Day 13 - Rest day Kettlewell

Yes I know what you're thinking - only 2 days riding and another bloody rest day, what's up with us!

To be truthful it was preplanned with aim to cycle without panniers around the dales but after 2 arduous days the consensus was stuff it !

It was a little hard to find much to do on this beautiful but small town with only 2 shops. We settled instead for some bike maintenance with Henley suggesting his relinquish of the yellow jersey was caused by bike not rider

The most rivetting moment for the day when kev made a huge comeback to tie our marathon scattergories match!

It was an ideal chance to dry out/ chill after the last 2 days of heavy rain and arduous riding!

Kettelwell in the Yorkshire Dales

Day 98 - Paris

Our final day and while we could have done something culturally significant we thought why the he'll start know and headed for Disneyland instead !

Kev at Disneyland !

The visit was almost over before it started as KH who'd indicated he was well versed in roller coasters having ridden the big dipper at Luna Park some 30 years ago, decided to tackle Space Mtn 2 first up. This coaster corkscrews, loops and generally hurtles around a track at breakneck speed in the dark! KH survived just, going within 5 seconds of losing his breakfast and decided that 1 ride on the aptly named "Vomitron" was 1 ride too many !

A gentler effort on Buzz Light Year, a ride where players are armed with laser guns and shoot at creatures with targets scored KH 3000 pts impressive sounding until compared with self 95,000 the 3 year old girl in front of us 4,500 and her Dad 250,000. KH has promised to get his eyes chceked when back in OZ !

It was certainly a fun way to finish up over 4 months away from home a journey that has had so many amazing moments and an abundance of incredible scenery !

Despite it's moments cycle touring is definitely thereaputic for the soul and highly recommended - roll on the next adventure !

To Kev thx mate for being great company and a great friend - this guy loves his cycling and his effort to ride over 5000 kms with a few near death experiences ( not counting tge ones where i threatened him) was amazing !

To Viv and Linton our dear friends thx guys we love you !

To sis who added to her OS resume by joining us in France love to you also!

To everyone who has communicated by blog and by email thx so much for making us feel close to home !

We head back a little wiser and certainly humble at having had this remarkable life opportunity !

Ps -

You'll know when were back in Melbourne as you'll hear 2 old dudes
singing Disney's It's a Small World After all - can't get the damned song out of our heads!!!

Best wishes to all Mike & Kev

Day 97 - Paris

This was never going to be an easy day finding boxes in Paris armed with only minimal info!

Our first effort at a shopping centre one station down the line, proved to be a time waster as we struggled to find a bike shop despite being told there was one there somewhere !

Our 2nd effort included walking almost the entire length of the Champs Élysée and despite finding numerous motorcycle shops could not find a single bicycle shop despite ageing being told there was one there

Our last contact was a place called La Republique where we finally found a small bike shop and one bike box. We spent another hour before we finally found a 2nd and then had to negotiate the Paris underground back to our hotel not an easy job with a long box numerous turnstiles, narrow train entries and heaps if steps !

With most if the day gone we had little time to explore Paris but did at least cover the brilliantly atmospheric Notre Dame and of course the Eiffel Tower where Kev put his cycling muscles to good use by walking the 600 plus steps up to the 2nd level for great views of Paris

With the lights coming in to illuminate the Tower it was a fitting time to farewell Paris and journey back to our hotel for one of our famed Supermarket dinners - dam I will miss them !

Day 96 - Paris

2 months of sun finally came to an end when a widespread Europe weather pattern brought rain and cold conditions to Paris on a pretty miserable Sunday.

Notre Dame Cathedral

With not too much to do we took advantage of the generous Buffett breakfast before cheering on the Aussies their world cup rugby game against Sth Africa - the game result almost us nerve wrecking as having KH in bed with me (claiming his bed did not allow for good TV viewing) watching it !

We journeyed out towards Disneyland and the amazing shopping pricing at Val de Europe which we found with our finely tuned directional skills walking 2kms around the block in the rain when the entrance was only 200 metres from the train station.

The shopping area was set up like a village with every designer label you could think of having their own outlet - I thanked god that I was without female company knowing that this would have been nirvana for them and costly for me !

Shopping done there was little else to do other than eat and our choice of a local Chinese buffet meal was inspired ! Where else in Paris could you eat partially warm lunch left overs and get a scolding at the same time for not following due etiquette, for me it was using the wrong spoon and for Kev it was attempting to start with a desert thinking the fried item was an entree!

A lazy Sunday in Paris with the big stress test of trying to find bike boxes due tommorrow !

The Epic Awards !

With this epic coming to an end it is opportune to acknowledge outstanding achievements over the course of the last 3 months - a sort of poor mans Academy Awards - The Epics !

.........

The best impersonation of a cycling mannequin - a lifeless KH slumped over his handlebars unable to respond to a YHA staff members questions having just arrived at Makinholes UK in the dark after a horrendous days riding!

Best dismount of a moving bike - Mega in rain near the Bodindsee having cut a 50 metre swathe through a pasture before ploughing the ground with his bike after taking on a steep downhill with hairpin and without brakes !

Honourable mention also to Mega for his on the move dismount in the Peak District UK after suffering sudden exploding diarrhoea !

Best accommodation most resembling Guantanamo Bay - The shoebox Hotel in Halbech near Germany that required sideways entry to get in the door, contained 2 beds end to end, a window that opened only 2 inches and a toilet that smelt like an open septic pit !

Best wildlife conservation award - Goes to KH for his attempt to train bats at 2 am in the morning to fly out of a hotel room - ours !

Best effort to impersonate Stevie Wonder - KH in his €3 Aldi sunglasses successfully missing important turns when in the lead !

Nb - to confirm his award KH today in Paris walked straight past the bike shop he was looking for despite the shop having 10 or more bikes on the footpath - KH indicated he did not notice them as he was looking for shop signs !

Best impersonation of a Mafia getaway driver - Linton Harris for his spectacular driving in Spain murdering freeway witches hats, driving 2 wheeled down narrow one way lanes and taking left and right turns simultaneously in Barcelona during peak hour traffic !

Best effort by a redhead to impersonate a blonde ! - Viv Sandler for arriving a day late in Paris despite having booked car and accommodation for the day prior - we love you Viv

Best attempt to not manage stress - Mega about to self implode into sub atomic particles when navigating on bike through the middle of Paris attempting to make a train deadline !

Best impersonation of a touring bike - Mega's Avanti - covered in grease and dirt and barely held together by cable ties, electrical duct tape and occy straps after 6700+ kms !

Most useless item carried for 5000 kms - KH's GPS which succeeded in one correct directional aid before failing to recognise Island and then "drowning" in a downpour in the Scottish Highlands !

Best response to a Bob Leedham quote " England's pretty flat" - KH " that is 'j£@&?€€%#}!!

Mike on the border !

Kevs World !

After close on 3 1/2 months and over 5,000kms (4 1/2 months & 6,700+ for Litchie) the epic is winding down.

The only place we haven't seen is Vladivostok, maybe next time !

Europe has been an absolute cracker starting with Germany which I thought would not be topped for scenery, that is until seeing Switzerland which had it all soaring mountains, meandeing rives, wide open lush green fields, quaint villages, roads through the Mtns and a world class railway system one line we experienced going through an amazing 20km tunnel!

The whole trip has been made so much more enjoyable with our amazing run of sunny days. In just on 2 months we've only had 4 wet days and 2 of those were when we were driving.

This is s trip I thought would never happen for me but thx to Litchi's planning and organising skills it has been the trip of a lifetime and I owe him a huge thankyou.

I cannot wait for the DVD production it will be massive!

Thanks also to Vib & Linton for the France & Spain legs cramming heaps into the short 3 weeks. Mike's sister Kim deserves a bug thankyou for her important contribution and I hope she enjoyed her extra trip to Santorini.

On such s long trip certain things can get up your nose while other things you find humorous -

- The feeling of exhilaration daily just being on the bike with magical scenery

- The view from the "top of Europe" on the Yungfrau at 3454 metres - outstanding

- The 6am version of stairway to heaven by European bell rollers - 10 mins every morning !

- Will miss the crunchy ling bread roles they call baguettes filled with yummy meats and salads

- Our accommodation always seemingly on the main street of Le Mans race track

- Mega's off road detours through farmer Fritz's paddock using the excuse he had no brakes!

- Riding 10kms out of Tubbingen and ending right back where we started - amazing !

- Perfecting hand gestures to overcome our ttl lack of understanding of the local lingo!

- The French cycling couple who guided us to our accommodation at Amboise in France and then invited us back to their cave house to share a bottle of wine!

- Surfing through 100 tv channels trying to find 1 not in Germsn, Swiss or French !

- Budting my pfoofer valve to cycle up a 20% gradient hill only to find that I'd missed the turn 300 metres earlier - don't you hate that!

- Climbing 36kms up the Swiss Alps at 7-10% grades on cobblestones - hard yakka !

- Won't miss the doonas that every hotel has supplied

- Driving on the wrong side of the road and on roads made only for cars less than a metre!

We have just arrived in Paris after catching the overnight train nut quite as big an ordeal as the first time but still bum numbing. Three days and were on our way home and none too soon as the temps have nosedived!

Thx to all at home who took an interest in our trip and sent emails and Bligh comments especially 2Bob, Jonesy, Winton and Marysia.

See you after the 14th cheers and best wishes KH

Day 95 - Paris

You'd have thought we would have learnt first time about not training or transiting through Paris with push bikes!

We arrived with little sleep but thankfully having experienced a much milder cabin temperature after the oppressive heat of our last journey!

Any Paris main railway station can be a nightmare at times, trying to find an info area, trying to find someone who speaks English and trying in our case to work out yet again how to get from one side of Paris to the other this timevby way of the Bastille!

We tried initially for a taxi but it was impossible to get anyone even willing to take our pushbikes. After a frustrating hour we rode through Paris to reach Gare de Lyon and with panniers then navigate the steep steps that took us to RER line A

30 mins later we were wandering in the cold lost just like the old days trying to find our hotel which ended up being only 50 metres away.

We slmost made the hotel before a drooling KH spotted a patissiere full of baquettes! With the French reknowned for their 4 hour lunches we decided to get in quick before the doors shut.

Relieved to finally make our hotel we can sit back and plan a few days of sightseeing providing of course that we can find some bike boxes and then work out how to get them back and to the airport !

Day 94 - Freidrichshafen to Paris

What a difference a day made. After great weather for almost our entire time in Europe the change finally blew in with White caps on the Bodindsee signalling a bitterly cold Nthly wind that dropped temperatures by half throughout Europe!

Glad we weren't riding we instead took on the frustrating task of trying to get out of Freidrichshafen ! Walking with a gout inflamed toe to the railway station we found that not only was the stations booking station closed (Friday !) but also the tourist information office.

Even attempting to communicate with locals became frustrating with different answers to the question of how we were able to transport our bikes to Stuttgart for tonight's train to Paris,

After initially planning on taking it easy in Friedrichshafen we instead opted for an early train to allow for connection problems and the rain conditions!

Everything went too well with our high speed train dropping us in Stuttgart at 6.00pm leaving us 7 and 1/2 hours to wait on a freezing cold railway station till our Paris train departed at 1.30am in the morning !

Kev rugged up at Stuttgart railway station !

This was hard work with Kev and self taking it in turns to guard the bikes / walk around the area. With the Octoberfest in full swing the later the night the noisier the station area became although well patrolled by local police who checked identity papers and moved vagrants on

It seemed amazing to both of us that Germany allows alcohol consumption on trains and many of the young were already in fine voice before thir nights had begun!

KH despite sleeping on trip with window open regardless found the conditions too cold and was soon wrapped up in many layers of clothing

Finally after a big day on the move and with my tie in poor condition we bordered our Paris train in the early hours with yet another segment of our trip now completed !

Day 93 - Widnau to Romanschorn -55kms

Well this was it after 3 months on the bike today was to be our last full day of riding!

We departed Widnau under beautiful skies although we knew the long overdue change wasnt far away!

The cycling along canals and open fields was flat with great paths so hardly an excuse to miss a turn which KH did claiming his focus on the upcoming gravel (the wrong way) had caused him to miss the route sign.

There was no damage done as Kevs way soon came to a dead end allowing me to catch up and KH to realise his error.

Cycling closer to the Bodinsee provided for some unique country hopping as Austria, Germany and Switzerland all share borders along Lake Constanx. A sign indicating we'd crossed into Austria was followed by a similar sign 20 mins later telling us we were leaving !

Finally the massive Bodinsee came into sight with the fine weather providing for dead calm conditions very different to the choppy waters we'd seen when completing our German leg.

We undertook the cycling tradition of riding down to the shoreline and dipping our wheels into the water to signal the completion of our journey from Italy over the Alps through Switzerland to the Bodinsee.

Adding this to our end to end rides, our Bavarian adventure and some lovely riding in France Kev had cracked the 5000km mark while I'd recorded over 6700 kms over 4 months of fabulous cycling not too bad for a couple of old blokes!

Some Swiss scenery !

We cycled on to Rorscach and Romanshirn closely following the lake / sea thar at times resembled a large Port Philip bay on a fine Spring day. Romanshorn allowed us to board a ferry to Friedrichshaven in Germany leaving Switzerland after some incredible scenery and allowing our bank balances to recover !

The 45 min trip provided for good lake and coastal views although Friedrichshaven lacked a little in character having been heavily bombed during WW2

Hotel found, dinner options a plenty and costs somewhat back to normal it was time to celebrate the end to am amazing journey with some incredible rides

A special thx to those that have provided comments and motivation during our time on the bike !

The Joys of Cycle Touring

With our endurance epic fast coming to a close I thought I'd pen some of the highlights of our trip in terms of things I'm looking forward to , will and wont miss when back in OZ !

- Having a normal meal that doesn't require a translation, provides for plentiful portions and vegetables and isn't off the shelf at a Supermarket!

- Not having to go through the daily routine of packing, telling Henley to take his asthma puffer, checking the bike (usually by counting that i had two tyres still in place )!

- Missing the incredible scenery we've experienced and the "soul addiction" that cycling brings in this part of the world !

- Watching a polite KH ask for directions off someone in Europe smile, nod knowledgeably and then turn around to me and say "I've got no bloody idea what they were saying"!

- Watching KH miss a turn on a steep hill and knowing that I'd have to cycle after him at speed !

- Watching myself implode with a combination of bad weather (not in Europe) a soggy map and being lost !

- Not to be woken up by speeding traffic (KHs preference to sleep with all the windows open despite him not liking the cold) non stop church bells or Henleys rendition of Mozarts first symphony coming from his rear end!

- Missing the times had with great friends particularly in France and catching up with people we'd met in Tibet

- Not missing trying to interpret a cycle route sign that points aimlessly in the direction of 3 possible roads or the case most recently in Switzerland where 3 signs for the one route were posted 1 to the left 1 to the right and 1 straight ahead!!!

- Missing the satisfaction of completing a good days cycle and actually arriving at our planned destination with the bike still working !

- Missing the countless people that helped us along the way, the international cycling fraternity and the looks of countless people simply because i had a camera on my head!

- Not missing KH meticulously writing his travel notes at 11pm at night with the lights on I'm trying to get to sleep!

- Missing the companionship of a great bloke who despite all said and done KH has been great company and will arrive back in OZ hopefully a little more civilised than when he left (about 0.01%)!

What a trip !!!!

Day 92 - Vaduz to Widnau - 58kms

We waited till the sun rose above the peaks before heading back across the border (a simple sign on a bridge) into Switzerland.

Great paths provided for effortless cycling alongside the Rhine before we headed through small Swiss villages for our last view of theses majestic mountains. Spying a cable car in the distance we cycled up to the station to realise it was an automatic time based operation with no staff present.

Jumping on board Kev and self were treated ti an incredible 2000 metre ride to the nearby Mtn tops with the car only spanning 4-5 towers in the whole distance and at times having a 3-400 feet drop!

Stunning views from the top !

At the top a restaurant sat perched against a Mtn peak and whole families and school children were hiking in the area with significant drops off some of the paths!

With our little diversion done we cycled onwards on again fairly flattish terrain passing through the old town of Allstadt and after unsuccessfully searching for accommodation going on another 10kms to Widnau where we called it a dag with a weather change appearing imminent.

After 3 months on the go we were now only 50kms from reaching our destination at Romanshorn on the Bodinsee!

Some images of Switzerland !

- Valley after valley with picturesque villages hanging precariously from steep hill sides!

- Me realizing that what I thought was KH yodeling every time we descended was in fact him screaming in terror based on what little was left on his recently replaced brake pads!

- The best vanilla slices !

- Hotels that require a mortgage to stay the night!

- The incessant ringing of cow bells!

- The incessant ringing of church bells - usually one dong every 15mins, a number per hour and then at 6-00am all he'll breaks loose to signal the new working day!

- Swiss hot chocolate

- The number of Swiss people who go hiking in the hills - it seems like the entire population.

- KH's new word for the Swiss currency "Swittish" after trying to say it was harder than UK currency !

- Swiss cycle signs - the best almost Henley proof !

Mike in Grindelwald !

Day 91 - Pfaffikon to Vaduz (Lichtenstein) - 90kms

Another day another country or should I say principality!

Our day started with a big descent into Pfaffikon with great views of the Zurichsee the same route we'd taken the night before in search of food. The route then took us around the Obersee to the much quieter rural town of Smerikov before some beaut open cycling put us on the Wallensee a magnificently scenic body of water surrounded by Mtn peaks.

What a great cycle this section was running right beside but above the lake. The 15 or so Kms provided for stunning views of Swiss villages and mountain tops. The route even had it's own cycle tunnels - long & winding, barely enough room for 2 bikes and looking like it was roughly cut to give it a natural finish

Past the Wallensee we entered a valley surrounded by saw toothed peaks on either side. With pleasant cycle paths (seemed to be heaps of them including Mtn bike trails) we made our way through Sargans to Vaduz the capital of the tiny principality of Liectenstein a country that virtually exists on the side of a Mtn!

KH teed up the accommodation and then demonstrated his masterful understanding of Swiss by wheeling his bike through the restaurant thinking this was the bike storage area when it turned out the employee was in fact telling him that the place had no bike storage and the
bikes had to be left outside!

We wandered into to the towns main area lined with tourist shops and restaurants overlooked over by Vaduz's prominent 12th C castle

Vaduz

Dinner was courtesy of yet another visit to the local supermarket although we did have enough to buy a couple of beers back at our hotel sitting out in the beer garden reliving the last 3 months cycling!

Day 90 - Zug to Pfaffikon - 77kms

Was this a sign the weather was changing - Zug in a pea souper ? I thought so and dressed accordingly only to pay the price when the sun finally came out.

We'd been blessed with magnificent unseasonal European weather for some 5 weeks now - maybe Henley's methane emissions had accelerated global warming but whatever the reason we were enjoying it after bleak weather in the UK

A beautiful climbing forest ride took us out of Zug towards Untageri with Autumn Colours evident everywhere. Back on the road we cycled to Einseldeln for lunch where I enquired of KH what he thought of the giant downhill ski ramp we'd just cycled past - "what ramp" was his not surprising reply !

After am ample lunch we made our way through the old town on foot because of the local market. Exiting Einseldeln we took in some steep climbs 10-15% before one beauty at 20% that had KH head down bum up while I filmed - or should I say while I filmed him miss the turn off marker that even I could see from 50 meters away!

Yelling at him to stop I cycled after him reaching the turn off pt deciding that this time I was not going to chase him up the hill!

Expecting him to realize his mistake I waited and waited and waited - while Kev did exactly the same at the top of the hill not wanting to come back down!

After a good 45 mins a sheepish KH finally returned mumbling something about how can he look for signs when he's cycling so hard. Anyway after a barrel of abuse we set off this time in the right direction to immediately climb another 20% hill with KH soon pretty spent by his efforts

The downhill on the other side was spectacular with views of the Zurichsee and it's many towns. After our days effort we stopped at a guesthaus 1/2 way down the hill for it's views of the lake. After checking the menu prices though we decided to brave the 4km very steep descent to head into town to the supermarket and then painstakingly do the same journey back all just to save a few dollars

Magnificent lake view Switzerland

While the night lights of the lake provided for great viewing the main evenings entertainment was watching KH take on the local fly population as he ruthlessly set upon all insects that had entered our room courtesy of the open windows and our room lights acting as beacons!

The evening was I thought going to be a very long one !

View of the Zurichsee from our Hotel

Day 89 - Giswill to Zug - 86kms

I woke with icicles hanging off my nose courtesy of the Henley policy of sleeping with all windows open!

After thawing out We took advantage of a good continental breakfast giving us some satisfaction after our high priced accommodation. So full as googs we cycled out of Giswill on a cool morning with the sun still yet to clear the surrounding Mtn tops.

The first 10kms were pretty easy as this was the same 10kms we'd cycled the night before looking for food.

Our mornings route took us along the lake to Luzern passing the Pilatus rack railway that I remembered doing some 30 years ago. We timed Luzern for a festival of some sort which gave us the opportunity to suss out some food which on a Sunday in Europe is next to impossible to ontain. With the food problem solved we sat back and enjoyed the views of this beaut city on the lake with it's many bridges including a traditionally roofed wooden one.

Panorama Luzern

Getting out of Luzern like any big place was not easy but soon we were cycling through forest and eventually back on to another lake this time around to the more modern looking Zug.

We attempted to leave Zug to head further to Untageri but were soon lost in this metropolis having to retrace our steps to work out where we'd gone wrong.

Getting the message we settled for budget accommodation of $180 a double for the night and then raided the local train station supermarket (the only thing open) for our dinner.

Forward planning has now become not what we'd like to see in Switzerland but how long we can afford to stay in the Country!

Day 88 - Interlaken to Giswill - 60kms

Left our home from home at Interlaken and began cycling along the beautiful Brienzsee. So much for a flat profile as the path soon had some pretty intense climbs as it climbed over, under and around the freeway heading out of town.

Interlaken

With that over the riding through green pastures to Merrigen was a delight with the Eiger's profile within view.

I knew we were in trouble when the route took us out of the valley and begun climbing at one he'll of an angle with a sign reading "
the "Brunig Pass"!

On and on the climb went mainly on off road conditions initially through forest and then through open fields with the Mtn tops seemingly miles away! After 5kms of relentless climbing we made the pass and I vowed to go back and check the bloody route profile !




After lunch we began a beautiful descent that went through 2 valleys both complete with lakes (called seas over here)and stunning Swiss scenery. Even with fully working brakes you would have sore wrists by the end of the descent as heavily loaded panniers can cause the bike to very quickly accelerate unless hard brake is applied.

Kev scored accommodation at the Krone Hotel where a mortgage was required for a nights stay. We went in search if food at the nearby supermarket not wishing to further enhance the hotels profits and learned they'd closed as was after 4pm on a Sat !

I rightfully exploded saying something like what sort of backward country is this - or words to that effect and then with Kev rode another 10kms one way trying to find anything open!

Despite populous towns we found nothing but restaurants and being the stingebuckets we were we weren't going in one of them - well not in Switzerland anyway!

Finally we had dinner (chinese) on a railway station platform - hey it could have been worse - and then had to cycle the 10kms back to our hotel!

How do people afford to live here - surely they are not all retired millionaires!

Interlaken - Day 87 - 46kms

It was a day of superlatives and amazing events!

Kev took on the Yungfrau challenge by taking the cog railway through the middle of the Eiger Mtn to Europe's highest railway station at 3454 metres. This amazing railway line was built over 100 years ago and apart from one small mistake when 30 tons of dynamite were accidentally set off during it's building has been running pretty well since!

According to Kev the views up and on top were stunning with clear but cold conditions making a snow footing quite slippery. The most amazing story for my mind was that KH in journeying by himself was able to undertake 4 train changes without ending up in another country - well done Kev!

Still suffering from the "Henley" virus I took the bike out after lunch for one of the most stunning short rides (50km return) I am ever likely to do. The ride from Interlaken took me up a steeply sided valley ( the sum still hadn't risen above the peaks by 12.30pm!) in cool conditions to the beautifully picturesque Grindelwald set against a trio of 3-4000 metre Mtns including the Nth face of the Eiger.

Beautiful Grindelwald

The ride was an absolute delight going through small story book villages, forest with fast running rivers and up paths both on and off road of upwards of 10-12%. The views on this lovely day made the hard work worth it as did 2 of the most amazing vanilla slices I've ever had!

The ride back wad a blast hurtling downhill this time on the main road where I caught up with Kev still buzzing from his own experience.

With bangers and mash on the menu we had plenty of time to review the days highlights and say farewell to Interlaken.

Day 86 - Interlaken

After Kev had been struggling with the flu on and off over the past 2 weeks it was my turn to feel like I couldn't break out of a paper bag!

Never the less hunger took over and with no Swiss money (yes those canny Swiss still have their own currency) we set about changing some euros, booking Kev's Jungfrau trip, finding the local Market and applying to the IMF for a loan like most countries in Europe have!

With the days chores completed and even the washing done we dusted the bikes off and went in the general direction of a big block of rock with snow and ice on it called the Eiger!

Although we did only 10kms this was enough to indicate that the cycle route up through the valley could be a stunner with lovely Swiss gingerbread houses set against the imposing giant.

We changed direction and this time cycled to the other side of Interlaken for a fabulous all round view of the Brienzee. On yet another magnificent weather day the aqua sea shimmered surrounded by mountains. Locals took advantage of the unseasonal warmth and sat by the lake or set up beach umbrellas and took in the sun.

A ride back to our hotel gave us a look at this unusually designed town well spread out, 2 railway stations but somehow by not being on the sea lacking substance other than being the so called adventure capital of Switzerland!

With time on our hands we put together a slap dash meal in our appartment talked footy with the Grand Final a couple of days away and considered our journey given we areonly 7 riding days from completing this epic adventure!

Distant view of the Eiger !

Day 85 - Faido to Interlaken - 45 kms

It was after 8am the sun had yet to clear the Mtn tops and Henley despite me deflating a tube in his ear, (normal banter for persons who have spent 3 months together) continued to sleep at least until I mentioned that breakfast was on the go!

Our climbing started immediately leaving Faido and the 20kms to Airolo provided for some steep pinches as well as spectacular gorge like scenery. We were following the old road over the top since replaced by a freeway and a massive road tunnel 16kms the longest in the world completed in 1980 - in discussion the night before KH thought we were riding through it !!!

Even the railway tunnel completed over 100 years prior was a marvel although costing over 200 lives. This pass is one of the most famous and important of Europes alpine passes linking Nthn and Sthn Europe with the pass itself being a crossing point since the 13th c.

Kev with the big climb in the background !

Approaching Airolo and already sweating from our effort in the higher altitude sun we saw for the first time a mass of roads climbing steeply out of the valley in switchback fashion. Our road signalled the start of the steep climb with a sign indicating a 900 metre gain over the next 12kms. While not overly steep when you factor in panniers, the sun and the fact that we were climbing on cobblestones you get the picture that this was no picnic!

Half way up the switchbacks tightened to the point where they doubled back on each other giving a magnificent view back down the valley.

One of the 37 switchbacks !

Having stopped to refill my water supply I could see KH about 5 switchbacks behind and boomed "put in Henley" - I'm sure Kev though God was communicating directly with him!

Finally we made the top (2100 metres)a touristy type place and desperately sought out a coke zero and some food -according to KH we were ripped off but I for one wasn't complaining as options were few.

The boys' triumph !

The 9km downhill was unbelievable in terms of spectacle and riding. At times we flew over the cobblestones noting not all corners had barriers - this was certainly not a good time to be taking in too much scenery!

The plan to head to Interlaken was pretty light and simply included catching a train, how, where and when had yet to be determined. Thank god for a lovely lady at Hospental who got us
on a train, thank god for the conductor who accepted Euros and all our change to pay for our tickets as we had no Swiss francs and thank god for the Swiss family man who helped us after 3 hours and 2 changes get on to the right train with our bikes in the right compartment to Interlaken - this was travel stress at it's worse and proves that having some plan is a good idea!

We arrived at our hotel just after 7pm showered and had one of the best Thai meals ever congratulating ourselves on our cycling achievement and the fact that we'd somehow ended up in Interlaken!

Day 84 - Luin to Faido - 94kms

A big day! We started off lateish after little sleep from traffic buzzing past our window. Some video taken by the lake showed Henley head butting and king hitting me and I expect him to get a Phil Carman like sentence when I present the evidence to the AFL tribunal on my return.

Some mire great lakeside cycling took us to the Swiss border and with the border police showing little interest we cycled with all our contraband into Switzerland !

Almost immediately you could feel / sense a difference - places looked cleaner, the bakery smells were more pronounced and the prices had just about doubled!

We cycled on to busy roads to Bellizona and picked up the Swiss cycle velo route that would hopefully guide as over the Alps. Kev got immediate first hand experience of the cost of living in Switzerland with an $8 salad sandwich despite his protests

The cycle route on small roads and paths would have been scenic if not for power lines, cement factories and quarries which seemed to block any shot of the mountains. My 2nd puncture on the trip occurred soon after but with KH's help we were soon back on the go with some real

climbing (10+% in small sections) that gave for great views of the massive freeway system high up that seemed to run around and through the mountains

Massive Freeways !

With light fading because of the high sided valley we were in we settled fir overnight accommodation at Faido just 20kms from the big climb at Airolo. We ended up sharing our hotel with half the Swiss Army and made a mental note not to upset them during our stay.

Finally a dinner with some meat - Schitzel x 2 had us feeling part satisfied after way too
much pasta of late. We went to bed realising that tommorrow would bring us to face what we'd come for the 34km climb over the St Gotthard pass hoping our 3 months of cycling would help us endure!

Climbing the valley !

Day 83 - Milan to Luin - 67 kms

We made up for last nights lousy dinner by attacking the hotel's buffet with a frenzy before "team magnifico" sprang into action!

KH set about assembling the bikes (only partly destroying the hotel room this time) while I headed off to the airport to hopefully obtain maps thar would get us out of the busy precinct and on our way to the Italian Lakes.

About to try and navigate out of the Airport area ! 

With both missions accomplished it was a lateish start on a fine morning before we jumped on our bikes. I nearly made it out of the hotel car park before realizing KH hadn't tightened my head stem, "it's not important he said"! Another 200 meters and KH's bush mechanic skills came to the fore when he used a small piece of discarded electrical conduit to fit through the head of my brakes split pin which was annoyingly catching on my rotating spokes - it now matches the cable ties holding my pannier arm and the occy straps holding my panniers and front handle bar bag in place !

The maps were perfect and soon had us cycling beside an isolated river / loch past nearby forest and towards the lakes as confirmed by a helpful 1000 word to the minute Italian cyclis

We hit Lake Maggiorgore at the 25km mark and what a site it was with a never ending sea, hills with villages hanging on precarious high points on the hills, mountains in the distance and a great hazy smog that I remember so well when journeying this way 20 years ago.

The cycling took in roads with little traffic right on the lake which made riding an absolute delight. The numerous tunnels though were a different matter with noise amplified even a 1 litre citreon sounded like an approaching b double !

A side tripe to a cliff hanging monastery gave close up views of this beautiful lake.

Magnificent lake panaorama !

Another 30kms if lovely cycling and we called it quits at Luin only 20kms from the Swiss border and our hotel looking directly over the lake.

Famished we raided the local supermarket (this time KH did weigh his fruit) before going out for yet another pasta meal "don't they serve anything else in this country" quipped KH missing his salad sandwiches!

After dinner we took in the old town and it's narrow dark alleyways with even KH a but nervous before marvelling at the night time view of the lake - what a beaut spot !

Day 82 - Barcelona to Milan

With bikes packed and appartment cleaned we farewelled Kim on her way to Santorini Greece no doubt to recover from her near nervous breakdown from having to drive the team "bus" in France while Kev and I headed off for our next leg to Milan.

Arrival at Barcelona airport brought a few challenges and interesting sites a) finding our terminal b) Henley trying to steal a workers trolley to transport the bike boxes c)me panicking because I couldn't find our flight listed thinking I'd done a Viv before realising I'd got the flight time wrong
d) Henley spending 1/2 hour taking on a coke machine that wasn't co-operating

While our flight was uneventful getting our bikes to our hotel was not! We'd officially listed our bikes as missing after waiting for a good 30mins - when asked to describe them we just said "bloody big" cardboard boxes!

They turned up eventually at the entrance to the baggage terminal - apparently flying a low cost airline means as long as throw your bags anywhere that means we've delivered!

After KH spent an age trying to work out how to get his 1 euro back from his returned airport trolley we bordered an bus towards our airpot hotel getting off one stop too late and faced with a 500 metre carry of boxes and luggage back - "stuff that " Henley so we caught the bus back one stop the other way and this time ended up with only a 300 metre carry- by the time I arrived at the hotel I looked back to see Kev still arguing with his bike box so I went back to help.

Pretty tired we soon set about finding food and with little open we settled on a restaurant at s nearby hotel which easily succeeded in achieving our worst meal on trip so far - KH's spaghetti bolognaise included a small mound of spaghetti with a tiny topping of tomato based source that wouldn't have fed a mouse!

Back to the hotel it was crash time hoping that the seemingly hundreds of planes landing and taking off would take notice of our hotels blinking red lights and continue to fly over rather than through us!

We're finally in Italy and our challenge will be how to get out if the damned airport as we have no local maps .... one to sleep on !!!

Day 81 - Barcelona

After so many great weather days in Europe the rain finally arrived In Barcelona restricting our movements for the Sunday.

Viv & Linton made the most of their final morning of their trip by catching the metro out to the suburbs for some last minute shopping but had to settle just for a coffee with the shops closed.

Self and Kim took in Gaudi's wonderpiece and like the guys yesterday were gobsmacked by the design and scale of this cathedral called by some to be the 8th wonder of the world.

Gaudi's masterpiece !  

Our time as a group had come to an end and we sadly farewelled Viv & Linton as they departed to the airport for their long journey home by way of London and Hong Kong - so many great memories to add to our collection of joint holidays - thx for your fab company and for being great friends!

Kim, Kev and self spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the side alleys of Barcelona in parts narrow enough to be mugged by someone who wouldnt have to leave their front door.

This place has so many unique bars that a pub crawl would see you incapable of getting out of a street let alone an area!

Our last night was spent searching for the music as every street was set up with a stage you kind of figured that a party was about to happen but no we had no luck and thought maybe the
rain had put a halt to the festivities ( how wrong were as revellers were still going home at 730am when we were getting up!)

We settled instead for a spectacular light show in the city's constitution square that had thousands jammed packed watching a homage to arcade games and visual effects done exactly to the shape of building that the light was projected upon giving the impression that the building itself had come alive!

What a great way to finish our time in Barcelona - its time to move on for our final leg cycling the Italian lakes and heading over the Alps into Switzerland by bike !

Just a laugh !

Some of the more recent significant moments on tour !

Mega - When asked by KH about conditions in the Outer Hebrides to Stornaway said "that was the day we had the headwind behind us"!

KH - "This is bullshit" when he had to leave all his fruit behind at the checkout in Barcelona when he didn't realize you had to weigh and wrap the fruit yourself prior to the checkout!

Linton - his magnificent impersonation of Michael Caine in the old film the Italian Job when driving the van at speed down footpaths in Figueres!

KH - having succeeded in ordering a salad sandwich or baguette in every place we've visited by using complicated hand charades and quasi English!

The sight of the 5 of us looking at a guy putting in petrol in his car in France with us tring to work out how to use the fuel pump - we scared the hell out of the guy!

Linton - accidentally putting the car into reverse at a traffic light and heading off backwards as he accelerated the van!

KH - the sweep on our out of control canoe zig zagging down the Dordogne saying - "I've got ut all under control"!

Kim - Doing us all a favor by whacking KH on the head every time she tried to stroke her
paddle in the water!

France - The land of com ce com ca - wins the award for the most number of shops on consecutive days not open - what the hell are they doing !

Kim - Successfully blocking the equivalent of the M1 ( for carts and horses) in St Sulspice when she got the van stuck on an impossibly steep corner -in the hour she was there we did
not see another vehicle !

Viv - having to run uphill to get into bed in Carennac with the steeply sloping uphill floorboards from the 15th c

The boys - having to carry bike boxes through Barcelona for 5 kms after finding our one and only bike shop - if the first box missed we usually got people with the 2nd or 3rd!

KH - convinced on descent in a cable car that lights on a nearby sports field were in fact the lights for Barcelona Airport - directing air traffic into a hill!!!

Linton - philosophical when told Collingwood down 3 goals at 3/4 time and absolutely orgasmic when Jonesy's text told him about their 3 point win!

The green walk lights at Barcelona pedestrian crossings that go red after just 2 flashes
requiring pedestrians to run or be run over!

Viv with her flashing red love glades (bought for 3 euro) telling Linton he was in for some fun if he put on his matching ones in bed!

Life you've got to laugh !!!

Day 80 - Barcelona

Despite the throngs and close proximity music during the night we all slept pretty well during the night thanks to the apartment being well insulated against street noise.

As mentioned we'd arrived smack bang in the middle of Barcelona's main week long festival where it's already densely populated city becomes am amazing mix of tourists, the beautiful and thousands of street performers.

While the girls were on a mission the boys walked and walked and walked some more to obtain cardboard bike boxes for the packing of our precious "treadlies"! Getting there was hard enough but coming back even tougher as we tried while carrying the boxes to avoid people in the street a near impossibility!

After a round trip of 10kms and with Henley still crying foul reckoning his box was 2 grams heavier and hence the reason for his precarious state we set off to do some more walking this time by funicular and cable car to a nearby fort that provided for spectacular views of the Meditteranean and the densely packed skyline of Barcelona.

Linton and Kev overlooking Barcelona

We finally woke up to the fact that Barcelona has an incredible underground system with trains departing stations every few minutes which was cold comfort to KH who looked like he was ready for the knackers yard.

Kim returned from her own walkathon having seem most of Barcelona's sights while Viv and Linton decided on punishing KH some more by taking him to the 8th wonder of the world Gaudi's inspired the "Famalia Sagrada" a cathedral of astonishing design and detail and a work in progress for over 100 years!

Cable Car with Barcelona in the background 

The Cathedral had to be seen to be believed with an interior design that more resembles a forest of nature based shapes than a church

The streets were again packed at night although restaurants and character filled bars every 10 metres made it possible to sit down and watch the world walk by.

To top off the day we were treated to a night displays by various marching groups complete with local bands and 15feet high effigy's ( KH is talking to their agents to check availability for the Doggies in 2012) this was almost Rio Carnivale like as the effigy'a accompanied by performers weaves their way across the crowded Barcelona streets.

Tired, foot weary but a great night to be in Spain!

Day 79 - Figueres to Barcelona

We got under way at 10.30 having packed up our two appartmenrs with Linton taking control of the "big bus" on the 2 hour journey to Barcelona.

Linton, Viv & Kev oustide the amazing Dali Museum !  

Our GPS obviously had fond memories of Figueres as it resisted our first two attempts giving us left, left and left directions!

KH conveniently slept through most of the tollway points until we threatened to leave his bike in lieu of the 2 euro payment!

Entering Barcelona was one of those OMG moments with freeway lanes going everywhere and a vista of wall to wall buildings for as far as you could look! Somehow we made the main section the La Rambla off which our accommodation lay. We only had one small problem the La Rambla seemed a never ending street and there was no where to park. Linton negotiated a couple of laps of the area and some massive roundabouts before we parked in an underground car park that seemed about an inch wider and higher than our van!

Our apartment was in a building right over a series of small laneways just off the La Rambla. To everones delight it contained 4 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms and individual air con and for the first time a kettle!

With all our gear painstakingly moved it was time to return our hire car complete with the few extra marks and scrapes we'd added.

To Linton's horror finding the car hird return was harder than finding our apartment and after a great display of nit losing it we finally drove into the Avis depot and set about walking down the La Rambla to our apartment.

We'd arrived in time to co-incide with one of Barceloba's major festivals and the streets were absolutely teeming with people what a buzz after a few weeks in the quieter areas of France.

Dinner was in a nearby square with outdoor settings fir probably 1000 people. Our full on day ended with us listening to bands playing as part of the festival and taking in our stunning surrounds in this amazingly vibrant city!

Day 78 - Figueres - 25kms

Kev, Linton and Viv headed out on a planned cycle to the coast while Kim and I took the lazy scenic option by driving first of all to the very beautiful Mediterranean village of Cadaques and then over the hills to the Gold Coast like town of Roses.

Stunning seaside village of Cadaques !

The cycling gang got no further than the Figueres car park trying without luck to pick up the coastal cycle route despite asking about 100 locals. Why they just couldn't navigate by using the map given which showed an aerial view of the roof top of buildings is beyond me.

Kim and I settled wandering the lovely shores of Cadaques with it's beautiful waters and it's beautiful women who seemed to enjoy sun along in various forms of undress. The narrow cobble stoned back alleyways of this town (one of Dali's favorites) were a delight!

Roses on the other side of the hills on the Costa Brava was a place largely devoid of soul although having a good beach and many sun worshippers. This was so much like the Gold Coast and so very missable.

With today being young Linton's birthday young Vivian took him out to a recommended restaurant in Figueres while Kev self and Kim journeyed 30kms out of town to a magical place called Besalu.

The town with Roman origins had amazing back street laneways with leaning medieval buildings and one of the most fantastic bridges complete with huge gates and drawbridge that you will ever see! Settling for pizza and beer in the quiet market square we took in the local ambience while in our own way celebrating Linton's birthday from a far!

Amazing medieaval bridge at Besalu !

Day 77 - Figueres

Awoke to clear skies a big city feel and just
relieved to be in a bed after last nights experience !

We stocked up at the nearby supermarket realising that while we could understand the occassional word in French (Vivs expertise excluded) we were going to have no hope understanding Spanish!

We had only 500 metres to walk to the highlight of Figueres the Salvador Dali museum. What an amazing place, the museum itself was partly created by Dali himself and shows a life time of works from this incredibly talented "nutcase"!

Dali's depiction of Pablo Picaasso

Every room had character, intrique and eccentricity stamped all over it. To picture the museum building consider this - external walls with hundreds of "dog turd" like designs. A roof with giant egg shells, an interior with giant bronze academy award like statuettes etc etc

The fact this guy was painting surreal art as well as mainstream art in the 1920's made it more amazing!

With our artistic spirits enhanced we settled for the most basic of human needs food !

On the recommendation of a local who claimed to have met JFK we had dinner in a marvellous outdoor setting on the Rambla Figuere's main street in the centre of town just watching life go by while partaking in Spanish Tapas cold food entrees of local delicacies a la yum cha!

With a couple of beers and some local Sangria had by the gang, well at least the alcoholic contingent, life was pretty good !

Dali Museum

Day 76 - Foix to Figueres (Spain) - 86 kms

It was drizzling as we set off for a brief circuit ride in the foothills of the Pyrenees before our planned drive to Figueres in Spain for the next leg of our adventure

Linton was in trouble early forgetting his jacket and the weather obliged soon becoming officially consistent rain. Climbing out of Foix past yesterdays caves we followed a recommended route in the Cylce France book that took in the best of the local countryside which would have been terrrific if any of us had looked up through the falling rain to see it

Chateaux overlooking Foix

At the 30km mark we called it quits and cycled back to Foix or so we thought until we came to an intersection and realised  we were closer to our original planned destination of Le Mars or something like that than Foix.

We decided on cycling forward and looping to Foix which took us on the only road in Europe that goes underground through a cavern - this was an amazing ride 500 metre road mainly in the dark with the cave descending until the road re-emmerged on the other side

Kev and I road back to havre another go while Viv and Linton pressed on keen to get back to Foix. As it always happens the rain then teemed down on our return although Kev and I secured some shelter until the worst had past

Back in Foix we caught up with Kim, dripped our way into a nearby coffee shop, changed out of our wet clothes and set off on the 3 hour as it tuned out journey to Figueres Spain by way of Perpignan running parrallel to the magnificent Pyrenees. A quick dinner in Perpignan and 50 kms later we arrived with an unfolding nightmare about to occur

Figuesres streets in the old town are an amazing series of narrow one way streets -  Linton drove our bus like vehicle a la theItalian mob with wheels up on the footpath and at times almost on the wall to avoid parked cars - we soon found though that we could not find our appartment

After endless circling and Vivs persistence in asking dircetiosn we finally made it at 11p,m now to realise there was no one to let us in. To compound matters most of our phone were flat excecpt for kim´s and in one final try to she got through to the owner to come our and let us in

This was travel stress at its best and to give credit to the crew was well handled or will be well handled when we start talking to each other again in a week or two

With a little "ole" when crossing the border we are now in Spain !!!

Day 75 - Foix

The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain ... so the story goes or in our case the mid Pyrenees in France with Foix having it's fair share of precipitation on this Sunday.

With cycling off the agenda we spent a good hour in the morning wandering around town trying to find a cafe that serves breakfast. Anyone that has ever been to Europe would know that you have more chance of finding gold than finding anything open on a Sunday and even Maccas are hard to find.

After finallly ending up back at our Hotel we stetted in for a leisurely breakfast with our restaurant beautifully siutateded over the main river in Foix

Streets of Foix

The days highlight was our drive to nearby Labouiche site of the longest navigable underground river in Europe. Near hystseria (claustrophobia) gripped the group getting in though as a man made entrance to the underground river consisted of an incredibly narrow spiral rock staircase that had the girls at one point racing back to the surface and the boys (Kev excluded) sweating with indecison about whether to continue

Finally we all made it on to the subterranaen boat for a pleasant 70 min ride through the low roofed caverns marvelling at this beautful site. The moment was spoilt by two ignorant french people who in scenes from the Blair Witch decided to use their videos cameras and non stop. The standard of filming was so poor that even Steven Speilberg couldnt edit it to a watchable outcome

Despite the guides instruction not to film they continued until we collectively threatened to deck them - Aussie diplomacy!

A journey back to town saw us take in a beaut intimate retaurant for dinner where Linton and self made the mistake of sampling the local wine of the region including a magnificent smooth merlot type from mixed grapes that after two bottles had Linton singing with the local guitarist and me seeing triple.

A great way to spend a lazy Sunday withyout cycling - look out tommorrow as we tackle the Pyrenees or at laest the flat bits!

Kim looking down at Foix

Day 74 - Carcossone to Remes le Bain - Foix 60 kms

Exiting the metropolis of Carcossone we dropped off Viv, Linton and KH to cycle to the French spa town of Remes les Bain in the mid Pyranees.

Inside walled city of Carcossone

While the crew cycled through the countryside Kim and self did some forward reconnisance to look for potential accommodation options that might be more scenic than our planned route to Perpignan.

We eventually settled for the town of Foix at the foothills of the Pyrenees as it provided a number of cycling options (some mountainous)as well as local attractions and an abundance of local eateries and cages. The town also had a beautiful old section with narrow winding lanes overlooked by a towering chateaux.

Meanwhile back at the ranch things were getting critical with the humid weather depleting the crews water supply requiring them to door knock in desperation. A text from Linton also confirmed their dire predicament - according to his text he was on the verge of starving after only having had a pizza, fruit and lollies and could we consider driving the 60kms back to deliver his baquette that he'd left in the van when we dropped them off !!!

We eventually met up in quiet Remes la Bain with an on the spot medical (while Linton was eating another pizza) confirming that Linton was in good enough condition to travel the
winding road back to Foix.

In some amazing driving down narrow and blocked lanes Viv was eventually able to get us to our hotel in Foix with the car in one piece!

Dinner capped off a great day , an intimate restaurant, some magnificent regional red wine and (after a couple of bottles) Linton and a French guitarist serenading us with an Elvis Presley number - what more could you want ... maybe Henley accompanying on bagpipes!!!

Day 73 - Carcossone

Despite our long drive the crew were into action early Viv and Kim with shopping agendas Linton and KH on a mission for a baguette and self in search of breakfast supplies and taking it easy with the heat of the morning promising the day to be a hot one.

Carcossone is famed for it's walled fortified old city a Unesco world heritage site that looks like it is straight out of the middle ages. For all it's fame and external beauty the old city can be a tourist nightmare with restaurants and trinket shops littering the narrow streets. Nice to visit but also nice to move on.

Some afternoon entertainment was provided by Kims (thankfully unhurt) 180 slipping on water on the units floor from the leaking fridge. Additional slip hazards caused by the leaking air conditioner and the absence of a shower curtain meant that walking around the unit was treated with the same caution as walking in a field containing land mines!

Linton excelled with a magnificent home cooked seafood meal before we journeyed back to the ramparts to see the walled city by night light a much more enjoyable experience with the hordes having disapated.

To cap off an incident filled day both KH and Viv suffered injuries KH when he jumped off one of the small ramparts forgetting that he'd left most if his ligaments on the forty field many years back and Viv who according to reports went to jump lovingly into Lintons arms who wad momentarily distracted by the wafting smell of a nearby bakery!

We everyone limping back to the unit we agreed that while Carcossone was nice to visit it was also nice to be moving on.

Beautiful by night - Carcossone