Atrocity Exhibition.

7/6/05. Niamey, Niger.

The stomach cramps are coming at two-minute intervals. This allows me time to enjoy several mouthfuls of superb, freshly-made vanilla ice cream between gut spasms. Now I've finished and the waiter had better look sharp with the bill or he'll be needing a mop and a bucket of Dettol as well.

Bursa to Turkey-Georgia Border

A lot of Turkey is over a kilometer above sea level. This makes for clear, cool riding days but bloody cold nights.ROUTE: Bursa to Turkey-Georgia Border

COUNTRIES VISITED: Turkey, Turkey and Turkey.

DISTANCE DRIVEN: 4,817miles - 7,700kms

WEEKS COMPLETED: 6/74

WEATHER: Freezing (at night) to 34 degrees

OBJECTS BROKEN: Centre stand, exhaust brackets, rear tyre, the speed limit (42mph or 70kph for bikes - yeh right!!!), thermarest mattress delaminated

MINOR MIRACLES: Finding a bike shop to order a new tyre

Itinerary for Spain and France

Our next trip is a short one to take advantage of meeting up with family in the South of France. It is also an opportunity to road test Albert (our 2CV/Acadiane van) on an extended tour before setting off on our much longer trip later in the year which will take us through Italy, Greece and onwards to Turkey. We are taking the ferry down to Santander spending a bit of time in Northern Spain, The Pyrenees and the South of France before I spend my 60th birthday cycling up Mt Ventoux. A challenge which has been on my bucket list for sometime now.

Chennai

Great news after a incredibly trying day I have my bike
The details of my day are too long to go into right now, I will do later
I'm shattered and am going to bed.
I'm heading off tomorrow early morning.
Finally after all this time and numerous frustrations, I'm about to get underway...

All'swell, that ends well...

Maybe, for those people who don't live their lives with excitement and risk, it sounds strange for me to be so carefree about having an accident, it could easily have seen my permanent downfall. Riding bikes for so many years has seen me have a number of accidents, maybe I'm a poor rider, maybe I take unnecessary risks.

A Country Place No-One Knows About.

8/9/05. Stone Town, Zanzibar.

On the potato boat to Zanzibar

Cordoba to Barcelona

We are saying a sad goodbye to Spain today. We would really like to stay for months but there is the rest of the world waiting for us.

We are quite proud of how we have coped with the language. A typical example of our interaction with the locals:

Spanish person: Blah, blah, blah, blah
Garry: Si, si
Jo: What did they say?
Garry: I think they said “Life´s a bed of roses”.
Jo: Roll eyes

Oost-Turkije en Iran (04/08 tot 23/09/02)

Oost-Turkije (4/8 tot 3/9/2002)

Leg 1: London to Athens

Unbelievable, but it actually takes 2 days on the road to reach Ancona, Italy from London.

The day before, so PANICK!

Hi, this is a very short blog, the first on a journey to Chernobyl via Holland, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Ukrain and the Czeck republic. We are a group of 12 people, 9 riders, a support driver, an interperator and a camara man. The trip is in aid of the CCP (UK) c/o bikeaid.org.uk we are all on there as is the chance to donate something for the KID's NOT us, that is important.

Nun More Black.

19th Feb 2005. Bamako.

Christ!

I move into the Catholic Mission, which is quiet and Jesusy. Doug's back from the UK with spare parts (unfortunately for an entirely different motorcycle) which means we can continue the important work we started in Senegal in the field of alcohol experimentation.

Into Alaska--for the third time

If Hyder counts, and if Skagway counts, then I'm about to enter Alaska for the third time, this time up at Tok.

Skagway was a beautiful drive, and the town is a cool tourist destination--the 17th most visited cruise ship port in the world.