JBD2010

Dear all, please excuse my recent lack of chatter.
If you’ve had a chance to hear yourself think over the past week or so this may have been a direct consequence of me not filling your mind with long winded ramblings from Europe. I hope you have enjoyed those moments of clarity as I’m back!

This recent quiet spell has been down to an intense period of cycling which has seen me travel from Genova to Barcelona in 10 days (further details will appear in good time). During this ’stage’ of my tour I have addressing some firsts which have eaten up the moments where I would have normally been drafting my online prose.

Firstly there have been some distance deadlines to hit. I placed an onus on myself to reach Barça by the end of August. Sat in Genova looking at the map, studying the coast & seeing the winding roads over/around large clumps of grey matter – aka the French Alps & Pyrenees – it looked like a time consuming, energy sapping 700ish miles – I needed to get a groove on.

Secondly (+ more interetingly) I’ve had some quality & consistant company – say hello & wave goodbye to Mr James Bradley who has flown out to Genova with his bike (Tiyana) to cycle this stretch with me.
JB is a real post graduation success story! Like myself James is a fellow graduate in Philosophy, unlike me (& most philosophy graduates) James has gone onto do something constructive with his life. James is a teacher in a London secondary school having gone about it the most challenging & interesting way possible ie. via the teach first programme.
I’ve lone cycled for along time now & to introduce a second set of wheels for two weeks was a big call – was it the right one?? Find out soon right here on the jBd2010 blog!

So that’s what I’ve been up to, it amounts to little more than a set of excuses excuses but I promise I will be writing about my post Alp adventures in Italy shortly – so stay tuned… DO NOT adjust your sets – or reconfigure your broadband width if that’s even a acceptable 21st century comparison? I’m still alive & still plodding along!

I trust all is well,
Jules x

At some point whilst hurtling through downtown Münich at night, on my bike, on a Sunday, following two artists & wielding a spanner in my left hand, I got chance to take stock of the previous 12 hours & thought “wow, the day can really get away from you”.

48 hours previous…
The trip from Prauge to Münich was tough, especially the German section. I have already mentioned how pleasurable the the Czech leg was and the good sights rolled on the other side of the green map territory line (this one was much more obviously marked). On this super fresh Saturday – it thundered so heavily the night before that at one point I woke up startled, thinking why had I gone to one of Nottinghams warehouse raves, still it cleared the atmosphere – I took on another hundred miles & some big hills. At one point, just re-inside of Germany I looked at my map & picked the most direct road I could find. Easy. As I started climbing vertically a truck passed the otherway. It’s front seat passangers gave me a wave & laughed – the why? Well because my direct
Yellow line failed to include details on gradiants – 10% mostly, in places 12%.
*as an additional remark who worked out the percentage system for hills? I would like to know more as in my mind it doesn’t completely make sense. Father Bracey get commenting!*
Anyhoo the pain was worth it as I found a delightful (& cheap) youth hostel in a town 80ish miles from Berlin. God the Germans do excellent youth hostels or Jugendherberge.

12 hours previous…
On the Sunday morning I awoke knowing that Münich was one big cycle away. This was when things began to get a little strange. About 40 mins into the morning leg I passed through a Gemran village. The road was closed off to cars, accident I thought? No the Germans were on the march again.. To this day I still don’t know what I saw but it involved a thousand or so Germans marching around this tiny little village, divided into units, all in different uniforms, with each individual division being led by a beautiful girl. Many looked at me strange, I can only imagine what my reciprocal look back to them was like (imagine as I didn’t have a mirror). After all that excitement the rest of the trip to Münich was relatively dull…

…early that Sunday evening…
Dull it might have been, easy it was not. The roads were wet, slow & filled with drivers who didn’t much like me. On entering north Münich (I passed the worlds largest & most impressive piece of bubble wrap (aka the allianz arena) I was pooped. As soon as I found me some free wifi I went searching for my hostel. What I didnt realise was how big the city was. Despite being well within the city limits the hostel was still a good 30mins away. I slogged on sulking! As I moaped through the center I passed a lady on a bike. I then took a wrong turn, did a tiny loop & found myself waiting at some lights, now behind that same lady. She asked where I was going, I said “youth hos” -but before I could get ‘tel’ out of my mouth I was already following this random woman to her flat having agreed to spend the night there..

Münich – little Berlin with big London prices:
Despite the costs I did like Münich though, which is why I stayed for a few days. It was a good thing too as at this point I was getting corpse tired. Day one was little more than food & rest. More energised I got much more out of the second day, I saw many of the historic sights of Munich, went to the 1972 Olympic complex & spent an entire afternoon in the large English Garden – I even got the chance to swim.

Back to the flat…
I did quite literally just said yes to a strangers kind offer. Kind though it was I still didn’t have a clue about who I was following & where I was going. I didn’t, but I needent of worried though. The ladies name was Stefanie & she & her husband were artists – Schmuck & Objekte, Sammeck & Sammeck München. Stefanie once walked from France to the bottom Spain & had empathy for the distance traveller. The Sammeck’s were also hosting another traveller called Miguel, he was staying with them to learn German but was also a fellow artist & nice chap too – miguelgonzalezcabezas.blogspot.com
The highlight that evening came in downtown in Münich. Stefanie wanted to show Miguel & I the town. We took our bikes & on the way my spanner dropped out of it’s BROOKS bag (“oh so that’s how you ended up holding it”). We went to a true Bavarian beer house, touched some lucky gold stone & went to a place where the locals dance for free. At this last place Stefanie stated how much she loved to dance but her husband didn’t. After a awkward few moments of watching all the prancing couples I manned up & told my hostess that I would dance with her. One minute later she uttered the words “this isn’t working” & I was cast to the side. After 1500 miles you try dancing! We rounded the night off with some ice cream & went home. I can’t thank the Sammeck’s enough & hope they enjoy thier holiday in Cornwall.

For the next few days & nights I returned to hostel living. Out of Münich saw me cover another 200 miles in 2 days. This incorporated what turned out to be a very pleasant night in a German guest house in *details to follow* & ultimately a lovely boat trip to Switzerland from Friedrichshafen.
It disgusts me how casually I can simply drop in 200 miles when writing! Nothing casual about doing it!
Suddenly – finally – that was Germany completed. As the Zeppelin museum became a gray blur behind me I couldn’t help but think that it would have been an even better way to have entered Switzerland – I was also thinking about Indiana Jones & the last crusade.

Although it didn’t get my heart racing continually (see earlier post) Germany was just swell. It may not be the prom queen but it certainly was the girl you would no doubt ending up having a life with. For the most part you would be content & grateful with that. Auf wiedersehen & danke deutschland.

Next I just had the small matter of crossing the alps…

The borderline was so causally marked that it would be easy to miss.. & I mean real easy. Combine this with the fact that cycling down the river Elbe is so pleasurable that you totally forget that you’re cycling anywhere at all & you have a situation in which an Englishman zooms past an international bondary faster than you can say ‘uh oh, Argentinian waters’. After double taking what I thought I saw I turned back & returned to Germany for a photo. Two cycling Germans found my actions highly amusing. Good for them.

Previously I have harped on about how my trip has been about people. Well the Czech Republic, with the exception of a few splended souls was most definately about the place. It looked great, had a healthy vibe & exploring it’s rolling hills was genuinely exciting. It was different – good different. People sometimes do like a change.
I don’t know what it was about Germany but it just didn’t get my heart pounding for a continued spell. Sure it was pleasant alright but something wasn’t quite there. My own theory is that this was a result of Germany being very similar to England in many ways – more similar than perhaps either side would like to admit. I would go as far & say the two are much like two brothers who don’t speak much & fought a lot when younger. Anyhoo whatever the reason or rhyme I got my adventure buzz back immediately as I blurred into the the Republic.

Czech mates:
Well they wern’t, in fact I failed to befriend many genuine Czech’s, but night 1 saw me camp next to a nice little town called Litomerice (popular with the Danes) & enjoy a impromptu drinking soirée with two couples & fellow campers. Hello to Hans, Wendy, (Diego & Floor) & also Daniel & Bettina. We all posessed a shared mutual admiration for the Czech land (it’s cheapness gave it some huge bonus points) & over a few beers & some plumb spirit – which in the UK would be used to make paint stripper for rockets – it was concluded that although communism failed here too perhaps in parts it was onto something – too much choice bungs up the mind. We also touched upon the pros & cons of legalising prostitution & shared internationally obacene words. It was a busy night! Goat balls is a splendid phrase in any language! At the time I took this latest meeting for granted (I was tired), but when cycling away I realised how grand that night had been. Great company, even with all those f@£@$@g mosquito’s.

Prague – a beautiful nothingness:
For all it’s sights & anything goes night life, which I sampled, I really wasn’t that fussed about the city. This may be a consequence of too many amazing cities too often but here I just really didn’t care about going to all the numerous buildings of excellence Prauge has. Instead I took a rowing boat trip for one at dusk – that was splended. Loliness also really knew my name at this point and as Prague is as romantic as it gets my grumpy sinical side may have descended & blinkered my vision. I did end up hostel bunking with a couple of young & interesting tourers, the girls name being Alicia – Swiss you know. I mention that as I’m finishing this blabble neck deep in the Alps right now (I ended up going over the top rather than around, Alicia). After a day & a couple of nights I hit the road again.

Even though I may not have got all that I wanted out of Prauge this dart into the ‘East’ was fully worth it. Not only did it break up the long German leg but on the final few days I was provided with some fantastic cycling sceneary with challenges to boot, which included something called ‘rain’ & a set of huge thunder storms. I even got to have my first real ‘Hills have eyes’ ‘Deliverance’ ‘Wrong Turn’ moment. After covering another big distance in some big heat I thought I’d look for a guesthouse. The one I found didn’t have a good aura about it & sure enough I was soon confronted with a gypsy esq ‘nuclear family’. I sped on into the night for a further 15 miles after that. I never once looked back.

…in the middle of Berlin’s extensive Tiregarten two footballing cultures merged. The Germans gave me a complete & wonderful taste of what taking part in a world cup semi-final, in a footballing mad country, would be like. In return I gave them an important English lesson in the consequences of foolishly allowing your hopes & expectations to be raised as they will only be crushed, albeit by the eventual champions. Still two semi’s & one final in the last 3 ain’t bad. Thus day one in Berlin ended in me taking a stroll with half a million defeated Germans through the Brandenburg Torr, a city & country was united – sadly by mutual dissappointment.

This bloomin’ trip ain’t half been odd at times. Berlin, by far the largest & most internationally cosmopolitan city I’ve visited, turned out to be the place I felt as if I had failed people & adventure wise. This is not to say that I didn’t fully explore Berlin, on the contary I saw more here, using my time far more economically, than at any other place to date, and it’s also not to say that I didn’t meet any nice people as there were plenty – at this point I should give a blog ’shout out’ to two Yorkshire lasses, Alice & Hester, enjoying that magical summer before Uni. One is off to study French & English (I think) at Manchester the other Biology at Nottingham – lucky things. Returning to my main point – it was just that there were no special interactions or chance meetings in a place where it should have been the easiest to enjoy one. I found no German version of Ags & Lou (although they are unique to themselves) & there was no summer picnic to be had with any chilled Swedes.
I tried of course. On the Friday night I went to a part of town which true Berliners go out. I wondered the packed streets littered with restaurants & bars for a good hour or so looking & listening to the people, just seeking an opening – it was wierd & led me to consider myself a voyeur. Perhaps all my fortunate adventures up to this point had led me to expect too much too often…

I wrote the above thoughts on the Friday evening. An hour later I found myself in the ‘blue oyster’ part of town (police accadamy fans will know what I’m saying). I was there to have a drink with the Mulligan’s who had come over from Bristol to celebrate 10 happy years of hetrosexual mariage. I very much doubt if the area that Ande had booked the hotel, for him & his wife Julie, had ever witnessed such an achievement! There was tight leather & chains everywhere. Gothic castle anyone?!

Again the beauty with Hostels is you just never know who you will wake up with next! On the Saturday morning I awoke with the knowledge that I must keep pressing on to Prague via Dresden. I started chatting to my latest hostel roomie who turned out be one of the most fascinating chaps I have met. Dr Wÿnveldt was a very important Jew from Holland (Voorburg) & had led a sort of life that fiction couldn’t construct. We had a good natter over breakfast, exchanged stories & opinions, he left me with some advice (“let life come to you Symba” – I added the Symba part) & then we went are separate ways, me cycling off knowing that much of what I had thought & written the evening before had, at the last, been rendered moot.

As for the city itself – wow! There is so much history & culture here that I honestly started to believe the Berlin wall was actually built to help tourists divide thier time, giving them a fighting chance to fully see all the city has to offer! If it wasn’t for all the pain, separation (& death) which accompanied the ‘Wall’ then my last comment would actually be comically apt as you could devote whole trips to one side or the other – like the good old days!
I haven’t really gone into any in depth discussions thus far regarding any of the sights I have seen on my travels, mainly becuase it’s too much of an effort, but in Berlin it was because I simply saw too much. The Wall was fascinating – especially the large section that has been turned into one of the largest open air gallerys around – the site where the Nazi’s had there base of terror (where the SS, Gestapo & a number of other awful departments had their common room) had been turned into an exceptionally well done space which allowed you to remember just how awful their attricoties were, whilst also & very importantly gaving a fair & frank (not Ann) lesson in how the conditions became such that a thing as National Socialism became a very real, legitimate & appealing option (not just for the Germans either). Away from these features Berlin has literally hundreds of postcard places so I strongly advise that at some point in your lives you pay it a visit & find your own fun (it’s also relatively cheap for a captial city).

It’s taken longer than usual for me to update the blog (I’ve undertaken some huge distances recently) which has given me plenty of time to properly mull over Berlin, hence why I’ve ended up writing so much (even by my standards!!)
Dresden was next up & it would privide more craziness to accompany some calm!

Well it should bloody be, it’s the perfect socialist vehicle for the masses – cheap (free), accessible to all & will (usually) prevent huge distances being covered quickly, aka flee for ‘freedom’ attempts… The truth however is that some of the most stressful cycling I’ve endured so far has come in (formally) East Germany. “Now hold on a second Jules, the wall fell in 1989 you need to stop complaining in the past”. Well although that is very true my entire ride from Rostock to Berlin was marked by a sense, in sight & feeling, that I was travelling through a land which not very long ago had a way of life unlike anything I ever have ever experienced.

When the ECF (European Cycling Federation) sent out it’s important memo to all the major European countries, stating that a huge effort needs to be made in improving & uniting the cycle ways of the continant, Germany scan read it, got the general gist & chucked the message in the bin (please recycle where possible). The part of the message it did process resulted in the creation of some of the most pleasurabe biking conditions you can imagine – a huge number of sign posts everywhere, flat smooth roads dedicated to bikes – they even threw in some more sunshine too… On the flip side though there were times where I got treated as if I were an ally tank, charging towards Berlin, which must be stopped at all costs. There were numerous obstacles – road blocks & missing bridges – sharp gravel with more pot holes than traction & to top it all off there were cobbled streets which were half made of jagged quarry rocks half kitchen knives. In short there were sections where Germany did it’s utmost to destroy the bike & it’s rider.

Welcome to Paradies.
The hightlight of the trip to Berlin came when staying a night in a rural Bett & Bike. NB: Bett & bike is Germanys cycling centric answer to an English B&B. Anyhoo I had just completed another 100 miles in the saddle & was fast needing a place to rest my weary head, ass & legs. Just when I needed it the most Schulbauernhof Paradies came into view. This place, run by a delightful fellow call Thilo & his wife, Iocated a few miles from one of Germany’s finest national parks Müritz, is 30% B&B & 70% educational retreat where young people from the cities learn what a cow is, where milk comes from, how butter is made & that some values of socialism such as promoting community and avoiding an over dependance on a constant need for shiny things are worth preserving. I rocked up late & said I had €15 cash to my name. This according to Thilo got me breakfast & a nice place for me to put up a tent. He actually offered me a genuine Indian tepee but I declined due it’s size – the bike had a cosy night though! We had a good old chat me & Mr T, who had his big dog Adam loyally by his side. He told me that despite the unification over 20 years previous it would take generations before the real differences are blurred over. He explained that in the East, especially in it’s rural parts, life, culturally, is still along way from the western style, something that he wasn’t hugely dissapointed about. He told me that he worried about all the negative aspects of western living dominating attitudes & raised some good points concerning our love of money & our tendancy to put quantity before quality. I responded back with a point about productivenss & concluded, as per usual, that the answer concerning reaching equilibrium for a good life was somewhere inbetween the two standards. Whether or not such a position exists is for another day. The next morning I was presented with a breakfast baquet fit for a king – or a cyclist who has gone a long old way, & recieced it well! Once again I was taken aback by the genrosity I recieced at this Bett & Bike and would advise anyone who is in the area to spend a night or 10 in Parides! Address: Freidorfer Straße 27, 17219 Wendorf OT Freidorf. They have a website too… www.schulbauernhoffreidorf.de

Stealing bread to feed a hungry cyclist:
Despite covering some serious ground the day before I still had a long way to go. The morning saw some long winded but truely splended German rural countryside riding, however this winding route eat time. After another 100 miles it was getting very late & I searched for another bett & bike. I found one which was a complete contrast to the night before, namely the 3 star hotel Anderson, 30 miles from Berlin. I had to barter the price down here as it was waaay more than I would have ever dreamed of paying normally but needs must & I did get an extremely comfortable bed for the night. As a consequence of my bartering I recieced a tiny breakfast & even had to ’steal’ a few prices of bread whilst no one was looking – I hope you don’t mind kind hotel lady (Agnetha I think) and I hope that you enjoy your visit to Cornwall!

From the hotel in Birkenwerder I was finally within striking distance of Berlin & ultimately made it in a time which would have even got Churchill to sit up… As I headed towards the Zentrum I had no idea that there were 500000 Germans awaiting me…

I had hoped that this trip would be as much about the people I meet as about the places I visit, and so it’s proving to be. Saturday the 3rd saw me complete a grueling 100 mile cycle in the Danish heat (certainly hot enough to cook bacon in) and on reaching the base of the Danish land I was exhausted. So far during my Scandinavian tour, devotees will recall, I have met some fantastic Swedes & Danes, it was almost poetic then that on my last night in Scandinavia I should run into a truly wonderful Danish/Swedish family who would take me into thier home. The Dorphs consist of Hugo, his lovely wife Kirsten, their two daughters & 1 bump (a baby on the way). They were holidaying in Hugo’s families summer home (a beautiful place near Bøtø By) and had stopped to collect themselves an evening ice cream whilst I, at the same time, decided that a hot dog was the best food of choice to replenish my low fuel stores. Hugo came over to the bike & inquired about my substantial luggage, I complimented him on his wife’s saddle (she had a nice BROOKS one), one thing led to another & suddenly it was decided that I was welcome to put up my tent in their garden. What followed that summers evening was good company & pleasant chat. The Dorphs were also one of the first ‘Apple’ familes I’ve come across. Hugo is very much into his technology so I also got to play with the ipad for the first time & had a GPS application bought for me!

As I waved goodbye & turned my back the next morning (after a fantastic breakfast) I once again thought about how lucky I was to recieve such further warmth & generosity. I felt good as I set off to Gedser to catch the ferry…
…but the milk of stranger kindness had yet to be fully used up.

When you get a ferry with a bike you are treated for the most part like a car. You get your ticket at the vehicle kiosk and are issued with a car lane before being ushered into a bike section where you wait for the boat. At this point a group of German cyclists, who themselves had just completed a mini tour in Denmark started chatting to me. I say chat it was more half understood comments & alotta laughs. They didn’t speak much English (though new more English than I did German) but we managed to get by. At one point, somewhere between Denmark & Germany, my evening plans came up as the topic of conversation. It was getting late & I assumed that I would have a look around Rostock & then find a Campsite but my German crew had other ideas – they had a plan! So once again, for the second night in succession, I found myself staying in the company of some kind strangers who wished to help me with my adventure. They showed me to Rostock, they made me feel welcome in their home (I had some tasty German beers, one which was opened by using a newspaper) & in the morning they fed me & gave me some energy bars for the long trek to Berlin.

I feel very bad for not naming them, I had all these personal details on a bit of paper which has currently gone astray but hopefully they will get in contact via this blog & put some names to utterances. So long as they know how appreciative I am of their kindness then all will be OK! Danke.
I couldn’t have felt fresher for the journey to Berlin (a freshness I would really need).

So far I can’t say that the treatment I’ve recieved out & about in Europe has come as a complete surprise. I had hoped that this could be what would happen, but thinking something might be the case & actually having it occur in reality are two very different things which is why I’m eternally grateful to everyone who has helped JBD2010 in some way or the other up to now. As of Berlin it’s 900 miles & rising.

**Amendment** I have now found that all important piece of paper, the one with the names of my German friends on so… here’s a HUGE danke to Sieglinde & Gerhard, my kind German hosts, and also a mention to Kristel & Lothar, their cycling friends, & my fellow shipmates!