Day 19: À plus Haut-Clocher to Kehl (84km) After an uncomfortably hot sleep in the convent, spirits were not sky high at the start of the day’s ride. A terrible bike path through a forest did little to improve things, especially when the bike path petered out into a field. I decided to simply abandon the […]
Day 18: Religiously Hot Metz to Haut-Clocher (86km) I want it noted that while I complained a lot about the rain in the UK, I never once complained about it being cold. I am stating this now so that I am afforded more leeway in this post to complain about the heat. I haven’t been […]
Luxemburger Arlon to Metz (98km) From leaving the campsite to the Luxembourg border, I knew that I needed to follow the same road for 10km. Despite this simple task, I somehow got lost and gleefully added 8km onto my day. My detour meant that I went through a village that hosted a cycle museum, I […]
Day 16: That’s so French Givet to Arlon (112km) From my time in France as a student, I learnt the hard way that almost everything is closed here on Sundays. This being my first Sunday back on the continent, I was well stocked up with food for the day. I had filled my bags to the […]
Day 15: The good, the bad and the sweaty Mons to Givet (86km) In terms of distance, if today was split into two halves to create two separate days on the bike, then the first day would be in the top 3 for this trip while the second day would be in the bottom 3, […]
Day 14: Nationale feestdag van België Ypres to Mons (106km) Today, the 21st of July was Belgian National Day. Isabelle had warned me that due to this, most places would be closed today. As she had predicted, most things were closed, probably something that I wouldn’t have noticed until it was too late without her […]
Day 13: Étape 3 Calais to Ypres (70km) With the bike back in my possession, it was time to leave Dover and begin stage 3, the 900km cycle to Donaueschingen (as a legal requirement in mainland Europe, I will now be switching to km). I was booked on the 8am ferry and having witnessed the queues of […]
The curious case of the bike in the daytime I had only been in Dover for 5 days when my bike was stolen. My trusty friend was taken from the hostel I was staying and was gone without a trace. The most galling aspect of the robbery was that it almost certainly took place during […]
Swimming the English Channel All official Channel swims start from the beaches of Dover and at 7.05am I began mine. In every single cold water training swim I did, I entered the water with a wince, with a brief thought of sneaking out of the water and back into the warmth without anyone noticing. Today […]
Swimming the English Channel – Training It’s a strange feeling pushing off from the beach knowing that the next time your feet touch anything you will either have achieved a mammoth feat that will live long in the memory or you will have failed, there is no middle ground. This was my thinking as I […]