A Wheely Long Journey
  • Home
  • About Us
  • The Journey
  • A Wheely Long Blog
  • Equipment
  • Gallery
  • Contact

A Wheely Long Blog

Germany part 2: Cycling essentials, a bent back wheel and a family reunion

5/31/2016

3 Comments

 

Lou's blog:

Before setting off i spent about a year avidly searching the equipment pages of other peoples blogs to find out what they chose to pack. It got a little ridiculous. I compared Tom's bike blog to Al Humphrey's to Crazy guy on a bike and everything inbetween. I wanted to know how many pairs of socks, what make of water bottle, which colour shorts would make me peddal faster...When it comes to packing its as simple as one question - when you're faced with a 20degree hill made of gravel in forest in Germany will you wish you hadn't brought (insert item here).
​What i really needed to know was what would make the difference between enjoying and completing the trip or utter misery. So here's my list of things I'm happy fo push up a mountain based on my love of lists, hikes, this trip and field trips in South Sudan:

​1) A down coat - the first two weeks after i got my coat my vocab was essentially reduced to I-love-this-coat-I'm-literally-so-warm-right-now. It' warm, lightweight and packs down small. I got mine from Alpkit and a down sleeping bag from Rab and wouldn't consider going anywhere without them.

2) Padded shorts - see post about Brookes saddle.

3) Gloves - cycling isintense and puts strain on your knees and thighs but also wrists and palms as a lot of your weight is balanced there. A pair of gloves will help pad the area and ease the pressure.

​4) A flannel - Handy when you've just "slept" through a gale just below arctic circle in a tent which collapsed around 3am and its freezing outside and you're feeling lazy.

5) Spotify premium (other music sites probably exist too, or not, who knows) - I don't know about you but I get bored of my music about every three months and theres noo way I'm getting up that hill or onto another tiny UN plane without some music to keep me going.

Charlie's blog:

​The Rhine route has been beautiful and a perfect introduction to Germany but tomorrow we are heading away from the river towards Nuremberg. Judging from all the other times we have ventured away from the river I expect lots of up hill cycling that never go down again.

It has been an eventful few days, we had a lovely evening with Marcus and Elyane in Bad Krushnach breathing in the lovely healthly air. They gave us lots of tips on where to go over the next couple of days, beautiful towns to visit and spaghetti icecream to try. However unfortunately we didn't make any of that as a crazy cyclist knocked right into me and I ended up flat out in a crop field with a bent back wheel.
So while my bike was in the shop we had a couple of days in Mannheim. It was a shame we didn't make it to Spyer and Karlsruch but it was nice to relax in the sun and one campsite even had a lake to swim in (or if you are me, walk in up to your knees and decide it's too cold).

Once Charlie the bike was all fixed again we got a train back the way we came to Wallmerod. We had planned to spend a few days with our cousins and our mum, dad and gran also flew out to see us which was wonderful:) The original plan was to see them on route as we passed Wallmerod but we had cycled a lot faster than we expected and actually passed by nearly 2 weeks earlier than planned! So we kept cycling and got a train from Mannheim to Wallmerod. We will be getting the train back to Mannheim to pick up where we were tomorrow.
​
Picture
I'm so grateful to be able to see my family again and will now work on pursuading them to come for another visit in afew months!!
I've had a lovely few days relaxing, eating well, exploring Koblenz and Limburg and acting like real tourists instead of sweaty cyclists. Thank you so much Hilary and all the family for having us and for all of your help, everyone has been so supportive, it's been lovely seeing you all:)
Picture
Beer from Berlin! Tasted like applesours yum
3 Comments

A few days in Germany 

5/22/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
Charlies blog:
I'd heard a lot about the cycle path along the River Rhine in Germany (otherwise known as Eurovelo 15) but after the disaster that was the Trans Pennine Trail I was a bit apprehensive that this cycle path would be more misleading signs, gravel paths and dead end hills.

The first few days in Germany we followed roads to get from the Netherlands boarder to Cologne. The second night we camped by the Rhine and met a lovely lady called Erica (our first cycle tourist!!) who was cycling from Basel to Rotterdam. We had a great meal with her, swapped stories and she assured us that the signs were easy to follow. The next day however we were back on the road as we couldn't see how to get on to the Rhine cycle path.
Picture
This took us into Cologne where we spent a day (the Cathedral was impressive but apart from a nice wander around there's not much else to do there). It was leaving Cologne that we finally found the Rhine path and we've stuck to it ever since, despite our sat nav trying to lead us on to the road and up some very big hills - the brightside being that I think our fitness is improving, we definately wouldn't have been able to cycle up them a few weeks ago:)

We have been following the river Rhine for a few days now and it was just as I had hoped :) lovely smooth, flat cyclepaths right by the river, stunning views with castles up on the hills at almost every riverbend, it's made the cycling and navigating nice and easy too! And every campsite so far has been by the river, which helpfully makes them really easy to find!

The only disaster we've had is that one of our tent poles has given up the ghost and snapped. So the past few nights we have been improvising by tieing the porch bit up to a tree. Although it works well it does mean that our whole view is blocked by a tree and it makes getting in and out of the tent a bit tricky.
One man told me we had to practise putting up a tent obviously thinking that we thought that was how it was supposed to be haha!
Picture
We stopped in Koblenz which was a great little town where another river meets the Rhine. You can see where the two different waters meet as the two colours are so different. We stopped for a cable car tide and icecream before setting off that day :)

The weather has cheered up and we are back to tshirts and sunglasses, hopefully I'll be able to sort out the stupid tan lines on my arms!
1 Comment

Dear Holland, I think I love you

5/15/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
Since setting tyre in the Netherlands the weather has bebeen gorgeous, sunny, hot and on the most part not windy (apart from that one day, we don't talk about that day ). The houses are adorable and quaint and there is water mostly everywhere, it is like each individual house is on its own island, with a moat and sometimes even a drawbridge for the more dramatically inclined. It's been a wonderful first country to cycle through despite the many MANY people who have warned the weather won't last...but its just so hard to believe them when its so damn sunny!

We had a slight change of route to swing by Eindhoven to meet Lydia, my friend from school on HK who I've not seen for 18 years. I was really nervous before meeting her, I mean 18 years is a long time and what if I couldn't think of anything to say! I sat nervously on the steps of our hostel waiting for her to arrive, looking closely at every blond girl that passed by. But from the moment she cycled up to us I recognised her and it almost felt like the last 18 years hadn't happened and we had a lovely catch up. I'm really glad we made the stop and had the chance to talk about HK as we remember it before going back there for real at the end of this bike ride.

We're about to cross the border into germany and after 15 days on the road i thought I would make a list of all the things that i brought which it turns out,are unnecessary:

​1) 4 coats
2) 7 bike lights
3) 1 stove and cooking set which without a small but apparently essential nozzle, is useless.
4) More glasses cases than I have glasses


Not too bad...next blog will be all the thing which i couldn't live without on a bike tour.

​Lou xx
2 Comments

The Bikes of Holland

5/14/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
Charlie's blog:
​Everyone knows that the Netherlands is a cyclists dream, it's flat and perfect for pedalling and I'm serious when I say literally everyone rides a bike!

As well as the people you'd expect to see on bikes, teenagers, students and kids, I've also seen a man in a suit holding a briefcase, a mum with three kids in a box attached to the front doing the school run, kids on roller blades hanging onto the back of their parents bike for some speed, elderly couples doing their shopping, groups of old women out fir a weekend trip and, my favourite, a girl in a pencil skirt waiting at the lights, who wpuld run and jump onto the back of her boyfriends bike everything he set off again!

To handle this many cyclists the Dutch have had to make sure that their road infrastructure is top notch to avoid accidents. Which is fantastic really but it does make a rather confusing array of new rules for a tourist to get used to.

The first surprising thing I had to get used to was that scooters (and sometimes actual cars) are also allowed on the bike lanes. That was a surprise the fist time I was over taken by a man on a scooter speeding by!

The second was that there are bike paths literally everywhere, if you're not on a bike path then you probably shouldn't be there. It is really wonderful how bike friendly the whole of Holland is, such a nice difference to cycling in Manchester where you were on edge every moment.

The third thing to get used to is just how to cross roads safely, on a bike and on foot.
My Mum warned us to always check both ways before crossing a road as you obviously can't hear bikes coming - however I've noticed that in Amsterdam all the bikes have their own little quirks and personalities. Everyone's bike seems to make some sort of noise, some would whirr as they go by, others a more obvious clattering that makes me think they really should get it serviced, others have a bell that tinkles every time they go over a bump. Overall there is a great noise of clicking, wizzing, clattering, ringing and whirring that should alert us to a bikes proximity, unfortunately it doesn't help at all and there were still many near collisions, especially in Amsterdam!

Not only do they have the red, yellow and green lights for the cars, they also have the expected pedestrian crossing red and green man, but they also have a red and green light for bicycles. The intention is great but what it makes for is a dazzle of lights and colours leaving me not knowing where to look. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you do it is great system that is much safer for cyclists.

I've really enjoyed cycling in Holland and will be sad to leave tomorrow for Germany. But at the same time super excited for a new country:)
2 Comments

Week 1: Trans Pennine Trail - a love/hate relationship

5/8/2016

6 Comments

 
Picture
Lou's blog:
​
​To begin, begin.

They say the start of any journey, expedition, move or change is the hardest, that's why Al H
umphreys' advice is just to start. Simple. Start small, start big, but just start.
As Charlie and I cycled away from home I was so excited, disbelieving and also quite scared...partly because my fully laden bike was wobbling and creaking under the weight and I was about to turn onto a main road, but also partly because I was scared about the unknown that lay ahead.

The first day we cycled from our home in Hartford to Didsbury. The Trans-Pennine Trail (TPT) runs from coast to coast, Liverpool to Hull and we would follow this for the next 5 days. In Didsbury we stayed with Charlie's old housemates who cooked a delicious veggie meal and let me roll around on their foam rollers to ease my achy legs.
The next day was 25 miles to a campsite in the Pennines and Charlie the bike chose an idyllic place to breakdown so mum and dad drove over to fix it. The guy who ran the campsite gave us a good luck charm which is now hanging off my pannier! :)
Day three involved crossing the beautiful, wild and peaky Peak District. After a steep incline and an accidental encounter with the lorries of the Woodhead pass we got back on the TPT and the countryside melted into rolling green hills and shady woodland! At the next campsite we met a lovely couple, I wish we could have stayed for their offer of coffee the next morning but we had to be off as that day we had to cycle 44 MILES!

​That's right, 44 miles in one day, practically double the distance we had ever cycled before!!! (Not including that time we did the Manchester 100 mile bike ride for the Christie (Charlie will appreciate this name drop) when I actually only made it 85 miles before being picked up by the stragglers truck!). We set of and the first half was along the TPT (which I love and Charlie hates), we lunched in Doncaster and then essentially followed the A18 the rest of the way...this is not a nice road, it has insane head/cross winds and literally goes on forever! Sometimes I think I'm going to wake up and still be on that monotonous, dull stretch of road. Give me the TPT any day!
We rocked up at the BnB in Scunthorpe and I stood with the bikes on the street while Charlie went to check-in. Those 10 minutes I was outside were more dodgy than my whole 18 months in South Sudan! Once inside we ordered chinese delivery and my fortune cookie said a romantic encounter was on its way...that's fine as long as they like smelly, makeup-less and so tired that each day I fall asleep by 9pm! It's like having curfew again!

​So, we've begun. 5 days ago in Hartford we peddaled away and it was emotional and scary and exhilirating and it still doesn't feel real. We're now on the ferry heading for the Netherlands and this also feels like the beginning - our first new country. None of this would have been possible without mum and dad who have been wonderful every step of the way and brought us up so we can even attempt something like this <3
2 years of planning
140 miles down
1 ferry
Hello Europe, it's me, I've been wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet?

Louise x
Charlie's blog:
​
On Monday 2nd May we set off on our adventure! After planning to leave our home in Hartford, Cheshire at midday we left promptly at ten to three with two fully loaded bikes and a rough idea of how to get to Manchester, the first stop on our trip.

5 hours later we rolled up to my old house for a night of shepards pie and Game of Thrones (happy coinsidence honest!) Thanks guys for a great first evening:)

Over the next 5 days we pedalled across England heading East along the Trans Pennine Trail over the Peak District. It was day 2 and 5 miles from our first Peak District campsite (which was gorgeous btw, I highly recommend the Crowden Camping and Caravanning site, and not only because it is the only one along the whole of the Trans Pennine Trail!) that my gears decided to spontaneously combust. After trying to fix them myself (making them worse in the process) and finding that there were no bike shops near by we decided to call Dad who then drove over to the Peak District with Mum to come to my rescue. Dad got it working againbut for you people in the know, the chain was still rubbing on the derailer and I didnt dare move into first gear in case it got stuck there again!

The next day I cycled a extra 10 miles :'( to the nearest Halfords for them to check it out only for the extremely unhelpful man to tell me it was broken. Cue another call home and a new plan. Mum and Dad would meet us in Hull before we got the ferry with a new derailer and the camping stove ordered and hadnt arrived before we left.

It is now Friday evening and we are sat on the ferry on our way to Rotterdam after spending a lovely afternoon with the fam while Dad installed the new/stolen-from-Dads-old-bike derailer.
Hopefully that is all the repairs done and we'll have a smooth ride going forward... touch wood!

In other news, the Trans Pennine Trail sucks! It has an annoying habbit of pointing you in the wrong direction and then leaving you without any signs in the middle of nowhere, at an impassable gate or down a very steep set of stairs that yyou now have to go back up, wondering where it all went wrong.

Next stop Amsterdam!

Charlie x x
Picture
leaving home with our bikes, it was a very sad but excuting moment
ready to board the ferry to Rotterdam!
on the Trans Pennine Trail why og
Why oh why do they put these annoying steps in the way!!
We thouraghly considered bringing a shrubbery along with us, you know, just in case... :)
The Peak District
First night camoing in Crowden
Lunch on the Trans Pennine Trail
Lou on tge Trans Pennine Trail
Nice views but awful paths!
First view if the Humber bridge, you can just see it there in the distance
Lots of beautiful yellow flowers
6 Comments

    Categories

    All
    Blog
    Cycling
    How To...

    A Wheely Long Journey Blog

    Charlie and Lou are twins from Cheshire, UK on a mission to cycle back to their childhood home in Hong Kong.

    Archives

    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Instagram @awheelylongjourney

    Categories

    All
    Blog
    Cycling
    How To...

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About Us
  • The Journey
  • A Wheely Long Blog
  • Equipment
  • Gallery
  • Contact