Category Archives: Travel Blogs

Smells like rain

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Last few days have been with a pillion which always bring a new dynamic to travel. Trying to acclimatise to the predicted 38 degree temperatures to be expected at my next major stopover but even mid and southern France have been experiencing an unexpected heatwave. Today weighty thunderclouds bubbled in the sky for a few hours before discarding their steam generating load onto the roadside and drying grasses – being caught on the edge of this was delight for the senses with smells and humidity changing by the minute.

Sunflowers in the rain

I disagreed with something that ate me

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Family and friends were worried I would be eaten by a bear or savaged by wolves and having taken every precaution to avoid ticks when camping in the forests in Norway and Sweden I think I have survived tick-borne encephalitis, swimming in the lakes proved interesting and having seen the biggest leeches on the lake edges I have restricted my swimming to rivers, but yet today I have two parallel fang marks in my foot – to be fair the culprit must have been an expert as I did not feel a thing just noticed the blood, so good luck to it!Leachy

On reflection, I’ll take the sun

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There is a delicious masochism about riding in the rain. It starts with the ritual of donning equipment that is designed to keep you dry for a casual ride but in 10 hour monsoons even the best can be overcome. Gortex topped with one piece rain suit works best for me – but forget waterproof boots and gloves they simply don’t exist in torrential rain conditions. Days end allows for drip drying and repeated hot drinks – snuggling into a dry sleeping bag on a wooden platform yesterday covered by a tin roof was a extraordinary feeling – so in touch with the elements yet thankfully dry and warm – the spectacle of viscous lighting bolts and the soundtrack of thunderclaps and bouncing rain… best nights sleep yet.I'll take the sun

Skyscraper Envy

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Can a country get Skyscraper envy? Frankfurt has around 30 Skyscrapers… I wonder if this could be inked to Andrew Lawrence’s belief that the “skyscraper index,” is in play. Andrew maintains that, a skyscraper begins construction when the economy is growing, but this is then followed by a sharp downturn. But once a skyscraper is finished, according to the index, the economy is climbing back. By my understanding there around 6 substantive skyscraper building projects under way in Frankfurt today…

Frankfurt Skyline

I’ll take the rain over snow

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So over the last 1870 miles and four countries, today has been the first dry day since the 21st June. In truth I don’t mind the rain, its just about having the right gear and getting the mindset right. Focus is on drying over suits, boots and gloves and then checking the bike – that takes precedent in the evenings and thankfully the land of very cheap overnight accommodation beckons. I am paying less now per night in each miserly selected venue than I have paid for camping spots in Scandinavia, though in truth I am missing the sea already. I journeyed into Frankfurt today, my new German friends said I must see the “Eurotower”, and there’s me thinking it was a monument to unification striving for peace and understanding across the E.C. when in actuality it is a shrine to a struggling currency.

Eurofolly