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 […]
Puglia 2010’s posting on Yahoo Groups
Thanks to Silvia Nilsen (“Sil” to her friends!) for posting the details:
Dirty Swines
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 […]
New Links
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 […]
Back to the cycling routine
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 […]
Commuting Issues
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 […]
Dreaming of Italy
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 […]
Maps Galore
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 […]
How do I straddle the Midlands Gap?
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 […]
Yorkshire 2009
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 […]
Red Letter Day
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 […]
Bloody Royal Mail
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 Long Distance Cyclists’ Handbook, The Archers and Tents
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 […]
Spinning: The report
As I twittered, I did my spinning class last night. It was good fun. And hard work. And as predicted, the instructor, a nice chap in his 50s, did camp the whole thing up to and extraordinary degree. At one point (while pedalling madly to a western style […]
Spinning and books
The gym induction went well. The council run gym at Palmer Park in Reading is OK. It doesn’t have the all singing and dancing facilities that you would find in a privately-run place (free towels, sauna, piped music in changing areas etc…) but at the end of the […]
Risk & gradients
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 […]
The Wonderful World Wide Web
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? […]
Darts Odyssey?
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 […]
Feedback on self
Probably very immodest to say so but I do like the look of the new blog. I still get the impression I am the only person reading it however. The Twitter updates over there on the right might drag in the punters…. perhaps.The composite picture up at the […]
A few questions to ponder…
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 […]
New domain, new email address
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 .
Back!
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 […]
700 Days
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 […]
Google Maps
I went to great lengths on Google Maps earlier this evening to plot the route from town to town – about 15 of them – and then get Google to fill in the bits in the middle. It did that and told me that it is only 2,700 […]
French Revolutions
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 – […]
Italian Friends of the Bike
Another useful site – and an incentive to improve my Italian! – “La proposta della Federazione Italiana Amici della Bicicletta” (“The Website (?) of the Italian Federation of Friends of the Bike”). Look – my route is on the picture! It’s here: http://www.bicitalia.org
