IT'S A BLOG

I’m now in Batumi and have been for four days now. I always seem to get stuck in cities you see. I’m going to leave today and it’s a rather short 400 km ride to the capital Tbilisi where I’m hoping (fingers crossed) to get my Chinese visa. Time will tell. I spent a lovely five days cycling through the rest of Turkey with Will and Chloe and It’s been an honour to share the road and my time with them. It was an easy ride to the border with Georgia as the road that followed the

From Inebolu, I still had a fair way to go until Sinop was reached and with it, the start of a much more forgiving road. I was on my way by seven and was greeted with a beautiful stretch of road that was, most importantly flat. This is a joy to behold, particularly at half seven in the morning. I sat on a bench overlooking the beach and had breakfast, just taking in the views and the serene atmosphere whilst a few people were out and about walking along the promenade. After a

I won’t lie. The last few days have been some of the toughest Iv'e encountered thus far and that includes cycling through central Spain in 40 + degrees and cycling over the Alps. You see it’s not that I’m cycling in extreme temperatures nor over mountainous. It’s the simple fact that, when you combine just a little of the two and then continue this over several days, it's actually much more physically and mentally demanding. Here, the same conditions seem endless. The heart c

​It’s a very strange feeling you know – this cycle touring. I liken it almost to finishing a good book. Once I have completed a section of the trip and taken a break, It’s very difficult to begin the next section, or book as it were. So it was that after almost ten days enjoying all that Istanbul has to offer with Maria, I was reluctant to begin again. Perhaps there was a touch of nervousness at my impending charade of having to again tackle exiting this vast city to the east

"You’re still going!?“ was the question a lot of people asked me after the attacks on Atatürk Airport. I must admit that although I wasn’t buying into the panic, the news coverage didn’t do much to up my levels of feeling safe either. “The statistics are in my favor,” I told them, “maybe even more so now.” I calmed my mom down by saying that, statistically speaking, the most dangerous part of my journey will still be the car ride to the airport. And well, after getting to Ist

As I cycled out into the Turkish area, I had my first encounter with a mosque which was quite thrilling really. Christian Europe had been replaced by a predominantly Muslim country – the first of many I hope. Onwards through Turkey! Lets go and cycle to Istanbul I had about 10km’s to go until I would come to Edirne but it would be another 10km’s after that before I would arrive in the countryside once again and thus be able to find a place to camp. As I was cycling along my n

This seems like a lifetime ago but I may as well get it written up. ​ I finished my last post by revealing that I had found the most perfect spot to camp – overlooking the Danube with the whole of Romania lay out in front of me like a giant chessboard. I had called it check mate. I had bloody won! Cycle touring through Bulgaria - I just wished my camera wasn't dead! I woke the next morning to a stunning sunrise on my right and I was just in super high spirits. With only one m