Prague

So this is where we begin. It was supposed to be Paris to Istanbul following my notion of the route of the Orient Express but Ralph could not be convinced – not sure whether that meant it couldn’t be done or there would be no customers . So that one will wait for a future date.

I am anxious here in beautiful Prague because I have arrived minus my baggage and precious Colnago – Air nz just forgot to load them in Auckland.so – I am trying to look to the positive – I had clean underwear and tee shirt in my carry on as well as a toilet bag just in case. But I am worried about Marees two bottles of sulphite free wine from Seresine in my case – what if they are never found .

Prague is lovely – warm and easy . but already in late May it’s crowded . Thank god I am not here in July- August – every sq inch of the cobbles would be covered by tour people and the astronomical clock ( which is under repair for two years and a digital version available ) would have to be viewed with binoculars !

I do try to ignore them but to be honest I am not good with crowds – viewing them from the hop on hop off bus is best .

Day 1 to 6

I did put some days up but the WordPress failed some how and I lost it – not to worry .

It’s day 7 – rest day in Berchtesgaden ( meaning mountain garden in German ) – a lovely place in the south about 40kms from Salzburg . Sunday – church bells,no shops open , and sunny / warm . People out riding and walking – most of the guys went to see eagles nest the wartime Hilter/ Nazi mountain HQ . Me -well bugger Hitler he’s about as far from my interest as I can imagine anyone – and in a way going to some shrine to him kind of legitimises the bastard . I had a great Greek restraunt lunch , quiet bike to Konisee , caught up on the laundry and missed the princess. Called David , jet n yara ( her 4th birthday this week) .

The biking has been great weather in fact probably too hot in the afternoon approaching 30 and not cooling till late at night .

Prague to Tabour (Czech republic)- 5 hours 45mins biking,104 kms,1400 meters climb hard day

Tabour to Cesky Kumlov ( gorgeous medieval town – must come back )- 6 hours biking,123 kms,1200 meters climbing – very hard day in heat with 15% climb to finish

Chesky Kumlov to Scholegen ( Austria) ( tiny lake side village) – 6 hours biking, 121 kms,1900 meters climbing.✌️

Scholgen to Stobl – 6 hours 10 mins biking,125 kms,1300 meters – after climbing all morning we came down the Danube on a gorgeous tow path .

Strobl to Berchtesgaden ( Germany ) over the Geshutt pass the first mountain pass of the trip – strange to be above the tree line again . Down through the most beautiful farming areas – picture perfect Heidi land – no livestock and all grass for cutting, wheat and barley cropping – clearly only viable with huge subsidies.

Two monster climbs 13-15% – some of the crew off walking too steep.- 5 hours 50 mins biking,95 kms,max 65 on great roads,1600 meters climbing.😍😎

Great to reach Berchtesgaden after visiting the Hellbrun palace scene of part of the ” Sound of music ” movie . Relax and have beers – Todd Heller’s stories a bloody laugh – more simpsons duck ! Visit to Salzburg – they have seen off the Germans and Russians but now the invasion of Asian tourists with selfie sticks driving everyone mad – s fr…kn shrill !😇😇😇

Word press went on strike then spat out all my posts – grrrr! So I will try to catch up with some photos.

End of week one

574 kms, 7000 meters climbing, 30 hours bike time.

Day 7 and 8 Beregtesgarden rest up days prior to push over the alps

Day 9 Beregtesgarden to Fischer – only 70 kms ,1000 meters climbing and 4 hours biking – didn’t feel so good today – reason

Alice arrived late Sunday afternoon ( out of the blue – best kept secret ) so champagne flowed !

Great to have her with us through to Venice.

Day 10 huge day climbing over the grossglocker pass from Fusen to Lienz .

Only 70 kms but mostly climbing with 2200 meters and 5 hours 40 bike time .

Beautiful views and cool above the snow line at 2500 meters

Day 11 to 13 Italian Dolomites and through to Venice.

Two big days biking out of the Alps and onto the northern Italian Dolomites with spectacular views – they are so different from the alps – so sharp and dramatic.

Lienz to Auronzo Di cadore – 133 kms ( after getting lost and adding 30 kms to the ride!) 1200 meters climb and 6 hours 30 bike time and next day into Congliano to board the train into Venice – spectacular downhills ( exceeding our age). Highlight the passo san Bondi with 18 switchbacks!

Day 13 Venice . Maree arrives at 1am – fabulous ! And Alice has to head back to Brooklyn same morning – so up early to downpour of rain and coffee and Alice to the airport bus .

Venice stayover was great – an example of how to deal with 40 m tourists a year at least dealing with the rubbish everyday . Crowded though!

End of week two after couple rest days in Venice

Total biking – 844 kms, 12700 meters climbing, 50 hours bike time .

Day 14 to 22 . The whole of week 3 in the fabulous Tuscany area .

Venice to pistolia by train and into Lucca – beautiful city

Day 15 a loop of 70 kms Lucca to Pisa . Really loved Pisa – yes was crowded at the leaning tower but I have to say it was more spectacular than I expected with great parks and quiet place.

A first- Ray Huges joined the trip in Venice – so I had two weeks biking up on him – and raced him over one of the climbs for the first time ever!

Day 16 non bike day to cinque terra villages . Much bigger and more difficult walk for Maree Monterosso to vernazza than we expected . Intended to walk the last part of the track Manorola to Rio maggiora but track was closed – so swam in the harbour there – hot hot day . Helene got a right royal bollocking from an awful hotel owner – how rude and what a temper!

Day 17 Lucca to Fabulous Florence and rest day there.

Beautiful ride through Tuscan vineyards and villages. Big climb to lunch and traffic into Florence a bit of a nightmare . Tramped all over Florence looking at the sights. The men there sure to outshine the women in dress – fashion everywhere and the guys flaunt it !

Day 19 and 20 Florencevto sienna and then sienna loop on Vespa .

Florence to sienna – hard day 97 kms,1800 meters climb, 5 hours 40 mins bike time . Hit during afternoon but started in rain. Lunch and vino at lovely vineyard near San Gimignano then to old world hotel ” villa Scacciapenieri ” – real class !

Next day rather than a bike climb and half loop we chose to hire a Vespa and do the whole 105 kms through – caste Di brolio,castellina on chanti,gaiolle in chanti. Lovely villages in the hills surrounded by chanti vineyards and wineries.

Pics of Siena follow

Day 21 and 22 Sienna to Pienza and pienza loop

Wonderful days riding through rolling hills under the warm Tuscan sun – villages like Montisi and montepulciano just breathtaking. Sure as hell a place to return to !

Day 21 82 kms,1350 meters, ride time 4 hours – and Maree 51 kms and 1000 meters – stuffed

Day 22 -50 kms 1100 meters ,3 hours ride time . Somev v steep climbs on the pienza loop that’s for sure.

Pics of sienna and surrounding villages follow

Day 23 and 24 Heading to Rome

Pienza to Roccalvecce – 110 kms,1400 meters climbing, 5 hours 30 mins bike time.

Beautiful cool morning from pienza mostly downhill through crops and small villages. Afternoon long , hard, hot > 30 degrees . Arrived in obscure Roccalvecce to find we staying at a converted castle – vvv old . Spectacular but not marees taste ! Wonderful pool though after hot ride – fawlty towers style staff !

Day 24 To Rome – all roads lead to Rome. 120 kms,1800 meters climbing, 6 hours 30 mins bike time – hard day. First 40 kms steep hills to lunch at 77kms. Vvhot into Rome -hard partly as we followed the pilgrim trail ” via franshescia” for a while with > 15% climbs Into Rome on a overgrown cycle trail through piles of rubbish – appalling that Rome can’t look after itself

Pics of run into Rome and rest day follow. Bye bye to the Huddies – will miss you and all the others leaving – Jonathan P ( so loud- so rude- so fun) , Matt, John H and darling Helene.

Hello Trevi fountain and Navona area of Rome where our hotel was – wonderful time here.

Day 26 and 27 Rome to Bari and then on to the overnight ferry from Brindisi ( bye bye Italy Loved you ) to Igoumenitsa ( Peloponnesus- Greece).

These days were basically transfer days . Rode the last part day 26 from Barletta to Bari though very heavy hairy peak hour traffic – hot as but good riding with a small group – me in front on garmin .

65 kms and 300 meters – 3 hour 30 mins bike time

Day 27 was big panic day – Slow trip out of Bari with bus over heating ( 30 minute transfer turned into 3 hours and then the pick up of Ralph’s group got lost- Ralph was 100% sure we had missed the ferry to Greece but it left an hour late!) -another hot and difficult day but all on board for beer n 6 hours across to Greece. 30 kms, one hour 30 mins bike time.

Day 28 and 29 Transfers and bike down the Pennopolesse peninsular from Igoumenitsa to Diakopotu to Loutraki.

Stayed at a small beach village – dining under the trees looking out to sea – simple and wonderful – into the Greek salads big time.

It’s got hotter -38 . Was great riding around the Corinth channel to loutraki on mainland Greece and Maree biking so well covered 58 kms .

Greece has a big problem with rubbish everywhere and huge case of graffiti – even by southern Italy standards which are bad – the litter everywhere must be an issue for the 32 million tourists expected in Greece this year – compared with 4 million in NZ.

Day 28 – 50 kms , 500 meters , 2 hours 30 mins

Day 29 – 90 kms , 500 meters, 4 hours 30 ride time.

Day 30 Loutraki to Athens

Got some flash backs while in Loutraki – here in 1992 after doing a Yatch trip around the Greek Ionian Islands further to the south -,not sure why we had to come to Loutraki I guess it must have been to catch the train to Athens .

Anyway the station is gone but I can see David on the steps of the railway – it’s very hot and glaring, and he is listening to James Taylor ( walking man ) on my Walkman – yep small tape mini player which was the latest . I think he needed to get away somewhere cos I also remember frustration . Very weird how some memories from way back can be that clear!

This time Loutraki to Athens by bike – two very big climbs 15-17% and cooler as we finished in a small village to take a ferry across to Piraeus. Maree had a great day and PB at 85kns and 400 meters – great to be finished here in Athens – but it’s grubby and tired -now third world in a modern economy . What a shame Greece has fallen so far .

Day 30 rest day Athens and heading v early to airport to get Maree on plane ( Bohoo) but the turkey 🇹🇷 week ahead is sure as hell not her cup of tea ! Wandered around Athens looking at the places I knew from years ago selling meat and visiting our agents Soto’s Nafpliotis( Greece) and Nibil Iddress ( Saudi )!

Athens has aged badly since then – had really interesting conversation with intelligent taxi driver about the Greek economy – he says high defence spend due continued threat from turkey, the Olympic Games cost and infrastructure spend ,and fending off for Europe the Syrian immigrants – all due to the fault and profit of Germany 🇩🇪

So at the end of week 4 as we rest in Athens We’ve biked about 1750 kms and climbed 22000 meters !

Day 31 and 32

Overnight ferry from Piraeus to Chios for short bike ride then another late in day ferry across to Cesme ( Turkey) .

Four berth cabin and asleep almost as soon as leaving Piraeus – to arrive in rain and dark in Chios . This a lovely Greek island – great cafe for breakfast and the best coffee in weeks – carpaccio !

Quiet ride and swim – just the 3 amigos – got lost and ended in the heat at a small traditional village cafe for beer very friendly Aphrodite’s waitress entertaining the village old men .

Day 33 cesme to ismir

Really enjoyed Cesme . It’s like Bodrum and not Islamic !

Climbed out of cesme only to get lost – Ali the Turkish guide seems to make it a habit ! So ended up on a blind shingle track then dirt road and had to cross country to the garmin route . Was a great ride into Ismir – a big surprise as I recall it being a huge industrial city and pretty nasty . But now after lunch at a seaside cafe we came in on a terrific cycle track to a clean , bike friendly, modern city – no doubt the crap side of it is still there in a city of 5m .

Day 33 – 95 kms, 800 meters climbing,4 hours 30 mins bike time .

Day 34 Ismir to Bergama

Hot ride over bad roads and exceedingly Poor and crappy villages as we bike inland away from the Aegean Sea coast – it’sa lot like Morocco – Muslim as hell and the people look miserable.

Arrived late after a one and half hour transfer turned into three and half hour transfer!

Simple but lovely family run pension – beer and great food and lady owner with great English /German. Off to the Pergamon acropolis by amazing cable car in early evening after the heat of the day . Strange how 2 star is sometimes the best experiences !

53 kms , 1000 meters climbing , 3 hours bike time.

Day 30 Bergama to Yesilyak

The start of three 100 km plus days , with big climbs ,so tough and in plus 30 degrees.

Day 35 started cool with a great ride up through pine forests and granite quarries on reasonable roads . Then v hot in traffic to a 20% climb ending in cobbled village and hotel muse with roof top bar – rehydration with beer is now mandatory !

60 kms, 1500 meters climbing , 5 hours 30 due three steep climbs.

Day 36 Yesilyak to Çanakkale

This the biggest day of the journey 125 kms ,1900 meters climbing, 7 hours 30 mins bike time. Also very hot .

A difficult day and everyone ( other than the strommer guys ) feeling stuffed . Three very big climbs on some unsealed roads through crappy villages in > 35 . Evan , ray n craig started an hour early to beat the heat but it got us later .

Arrived in Çanakkale down a long 6 lane highway after bypassing Troy – 5000 year old piles of rock !

Welcome big hotel with pool for two nights .

The group has changed markedly from the first two stages of the journey – there are three groups now – 1.the stroomers ( who ride fast cos they can and as Evan says” don’t go with them even on the Boshe ebikes, as they go to fast , leave you behind, and don’t care !

2. The few road bikes now down to three regulars ( Ray, Craig ,Min and a couple of others Richard,Pat, Ross who take Boshes in preference), and

3. The boshe ebikers.

Not sure what this means for the future but the roadies are damned – too slow up hill , can beat the Boshe ebikes downhill and in the flat so long as there is not a head wind , but can’t match the Strommer elite !

Thank god for Garmin – the 1030 programmed maps and saved routes are amazing!

Day 37 Gallipolli

This the last day of riding and last of the 100 + km days so we hanging on – just.

100 kms, 900 meters, 5 hours ride time.

From Çanakkale to ferry to cross the Dardanelles to the galipolli peninsular .

What possessed Winston Churchill and the French to try to take this area off the Ottermans to have a winter shipping route to open an eastern front with Russia against German / Austria/ Italy ! And kill off 30000 by a crazy land invasion attempt .

Ride via lone pine ( aussie battlefield ) to Anzac cove ( aussie n NZ) then to Helle beach in the south being the British landing point ) around the galipolli peninsular . Also a fantastic new media museum and back to the ferry along the Dardanelles matching a huge ship coming up the channel .

At Anzac cove got to recite the ode to the guys “They will grow not old , like we will grow old !

Time will not weary them nor the years condemn!

With the setting of the sun , we will remember them “

Was a great day – felt quite emotional looking at the tiny cove and steep cliffs/ hills they tried to claim and 3000 got killed on . The whole area is reserves and maintained well with memorials which are generous to all .

This was the day for me as follows –

1.Hot and sunny – sunflowers and garmin at 37

2.Beat my age downhill- 70.4 kms per hour

3 .3 amigos in the bar celebrating to end of the biking journey

Pool on return

and the very last day in Istanbul at the Grand bazaar and streets of this incredible 15 m people city!

Also pics from a wonderful roof top bar overlooking Istanbul and the Bosphorus and Golden horn seperating Europe from Asia just as it did in the days when it was called Constantinople.

So – that’s the journey ended

Prague to Istanbul

2500 kms

30000 meters climbing

125 hours bike time ( about 5 hours on average for each of the 28 days biked)

Other than Ralph, Leon, Riccardo the guides

only 8 of us completed the 2500 kms riding 29 days –

Min and Craig on road bikes completed all the journey

Todd, Marion,Pat, Graeme , Betty and Chris ( from Belgium) on ebikes also completed all the journey.

There were many highs not many lows and lots of wondering how the body can take so much punishment and get up for more each day 😎

The highlights for me

– biking with Alice

– biking with darling Maree

– biking with the 3 Amigos

plus just being able to bike the whole journey without falling off , no crashes , and ending a bit depleted ( lost 4kgs) but otherwise 100%. Great trip !

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️