This is more of a general update than anything else as I’m afraid I’ve been rather busy since returning and I can’t even begin to digest what’s happened; let alone write something worth reading… I will post something more interesting (hopefully) in the next few days. Briefly though, I just want to say thank you …
Continue reading "Day 174 – Winchester to London – Final Day!"
I'm less than 100 miles from London... Distance: 45.8miles / 73.7km Riding Time: 2:51:51 Av. Speed: 16.0mph / 25.5km
A bit of a milestone today really. Ok I haven’t ‘officially’ cycled around the world yet but I’m now leaving France and it feels a bit surreal. I am now in Poole and the ferry got in rather late, so despite a short day tomorrow, I’m keen to get to bed. (I probably should have …
After almost 7 months, this is my last full night abroad... And I intend to spend as much of it as possible asleep... So yeah, you get the idea. I haven't quite got my head around that, maybe it's because I still have to cycle 100 miles tomorrow, and maybe something will sink in when …
Not an overly straightforward day today; and rubbish service at lunch meant we finished late and has therefore meant that I am also very late now as well. The ride today was good. Despite a few minor mishaps with the route heading off-road, it was enjoyable. I’m afraid I am beyond tired and my brain …
I had the first rain of Leg 8 today. It wasn't too bad but it was far from the temperatures I faced a few days ago. The day improved as it went on really. Around halfway we hit Bordeaux, and whilst there were some very nice bits, it wasn't quite as pretty as expected. The final …
Today has been a good day, although not everything went exactly to plan. The morning was fantastic, riding with someone else pretty much reminded me why cycling is so good. The scenery was, for the most part, very good as well. Riding through San Sebastián was pretty stunning but unfortunately I managed to fall off …
Today has been a really good day. My legs took 80 kilometres to wake up so the morning was bit slow, but after that, it was brilliant. Spain suddenly became a very nice place to ride and I'm almost sad that I'm leaving it tomorrow... almost. I have now been joined by my Dad and …
I woke up really tired this morning and it soon became apparent that the legs had not recovered from yesterday either. It's been quite a while since they've been that stiff actually. A pretty rubbish breakfast didn't help and once riding I instantly discovered that the wind was also doing everything it could to make …
I’m currently having to put in some longer days in order to get back for my planned finish date; so rather than me starting every blog saying: “I’m late again so this will be a short update”, maybe just assume that that’s the case from now on. Today was long, but nowhere near as hot …
I got about 5 hours sleep last night and I’m keen to change that, so this will have to be another short one. Today was hard, I think due to a combination of heat and hills. It was by far the hottest day I’ve had with this much climbing. In fact, it had almost double …
I’ve had three days off and am now riding again. Lisbon was great as I got to see my mum and sister, but it was not totally without stress. Problems with the bike and Garmin (the latter of which is still not resolved) meant I had far less time than expected yesterday. It was good …
Continue reading "Day 163 – Lisbon to Nisa – Start of Leg 8"
Following the shortest leg of the trip, this has been the longest (unless I get very very lost in Spain) Distance: 4497.81miles / 7238.52km Riding Time: 305 hours, 41 minutes Av. Speed: 14.7mph / 23.7kph Riding Days: 42 Rest Days: 0 Mechanical Problems: North America has trumped everywhere else by a long way in this …
Continue reading "Leg 7 – San Francisco to Boston – Summary"
I have now cycled across America! I don’t think that has really sunk in yet. Although to be perfectly honest, I don’t even think Australia has sunk in. I haven’t really stopped moving and I still feel as though I’m yet to let everything catch up with me. I also think I have to be …
Continue reading "Day 162 – Leominster to Boston – End of Leg 7!"
A day of ups and downs - literally and figuratively. I started off today with a 15km climb, and with tired legs and no chance of a warm up, it went about as quickly as you'd expect. The descent down the other side was fantastic though. A wide, steep road produced the fastest speed of …
I’ve been extremely unproductive in the mornings and evenings the last few days, and today is no exception. I think a lot of it could be down to complacency - which is something I really should have learnt to avoid by now. I have 150 miles left and honestly, there is a large part of …
Today has mostly been a good day. The weather (including the wind) was kind to me and I have decided that I actually quite like New York State (excluding Utica). The legs felt much more lively this morning and the relatively hilly terrain didn’t pose too much of a problem… despite having to stop half …
I woke up this morning fully clothed, lying face down on top of the bed with all the lights still on. I think it’s safe to say that I’m a bit behind on sleep… The ride today was good for the most part, but unfortunately I was wet for the majority as it rained for …
I'm much later and more tired than usual this evening, so I don't know how long this'll be... The first 70 kilometres or so were actually quite good, despite the unpleasant roads. The weather was perfect and I started off in a much better mood than I have done the last few days. However after …
Heading towards Toronto, things were always going to get busier and I spent much of the first couple of hours on a dual carriageway so it was lucky that it was Sunday (tomorrow will probably be worse). Until I started to approach Barrie, it really wasn’t very nice riding. Thankfully I then turned off the …
Today has been a bit mixed. I managed to get to sleep without too much trouble last night, but I woke this morning to find a mosquito (or four) had had a bit of a feast at my expense. The rain held off today thankfully, but visibility was still restricted to about 200m for the …
Today started off damp and got progressively wetter throughout the course of the ride. That's pretty much all there is to mention about today - I got wet. The roads I was on for the majority were busy and had a very narrow shoulder, so it wasn't particularly nice riding either. I realised the other …
I was really tired this morning and I think I'm in need of an 8 hour sleep. My legs are feeling more and more fatigued in the mornings, but I'm not sure whether that's purely down to lack of sleep, or if that is an inevitability after 33 days without a break. Speaking of my …
The first 45km or so today weren’t that great. My legs felt completely empty and apparently did not want to have anything to do with cycling 100 miles. Nevertheless, things improved after that. I wasn’t originally planning to stop there but given my lack of energy I figured it was a good idea. Luckily it …
Much like yesterday, I was woken up to rain this morning. However rather than waking up to the sound of rain, I was woken up by the rain... at 3am. Despite pitching my tent under a roof, I still got hit very hard by the storm that arrived. It was the wind that was the …
Continue reading "Day 151 – White River to Montreal River Harbor"
Waking up to the sound of rain pretty much set the tone for the day this morning. Long story short - I got wet, I had a headwind and the prospect of camping in this weather was pretty much making me as miserable as possible. Mentally it was one of the hardest mornings I've had …
Having spent more time stretching and working on my knee last night than any other day, I was a tad frustrated this morning to find it the most painful it’s been for the last three weeks. I’m not sure why that was the case and I'm now slightly apprehensive about doing anything with it tonight. …
I didn’t get loads of sleep last night (surprise surprise) so I wasn’t feeling overly fresh when I woke up this morning. It’s been another shorter day, but unlike yesterday, it didn’t really feel it. I lost an hour as I crossed over into Canada so I guess that didn’t help. The weather today was …
A shorter day today. I felt good when I set off this morning, and thankfully that lasted all day. The weather was good and I spent the majority of the first 40 kilometres on a very pretty but quite hilly bike path. I started to feel the odd twinge in my knee towards the end …
15,000 miles! It was nice to hit that earlier. Only 1/6 to go - I should be home in about a month. I’ve still got a lot of cycling to do and a few nights in a tent to endure (primarily tomorrow), but I really am starting to feel like I’m getting close. It’s still …
Tom Davies RTW 