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Preparation
Jan. 18
Perfect time to start this page. Today is my birthday, but the
training continues. Every day a minimum of sixty minutes on the home
trainer with some weight lifting in between. Its going to be a long
hard road to rid some of this extra baggage. Now the ball is
beginning to roll, my weight is starting the downhill curb.
There isn't much on my mind right now but the tour.
My wife has given me a nice birthday present which confirms her
support for my trip. My daughter has gotten me something to help me
get in shape for the tour, a heart rate monitor which I wanted to
buy but she read my mind and beat me to it. My sister in-law with
some money which I will put to some good use. My best friend got me
a book from Lonely planet on Italy, which I will be spending more
time than any other country.
I truly am a happy man.
Jan 22
Just finished the last page of this site the Igoumenitsa to Athens
stage.
If everything goes to plan, the starting date for the
tour is going to be around Monday 30th May, this date might change
later.
I want to cross the Alps mid week to avoid excess
traffic, and I need 7 / 8 days to get there.
Training continues
with a minimum of 60 min. on the home trainer (
+/- 35 kms every day) with some weight
training in between, but my weight is not dropping fast enough.
This will increase to 90 min. in Feb. or next week.
I've got to
shed 10 kgs min. (15 kgs would be better) before the tour. And that
gives me about 17 weeks to do it.
NO PROBLEM.
I'm slowly
starting to look for a touring bike, the one you see in the photos
is not good enough for the tour I need a bike that can handle the
weight of the tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, three water bottles,
and the bike bags.
I will make a page with all the equipment that
I will be taking along later on.
Jan. 30
Its Sunday and I was hoping to do a small tour +/- 60 kms around
Maastricht but the weather outside really sucks.
Dark gray
clouds, drizzle and 2 deg. C. (35 F). It looks like another day on
my fitness bike, and work on stage one of the tour and watch the
Australian open.
I'm working on a new plan, going from Freiburg,
Germany to Zurich, Switzerland over some of the black forest. I've
been to some sites and saw a few photos, it looks like very nice
cycling country with campsites next to lakes.
It would also cut
a day of the tour, maybe spend it next to one of those lakes.
Below I added a couple of pictures of my fitness room. Used to be a
guest bedroom now they get to sleep in the attic. You cant see it
very well but I replaced the seat on the fitness bike, now I use a
normal bike saddle, its not as wide and easier to sit on for several
hours. The picture on the right shows the entertainment center in my
gym, it does get extremely boring on the fitness bike after a while.
So some sports on the TV and some house/techno music on the
headphones and I'm good for several hours.
I was thinking of
doing this tour solo, but now I'm considering looking for a
companion. Mainly for security.
I don't know yet, if I found
someone around my age, and we had a few things in common, I think it
would be fun.
I will make a few posts in some forums and see.
Still early days.
 
Feb. 7
I GOT THE RETURN TICKET FROM
ATHENS TO BRUSSELS ;-)
Went
to virgin-express site and found one of the last really cheat
tickets for the morning of July 17th, 19 euros for me and 30 euros
for the bike, cant beat that.
I reach Brussels at noon put the
bike together find a camping for the night then cycle +/- 100 kms
home, its coming together nicely. My training is going along just as
well I'm loosing around 1kg a week which is also perfect, two weeks
ahead of schedule there.
As for the tour I've made some changes
and I think they will be the last. Major change is in Italy, from
Monza (close to Milan) I will follow the Po valley to the Adriatic
coast than follow the coast down to Brindizi.
Check the Stage
pages for more details.
I've made these changes for a couple of
reasons, Save a couple of days, I get to ride next to a couple of
national parks and avoid a few hills. Don't care to ride in very
large cities (Milan, Rome, Naples).
Everything goes to plan Ill
cycle 22 days and rest 5/6 days, that's 4 weeks on the road and 1
week in Athens with my family, with one week to spare. I've made
changes to the avg. kms per day about 120 on most days.
I've also
given a lot of thought about doing this tour with someone else, and
the more I think of it the more I like the idea. Even though I would
like to do this alone, having someone with me is much more secure
not only for theft problems also in case of any emergencies.
I
will post in a couple of forums and with luck someone might like to
join me on this trip.
Now I'm on the hunt for a deal on a touring
bike wish me luck.
Feb. 20
I
dint think it would be so hard to find a touring bike. The problem
is I'm on a tight budget and cant afford the cannondale 2000, Trek
520 or the Thorn Nomad. So I'm still looking for that bargain to
appear.
I've made a couple of small rides last week ( 50 kms
each) but its too cold to enjoy them. (0-5C - 32-41F)
Back on the
fitness bike.
If anybody is upgrading to a better bicycle or has
a touring bike that wants to sell please drop me a line, 600 euro
with front and rear panniers. Bike size 54 I think? I'm 1.72
I'm thinking of getting a trekking bike, they are pretty cheap +/-
300 euro for a good used one, then I could use the rest of the money
to get better quality panniers.
Counting the weeks :-)
Feb. 25
Finally found a bike, a Gazelle playa, not the pure touring bike,
but it has the lower range of gears that I was looking for.
I'm
waiting for a few parts that were ordered, (mud guards, racks,
panniers, a proper saddle, etc.) then I will take a picture.
I
will have time to fit everything myself as the temperature has
dropped below freezing for the next several days.
Now I can
concentrate on the rest of my list, and its long.
March, 5
FINALLY I GOT IT !!! Just put it together. Playa means Beach
if anyone wonders.
Its not a made for touring bike but I hope it
would take me to Greece. According to Jos at
Profile-evers in Maastricht,
it should not be a problem.
I will need some more things like
straps for the peddles, maybe a new saddle and a mirror, but Ill
wait until I put some kms on the bike, I cant wait to get on the
road.
Only if it %#@&$*# stops snowing. Back on the trainer again
:-(
March 13
Finally did my first day
trip 120 kms, the bike rides nice, only a few minor adjustments. I
only used the front panniers on the back, later I will slowly add
more weight to the bike and check out the handling. One step at a
time. I might change the handle bars to the butterfly type for more
hand positions, Ill see after a couple more rides.
The weather
this week is expected to climb to 10/15 C. (50/59F) time for multi
day tour planning ;-)
March 17
After four rides using only
the front panniers and installing three water bottle cages the bike
is looking good.
Only problems are the saddle, not the right one
for touring a bit painful in the private parts. Also the Ill need
some more padding on the handle bars, hopefully that will take care
of the wrist pain.
The rest is coming together nicely, I'm slowly
collecting all I will need for the tour.
This week I did, Mon.70 km, Tue. 95 km and Wed. 105 km. I'm very
happy with the bike ;-)
March 28
Happy Easter to all :-)
Done a three 100 km's + rides before Easter but then went a visited
my favorite pubs hehe.
Got my new saddle a Brooks Flyer great so
far, and if all the people I've talked to are right it will get
better. Strange that they seem so hard but then all the problems I
had are a lot less. Only rode twice with it both 100 km's + rides
and so far so good.
I also added some more padding on the handle
bars and they seem ok. I will know more this coming month when I
start training with full panniers and tent. I never rode a bike so
loaded for many km's so I think I'm in for a surprise.
Picture's
of the loaded bike with all the extra's coming soon.
April 3
Done my first almost fully
loaded 100 km ride, and it was great. The bike felt a bit wobbly but
that was to be expected with all the weight. Haven't done any hills
yet it was planed for today but I managed to catch a cold and that
would have to wait.
The red bags on top of the rear rack is my
old and trusty Hillary 3 person, 3 season tent. At 3.2kg's its not
the lightest but I'm going for comfort since I'll be camping most of
the time.
I don't have the sleeping bag and mat yet I'll get them
soon, I'm looking for thin and cheep sleeping bag for two reasons
June and July it gets pretty warm in Italy, and I plan to take along
two pairs of thermal underwear for the cold nights. Cheaper than
buying an expansive 4 season sleeping bag.
You can see on the
photos my new Brooks saddle that I am very pleased with, I'm really
glad I bought it, it's definitely the best saddle I have ever ridden
on. If anyone is thinking of buying a new saddle I HIGHLY recommend
a Brooks.
Only thing left now is to ride a lot in April and do at
least one fully loaded overnight tour in May before the tour.
Maybe take a long weekend to the coast in the north of Holland, and
return by train, +/- 400 km's, that should be a good warm-up.
April 16
So far I've got 95% of all
the things I'll need, and today I am going to weigh everything. I
have a strong suspicion that it's going to weigh a ton. I had to go
for comfort since I'll be camping most of the time if not all,
but on a strict budget it was a bit difficult, the cheap stuff just
weight's more can't do anything about that. Been raining a lot and I
don't have rain covers for me panniers so I'm stuck at home, got to
get myself upstairs to the gym again :-(
I need to get back on my
bike (fully loaded) and do some hills. I need to know how it handles
with the proper weight.
I have been going over this idea of
having some things delivered back home from Italy, since the
weather is a bit different on the other side of the Alps. (no need
carrying thermal underwear, leg warmers and the extra jacket
in Italy and Greece mid June / July)
More research is needed.
April 24
Did my first very long
fully loaded day trip this week 140 km's and a follow up the
next day with some hill's 80 km's and no problems at all. In the
next couple of weeks I'll take a three or four day trip to check out
the camping equipment then I'll be ready for the trip.
Bellow is
a picture of my loaded bike.
May 5
Took a week off with the family,
needed the break. Now back to training, unfortunately the weather is
letting me down again and it will continue for the nest week so it's
back on the home trainer again.
Around 30 days left now and you
cant imagine my anticipation. I think in a week or two I'll take a
three to four day tour to finalize my preparations.
Till then :-)
Captain and crew.
Having a cold one with the crew by the ancient market in Athens
First Easter day on the Acropolis, a very rare day indeed.
Half the city population is gone and no air pollution.
May 13
Finally the weather broke
(for a day), yesterday was a nice and sunny day (first one this
month) I went for a 105 km ride but I had this head wind on the
Albert canal on the way home from Hasselt Belgium I felt that I had
climbed the Alps. It must have blowing over 50kmh really nasty. Got
a good work out though, with all my panniers, tent, mattress and
sleeping bag I couldn't go faster than 12 kms. No riding today, as
the weather is getting worst again and the wind is will be blowing
much more. The forecast is rain for the next few days.
Home
trainer again :-(
May 21
Two weeks left and I'm
getting really nervous now. Packing and repacking everything a few
times and finding I don't have enough room then my wife comes along
and packs everything in such a way that I have now more than enough
room LOL.
Five weeks on the road, I've never done this before and
I'm going crazy thinking about it.
Will I find a campsite easy? How is the weather going to be like?
What am I going to eat every day? How is the bike going to handle?
How hard is it going to get climbing over the Alps?
And these are
just a few of the questions going thru my head every day all day.
The information I get by reading cycling journals at
crazyguyonabike.com and articles in bikeforums.net is invaluable.
I haven't been cycling much lately concentrating more on what I need
to take along, but in the next two weeks I plan to do three or four
100km+ fully loaded warm-up rides, and set up the tent in the rain
to see how that would work.
I was planning earlier to take a mini
tour but I have already overshot my budget and will be trying out
the tent in my back yard (wonder what the neighbors will say LOL).
May 28
One week left :-) This week I
did three 100 km days in unusually hot weather here +/- 30 C in the
shade. Perfect training for Italy and Greece.
Unfortunately I
hurt the bottom of my feet, I don't know how but according to
Sheldon Brown's
(many good tips) web page it could be that I was pushing too high a
gear or my feet just got over heated which I think is most likely.
Today I will hunt for cycling saddles, if I cant find any I will
surly look for them in Italy. Also another heat related problem in
the private parts, took care of that with some cream, and that's one
item I cant forget.
I still need to get a few items like a flash
light, net bag (to dry my clothes on the road), kickstand for the
bike (sometimes there isn't a tree around to rest the bike on), wind
breaker for the cooking stove (aluminum tray folded in four length
wise) and a new pair of cycling gloves.
I will do a couple of
more rides this week and take care of some last minute chores around
the house.
Friday 3 June
Well finally here
last day, tomorrow morning 07:00 I start the tour. Thinking
back to December when I first decided to take this ride seems a long
time ago now. It's only now this last week that its beginning to
sink in. That I will be taking a five week long tour on my own thru
the heart of Europe. This evening I only have to empty all my bags
and double check that I have everything. I didn't do any more rides
this last week, I just made sure I took care of things around the
house, before I leave. Now this is the last time I write on this
page, you can follow my travels by clicking (week 1>) on the home
page. I don't know when I will be filling them in, I do have a
journal with me so I don't forget anything ;-)
I will like to thank my wife which I'm extremely in love with, for
all her support during this time.
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