Day 9: Hook van Holland to Ijsselstein

A RECORD DAY!!!

First time ever on an overnight ferry: slept surprisingly good!

Best weather of the trip so far: sunshine all day long, only slight wind! Hot hot hot!

Most applications of sunscreen in one day: 4!

Best cyclingpaths ever! EVER!

Longest distance done in a day: roughly about 90kms!

Highest number of other cyclists seen in a day: 1 Million! All Dutch ;-)

I could have stopped for a picture every minute. The whole day has been really great and thats not just because of these beautiful, beautiful cycling paths. ;-) The whole area of the country is just lovely and very picturesque. I stopped for lunch in Rotterdam. Very nice city, good mix of old and new. I said hello to Father Rhine and left him to cycle all the way along the Lek to Ijsselstein. There were a million little farms along the way, lots of cattle just grassing between houses. Nice integration of farming into normal life, I like that.

Everybody was out on their bikes. I forgot how mad the Dutch are about cycling. It was a pleasure cycling with so many people around, it feels much better than trying to beat the weather and the crazy mud paths by yourself in the UK.

Here are the top pics of the day:

Day 8: Wolverhampton to Harwich by train

Well, that was quite a relaxing journey on the train. Changed trains about 4 times, all went smoothly and my bike had always a nice place to rest. The sun greeted me at Harwich port, how nice and how promising for the next chapter in Holland. :-)

Check in starts in a bit, I am very much looking forward to my little sleeping cabin on the overnight ferry.

Thanks for all your supporting messages along the way, it made espacially the rainy days a bit easier ;-)

Happy Friday everyone!

Day 7: Stafford to Wolverhampton

I put the new rain clothes to the test and cycled the last 30kms along the canal and then onto the main roads again in a permanent drizzle. Gooood choice these waterproof clothes ;-)

Cleaned my bike after all that mudracing, so it's all shiny for the train journey tomorrow. Will warm up now this evening in Wolverhampton, and put the cycling clothes away for a day and a half and then set over to the mainland. 

Conclusion of cycling in Wales and England: Wales was superb, especially the coastal route. Proper cycling paths, nice holiday seaside towns along the way up to Chester. I highly recommend that for a 2-3 day cycling trip.

After Chester the countryside is lovely (and would be even more so in the sunshine) but the paths along the many canals are not made for long distance cycling. They are too small, bumpy, and sometimes overgrown with grass and bushes. They get really muddy when its raining and you can't really go fast and make distance. Still, I got to know some nice parts of England, with its wide fields and beautiful countryside. I also met a lot of houseboat owners along the way, all very cheerful people ;-)

Day 6: Resting on the train to Stafford

As predicted it was raining non stop all day. I gave in and bought a pair of waterproof trousers and a proper bright yellow rainjacket in an outdoor store in Stoke. So much about sun in my face every day ;-) 

I took the train to Stafford, a 20 minute journey and checked in here. This town is much nicer and not so run down as Stoke. Did a bit of sightseeing and walking around in Stafford this afternoon, still with my bright yellow jacket on ;-)

I have decided to take the ferry to Holland one day earlier, leaving England on Friday evening. The rest of my route would still be going mainly along canals till Oxford, so I won't have enough time anyways. Stonehenge will have to wait another little while for my visit then. 

I will go to Wolverhampton tomorrow and do my full day train journey to Harwich from there. I have booked all the trains including bike reservations today. Its a 5 hrs journey, as I can't go via London with my bike. Got about 10 tickets for me and the bike ;-)

To be honest, I am looking forward to Holland. I am hoping for proper cycling paths and nicer weather in the country of cyclists. Also I am looking forward to a day of company with my old cycling friend Eva :-) And after that its basically heading home. 

Day 5: Northwich to Stoke-on-Trent

I have officially reached the point of total exhaustion... 

It was another 50 kms today, it's mad, I don't make much distance. But this cycle route is not for the fast-paced lovers, its more for the lovely-scenery-junkies. The route is basically jumping from one canal to the next, with lots of people in their houseboats shipping along. I didn't know there where that many canals in the UK, its very much like in Holland (no its not me phantasising about this other part of my journey ;-)). As you can imagine, its quite lovely to cruise at the side of a canal, greeting the houseboat people and exchanging short opinions about the weather (yes, it was grand today, with the odd shower at the horizon but not along my way). The thing about these paths allong the canal is, that they are only half a meter wide and they are full of little stones and patches of grass. So, cycling on that is just a tiny little bit faster than walking...

Also the little pains start in the body. Despite the really good cycling shorts, my bum has also reached the point of total exhaustion. So, I called it a day in Stoke-on-Trent, checked into this old fashioned hotel with pool, sauna and jacuzzi and relaxed here for the afternoon. My legs are not following any commands from the brain anymore after all that sauna and jacuzzi relaxation. ;-) I think this calls for a day off or a day on the train tomorrow!

Oh yes, I met some older English guy when I stopped in front of the hotel. He smiled at me and started asking where I am going to and how long I am already on the road. He immediately started praising the very good cycling paths in Germany, where you have proper roads for yourself and you can really get some distance done in a day. :-/ Really? He said: "But fair play to you cycling here, I have done all of our routes too, you are not in for the distance here, just enjoy."

When I mentioned going on a train tomorrow he said that wasn't allowed, that would be cheating. And with a giggly laugh he walked away. 

Day 4: Flint to Northwich, via Chester

What a day!!! Sunshine all day long, spoiled with a bikers suntaint, sharp lines at the legs and arms ;-) 

Had a lovely morning ride along a canal into Chester. What a lovely city that is. After Chester I can not really recommend the NCN Route 5, because it goes cross-country cycling over a path with a million big and small pottholes, all still filled with water from the past days. It also went along some industrial areas and the smell was bad. After the potthole road, the route took me through hidden paths along the midlands, I even crossed a cow field with the cows grassing left and right. Crazy! I didnt take a picture there, just wanted to keep moving ;-) There was an old man walking his dog in front of me and I met a few people on their mountain bikes out for the day. So I wasn't the only freak cycling there, but the only freak with luggage ;-)

After that part it was back on the roads, going from one small village to the next. 

I ended up in Northwich in the Premier Inn, couldn't find a B&B, but its nice here, will definitely have a great night sleep. I need one anyway, after last night above the pub where they played music all night long downstairs which entertained me in my room too. ;-) oh yeah, and I will share my room with my bike. True love that is ;-)

Everybody was surprised with that great summersday today. Apparently the weather forecast here is as good as in Ireland, so basically you never know whats happening in an hour. Showers are forecasted for tomorrow, if its bad when I wake up, I might jump on the train for a bit.

My legs felt a bit better today. I made about 60km today, that potthole road slowed me down massively. I am starting to not care anymore about how far I come. I just keep following the well signposted route, which is full of surprises and changes of scenery. I must have crossed the border from Wales into England somewhere today. No sign on my route. The countryside is very much like the backroads in Ireland. Sometimes I think I am actually still cycling somewhere around Dublin. Other times, like today at the canal into Chester, it was a bit like the cycle path along the Rhine. A lot of trees and flowers are blossoming and butterflies are flying around in the fields too. It is a great world we live in. You see so much more when you go by bike. I have to admit it is very exhausting and there are times in the day I don't even look left or right, I just focus on moving forward and listening to music. Every day feels like a week, it's like I have been on the road since a month. I still have till saturday in England, so hopefully the weather stays alright.

Day 3: Lladudno to Flint

Ha, today was the first day with SUNSHINE! Like proper sunshine! :-) When I planned this trip I said, that I expect the sun in my face and the wind in my back all day every day. Well, after two very grey days, I was very delighted with at least one thing happening: the sun was in my face all way long!!! And the wind too. ;-) To be fair, it wasn't that windy, but it is tough to pedal against the wind for about 6 hours. It was a great day today, all along the Welsh coast, the scenery was gorgeous, people where out at the beaches, the whole country came to life. Very nice!

The town I stayed last night turned out to be a beautiful spot once the rain stopped:

I climbed up a few hills just before Flint, which was a killer for the legs. Just made it to Flint at around 3pm, just before the rain came back. Its looking sunny again for tomorrow morning, so it will be another early night for me. Tonight I checked in to a room above the local pub. Great! ;-)

I decided not to record every day on the GPS anymore. Its not working well in the rural areas and I have to admit its a bit depressing when your legs feel as if you have cycled half ways round the globe in a day and it turns out it was only about 60km today... I do feel every kilometer by now, the first 90 minutes in the morning where a big struggle, but after that it was easier and I just kept cycling. I don't go really fast anymore, as long as I am moving, I feel its ok and progress somehow. The luggage on the back of the bike felt really heavy today, but I suppose thats normal after three days.

Hopefully the energy is back tomorrow.

Now its dinnertime. Thats the beauty of all this cycling: I can constantly eat half a pig on toast :-D

Day 2: Llangefni to Llandudno

Left early at 8am, to make most of the day before the rain would come back in the afternoon. I enjoyed my first unintentional detour up to Bethesda and back, because I must have miased my tour off onto route 5 just after Bangor. ;-) Rain hit me in one of these unpronouncable Welsh towns Penmaenmawr and I stopped at the local pub. No accomodation there, so I cheated with a 10 minute taxi ride to Llandudno, where I am checked in now for the night. That taxi ride probably saved me half a day of cycling ;-)

Here are the best parts of the day:

Aaaannnnd GO!

The minute I left the house, it started raining...

And what a beautiful day it was to cruise over the Irish Sea...

Being on that ferry doing some weird hectic dance over the waves made me feel worse than I ever felt because of the influence of alcohol...

I started the cycling in Holyhead in great spirits, because miraculously it wasn't raining at all when I arrived. After 200 meters along the windy coast I enjoyed this part of the route No 8:

And that, my dear friends was the last picture I took, because the Welsh sky just opened its doors and let all the rain down for a year.... I was completely soaked after one hour but kept cycling with water standing in the inside of my trainers for a total of 2.5 hrs and roughly 50kms. Or maybe more... Maybe less... No one knows, because not only dif my left earplug from the headphones get soaked and stopped working for a while, also my GPS must have been really confused with all the rain because it recorded random zickzacks and a distance of 250kms... Well, after a few long kilometers along a canal in the countryside I stopped in Llangefni for the night and for drying all my clothes, my passport and my maps (and I thought back-to-basics papermaps would be fantastic in case modern technology fails...) basically, everything is wet and the radiators are now covered with clothes ;-)

Lesson of the day: no matter how many times you repeat to yourself: "It is just water, Claudia", the minute you feel a lake in your trainers which doesn't go away, there is no fun at all in dancing/cycling in the rain!

Now, where is the bar?

Last practice cycle

Did my last sunny practice cycle through the Enniskerry mountains today. 

Distance: about 45km

Sunny and warm, hopefully the weather will be like that from next friday onwards! Getting really excited and a bit nervous too...

Getting Ready...

It is time for something crazy this year again, something challenging and exciting alike. After my big trip to Australia last year, I felt like I have to explore homelands again, exploring Europe again.

I thought about connecting the old with the new, my country of origin with my country of heart, good old Germany with crazy wonderful Ireland.
So the idea was born and after a few months of thinking and research, here is the plan:

I will be setting over from Dublin to Holyhead in about 2 weeks time, starting my cycle through Wales and England, heading over to Holland for a little recap with that chapter of my life as well, and then following Vater Rhein upstream till Bonn.

Here is the 1st leg of my trip - Holyhead to Oxford via the National Cycle Route No 5: