13-11-2005
On the 13th of May 2006 we go on tour, that's 6 months from now and a good time to start this page.
Monique did her first 80km (all flat) ride today and I'm happy she likes the bike and feels real comfortable on it.
It was a beautiful but also a very cool November day, +/-11C and sunny.
As you can see we still haven't received her racks yet, they are due in a couple of days. We have enough time yet for her to train with a loaded bike and hills. But first we believe in just putting some hours on the bike and getting real used to it before moving on to loaded touring.

20-11-2005
Finally the bike is looking more like a touring bike. I put the racks on the bike but we could not go on a ride this week, Monique is working, and the temperature has dropped to near freezing. Sometime this coming week the temperature is to rise to +10C and we shall take a ride. It's going to take a lot of patience from now until spring.
The only thing to do now is plan the route and get on the home trainer.

26-12-2005
Been very slow concerning cycling. Very cold and rainy weather keeps us off the saddle. And the weather report says it will get colder. For us cycling when the temperature is below +10C is not much fun so we will have to just wait for a while.
Anyway now is the holiday season and a time to fatten up :-)
So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Cya all next year :-)

January 2006
Taking some badly needed off time in Athens.
Unfortunately the weather wasn't much better than
home but just being alone for a bit did a world of
good. It's now Jan. 22 and the training slowly starts.
We have about 3 and a half months to get in shape so
there is no hurry.
Training is on the home trainer (stationary bike), it's a
bit boring but I've set up a TV and radio with CD in
front of it to make it a little bearable.
We are going to start on some planning soon, like
places to visit, rest stops etc, etc, etc.
In a couple of weeks hopefully the weather will
break, or get above 8/10C. so we could get back
on our bikes. Below that temperature it's just no fun.
We like to enjoy ourselves when riding, freezing
temperatures is just unbearable.
Next update hopefully in a few weeks.
Cya in a few weeks :-)

07-02-2007
Still cold and miserable outside the highest being +5C so still on the home trainer. I'm doing 30/40kms a day on it, Monique a bit less but were trying. BORING AS HELL THOUGH.
The weather is improving slowly (not fast enough for us) and hopefully well get on our bikes in a couple of weeks.
It is really driving us mad not being able to ride.
Anyway cya in about 2 weeks.

16-03-2007
The weather has let us down, we still haven't  got on the bikes yet this year. Between work obligations and the weather it has not been possible. We did get the cycling panniers for Monique's bike and stuffed some pillows in them to look full. It is almost ready to go, I will be installing another water bottle cage under the down tube (between the paddles and front wheel) as soon as I find a matching bottle cage.
We also got our new tent its the Jack Wolfskin Worlds End RT pictured below. Its a 3 person tent, 3 season tent with good rain protection. The inner and outer tents can be set up separately (good for rainy weather and it has plenty of ventilation for warm weather. It is a bit heavy, but the size and comfort it will provide is worth the extra kg's.
Now we wait for the weather to go at least 8 to 10 deg. above freezing so we could at least have a few days training before the trip. The weather man said spring will be 3 to 5 weeks later than normal, 1903 was the last time it was so cold this time of year. And that really ^&$£(*%^£".
Next post will be when we dust off our bikes and take then on the road.

01-04-2007
Finally we started our training, the weather was still not perfect 4/5 force wind with some rain clouds. We actualy got soaked about 5 times and dryed 5 times. We still menaged to come home dry hehe.
Anyway it went well, we cycled for just over 70kms, all flat roads and partialy loaded.
We are very happy that we could finaly start training.
It's still cold and it will freeze again in a couple of days but nothing  serrious, WE HOPE.
We most likely feel our legs tomorow but we know that we have to go through this.
We found some small things that need to be taken care of on Moniques bike, but it's about 99% ready.
Since Monique didn't want any new holes made on her new bike, I've instaled a new water bottle cage for the large 1.5L water bottles. Next post when we do some km's fully loaded.

06-04-2007
Our first day almost fully loaded, just missing the sleeping bags and mattress's. We did 4 large hills, including the highest point in Holland, where Holland, Belgium and Germany meet, also a few small one's in-between.
I was very pleased that Monique did them all without stoping, (great climbing), I think she will do well on the tour.
If only the weather would get a little bit better it would make it perfect. Daytime temp. is still around 10C with a cold wind, at night it has been droping past the freezing point.
Anyway we are very happy the way the day went, rest for the next two days than more training.

22-04-2007
Three weeks before the tour and we are getting pretty excited.
Monique has some problems with her wrists, I will raise the handle bars on her bike and check it out later on today.
I think (hope) its nothing serious, and a minor adjustment will take care of it.
I also told her from my previous experience the importance of stretching the shoulders and wrists along with the legs, before and after a ride, and that's every day.
Even though it's getting warmer our work commitments, the Catholic Easter last week and now the Greek Orthodox Easter this week we dint ride so much.
So far we've got just over 500km training on our bikes.
We checked out the kms vs days and we need to be cycling an average of 95 km's per day for 23 days with 6 days rest in-between. Rest days are broken down to, and 4 on the way and 2 in Barcelona. These are the numbers if we follow the precise route from the books we purchased. There are shortcuts we could take to gain a day or two if we follow National roads, (more direct than visiting every alley of every village).
As for our equipment, we only need rain covers for our feet, we really need to keep our shoes dry and our feet warm at least the first week or two.
I will make a complete equipment list, before we leave.
Next post in about a week.

06-05-2007
One week left, and we are very excited now. I guess the thrill of the ride is still there the second time around.
We still did not get the chance to do much training, but we did get one long ride in (140kms), not fully loaded, it does get boring to tow all that equipment around and not use it.
We tried out our new tent at my friends camping by setting it up and putting it down a few time to see if we could do it fast enough and it works really good. It's extremely easy to set up, the two of us could do it in less than five minutes, the inner tent is attached to the outer so even in the rain it would be dry (hopefully) :-)
We have some last minute things to get just minor stuff like an extra pair of socks, extra strong tent pegs for harder ground and a few other things.
This week will be spent just getting things ready double and triple checking everything and getting the house in order before we leave.
I can't wait :-)

     
Here are a couple of pictures of our 140km ride, Maastrcht-Roermond-Weert-Maastricht, and we couldn't pick a better day 25C and not a cloud in the sky. The picture on the right is of the Munster Cathedral of Roermond.

Friday 12 May 2007

I can't believe it, the time has finally come for the tour. Tomorrow morning we leave.
I can't begin to describe what I feel, nervous, excited, worried, I have gone over the equipment list a few hundred times, also checked the route a few hundred.
I thought the second time would not be as the first but I was wrong, I feel the same as my first tour last year.
On the first day we will probably take the Kennedy bridge over the Maas where we will then turn left at the Police station then the first right heading towards Kanne in Belgium where we will follow minor roads around Liege where we end up back on the Maas near Huy then on to Namur (Namen). According to the maps there should be enough camping's around Namur. The ride is +/-100kms.
I will try to upgrade this site while were on tour, but guaranty nothing.
Monique might write some updates or thoughts also (in the Dutch version) along the way.
Wish us luck and do come back periodically and check for updates, as we do enjoy sharing our experiences and thoughts of this trip.
Bye for now :-)