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Tripoli to Tyre, Lebanon (30 Dec – 8 Jan) Total miles cycled: 3,646 (5,868km) Thigh status: Obese Witchetty grub Tripoli at dusk is a dispiriting place. As I cycle from the boat into the city centre, around me loom a series of sombre, grey tower blocks, rising like...
Gaziantep, Turkey – Tripoli, Lebanon (22 – 30 Dec) Total miles cycled: 3,528 (5,678km) Thigh status: BB- (negative outlook) The main problem with carrying a satellite tracker is that everyone knows where you are. This is generally A Good Thing, as my mother has beaten into me on regular...
Sivrihisar – Gaziantep, Turkey (12 – 22 Dec) Total miles cycled: 3,250 (5,230km) Thigh status: Lou Ferrigno Read an edited version of this blog in Cycling World magazine. So this is how it ends, I think to myself. Sprawled face down on a granite slab, rump in the air,...
View accompanying photo galleries here and here. Istanbul – Sivrihisar, Turkey (26 Nov – 12 Dec) Total miles cycled: 2,740 (4,410km) Thigh status: Two fat ladies [caption id="attachment_1750" align="alignleft" width="300"] Sunrise over the Bosphorus, taken from window of K & B's incredible apartment in Istanbul. Takes all...
Hamzabeyli, Bulgaria to Istanbul, Turkey (7 – 20 Nov) Total miles cycled: 2,440 (3,927km) Thigh status: Elephant seal For all wannabe crooks, swindlers and general ne'er-do-wells out there, I have a word of advice: become a tour cyclist. Everyone trusts you and welcomes you into their lives, without...
Harmanli, Bulgaria to Hamzabeyli, Turkey (2 – 8 Nov) Total miles cycled: 2,130 (3,428km) Thigh status: Barrage balloon As soon as I arrive in Harmanli, I'm approached by a small, swarthy man with a wolfish grin. 'Hello, beautiful,' he says. 'Can I show you around?' It's probably not...
Tran to Harmanli, Bulgaria (23 Oct – 2 Nov) Total miles cycled: 1,950 (3138km) Thigh status: Baby manatee My first day in Bulgaria doesn't bode well. The sky is black and buckets of rain thump down outside my window. I spend an exhilarating 20 minutes wrapping all my...
Bregovi, Serbia to Tran, Bulgaria (11 – 22 Oct) Total miles cycled: 1,650 (2,655km) Thigh status: Rubenesque It is miserable and pouring with rain when I arrive in Mitrovica, Kosovo. My first impressions, noted in my diary, are alliteratively unequivocal – 'grey, grotty, grisly, gloomy' – with thick...
Podgorica, Montenegro to Serbia/Kosovo border (26 Sep – 14 Oct) Total miles cycled: 1,340 (2,157km) Thigh status: pygmy hippopotamus 'Politics, problem!' says the man, handing me a spoon of home-made honey. 'Corrupt-zion, problem! Arsenal, problem! Arsene Wenger, catastroph!' P and I are at Lake Skadar, Montenegro, sampling a few...
Kostajnica, Bosnia to Podgorica, Montenegro (20 – 28 Sep) Total miles cycled: 1,118 (1,800km) Thigh status: Mini-Zeppalin The best thing about camping is the joy you feel when you don't have to do it. My first night in Bosnia is spent in a cheap motel, under a firm...