Zagreb, Croatia to Kostajnica, Bosnia (14 – 20 Sep) Total miles so far: 825 (1,325km) Thigh status: Unnerving Croatia starts badly. I don't intentionally cycle ten miles on a series of ever-shrinking country paths – each mile lumpier and less path-like than the last, until it's almost entirely...
Trieste, Italy to Zagreb, Croatia (Sep 1 – 14) Thigh status: Triple Whopper with cheese I don't realise I've crossed from Italy into Slovenia until all the signs suddenly start appearing in mirror writing. 'Restavracija, okusna hrana!' says one, beside a picture of an enormous slab of bloodied...
Geneva to Trieste (Aug 15 – Sep 1) Total miles cycled: 600 Thigh status: ominous For those who have seen the film Melancholia, you'll recall the scenes depicting a giant planet looming menacingly on the horizon, growing ever-larger – before (spoiler alert!) it ploughs point blank...
Chablis to Geneva (Aug 6 to 14: 280 miles) Thigh update: manageable but mottled 'Cobble' is a great word, isn't it? So cute and soft, but with a satisfying firmness at the edges, like a perfectly ripened plum or kumquat. It's one of those words you...
Forges les Eaux to Chablis (July 31 – Aug 6, 240 miles) If there's one lesson I hope to take away with me after this trip, it's this: there is never a good reason for taking a ukulele on a bicycle. Remember it, write it down;...
Tuesday, 30th July, 2015 Miles: 41 (target: 45) I awake and fling open my curtains to discover a small, round man smoking a cigarette, staring directly at me. I close the curtains again, then open them an inch. He's still there, scratching his nose, his face an...
London – Bolney, UK (29th July, 2015) Total miles cycled: 43 (69km) Thigh status: Stable Awake at 6am, then 6.15am, then 6.30am. Today's the day! I try to ignore it, but I know it's time. My arm doesn't even hurt too badly anymore: my last surviving hope for...
Nothing much to report yet as I'm still at home stockpiling energy gels and chamois cream. But here's a pic of me picking up my trusty steed from the wonderfully generous people at Kona to tide things over. She's a 2016 model Kona Sutra, and...