The plan today was chip away at the 120 miles to Dieppe, from Dunkirk. There was a ferry from Dieppe to Newhaven near Brighton that we thought we'd catch.


We set off quite optimistically, with the idea to just chip away at the miles. If we felt good and the weather was ok, we'd push on, but put no pressure on ourselves to achieve any great distance.


The first port of call was Saint Omer which was only about 25 miles.
Unfortunately the bad luck with weather continued. It was a fairly strong wind that alternated sideways to head on.
Coupled with this, the routes our navigation was taking us down were very poor quality bike paths. Good if you were on a mountain bike but poor for us. Very bumpy and painful for tender parts.
When we did go on decent roads they all seemed to be busy with traffic and had no shortage of Arctics.
We paused and contemplated the next 2.5 days. Winds were supposed to get stronger and go in exactly the opposite direction to us. We also had no confidence in French roads and cycle routes. We'd been completely spoiled in Holland and Belgium.
We made the decision to completely change plan and head for Calais. Once there we hoped to jump on a ferry to Dover and pretty much finish the trip.


It was painless enough final push. It was interesting being first on and first off the ferry, herded each time by huge lorries.
We got the train to Brighton where Joel finished his trip. He was keen to fight through to Dieppe as he is much fitter and fresher than me, but he didn't object too much when I'd had enough. He was good to journey with and definitely helped motivate and encourage a part time cyclist (me).
We rode approx. 40 miles today. I've cycled 506 miles since Berlin but cheated and got the train about 150 miles. It was completely necessary though.

Riding completed!

I'll be getting the train back to the West Country tomorrow. While I do, i'll be blissfully unaware of the (probably mild) wind outside.

Not a particularly long day of riding but another tough one. 45.3 miles covered.
We rode into a head wind today, again, but it wasn't as strong as yesterday.
Wind aside, it was a nice ride, usually following the banks of a river or quiet cycle tracks, until we hit France.

The last hour seemed to go on forever but at least we managed to cross the border into France and reach the 4th country on this trip.


My balls hurt.
My quads and thighs hurt too.


Sad to leave Belgium which completely surpassed any expectations I had - I now wish I could have spent more time there on this trip. I loved everything - the people all seemed very friendly, the architecture was so varied and interesting and the beers were the bees knees.


We've only reached 10 miles into France but the brilliant cycle paths that seemingly stretched non stop from Germany to Belgium look like they have fizzled out. Drivers attitudes have become a little less friendly and the roads have gone to shit. It's almost like being back in England. Almost.


We're now trying to work out the best way to get to Dieppe. The weather is looking windy and rainy. I'm not particularly keen on fighting those 2 elements for the next 2 days but we will see what happens.

On Tuesday we managed to get up and out at a respectable time. The weather forecast had looked decent for the day so we were hopeful of making it from Antwerp to Bruges in good time.
Unfortunately the minute we stepped outside it started to rain hard. Once again the weather on this trip had lied.
The elements and angry car drivers are cyclists worst enemies. Luckily all the angry car drivers seem to be waiting back in England.
Anyway, looking through the heavy rain, Antwerp train station seemed to bit lit by rays of sunshine. We decided to avoid a thorough and miserable soaking and hopped on a train to Ghent which was the halfway point for the ride. Saving about 25/30 miles.
From Ghent to Bruges things were sunny and dry, we only racked up 31.58 miles but it was still very testing. We were riding into a decent headwind and it was no fun. If Joel wasn't here it would have taken me twice the time to ride - I just struggled to keep up with his decent pace. It's great to have some extra motivation to ride quicker and hopefully get fitter and stronger than I would have been with an extra rider in tow.


Bruges is a beautiful town but is very touristy. It has a brilliant selection of pubs serving strong local beers.

Upon arriving in Rotterdam we looked at the weather forecast for Monday. Annoyingly the whole day was predicted to be heavy rain and storms so we made the decision to stay a day in the city and wait for the weather to pass. This meant that we had free licence to go and sample lots of beers. The evening went to plan and the city was nice and lively, for a Sunday evening.


On waking up the next morning and feeling really rough, I had a look at the weather and miraculously all the predicted rain had disappeared. This created a dilemma and a hard decision, as to whether to change plans again, and plow on with a hangover, or stay and explore the city.
I was feeling quite anxious about keeping moving and not having too many days without progress. Joel was keen to stay and see more of the city, as we'd planned the night before, so I felt a bit guilty when we did set off.


We started out just hoping to reach Belgium which was about 40 miles away. We set off very late after being very indecisive about what to do. The forecast also predicted rain later in the day nearer to Antwerp. All this led to it being very unlikely we'd do a lot of miles, and get as far as Antwerp.


The riding started slowly and we had to wait about 40 minutes for a small ferry to help us cross the Muse (unsure of spelling). Then the heavens opened and it was a painful, slow and grey start to the day. Everything in the Netherlands also seems to be closed on Sundays and Mondays so we struggled to find any cafes or places to eat almost all day until after about 4pm.


As we progressed we found more energy and the sun started to poke through occasionally.
We crossed into Belgium without noticing any border signs or any clues we'd hit a new country.
Joel, who is a lot fitter than me was keen to push through all the way to Antwerp which I thought would be a difficult finish. I'm glad we did carry on though because in the end it was a great finish. We both found more energy and the last 25 miles flew by with relative ease.


Finished the day on 66.5 miles arriving in Antwerp at about 7pm


We've vowed not to get drunk tonight and actually get up as early as possible to reach Bruges by a decent time tomorrow.

Brief update


On Saturday Joel arrived in Amsterdam, ready to join for the remainder of the journey back to Brighton. We proceeded to drink more beer than was wise considering we were setting off on Sunday morning.


With manageable headaches we rode out of Amsterdam at about 10.30 and headed for Rotterdam. It ended up being a fairly short day at 44.9 miles and was mainly riding into wind which was a struggle. Always nice to be moving again though.


The entire ride from 1 city to another was via bicycle paths. The network in this country is truly amazing.

I opted to get the train from Apeldoorn to Amsterdam on Friday to save myself the 50 odd miles. I was really up for doing the ride and the weather was decent but my legs needed a break sooner rather than later.
I'm really glad I didn't push myself - Even on the second day of doing no riding they were still very tender and stiff.
Really enjoyed Amsterdam and saw way more of the city having a bike. I hadn't appreciated how much it sprawls out as previously had just hung around the more central and touristy areas.

Today was physically the hardest day so far. It was a complete drain! 1 more day until I reach Amsterdam and will give myself a break from riding and instead give my liver a hard time 😉


The people running the hotel I was in said they did breakfast at 8 but if I wanted earlier they would arrange. I asked for 7.30 which they seemed very happy to do. Unfortunately when my alarm went off at 7.10 and I opened the shutters it was clear I was going nowhere for a while. It was torrential rain and storms.
I stuck to my word and ran through the rain for breakfast knowing I'd be going straight back to bed after.


I waited in the room until about 9.30 when the weather seemed to ease a little. It was predicted to be sporadic and slowly getting lighter over the next few hours and I needed to set off in order to finish the day at a half respectable time.
I then proceeded to do something I've never done on this bike..... and crashed. That's probably a bit over dramatic but I guess it's accurate.
To give you an idea of the seriousness, if I was a football player I'd have been rolling around in the street for about 5 minutes, and posted a picture on twitter sticking my bottom lip out - so not serious at all.
The first 300 metres after leaving the hotel were big old (wet) cobblestones. I wasn't even sat for this stretch because I didn't want my ass to get a hammering off the bat.
So I was stood on 1 pedal until I got to the end of the street, was probably going a bit too fast and swerved to avoid a hole or something. I underestimated how slippery it would be in the rain and crashed down on top of the bike. Luckily there was no one there to see my embarrassment.
I was concerned about the bike though! Just as I was dusting myself down the rain went from medium to torrential, again.
I was only 100 metres from the hotel so myself and the bike limped back to where we came from.
I'd managed to completely twist the handlebars round 180 degrees, the front brake had almost snapped off jamming the front wheel, both mudguards were twisted and rubbing on the wheels and the pannier bags had flown off.
I trudged back into the hotel courtyard with blood running down my leg (but more concerned about my transport because it was the tiniest of cuts) and waved hello again to the lady that 1 minute ago had waved goodbye to me. I said "I'm back", and she said "goodbye".
I explained I was staying for a little while and we both looked at the torrential rain as if to confirm that was why - and we both carried on doing our thing.
I got to work fixing up the bike. She sat 5 metres away looking at some paperwork. She was a lovely lady but slightly had her head in the clouds.
Luckily I don't think anything major was wrong with it. Upon turning it upside down the disk brakes seemed to be straight. The bags, slotted back on. I was able to twist the mud guards back into place. I thought the handlebars were bent but it was just the brakes pointing off in weird directions. I also managed to push the snapped handlebar brake back into position. It's actually only a tiny bit of the mechanism which had gone and it still works fine.
When I get to Amsterdam I will take it to a bike shop because the gears are a bit clunky now and there's a slight squeak when I'm going slowly.


Once I'd sorted the bike and the rain had eased off I left a second time at about 10.20. I then proceeded very gingerly for the first few hours not wanting a repeat. What a nightmare start to the day.


5 miles after setting off I reached Holland which was a welcome boost.


The rain did completely stop by about 11.30 but the day stayed windy (bad) and overcast (good) most of the day.
I reached about 30 ish miles and felt fine when I stopped for lunch at 1.30. I wasn't dreading the last 30 miles to Apeldoorn which was the original plan before the shitty start. Reaching here was going to be excellent considering the earlier problems.
However, re starting after a quick lunch, the wind had turned against me. I made it in the end but it sucked big time. It took ages and I felt the pain. Really, really sore ass, thighs completely tender, knees stiff and I discovered on arrival a nice little bruise on my thigh too.
61.5 miles in 7 hours.
Bring on Amsterdam!!!!!

Can't think of too much that stands out today. Hot and difficult.


Immediately after leaving the hotel I started going up Germany's only hill. It was steep and forested and I had to walk some of it because my legs were too tired.
After that it was decent quiet country roads all the way.


Temperature peaked (according to my gps thing) at 33.5C. I've got a feeling it was closer the 30 but who knows.
Managed to ride 59.1 miles and I'm now in another decent town called Bad Bentheim.


I'm about 6 miles from Holland.
2 more days of this before I can chill for a day in Amsterdam.

A really long gruelling day of riding.


It started with instant regret when I stepped out of my hotel room, which looked down on the central station. Sitting there, ready to go, was the 8am train to Amsterdam. I ignored it - with gritted teeth, and went to collect my bike from the lock up.


Riding out was similar to Berlin. Always a bike path or bike lane and always getting priority over cars when our paths crossed. The whole of Germany, so far, is flat as a pancake. I can see why riding is so popular here.
The first 15 miles was riding along the side of what must be a man made river, with HUGE barges carrying, stuff.
It was a bumpy, gravelly track which was far better than a busy road but still a pain in the ass.
Except for being an anal hammerdrill it was a lovely relaxing start to the day.
After 15/20 miles I moved on to some relieving smooth and quiet roads with cycle paths running parallel. I swear 99% of the riding so far, both urban and rurally has been made with cyclists in mind.

I briefly fell out with google again when it took me into a deep and dark German forest. Just as the crappy track was fizzling out the navigation told me to turn right between two ferns and into a muddy ditch. I ignored it and carried on. Soon after I found a tiny trail which more suitable for hiking. It slowly led me out of the darkness to a local town where I was able to re join my route.

The sun was out all day and it was blazing hot. It only said about 24-27C but it felt more like 30+. That's probably my fitness showing.
I've managed to push on for a modern day record and rode 70.5 miles (in 7 hours and 30 minutes).

It was completely exhausting but very satisfying especially as I didn't think it was possible. Also it's the first time this trip that I've reached my goal.
This town is called Bad Essen and it's a beauty.
Just finished stuffing my chops and hoping to set off at 7am tomorrow if my legs haven't seized and my mind is strong.

So I never expected to get to Amsterdam to meet my mate by the 22nd, for the second leg of the journey home - so I took my cheat day early.
I shaved 91 miles off the riding by hopping on a train from Stendal to Hannover. It was a 9.30 am departure and amazingly, considering the distance, arrived an hour ish later.
Everything here caters for bicycles and the trains are no different. An entire carriage was for bikes and their concerned owners could sit (with half an eye on their wheels) in the same carriage. The journey was quick, cheap and smooth and puts the UK to shame.
I had the whole day to enjoy the sun in Hannover.