky and fresh green vegetation everywhere, the countryside does look very appealing and only stands to encourage me to get on my bike in […]
Chilly Reading!
Basil & Liz Ford – trying to keep warm over a beer in what passes for “café culture” at The Oracle, Reading. Basil is a fellow languages teacher and they are the couple who spend their holidays in Puglia. Should you be planning to visit the area yourself, […]
YHA Accommodation: Update
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 […]
The Youth Hostel Options
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 […]
A Route to Yorkshire
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 […]
Vroom with a View
Just finished reading Peter Moore’s book “Vroom with a View” where he rides a 1961 Vespa from Milan to Rome. He takes the route of more or less the Via Francigena – it even gets a mention (see below) a couple of times. Nice read that can’t fail […]
Ferry across the Med (and English Channel)
I have found the following site:http://www.directferries.co.uk/routes.htm which has a nice graphic allowing you to see where ferries go from and to in Europe. It doesn’t look as though Slaerno – Olbia is a possibility. The best alternative seems to be Naples – Palau in Sardinia and then a […]
