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Monday
07-03-2011
It's
carnival time here in Maastricht and everything is closed so I have
some time to start up this journal.
So far we've done a couple small rides but it's still too cold and I
still haven't got around to giving the bikes a complete tune up
after last years epic ride.
There are a couple of issues that we need to look after like
replacing the rubber lining (that's between the rims and inner
tubes) on three wheels. I had a few flats on the same tire while
going downhill from a couple of passes in Austria and Switzerland. I
think the problem was that the original lining was a bit narrow and
moved to one side and when the rim heated up from the brake pads it
caused the inner tube to split. The flats were all in the same place
and on the inside of the tube and after I replaced the rubber lining
(with one that was wider) I didn't have any more problems. I will
also try and do some more repairs on our beloved tent. I made some
repairs on the road last year but it needs to be looked after again.
If we come across another tent that meets all of our requirements
we'll get it, in the meantime we will continue to patch up this one.
So hopefully in the next couple of weeks I will get the bikes back
in good working order and a few weeks later get the tent ready.
The route planning is going ok I've found this great site (http://www.radweit.de/index/routyber.html),
it has many routes in Germany. I am still using this program
http://www.microsoft.com/mappoint/en-us/mappointeu.aspx for some
more detail to the route. Again the best part of this program from
Microsoft is that its very accurate and I can use it offline. Also
looking for camping's at ANWB (in Dutch), ACIS, and a few
others (google it).
We're also looking into
http://www.warmshowers.org/.
That's it for now, I will try and update the equipment list soon as
there are a few changes we've made.
Tuesday 15-03
Well
as you have probably noticed already we have made our final decision
about this years tour. We think central Germany would have gotten
old real quick. Maybe cycling to Berlin would be good for a long
weeks tour and return by train or crossing central Germany to visit
Prague.
So after much consideration we decided to head south again. After
last years epic tour we just fell in love with the whole atmosphere
around the Alps, and southern France, also we've never been to
northwestern Italy so there is still something new to see.
This plan originated from me replying to a forum, this guy was
asking for tips on cycling from London to Rome and I gave him the
link
http://www.cyclingeurope.nl/ and once I saw again the map and
routes I checked out the distances from Maastricht to Basel and
Basel to Nice and it worked out perfect at 1300kms for 3 weeks along
an already planed route with a lot of information, like campsites,
B&B's, places to visit, elevation profiles, etc...
It will also be quite challenging with many hills along the way, the
2005m Simplon pass to go over and finally finishing off with a
nice swim in the Mediterranean ;-)
So I talked it over with my better half and it was accepted. Monique
also had reservations about central Germany.
Next step was to find a cheap way back which we did with
Easyjet. We've never flew with them before and hope everything
works out well. It's just a return flight so if anything goes wrong
like bikes fail to make it on the plane or any damage we could deal
with it later.
Wednesday 27-04
A lot
has happened these past weeks which kept us quite busy to say the
least.
The worst was the passing away of Monique's dad which we still mourn and
will for some time still.
RIP † LJG Kohnen †
you will be missed.
It has been an emotional rollercoaster for Monique, her sister
Liselotte and the rest of the family.
For a time we were contemplating the cancelation our tour.
We have tried to keep our heads by staying busy with work around the
house and me comforting Monique during this difficult time.
I have managed to prepare the bike's and we did take a short day
ride of 60kms, (which did much good for Monique) but I still have to
micro adjust the gears a bit. For the rest all is well.
We will try and do a few more day rides during the coming weeks, not
so much for the equipment but for Monique.
She still needs time. It took a long while for me to get over my
dad's passing.
We still have concerns about flying with the bikes but the flights
are booked so there is no going back now.
There is only some final planning like places to stay (selecting
campsites along the way) for our tour but we still have over 4
weeks to plan this.
We have also moved up the day of departure, we are now leaving on
Tuesday 31 of May, this is very good as it adds a few more days to
reach Nice.
Monday
16-05
We
managed to cycle a couple of times since the passing of Monique's
dad but not really enough to make a difference in our
fitness level. They were just day rides. We fear that this is going
to be a tour with the least amount of training. I most likely have
to rearrange our itinerary a bit and add a couple of shorter days to
begin with.
It is now exactly 2 weeks before we're off and are looking foreword
to it.
There are a couple of things (equipment wise) that we need to look
into before we leave, apart from that we are set to go.
I'll try and update our equipment list on this website in the coming
two weeks, so check in once in a while and see what's new.
Monday
23-05
One
week and one day to go and the excitement is finally creeping up.
We've done some shopping of camping equipment that were damaged
during our last tour and a few other bits. We still need to get a
few more items before we leave.
Our original plan was to ride 90kms the first day but I've located a
camping only a few kms away from our route at about 50km distance in
case we're not up to it.
We just have so many things going on right now that we haven't
ridden any more, and probably wont before we leave, so hopefully the
first day goes smoothly.
Tuesday 31-05
Finally the day has come. As you might have noticed we've changed
the day again, we were supposed to be on the road today but due to
the weather we delayed our departure by one day.
Tomorrow were off to Nice. I don't know if I will update our website
from the road as the tour is very short.
I might upload a few pictures if I find the time.
Wish us luck and most of all good weather.
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