Quick update

Hello folks...hope you all had a nice Christmas (or other relevant holiday). Sorry for the lack of posting...I kept putting it off thinking I had so much time here in Athens and now the day of departure is nigh. I will try to tell you a bit more about my adventures in Athens when I get back in front of a computer, for right now Chris needs to use the web. Tomorrow morning I will struggle to get my boxed bike and all my camping gear to the airport and fly to Doha, Qatar as a connector to Singapore. When I arrive in Singapore on Thursday Jenelle's mother is going to meet me at the airport. I am so excited to begin another leg of the journey, but a bit sad that I am "cheating" to get there. Okay, we'll talk about this more when I have a longer post...just wanted to let you all know my plans.

Happy Holidays

Season's Greetings from Patras, Greece. Ive been spending a restful weekend here with my wonderful host Myrto. Tomorrow morning I will head out into the heart of the Peloponnese. Plan to check out some underground lakes tomorrow, head on to Sparta and Mystra the next day and then work down to the coastal castles of Monemvassia and Nafpoli. Finally a trip past the ampitheatre in Epidurus before arriving in Athens sometime after Christmas. Spending New Year's in Athens I believe and then have to decide whether to take a ferry to Turkey and continue south through Syria, Jordan and Egypt or alternatively get a flight from Athens to Singapore and start riding northwards to meet up with Dan in Thailand around the beginning of Feburary. As you can see, nothing is certain yet. I hope you all are having wonderful holidays and Ill do my best to update you in the next few days, but I have a feeling Christmas dinner might be canned tuna in the woods!

Choose a direction

So Im sitting here in an internet cafe in Ioannina Greece trying to decide my next steps and it seems like a totally pointless exercise. Things change so often out here...I could barely decide whether to ride today or just take a rest. Resting is expensive when hotels are running 30 euros a night, but it is pouring outside and this is a big enough city that I should be able to accomplish a few goals (research, mail some postcards, go to a bike shop). Back to the point, Im trying to figure out where to go next. Haven't managed to meet up with Richard and Heba (shiftingears.net) yet, they are a day or two behind me. It would be cool to ride with them, but I dont know if our plans are in sync. Heba is flying out of Athens for home supposedly and Richard wants to go on down towards Beirut. I would be willing to go along with him, but the weather is quickly deteriorating- the forecast is cold rain for the next week solid in most cities I look up. Not that I was expecting the trip to be all sunshine and flowers and puppy dogs, but I dont see the point in riding down that way really. Id be much more excited to go ahead and get into Southeast Asia where a friend is supposed to be meeting me sometime after new years.
As you can see, Im kind of all over the place on this. I suppose the only thing to do is what I have been doing: take it one day at a time. Tomorrow Ill be leaving towards Patras. From there I will decide whether to do a week long loop of the Pelopennese or to just go directly on to Athens. Ill be sure to keep you all posted...keep your fingers crossed for a break in the weather so I can get some decent photos!

Albanian Staircase

Well, I tried. I really tried. I thought "well, maybe the scenery makes up for the crappy roads". But then the scenery was covered with trash. "Well, maybe the food makes up for the trashed scenery". But the food has literally made me sick (I blame some late-night sweets that had probably been out all day). "Okay, but surely the people will impress me with their kindness". Im still on the line about this one. Like almost anywhere, the people range from bending over backwards for me, simply curious or nonplussed. No overly negative reactions yet, but just not feeling all that welcomed. "Alright, but surely something is nice about Albania?". I guess if there is one upside to this, its been that the place is very cheap. Not breaking the bank on being here!
Anyways...putting the last 3 miserable days on the freezing rain-soaked, smog-filled highway (including a stint of 70km with food poisoning) aside, Im happy to be moving on to Greece tomorrow. If all goes to plan, I should arrive in Ionania tomorrow evening. Then I hope to meet up with some potential riding partners before heading down towards Athens. Perhaps swinging off to Pelopennese (ala Cary Barber's instructions).
I had all kinds of deep thoughts and reflections for you folks after some pretty miserable riding, but they seem to have vanished underneath my exhaustion and general malaise. Perhaps another time. Im off to try a second attempt at regional food, this time hopefully minus the gut-wrenching effects tomorrow AM!

Albania: Let's not rush to conclusions!

Beautiful riding today as I left Montenegro. Two brief climbs and then a glorious cruise through a mountain valley put me right into Albania. And man....when you get into Albania, you get IN to Albania. Im trying not to be judgmental yet, but from the get-go there were pillboxes in front yards, people walking various livestock in places one should not walk livestock, shantytowns and children asking me for 1 euro per high-five. Anyways, since my confidence wasnt quite at fullspeed with this country and its people yet, I opted to stay in a hotel in the relatively - still saw an old lady shepherding a pig on the main draw - civilized town of Lezhe. Set me back a pretty penny, but the peace of mind is worth it on my first night here. Already starting to feel at home...just got to figure out this whole old leks/ new leks thing and maybe learn a word or two. Traveling becomes REALLY intense when you know ZERO local language. No guidebook? No problems! Shyeah...right!
Spent a good part of today chasing the potential phantoms of a guy/girl duo that was reported to be ahead of me. Saw no sign of them, so I dont know whether I passed them back in Bar or what. Hoping to sync up with them soon though...would be the first bike tourers Ive met in 13 countries and 4 months! Would be stellar to have some partners for southward adventures. Maybe they have some spare warm clothes?
Tomorrow I will try to crank out about 90km to either Durres or Tirane. Durres is the better direction for riding ease, Tirane is the better direction for sightseeing and finding a hostel. Decisions decisions. The hostel thing would be nice, but I saw some pretty keen looking vacant buildings today. It seems like the modus operandi here is to get something about 75-90% built, then just abandon it.
Okay, out to rub elbows with the locals. Or just sit in my hotel room watching crappy American movies on pirated cable television. You know its a classy joint when the scrambler cuts out every 20 minutes. Take care out there and here's to the good weather holding out! Cheers!

More like Monte Rain-o

So I had a pretty big mental debate yesterday on whether to continue with my plan to climb up Mount Lovcen or to just go around and down the coast. I knew the weather would be bad, and I knew it would be worse in the mountains, but I couldnt resist the urge to see what all the hype was about. Quite the climb it was...probably the most difficult so far. Twenty one hairpin turns in the cold rain. The Bay of Kotor is certainly beautiful and Im more than a bit peeved that I arrived in such crappy weather. As nice as the scenery is Im sure it would be more mindblowing in the sunshine. This whole area would be much better in one of the "shoulder" tourist seasons, when the crowds are thinner but restaurants are actually open and the weather isnt cold rain.

On the whole Ive enjoyed Montenegro. I took a detour on the way here to pass through the mountains of Bosnia Hercegovina as well. That makes this country number 12! I should be in Albania, number 13, by tomorrow evening. So far the people have been pretty friendly...lots of friendly honks and waves, no close encounters with traffic really. I can certainly see why this would be a very hard area to bike tour if you arent comfortable with narrow, high, no-barrier, twisty, heavy traffic roads. But Im fine with that.

Going to head a bit south of where I am (Petrovac) to camp for the night and hope I dont get hit with freezing wind and rain. Tomorrow I will be heading over the border to Albania. No clue what to expect down there...this will be the first true completely out there adventure. I dont even know what currency they use! Hopefully I can find an internet cafe while Im in Albania, but I expect to be in Greece by next Tuesday or Wednesday and am fairly confident to find internet access there. Until then, scope the pics and let me know what you think!

Oh, to John- I havent purged any of your comments! I know what you mean about the history in this region being crazy...Ive learned alot in the last week and a half or so and am continually amazed at the layers of history here. Where are you at? Hope you are well...its a shame there is no blog for me to check on...hahaha

Note- couldnt get all the pics up or caption them...enjoy those for now...will try again soon!

To the Black Mountain!

Well, my time in Dubrovnik was wonderful, as expected. Everyone says how beautiful the city is and I figured it was overstatement but I was wrong. It really is an amazing place filled with fascinating history and extremely friendly locals. I was aided by an excellent man who housed me in his computer shop (hearkens back to my nerd days!) and his friend even gave me a personal tour of the city. Thanks Dubo and Antonija! There are plenty of photos and a few videos updated to let you see what Im talking about.
Today (in fact, as soon as I finish this entry) I am heading to Montenegro, country number 10. The Bay of Kotor is supposedly stunning, so I look forward to it. The weather seems pretty fair; a bit chilly, but that is good for cycling. Rain is in the forecast later this week...the worst kind too- just above freezing temperature! We will see how that goes. Thanks again to all the folks with words of encouragement. It is extremely uplifting to know that you all are traveling along with me. Another big thanks goes out to my Nana and Pap for a generous donation. Not only will that help keep me fat (or at least fed) and happy on the road, but it puts the fundraising up to the first bicycle purchased for World Bicycle Relief! YAAAAY.
Anyways, going to go spend the rest of my kuna on groceries (Montenegro is back on the euro). Dont know the internet situation down in those parts, but Ill do my best to check in before heading into Albania near the end of this week. Until then, keep the pedals spinning (metaphorically speaking for most of you!).
Bobo the Hobo

Time to Split

HAHAHAH! That is so funny. Monday was probably one of the most brutal riding days I have ever had. Knock on wood. The headwinds pushed on the whole way down to Split and the only way I managed to push myself to the city was because I knew if I didnt make it, I would be sleeping in the woods and rain was certain. By the end of the day I was just shouting outloud like a crazy person as I did the last little stretch into Split.

Split is an amazing city...certainly one of my favorites of the trip so far. It was established as the Roman emperor Diocletian's vacation home because he was from Dalmatia. The original palace is what forms the core of the city and it is so amazing to wander through the narrow little alleyways that are over 1200 years old. The palace has been used continuosly ever since it was built and has a unique aspect of being both an ancient ruin and a modern day commercial and residential building.

Split has also done wonders for reinvigorating my will. Ive gone ahead and splurged on staying in a hostel for the last 2 nights and talking with other travelers is always bolstering. Also just being able to access the web and hear the words of encouragement from people like Mr. Freeman, Mama Clites and all the others does alot to reinforce my mentality. I feel ready to tackle the next section down to Dubrovnik, just have to figure out if I will ride on the mainland or use ferries to explore some of the islands as I ride south!

I believe Ive found a couchsurfing host for tonight, but havent heard from him yet. Since it rained all day yesterday I plan to explore the city in more detail with him this afternoon. Once I have those pics and videos Ill post them for your viewing pleasure. In the meantime Im going to go grab some food. Take care and stay tuned!

Headwinds are exhausting

Trying to make my way from Zadar to Split today, but the headwind is killing me. Since I lost my computer in Italy, I have no way of knowing just how slow Im going, but I feel like it is not a great pace. Still have about 75 KM to go, so I should be able to make it before darkness falls around 430 or 5 PM. Hope to hit a hostel in Split tonight and maybe stay over tomorrow as well, but have another 250 KM from Split to Dubrovnik, so I cant wait around too long. The other option is to get a ferry from Split down to Dubrovnik, but it looks like the next one wont come until Saturday and I cant afford lodging in Split that many nights. The other factor is that they are calling for rain the next couple days, which is really not fun. It isnt quite so cold that I cant battle the rain, but Id prefer not to. Really looks like Im going to be fighting my way all the way to Athens. God knows what those mountains in Monte Negro and Greece have in store for me!
The hardest part of the trip isnt really the riding or physical component at all though. The mental battle is much tougher, and now that I am temporarily without another soul to suffer alongside, its even worse. In any case, the challenges of riding during the day keep my mind off of it, but the night is when it really settles in. I have to be in camp and setup by darkness, which is usually around 5 PM. Then I have nothing to do but think far too much until I can go to bed about 8 or 9 PM. If I go to bed much earlier than this, I cannot sleep until it is time to wake up at 630 or 7am. Arrrgh.
Anyways, Im going to go top off the H2O supplies and try to beat the rain to Split. Ill check in from there later tonight or tomorrow. Cheers!

Killin time in Mali Losinj

As it turns out, Igor's info was slightly off. There was no ferry to Zadar on Thursday, so I had arrived a day early unintentionally. I figured I was going to have to sleep in the woods outside of town, but after a rousing pub session (of which I understood little to none of what was being said) I was housed for the night by an older Croatian gentleman. I still dont know what his name was, what he kept whispering to me as we crept around the building he lived in or why we had to tiptoe around..? Then he wakes me up at 530 because he has to go to work, so I end up sitting on a park bench and looking homeless. Oh...that is right, I AM homeless. I even bought a big fat permanent marker this morning and plan on hunting down some cardboard this afternoon to make a sign. Im thinking this sounds good: Attempting to ride this bicycle around the world. Ask me any question- 5 kuna!
Ill keep you updated on how being a croatian panhandler works. I figure its not really panhandling since Im going to do my best to answer the questions, no matter what subject they are on. I will probably fabricate the bits of science that I dont remember, and surely if it is a question on business, politics, law, philosophy....well, I guess Ill be making up alot of the answers. But the sign doesnt say I have true answers!
Anyways, the ferry doesnt leave here until 4 PM and it is a roughly 7 hour ride. That puts me into Zadar about 15 minutes before the silent party starts at 11. Sure hope I can get a pair of headphones and the hostel doesnt have a lockout. Check out the venue here.
Okay, Ill drop you another note when I get to some internet action...probably tomorrow afternoon! Happy Thanksgiving once again...mine was lacking turkey, but did involve some cold chicken and hard boiled eggs with a man I did not understand at all.

And then there was one...

Today is a sad day. John and I must part ways. He has decided to go to Spain with his girlfriend after they spend Christmas in Bosnia. I am not quite prepared for this. I dont think Ive ever spent 3 months in the exclusive company of one person, so I expect the seperation to be a bit strange and difficult. I will probably start holding lengthy conversations with my beard.
Rather than spend all of January, Feburary and part of March alone here in Croatia I am going to move on southwards and maybe a bit east. The plan is very much a work in progress, but the rough idea is to go to Athens, Istanbul or Cairo (budget, weather and terrain being the determining factors). From one of these major hubs I should be able to get a relatively cheap one way flight. I have to decide where to.
Bangkok- warm. beaches. cheap. From here I can ride Cambodia (Angkor Wat!), Vietnam (real Pho!) and maybe get some boats to do Phillipines, Malaysia, Indonesia...who knows? Then I have to get a flight home, probably from Bangkok once again.
Buenos Aires- it is summer down there. I can ride to Patagonia and the Amazon. Pretty damn cheap too. Only drawback is the flight is more expensive, so I would have to ride all the way north? Not sure if I have the budget for that, but maybe I can find work.
Los Angeles/Seattle/ West Coast- not really a good option at all right now, because of the weather. The only major plus is that I would be back on the correct continent with plenty of money to ride on.
So my ideal plan, if everything works out alright, would be to ride to Athens, Istanbul and then down to Cairo. From Cairo I would fly to Bangkok, ride SE Asia and then fly to South America and ride north. This would let me accomplish 6 continents, albeit cheating slightly.
Anyways, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thanksgiving. John and I are going to have our parting meal/Thanksgiving at our favorite restaurant here in Cres. I may not get to eat any turkey, but perhaps I will soon be IN Turkey! HAHAHAHHA.
Hope that answers your questions Mom and DJ Wicky Wick. Ill check in from Zadar after I catch the ferry tomorrow. They have a cool thing called the Sea Organ, Ill tell you all about it!

Super Quick Update

Hey folks...only 6 minutes until the library closes. Just wanted to let you all know that I am still safe, alive and relatively happy here in Croatia. As for news, I believe I will be moving on very soon to try and hit Athens, Istanbul or Cairo in the next two months. From there my rough plan is to find a boat or plane to Bangkok, Buenos Aires or Los Angeles. More details and explanations for this coming soon.

To settle or not?

Welcome to another episode of Bobo the Hobo's neverending dilemmas. Let's bring you up to speed:
John and I have been here on the island of Cres for 3 weeks now. We are pretty well settled in, with a rough daily routine (get up at 7, work 4 hours, lunch, work 2 hours, dinner, bed by 9 out of boredom). Our house is still nowhere near complete with the stairs to the second floor missing, the fridge broken, the water working intermittenly and no heat or fireplace installed. But it is more than a hammock in the woods! Life here isnt exactly rough...we arent freezing (yet) and we have food (although it is somewhat lackluster...mainly tuna, rice, pasta and some greens from the garden). We get a hot shower on most days and have finally established a work schedule of sorts with Igor, which means we get one day off a week.
All that being said, Im starting to lose my mind a little. It is disconcerting that less than a month into my supposed 4 or 5 month stay here Im already antsy. I definately have an itch to get back in the saddle (is this going to be a permanent affliction? It is the same wanderlust that routed me from a rather comfortable life in Chapel Hill- Carrboro). I dont know whether I should push on southward and eastward or jsut suck it up and try to stay put until the warm weather returns to Croatia. One thing is certain: it will be much harder to get through to warmer climates as winter comes in stronger and stronger here (December, January and Feburary). My rough plan is to go south into Serbia and Montenegro then east through Bulgaria to Turkey. Originally I would ride across the north side of Turkey, but if the weather is colder the Turquoise Coast on the south side would be a better choice. From Turkey, things become very tricky. I can try to go through Armenia and Azerbaijan then get a ferry to Turkmenistan and onwards through the Stan states into China and finally down through Nepal to arrive in India. A quicker option would be to go through Iran into Pakistan and on into India. The trick to either route is how do i get the damn visas! Iran will only give me a transit visa, and then only with a tour guide (or a tour company vouchign for me). The Stan brothers are pretty much the same; visas are hard to get and dependent on having exact itineraries or tour guides. The last option is to admit defeat on that front and head back through Europe or down to Africa. Im really baffled as to what to do. I want to see Asia and South America so badly, but it seems so much easier to double back and get a flight from Europe or Africa to South America.
Logisitics aside, the trip is pretty easy going. I really do love life on the road. You wake up, mount up and head out. No concerns about working for anyone or following rules and regulations. Just ride your bike.
Im going to post some new pics and a few videos today too. Be sure to check out the one of John in a gigantic wine barrel. This is one of Igor's crazy projects. We had to retrieve this huge wine cask from a friend's winery, which involved John climbing inside to secure the rings onto it so it wouldn't collapse on the way back. This barrel dwarfs Igor's truck. You havent lived until you are racing down a windy Croatian road at breakneck speeds with a barrel the size of a VW Bug strapped onto your truck, all in hopes of making the last ferry to your deserted island home (which only happens because the crazy Croat at the wheel is calling his friend and asking him to hold the boat, leaving only one hand to shift and steer). Awesome. At least the 160-proof brandy you had back at the winery dulls your sense of caution.
Little jobs like that (or power-hammering your way through 5 feet of solid rock) are what John and I have been up to for the last three weeks. Doesnt leave a whole lot of time for recreation, but my spirits have been lifted by an offer to go scuba diving soon from one of Igor's friends. They assure me that 15 degree water is just fine with a wetsuit (well, Vladko says its fine, Robbie says its too damn cold). I dont care, Ill try anything once! The last time I went diving was in the Keys on a sunny spring day, so doing a night dive off a Croatian island in November seems like logical progression.
Okay folks....I think that is enough of a deluge of things to ponder for now. If youve got any suggestions on whether I should stay or go, or how I should go, or whatnot, please let me know. Especially if any of you know about these visas!
Also, huge props go out to the Gills for a nice donation to keep the motivation up right when it seems to be flagging a bit. We've almost gathered enough to buy our first bike for WBR, so keep em coming folks!

Delay on updates

Hey folks...just wanted to let you know I still havent been able to get to a stronger internet connection and do a thorough update. I thought it would happen last Saturday, then that got pushed to last Monday and then Wednesday and now we're looking at this Friday (2 weeks later, ugh). In any case Im supposed to have the day off on Friday so I can go to the big city and give you all some stories, pics and an entertaining video involving John being sealed inside a wine barrel (dont worry, hes still alive. last i checked at least).
Big thanks go out to Momma for paying my medical bill (the Bura is a freeying Siberian wind, by the way). Also huge thanks to brother Matt and fighterjet Zak for the donations. I think the extra help should assist in getting the proper visas come springtime. Ill also try to figure out how to show you how much money we have raised for WBR soon. Until Friday, keep it real. But not too real.

Part of the system again

Happy Birthday Troy.
I am now part of the consumer-capitalist machine again; I got a cellphone yesterday, so if you want to skype me i think it would cost you like .45 a minute or something...check it out on their site. The number is +385955977774 i believe. I dont expect you all to pay and call me, but if you are dying to hear my voice it is your best bet. I dont know if I will figure out a way to skype from here. Hopefully in the next days I will have a chance to get on better internet and there will be a longer blogpost as well as new videos and pics. Trying to keep warm and stay out of the Bura, so Im going to go bundle up and read!

Croatian Update!

Hello folks! Kind of went through a blog black-out there...busy getting ourselves to Croatia and onto the island. Finally feeling a bit more settled in at our new home in the small hamlet of Filozici. Our home is a nice, partially restored traditional two story with a big cellar. The second floor has yet to be finished as well as the fireplace. I hope we get that done soon, since winter will be moving in! You can see pictures in the Croatia folder, as well as a slew of Italy pictures. We have been helping Igor get ready for the winter; there is a ton to do. Chopping wood, prepping garden beds, distilling (and sampling!) brandy. Im writing you from the library of Grad Cres, the main city. It is about 26km from the place where we live. Not looking forward to the ride back, since 10km is straight uphill and the sun is setting!
It is not nearly as cold as I thought it would be. This is good, because I dont like being cold. It is also bad because it means we could have set our sights further and ridden more before winter settled in. At any rate, it looks like we will probably be here in Cres until things warm up in March. Seems silly to spend 5 months off the bike but I dont really know any other way to manage it. Hopefully the downtime will give me time to sort out the proper path to Asia and get the visas in the works. I am EXTREMELY relieved to know there is relatively close and cheap internet access. I was optimistic about making some income when I heard there was a griffon vulture conservation center neardby (finally put my biology degree to use?) but today I went by there and they are closing for the winter! Oh well...perhaps I can find a kitchen job or something here in the city, but prospects are looking dim. Going to have to brainstorm other ideas to increase the income. Or, as Benji would say, get multiple streams of income. Anyways, I want to go grab a drink and some dinner before it gets too dark and cold for riding home, so I must sign off! Plenty of new pictures for you to browse through, but you may want to wait until this weekend; I should have them captioned by then. Some of them definately will not make sense without captions.
I need to send out a few thanks though. Big thanks to the Cortis for hosting us and putting up with my shenanigans. Also a big thanks goes out to Brandy and Jacob, my first official donors! I will be sending part of it on towards World Bicycle Relief and hopefully I can figure out a graphic or a way to link it up and show you how much progress we have made. I think every $110 buys one bike. In anycase, if those two slackers (well, jake at least) could pitch in to keep the ride going and spread the bicycle love, Im sure some of you out there can spare a few bucks!
Okay, thats enough ramblin for now. Hope to be speaking through the interwebs again very shortly. Cheers! (Or, in Croatian, Jivili!)

Firenze and on

Phew. Quite a lot has been going on since i last wrote. We left Recco, visited the Cinque Terre and came on down to visit Benji in Firenze. Cinque Terre was a real adventure in itself, involving us poaching a campsite in an olive grove on a mountainside the first night. The next night we stayed in a very nice hostel ($$$) and met a real cool guy from New Jersey, Jimmy. Jimmy is a real blast and promised to name some hotdogs after John and I when he opens up his restaurant. Sounds very cool, but I have to wait to release the info about it until he approves! It was so neat that we met him in Cinque Terre last week and got to meet back up with him here in Firenze.
We spent a couple days with Benji and his parents; it was fabulous. We ate like kings and got to sleep in real beds and everything. Visited the local fair (felt like I was back in Raleigh!) and had drinks poured down our throats by Benjis cousin, Marco. He likes to call us his "little puppies". Tonight we will probably hangout one more time in Firenze (if we are still allowed in the hostel....). We ate lunch at The Oil Shoppe by recommendation of Julia and Jimmy. One of the guys who works there was excited about our trip and invited us to hang out with him and his friends tonight. Never pass up an offer from a local!
Tomorrow it will be back to San Casciano to visit the Cortis one more time and collect our belongings. Then it is onward to Rimini to visit the Italian goddess Claudia (my favorite girl of the trip so far...she was brave enough to ride on my rear rack all day!) and catch a boat to Croatia. We have just found out we got jobs at a small island in Croatia working on a farm. Sounds like there is alot of work to do before the winter settles in!
The hard part about this blog is I have too many stories to sit down and write them all. I guess if you want the real scoop you have to come visit me or wait to see if I return home! Anyways, Im trying to multitask too hard so Im going to call this post a wrap and get on to finding a ferry, making phone calls, etc. Until I get a chance to sit down and give you guys the pics and videos and a more thorough post, take care and keep reading. I really appreciate the comments and hope I can get the donations thing setup soon so we can start contributing to WBR. Ciao!

Breathe in, breathe out

Mmmmm. Italy. Definately my favorite country so far. Warm weather, warm people, warm focaccia. My goodness the focaccia. Anyways, I am writing to you fine folks from the villa in Recco where I have had the good fortune to spend the last 2 days. John and I had stopped into a cafe here for a bite to eat and a beer while dodging some rainy weather Saturday. While we were munching away we got to talking to a nearby lady. Mary is part English, but has lived in the area on and off for 30 years. She asked about where we stay and we told her the sad story that we usually are confined to dodgy parks and shady wilderness. Mary had the kindness to invite us to stay with her if we would like. Although we had only gone probably 20 km from Genova, we couldnt pass the offer up (i mean, come on...how often will this happen). Hung out for the rest of the afternoon and last evening went out to check the night scene. John was tired so I struck out alone. Gangs of hooligans were hanging around various dark corners of the city, some couples tangled up along the water (knowing well they could never do this at home). I was surprised to see so many young people when a larger city like Genova is only a hop and skip away. Anyways, I had a beer in one bar which seemed an older clientele, so I wandered around the corner to another. This one was much more my scene, with more drafts to choose from and a hilarious amount of underage people up to antics. After a little liquid courage I sat down at a nearby table and let out my meek request of "parlay inglezzi". Italians seem a bit timid to try out their English at first, but before long we were "making brendezis" left and right. Had a great night at Il Fonda and came back to Mary's. Had to climb over the gate because my fog prevented me from finding the latch. Proceeded to walk into Mary's room searching for the bathroom. She screamed, I screamed, I closed the door.
We both had a good laugh about that this morning and then Mary, John and I were joined by Mary's friend Frank for some lunch. Of course lunch ended about 5 PM and was followed by a rousing jam session (check out the video). I decided to go for a dip in the sea, so John and I headed down. After about an hour the other two joined us and we all went to the next town over, Sori. We had a wonderful time at a cafe restaurant and made many more friends here in Recco and Sori.
Tomorrow we head out for the Cinque Terres and then onward to Pisa and Firenze. I am very excited, but will definately be coming back to spend some time with these folks as soon as I can. The trip has been excellent so far, with even the setbacks (aka my shoulder) turning into opportunities to make better friends. I look forward to each day of travel, rather than dreading waking up and going through the machinations of work and living in a stable place. That being said, I sure do miss having that stability sometimes. It sweetens the few moments where I get to sit on a chair in a house and listen to music or write to you folks. And man do I miss having the ability to say "im hungry. I will go to carrburritos and fix that". Now it is more like "Im hungry. Nothing I can do will end this hunger, so I will just forget it". Fix it or forget it. Hunger aside, I think the hardest part of the trip so far is not quite homesickness, but what I would like to coin the term for; " Homiesickness". This is the state of missing ones' homies. If I could bring all the people I cherish so much to Recco, I would stop riding right away. But then again, the point of the travel is to keep things changing, so I am getting pumped up for visiting Benji, finishing Italy and starting the Croatia endeavor. We are not nearly ready for it, so I will be doing some research in my free time hanging with Ben. Must sort out visas etc. Then who knows how we get from here to Asia. It is way beyond me for now, but dont despair Wilds and Bethanne...Im still coming!
I really hope that you guys are enjoying the postings, pics and videos. I hear from some of you on a semi-frequent basis, but would love to hear from more. Post some comments, drop me an email or better yet your address and Ill send a post card. I miss you all very much and want to do my best to stay in tune and in touch. Also, for anyone feeling particularly saucy, come on over and join us for some riding!
Soon I will be figuring out how to make a donations button. The funds will help me keep riding, but 25% will also go to the charity World Bicycle Relief. They strive to provide bicycles to communities worldwide which can benefit from the amazing power of that personal mobility provides. It is super cool and can actually change lives in a way that I dont think anything else can. I plan to make some business cards in Florence and use those as a way to get people to come check out the website and hopefully get some more bikes out there.
K, I think that is about enough for now. Hobohighlander overandout.

Travel is a vanishing act...

My apologies to any readers that were left hanging-on after that last post for the supposed follow up. Im afraid the deep philosophical post will have to be delayed for a few more days as I tend to more pressing matters. Namely, trying to organize a shipment of parts to come on the plane with Benji so we can redo our drivetrains when we meet up with him. Right now we are in Lecco, north of Milan. Plan to head for the beach over the next days and then hop over to Firenze to meet up with Benji at the start of next week.
Also, as Courtney mentioned in the comments, I will be working on setting up a way for you folks to donate a little bit to the ride and also at the same time Ill be setting it up to direct some funds towards World Bicycle Relief.

Alas, I must let John have a chance to contact those dear to him and Ill stare at the map and try to figure out where we can sleep tonight. Hopefully we can find a couchsurfer soon and I can get a more thorough update. Until then, keep the pedals of life spinning!

P.S. Lake Como is pretty nice.

Swiss Pie

Where to start? A little lapse to the blog mainly because Ive been too lazy to update it, not because I havent been around computers. Been doing alot more couchsurfing in Switzerland, to great benefit. I hope we can keep it up through Italy. So Ill give you a recap from where I think I left off. I believe it was last Friday, leaving Basel.

Friday the 25th- Hung out in Basel until very late, about 5 PM. We only had to go maybe 50 km, so we figured it was no big deal. This wasnt a mistake really, but we did underestimate how quickly it would get dark. Got a little lost and ended up doing one uphill that we simply had to walk. Oh, also the granny gear on my bike isnt working, so I definately couldnt ride it. Must have been like a 12% or more grade. Anyways, we got over the mountain and flew down into Aarau around 9 PM. Very crazy descent in the dark (we had lights on mom). Got to Aarau and had to try to search out our host because Im an idiot and lost the paper I had written his address and phone number on. Eventually through some interrogation of locals and cryptic tidbits of information I recalled we found the place. We posted up outfront and no more than 10 minutes later Olivier showed up. Great guy, made us some tasty pasta, showed us around his flat and then gave us a TON of info on setting up a mountain bike trip up to Lenzerheide. Awesome.

Saturday, 26- Woke up, took the bike to see if we couldnt get the granny gear working. I figured it was the chain, having over 2000km on it now. Replaced the chain to no avail, so I had to ask the mechanics to look at the front derailleur. They did some mojo and got it to work, but not for long. Going to have a look at it today and try to fix that. Anyways, finally left Aarau even though we hadnt found another place to stay until Sunday night. Rode about 60 or 70 km to right outside Zurich and hobo camped in a patch of woods sandwiched between a farmers fields.

Sunday, 27- Woke up, cruised through Zurich and followed the north shore of Lake Zurich down towards Murg. Somehow on this trip we always stumble upon crazy events, and today was no different. As we were riding generally southeast we noticed more and more people out on bikes and rollerblades (hahhaah). There were refreshment booths and games on the sides of the road and no car traffic. Moms rollerblading with strollers, all kinds of goofy. Found out that the event is sort of a Critical Mass ride mixed into family sunday, called SlowUp Zurich. Got through that mess and headed down to Murg to meet up with a fellow named Lars.

About Lars' Residence- Lars had told us that he lived in an old factory redone as apartments. John pictured something like in the movie The Specialist, with a grizzled lonesome assassin living in a large, bare factory. I though of some ritzy loft housing. When we got there, I was gloating that I had assumed correctly. Then we phoned Lars and he came down front to greet us. He told us to bring the bikes around to the back where he lived. We commented that the apartments looked pretty fancy and he told us to wait until we saw his setup. He opened up two giant steel doors and we walked down a dark corridor. I kid you not, this was like some serial killer type stuff. He opens another door at the end of the corridor and BOOM. It is a MASSIVE old factory room. There are piles of antiques and other forgotten treasures being stored in one half, 2 tennis courts on the other. Along the side is a sort of shanty-esque kitchen, 2 bathrooms, shower, laundry and the rooms of Lars and Michel. Ive never stayed in such a cool place. I cant believe they actually live here. And the rent is so low I felt violated for what I had paid for the last year.

Back to our adventures, Mon. 28- Left our luggage (or the majority of it) at Lars' place and rode our bikes the 50km (which magically morphed into 65) to Chur. We were going to stay with a forester named Andri. I told him we would probably get there at 530 to 630. He contested that we couldnt ride that distance in that time and said he would see us whenever. He was closer to correct than I was. If it had really been 50km and not 65 we may have gotten there around 7, but instead we arrived around 730. We dialed Andri....no answer. Again. No answer. Starting to think he was in the shower or something. He had expected us to take longer himself, so I didnt think he would have abandoned all hope. Eventually we get a hold of him, about half an hour and probably 25 phone calls later. Gasping, he told us he was playing soccer and the girls on the sideline had failed to inform him that his phone was ringing nonstop. Went on back to his neat little studio, showered, ate, drank beers. He had spent some time traveling through central asia, so I picked his brain a little about that. Apparently getting into Russia isnt as hard as I had thought, if you know how to do it. Andri had work early in the am and we wanted to get to the slopes early, so we called it a night.

Tues, 29- Got up around 7, had some muesli and coffe and headed for the bus up to Lenzerheide. About 10 CHR saved us the 15km and probably 500m climb from Chur to Lenzerheide. Rented some sweet Specialized Stumpjumpers and headed onto the lifts. Had a great day of ripping down the mountain, eyes watering, stupid grin pasted on my face like a kid with too much candy. Check out the videos. Had quite a spectacular crash on the last run of the day (it is ALWAYS the last run it seems). Luckily nothing broke as far as I can tell, although my shoulder is pretty damn sore. We got back to Andris apartment around 7 PM, had some dinner, talked a bit more about his job with the trees, drank vodka and ate horse jerky. Pretty solid Tuesday.

Wed, 30- Andri had to go work in a forest in Davos, higher in the mountains so we got up about 6am. Because of my shoulder, we couldnt ride back down to Murg to get our stuff like we had planned. We had to take the train. Being good citizens of the world, we paid our fares and got on board. Next time Im not gonna bother....30 bucks wasted. Nobody even checked. Got into Murg about 8am and just kind of putzed around. Went down to the store, but it was closed from 12-230 so we detoured to "the garden". "The garden" is how Michel refers to the amazing piece of property that he just took ownership of. For about 200 CHR a month he has a house on the lake with a garden and a full orchard of fruit and nut trees. I could get used to living there. We chilled by the lake awhile then got some groceries and returned to the factory to make lunch. Restful afternoon of reading and such before John and I went under the blade and refreshed our haircuts. Vast improvement...I was starting to look a little frightening.

Thurs, 1 and Today- Just chilling out, eating, resting the shoulder and doing odds and ends.

So that brings you up to speed. Ill leave that to soak in today and then later tonight or tomorrow Ill do a post that talks a little more about plans for the next section, concerns, preparations and deep thoughts.

Basel

So we are getting a very late start today, but have nowhere to go really, so it doesnt matter. Been spending all day trying to upload more photos...you will notice the Netherlands and Rhine albums are much bigger. I still have more to upload but it is kind of a slow laborious process and we cant stay in Basel too long. I also just ran out of space, so I had to buy more storage from Google! I think 10 GB should last for a good while.
We have been staying with a very generous guy named Mattias for the last 2 nights here in Basel. Had a very restful day yesterday, exploring the city and then sitting by the Rhine and drinking some cold beers. It was hot enough that I was almost tempted to follow after some of the few brave people swimming in the river. Today, like I said, has been spent mostly trying to jam photos onto the web and rouse up another couchsurfing spot. Neither endeavor has been all that fruitful.
We are gonna head out and try to stop by a bike shop. I need a long allen wrench to get to my brake handle bolts...the right handle is practically flopping around...very scary on the descents. After the bike shop its on to the Swiss national bike route 3. I guess we will ride like 3 or 4 hours...probably be able to get near Aarau. I messaged a few folks about couchsurfing, but at this point we will probably just end up in the woods. It is really tricky to setup couchsurfing on the bike because nothing is ever certain and even finding internet can be a hassle.
Pretty pumped about the next section of riding. We have a really good Swiss bike route map (set us back 20 francs though!!!). That is another thing. Swiss money is hilarious. Its giant, crazy colors and has weird pictures on it. Anyways, the map has great details and we will be using it to go south into Italy. Who knows from there.
Alrighty then....that is probably enough from me at this point. Im gonna go try to fiddle with my back and get motivated to mount up. Just remember what they say about Fridays..."it feels like every other day, except more people are on the bike paths". And by "they" I mean John and I.

Quick blurb from Worms

Hey there...just a quick note before we head of out Worms. Got down here a day early due to unexpectedly awesome riding. The Rhine Gorge was beautiful. A touch of a mean thunderstorm ushered us into Worms around 6 PM last night. Albert had not yet arrived from Meerbusch because of car trouble, so we had to kill about 5 hours until he arrived. Hung around, ate doner, drank liters of beer. The usual hobo activities. Met up with Albert and Jan around 1130, showered, ate, went to bed. Getting a late start today, but had a good breakfast of eggs and wurst. Good to sleep inside, but its funny...I sleep better under a bush in the park! Really love having internet access for the moments I do. Music is even better if you haven't heard it for a few days. Anyways, today we ride about 80-100km to near Karlsruhe. The next two days should bring us into Basel where we are waiting to see if we can score a CS (couchsurf) finally. Then it is onwards into the Alps. The weather here is not so bad as long as it is sunny...hope the Alps are okay still. Thanks for checking in and please post comments on questions, suggestions, scathing repremands, etc. Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful Monday.

Rotations of Heavy Stones

The title is what John's host parents read when he tried to write that he listened to "rock and roll". He didn't know any German at that point. Ive got some good news and some bad news. Well, really just sad news. I seem to have lost all the video coverage I had up until this point. I think I managed to upload two videos before it crashed, but they are rather unremarkable. Lost all the footage of Ireland, France and Belgium :( I am well beyond enraged right now, but seeing as how there is probably nothing I can do, I'm going to just try to let it slide off. Call it some of my zen training from this trip: don't waste time being frustrated by things you have no control over.

I guess if you want some good news, its that we are heading out of Dusseldorf and resuming our ride down the Rhine this afternoon. Getting a late start, so probably going to shoot for 60-80 km, but the weather looks gorgeous and we'll have lots of energy from resting, so maybe we can crank some km out and make up for our decadence. The plan is the Rhine River down to the Black Forest, through to the Swiss Alps, drop down into Italy and work southeast towards Croatia, either via riding through Venice and Trieste or a ferry from Ancona. No clue how easily we'll find internet access, but I'll try to keep you guys updated. I would guess we'll be getting into the Alps in about a week; hopefully it wont be absolutely freezing yet. Stay tuned for some sweet pics and maybe some friggin' video. Soul Rider over and out.

Video link is to the right, in case you miss my beautiful mug and honey-sweet voice ---->

Update to Dusseldorf

Okay...last post I was in Lille, France. I think that was about a week and a half ago? I beleive it was Friday the 4th of September and John decided to stay in Lille another night. I was getting itchy to be back on the road, so I headed out and we made plans to meet in Brussels on Sunday.
Friday was nice weather, a bit cold and a few rain showers. Made my way north to Roubaix first. Had to see the famous bike city. Checked out the velodrome but never went as far south as to see any cobblestone sections (they were a couple of towns over). Continued north Friday afternoon not really knowing what I was doing. My map had pretty much ended and I didn't break out another one thinking I had an idea of where to go. Ended up going way too far north and found myself in a city called Kotrich, about 100km west of Brussels. Started the journey eastward that evening but found myself in the small-ish city of Oudenaarde about the time to start looking for a bed. Decided the best course of action was to stop into a bar. Of course, a great decision. Delicious beers and very budgetable. Struck up a conversation with a very kind Belgian man who offered to drive me over to the campsite and check it out. We did, but they wanted 12€ just to hang my hammock, so we went back to the bar. Took part in a birthday celebration, had perhaps one too many tasty belgian beers and then set off for the woods. A little handling error on my part resulted in a dip in a nice deep mud puddle. I promptly got to the woods, stripped off the wet muddy clothes then setup and crawled into my hammock.
Woke up Saturday with a pretty raging hangover, naked in a hammock with a pile of muddy clothes attempting to "dry" underneath me (this seemed totally feasible the night before).
Somewhat disgruntled I packed my belongings and headed out to find Waterloo. Supposedly somewhere just south of Brussels. I still had all of Saturday before I had to meet John on Sunday, so it seemed like a reasonable idea. I fought my way straight through the hilly countryside relying on my compass and signs. Eventually I got to a place called Beersel which is very close to Waterloo. I asked the tourist office (I think they are purposely staffed with cute girls just to throw me off a bit more when I already feel like a jerk for only speaking English). I was told that Waterloo was "in Wallonia, that's French" and therefore she knew nothing about it. She'd never even been there and probably lives within 20 or 30 km. I figure it must not be worth the fight, so I just went one town up and slept in a cheap campground with a sleazy bar (albeit the best beer selection of a sleazy bar ever).
Got up Sunday, rode up through Brussels and found a hostel for John and I. I had a few hours to kill so I tried to do laundry, but the massive amount of mud in my chamois from 2 nights before just totally negated any attempts. Went down to the meeting spot and found John. We checked into the hostel and wouldn't you know it, but the Belgian Beer Festival happened to be in town that weekend. We promptly stored our belongings and headed down to the Grotsplat or whatever the central square is called. Sampled a few beers at a slightly premium price before we struck out to find beer mecca, Delirium. Some of you may recogniye the name from their tasty beer or from the fact that they got into the Guiness book of records for most beers on list (2006). John and I had some good ones there then went back to the hostel and cooked dinner. Went out for a few more drinks and exploration after dinner and then crashed.
Monday we rode north through Antwerp and into the Netherlands. Rather peaceful day cruising through the Netherlands. Never seen anything like it...EVERYONE is on bikes. Little 3 year olds, grandmas, workers, moms, it is insane. Found ourselves a nice little secluded camp by a fort Napoleon had constructed, cooked enough pasta to choke, i dunno, something that doesn't choke easily. Hung the hammocks in the swamp and called it a night.
Tuesday found us pushing straight up the coast, through Rotterdam and on towards Amsterdam. Things got a bit hairy around 7 PM when we rolled into Amsterdam without a place to stay, breaking our own rule of never doing so. Lucked out and found a decent hostel at 22€ a night, ut would have to find a way to store our bikes. Fortunately, this is Amsterdam and they have massive, secure bike storage for like €2 per day. Spent all day Wednesday exploring the fine city of Amsterdam, enjoying strong coffee and tasty beers along cute little canals. Packed up Thursday and headed south, shooting for the De Hoge Veluwe national park. A national park in Ntherlands isnt cute what I think of national parks as. It was 7€ to get in and probably another 10 to camp in the one designated campground. Illegal to sleep anywhere else. The guy sent us through to go to the north gate and get someone there to pay for our fees. We just slept right on the edge of the campground and were gone by the morning. Sorry Netherlands.
Friday we continued to push for Dusseldorf by taking a ferry across the Rhine into Germany. Slept in another little park/nature area just outside Alpen (I beleive).
Saturday we did the last 80km or so to reach Dusseldorf, arriving at the Kiefer household around 5 or 6 PM.
These folks are great. They welcomed us with open arms and have allowed us every luxury and convenience that we've been missing for 2 or 3 weeks. Went out into the city Saturday night, spent Sunday lounging about and checked out a sleepy little pub closer to home. Monday we drove around and hung out with some of John's old friends a bit. Today we've been trying to plan our next steps and just kind of cleaning our shabby selves up.

Speaking of the next steps, there have been some developments. We've been riding roughly 2 weeks and done about 1400km. That means we are averaging about 88km per day. We are allowed to stay in the EU-Schengen states for another 69 days. That means roughly 6000 km is our range, but that would be cutting it close and using every last day we are allowed. Getting from here to Gibraltar is about 3000km. Going to Croatia is about 1600km. We are probably going to go to Croatia is what Im saying. For one, it would allow us to go to Oktoberfest. Another thing is it gives us more of a buffer if we get derailed. The last reason is that if we do go to Gibraltar, our only option is Morocco. Morocco isn't bad, but 3 months with no option out other than applying for a Libyan visa or getting a flight is no good. In Croatia we could always go to Bulgaria and onward to Turkey. So, in summary, alot of this stuff is up in the air, but here is my rough plan:
Andi will drive John and I down towards Munich. From there we ride to Salzburg, over the Alps into Italy (Venice?) then south to Florence. After that we ride east to Ancona and get the ferry to Croatia.
What do you think?

All that being said, things are going well. Hope this message finds all going well with you folks, whether you are reading from this side or back home or somewhere further abroad. If you are further abroad, let me know and we'll start trying to work out some plans ;) Time for me to go get some food, so until next time, soul rider for life.

Lapse due to Benelux

Been about a week since I've managed to write; partially because nothing too dramatic has happened but also because I spend more time in countryside (where there is no such thing as an internet cafe) as I had imagined. Right now I'm in Arnhem on nearing the border of Netherlands and Germany. Today we will be jumping onto the route of the Rhine and following that towards Dusseldorf in hopes of meeting up with John's former host-family. Once we are synced up with them I plan to write in more detail about last week's adventures and updates for future plans. Until then, I'm going to take a moment to try and tag some of the photos better, so they may or may not be updated with locations and such soon. Until I get a chance to settle into a nice long post, take care and check back soon!

Lille

Awesome. Rough day here in lille...never managed to meet up with johns friend, after waiting 4 hours. Hostel was booked full, but after a couple failings found a cheap hotel. Going to explore the city tomorrow and perhaps meet up with this dubious character, if she checks her email!
Rachael...where are you planning on going once you graduate? Id be glad to scout out the area as long as Im here and make some recommendations ( Im assuming youd be interested in the architecture...if i have the right rachael!)
Jake...are you working in an REI in Asheville? Didnt know they had one...hope you are riding the raleigh alot. I sorely miss mountain biking. If you get a big fat paycheck, send some this way and the bike is yours permently. Perfect bike for Tsali and Bent Creek!
Chris, glad you are tuning in. Are you still out in Salt Lake? Ill be sure to swing by on my victory lap through the US.
Off to cook some dinner and perhaps check out the nightlife. Take care folks!

P.S. Promise to get the videos posted soon...they are somewhat entertaining.

Bringin you up to speed!

Alrighty....took us awhile to find an internet cafe and this one still uses french keyboards, so bear with me on errors. A quick recap of what has gone down in the last week:
Sunday- Mom and Dad drop John and I off in a suburb of Dublin called Rathmore. We check into Globetrotters Hostel, grab our bikes and go over the gear one last time. Stress over the ferry price (130 euro!) and go to bed.
Monday- Leave Dublin and ride to Arklow. We only make it probably 50 km because Im battling food poisoning all day from my last goddamn "Irish Breakfast" EVER (more meat than most families consume in one week). The effects are so bad Im fevered and constantly searching for public toilets. We have to splurge and get a B&B.
Tuesday- I feel a million times better. We do our best to push all the way to Rosslaire by 1430 to catch the ferry, but John starts to bonk out and I realize that we woke up far too late to ever make the ferry. We manage to get a taxi for 25€ and make it to port on time. I only have 20€ and the driver lets us slide. We get aboard the ferry and are thankful we have a cabin to ourselves.
Wednesday- Get off ferry. At a stop light I ask a French guy on a bicycle which direction the street we are looking for is. He tells us to follow him and proceeds to lead us on a total legbuster right over the mountain out of Cherbourg through Les Glacieres. He takes us all the way to the top of a pass, winding through many quiet backroads. Davidon points out where we go from there and then with a au revoir turns around and goes back the way we came. I think he just did it for fun...wasnt even where he was going. He didnt know any English. Amazingly kind. John and I proceed to blast down the French equivalent of a greenway or the American Tobacco Trail, the "Voie Verte". Finally roll into a small town and find a perfect pay campground just as they are closing up. Drink a bottle of wine, eat some cheese, bread,salami and pass out.
Thursday- We ride up the coast visiting the D-Day beaches along the way. I am in awe of the fact that guys my age or younger performed such heroic acts to free people they had never even met. Heavy stuff. End the day in a small town called Courselles-sur-mer qrriving too late to find a campground. We cook in a park, scurry into a nearby patch of woods and hobo camp to the max. Proceed to drink a bottle of wine each (after the experimentation I think we have determined the optimum wine consumption after a day of riding is between a half bottle and a bottle each).
Friday- Crank all the way to Le Havre. Come into the port city on the frightening and stark industrial port side. Proceed to search for a hostel and realize this place is way too grizzled for that. Find a one-star hotel and post up. John goes to bed while I search out a pint. Le Havre might have some cool bars if you arent an exhausted, broke cyclist.
Saturday- I spend about 30 minutes fixing the rear tire of the kid whose mom runs the hotel. Turns out to be a fair exchange for some baguette and coffee. John and I head up the coast shooting for Dieppe. We only make it to Saint Valery sur Mer. Standing in front of a boulangerie, looking confused we are approached by 3 French men on bicycles. They start talking to John. He begins to look more confused. I come out of the bakery and ask teh guys if they know where the 2 star campground is (no fancy stuff for these two bikers!). They say they arent sure, but we could stay in their yard, joking that it is only "no stars". Never turning down free stuff, we follow them out to their house. These are absolutely amazing people. They not only let us store our bikes, they proceed to treat us like family. It is Laurence's birthday. Laurence and David live in Paris, but this is their weekend house. There is champagne, homemade foie gras and 5 more courses. They let us sleep on the floor INSIDE!
Sunday- Morning brings an amazing spread of croissants, pain au chocolat, baguettes, homemade marmalade, coffee, hot milk....too good to be true. I play games with the little girls. We do a thorough check on our bikes and the folks give us tons of stuff to eat for the next few days! We get a very acceptable late start and make it to Bernard le Grand for another campground.
TODAY! Rode up here to Berck sur plage. Unsuccessful in finding a campground. One lady wanted 22 €. The second convinced us at 20€, but then told us hammocks are not allowed. It is too late now to find one probably, so I guess we'll be hoboing it which is fine by me because now I can pay for the internet cafe access for this entry!
Tomorrow we head to Lille. Probably take a day or two off there before going on up to Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp and then north to Amsterdam. John has a friend who is supposedly studying in Lille, so I hope we get in touch with her. I look forward to a day of sitting around after 7 straight on the bike. We are getting better at putting in the kilometers, but still need to start earlier I think. The route is a bit intimidating lately as I wonder how long the weather will hold out. Im starting to think I may head over to Prague and then down Italy rather than back to France and through Spain. Just not sure yet.
I hope this entry finds everyone doing well. I know that as I was starting this new adventure many of you are returning from your own or beginning something new. I hope school is going well for you (Patrick, Troy and others). Hannah and Richard, hope you are re-adjusting to the States ok. Rich and Marshall- hope you guys are saving up and getting ready to come join John and I. Kees- stay outta trouble and keep honing those blood-sample skills...Ill have some real good stuff for you after all this riding!
To all the other folks, please keep reading and drop some comments on the section there. Nothing motivates me more than an audience. Love you all and until the next update, keep the rubber side down!

P.S. Photos are up, but may not be edited and sorted. Link is on the right there --->

La France

Just a quick note from Cabourg France. This french keyboard is difficult to type on, so I zill be hopefully finding a better cafe and updating with pics and video soon. Probably tomorrow if we can do another 50 km today and get close to the larger port of Le Havre. Thanks for your patience as I get things rolling more smoothly on the blog...stay tuned please, I promise the photos and stories will be worth it!

Ireland...it rains

So, I wanted to believe that Ireland wouldn't be totally rainy and cold, but it is. Thank goodness we'll be getting off this island soon. Next stop is France. We've decided to skip England and head straight there. The boat ride is going to be brutal...we've heard people tell us anywhere from 17 to 26 hours on the boat from Rosslare to Cherbourg. Have no idea what it will cost.
Traveling with the parents is going well...its nice to be chauffeured around and to get to live on such a high standard without breaking my budget. It is going to be a rough transition to sleeping like hobos and eating low-quality food. Regardless, I can't thank my parents enough for the support and love they have shown John and I as we embark on this crazy journey.
We've had some great treatment here in Ireland. Picked up the parents in Dublin on Wednesday morning and drove to Athlone, visiting some neat ruins at Clonmacnoise on the way. Delicious Italian food in Athlone that night and the next morning we headed to Galway. Crammed alot into that day as we visited the Connemara as well as Galway City. In Connemara John and I scrambled up Diamond Hill to narrowly beat a rainstorm at the top. Very cold, very windy.
Last night we drove from Galway to Dingle. Absolutely beautiful at the Cliffs of Moher. Great night in Dingle, staying at a super fancy hostel and enjoying some "craic". Today was spent driving from Dingle down to the Ring of Kerry. I don't know why everyone told us it was so beautiful...I found Dingle much nicer. Tonight we are in Kenmare. I'll post some more stories and photos, videos, etc. soon. Gotta jet before my 1 euro charge jumps to 2! Ciao!

Busy week behind, busy weeks ahead

Alright then....out of the states and on the emerald isle. John and I drove up to DC on Friday and were welcomed with a delicious mexican cookout at Alex and Orr's house. Alex cooked up some delicious steak and chicken fajita/burritos with homemade salsa and guac while Orr made some really amazing cocktails. We went out to a bar briefly and then hobo'd all over their couches. Thank you very much for the hospitality!
The next day I was blessed enough to have my wonderful cousin Kate come down to DC and visit along with the riotous Uncle Ev and (relatively speaking) mild-mannered Aunt Linda. It was really nice of them to come down from PA and bid me a farewell, especially since I haven't been able to see them in nearly 3 years! Thanks again guys, love you very much and good luck with grad school this fall Kate!
Saturday night John took it easy at my brother Matt's apartment (who played gracious host to us the rest of the weekend, including giving up his A/C to us!). I headed back up to Columbia Heights area to go to a party thrown by Kate, a very outgoing friend of Alex and Orr's whom I had met the night before. A great party, some free Yuengling and plenty of interesting people to talk to. I even met a young lady who had just moved from Asheville to Carrboro! Made me a little nostalgic as I rattled out a few of my favorite haunts for her to go explore.
Sunday we kicked it around town, ate the most delicious burger of my life at Hellburger and John and I went out to East Falls Church on the metro to visit my homeboy and penultimate shredder of the gnar, Brad Copeland.
Monday John and I wrapped up loose ends around DC while Matt worked a halfday. Matt came home around 1 PM, we packed our stuff into the Trailblazer and swung by the pharmacy to get my anti-malarials. $150 for those pills! NOT covered by my health insurance! Damn....still cheaper than getting malaria I suppose. Won't even need them for at least 3 more months.
Got to the airport uneventfully. Everything went pretty smoothly until Irish customs kind of gave John and I a hard time. Luckily we were towards the front of the ever-growing line so I think they kinda gave us a break. Phew!
Assembled the bikes in the airport (minus some fenders as my frustration and fatigue was mounting). Rode on out into our first taste of wild Irish traffic. We were so intimidated by the whole left hand side thing and the crazy traffic roundabouts we ended up going about 20 or so km north towards Belfast! It was cool, drizzly, grey....just what I was told to expect but what I didn't want to imagaine, hahah! Eventually we asked a postman where we were headed and after some trial and error we got ourselves pointed for the City Center. A few more detours later and we arrived at our hostel, Globetrotters on the Lower Gardinier.
Globetrotters is an amazing value....a bit pricey in comparison to other hostels, but I've never seen a hostel this clean, comfortable and with so many amenities. John and I worried ourselves about finding a place to store our gear for the next week. Ate some fish and chips (great cod, who cares about some fries..), checked some bike stores. Everyone was saying they were too crowded to help us and we became slightly stressed. Finally John struck paygold at a local internet cafe/luggage storage. 7.50 for everything per day. I sure hope they are trustworthy...I had some doubts but we took some photos of our stuff in the storage room and the people working there seemed nice enough. Only time will tell I suppose!
After such ordeals Jon and I went over to a famous pub for our well-deserved Guiness. Okay folks....no matter what people say, you will never understand what they mean about Guiness tasting better over here. It is like night and day. I may have ruined Guiness outside of Ireland for myself...it is THAT GOOD! Amazing full breakfast here this morning at Globetrotters. I can't recommend this hostel enough.
Alright...we are about to catch the public bus up to the airport and try to meet Mom and Pops at the car rental place. Then it is on to Athlone. Sure hope Dad is up to the challenge of driving...this should be an interesting experience. I'll try to check in this evening or tomorrow...stay posted!

Down to the wire

Oh boy...a little overwhelmed. A lot of loose ends to tie up and I leave North Carolina tomorrow! I'll be heading up to DC to spend my last 3 days in the States with friends and family. Pretty excited....cookout with Alex and friends tomorrow evening, tour of the Capitol on Saturday.
Packing up 24 years worth of belongings in 4 days is proving more difficult than I imagined. It is hard to distinguish between what is worth keeping, what is necessary to keep and what is merely fodder and byproduct of my pack-rat nature. I'm making pretty good progress however and should be all done by tomorrow morning. A few odds and ends to go out and buy today:

• A pair of footwear. I don't know whether to get another pair of Saloman trailrunning shoes or a pair of Keen sandals. I'm leaning towards the shoes because they'll be better in cooler temps and the last two pairs I've owned were some of the most comfortable and durable shoes I've had.
• Assorted repair kit gear: tube, chain, new barwrap, bolts
• Cable and lock
• Frank Sun, a filmmaker friend of mine, encouraged me to get a small HD camcorder. I'm torn on this issue. I totally agree with him that having some of this on film is almost a necessity, but then again...that equals more batteries/chargers, more memory cards- just more to be concerned with in general. I'll check them out today and decide
• A international converter/charger of some sort. I've considered the Solio solar charges...I'll check those out today as well.
  

After I get those last pieces together I have to pack it all up. The bike is pretty much boxed...just have to throw in some water bottles, bungees, lights and whatever else I decide then tape the box up. I can't figure out how to deal with the camping gear and clothes. I guess I could do what I did when I flew back to NC from Portland. I bought a giant military duffel and just put everything in there. It is that or a box. I'm afraid either way I'm gonna get hit with charges from the airline since they changed their policy from when I booked the flight. Bullshit.
I just got back from the dentist. She was not very happy. Apparently my lack of checkups has resulted in some pretty sensitive bleeding gums, so I'd better stay on top of the brushin' and flossin' out there on the road. I felt bad because she kept saying that when I get back I should check in with her, but I honestly don't know when/if I'm coming back! Speaking of health, I've got to go try and hunt down 90 malarial pills. Apparently no pharmacies around here stock that many. Great. I may check UNC hospitals if I have to go over there to pick up John tomorrow. I also need to go make copies/scans of all my documents before I leave.
As you can see, I've got a ton to get done today! Hopefully I can knock it all out so that later I can have a few pints with a couple of folks I haven't gotten to say bye to. Also supposed to cook up some duck breast for dinner...luckily that's a pretty quick, simple recipe. Alright, that is all for now; I'll drop another post once I clear town I hope. Until then "Go n-eiri an bothar leat"!

Preparations- 3 weeks until Dublin!

Hello folks! I hope some people are starting to tune in to the blog, even though I haven't posted much. Hopefully from here on out I'll be more consistent in bringing new material.
I'm only three weeks away from arriving in Dublin and beginning to piece the trip together in more detail.
Here's the rough plan so far:
Fly into Dublin on the 17th of August with John. We'll probably drag our gear outside or (if we're lucky) to somewhere in the airport and begin assembling the bike. Of course, we may be force to drag the crap onto a metro or something and go elsewhere to assemble. Regardless, once we get the bikes together, we'll have to head out and scout for a hostel and a bike shop. We'll pitch our story to whatever shop seems most sympathetic and try to store the majority of our crap there for the next week. Maybe there are lockers near the airport or public transport...i don't know.
Tuesday my parents will arrive. We'll spend the next week touring around Ireland (probably the SW) with them. After they fly out of Dublin the following week, John and I will strike eastward, ferrying over to Wales and then onwards to France. That is about as far out as I'm willing to guess right now.

I've got almost all the gear I need...a few odds and ends left. The bike is getting pretty heavy- around 65 pounds without food. The bike itself weighs in at a hefty 36 pounds so I'll really have to see where I can shave weight on the gear. Of course there are a few items I'm including right now which John and I can actually share.

Physically, I don't quite have it all together yet. I've been doing some training rides fully loaded and that hasn't been much of a problem (the NC summer heat and mugginess is quite the crucible). However, recently my right knee had been feeling a bit funny. Not downright pain, just discomfort and stiffness. I'm hoping more stretching, training and maybe talking to some folks who know more about these things will have that problem smoothed out before I leave.
I never got to finish my vaccinations because UNC healthcare is a bunch of morons and would never answer my phone calls. Frustrating, but at least I'll be in less at-risk areas for the first stretch of the trip now that my plan has altered to start in the EU. The last area of concern is the fact that I haven't had a dental checkup in like 3 years. This wouldn't normally bother me since I've never had any issues before but I am slightly worried that I'll end up in Malaysia and have to knock my wisdom teeth out with an ice skate à la Castaway.

Emotionally, I suppose I'm ready. I'm still wrapping my mind around how long it may be until I see famaliar faces again. This doesn't seem to bother me all that much, which makes me wonder if its just going to come crashing down upon my head and settle in once I'm out there. I think maybe right now the excitement of a new adventure is more powerful than any bittersweet feelings. I can't stop dreaming of all the fantastic places I'll see, cultures I'll experience and friends I'll make. However, if I've learned anything so far its that the grass always seems greener on the other side, so I'm trying to keep it all in perspective and enjoy the places, culture and people around me.

Okay, I think I'm starting to ramble here and there will be plenty of time for that later. I just wanted to get a new post up and let everyone know that I'm super excited to have readers traveling along with me. I hope that you are as excited to take part in this trip as I am...one of my largest hopes for the endeavor is that somehow I'll be able to provide entertainment and enlightenment to those of you who read along with my adventures. Cheers (or as my friend Mike taught me recently, and is more applicable to Ireland,"Go n-éirí an bóthar leat")!