nbjtours

Beine-Nauroy nr Reims , France

Day Twenty- Three 113 miles 4216 ft

Apart from a couple of very brief showers, today was dry so the shower proofs were not required for long. However, after crossing the border into France the strong headwind became a real issue and took at least two miles a hour off my average speed, as well as making riding that much harder, especially over some featureless agricultural land with no shelter in the form of hedges or trees. We find ourselves therefore parked up a track hidden between some trees, about 25 miles away from the intended campsite. 

Today has been probably  the hardest cycling day of the tour because of the wind  and the reason we did not make our destination for the day. 

The day started well, as we were camped next to a tow path cycle route,that took me through some of the industrial parts of Charleroi, not especially attractive, but interesting nonetheless. 

  
At one point,I had to dismount for about 20 metres as a huge pile of gravel had spilled over into the towpath, just as I came up to overtake a fully laden cyclo-tourist. This gent from Avignon had cycled to the top of Denmark and was making his way back to Lille to catch the TGV.   He thought I was mad to contemplate this trip On the skinny tyres I have.  

Talking TGV, I caught up with a group of older mountain bikers split into two groups of three. Briefly chatting with one of the guys at the back, I then moved past, but the others had not heard so the first guy yelled ” attention Arthur un TGV arrive!” In order to let me pass. 

The tow path took me along to the town of Thuiles, where I was able to join the Belgian RaVel ( rail velo route) which runs for 30 miles or so.   

Just like in the UK, but here with old electric trains and not steam, the enthusiasts in full gear,  play with the their full sized electric train sets!

The run along this track was great, as I did not have to think about the route, and aside from a few walkers near to the occasional town it was traffic free. The only thing that slowed you down was the frequent road crossings and negotiation of the zigzag barriers at each one. This track took me almost to the agreed coffee stop at Chimay, with only a. little bit of road for the final couple of miles, where after a long 46 mile first segment, we had our pit stop in the pits, on the occasionally used road circuit

  
Once upon a time this was a legendary fast road circuit like Spa but after a fatality a much shorter 2 mile circuit is used only a couple of times a year, although it looks much better than when I last passed through on a cycling tour three years ago. 

Just round the corner from this, a classic car rally was having a break at a local restaurant and a chap in his car insisted I took this photo of an old timer, with a sticker on the back saying “en rodage” meaning running in. 

  
From Chimay to the French border is not far and just like with Holland, Belgium has no goodbye or hello, France at least had a sign with the speed limits on. 

It was just past here I saw two blurry figures in the road, at a distance, only for it to be Monica and Nigel,  who had stopped next to a fort from the infamously ineffective Maginot Line    

 I know that I am biased but once we entered the French speaking part of Belgium and in France itself, people are generally polite and say hello. In other countries visited so far I always initiated a greeting whereas here nearly everyone says Bonjour or nods – so much more friendly. 

Coming away from the borders, the countryside opened up to wide open rolling fields interspersed with river valleys and little villages in which no one seems to live. This would have been fine except for a constant strong headwind of 20mph+ which made going downhills a pedal let alone uphill, as there was just no cover or shelter from it. This resistance monument with its flag at full mast shows the strength of the wind. 

  
At tea stop, we decided that with the campsite still 35 miles away and less than  2 hours of light left, it would be foolish to carry on, so an additional 10 miles in the windy dry before packing up and a wild camp was in order. 

This would leave 25 miles to do tomorrow, in rest day morning, to get back on schedule. Rain is forecast but hopefully not until midday. 

The evening was topped off by bangers, mash and beans, washed down with a couple of cans of Pils. Not as good as Mum’s Sunday roast but good comfort food to finish off the day. 

  
The other (prettier) Balham. 

Up to 8th in the world out of over 150,000 people on Strava for miles covered this month following today. Will slip back tomorrow. 

Luttre, Belgium

Day Twenty-Two 82 miles 2684ft

Obviously Belgium was not happy that I had been rude about it yesterday, as for the first time since Sweden, I encountered both rain and hills, as well as some Belgian specialities which I will mention later. ( not chocolates or beer)

The forecast was for a bit of light rain later in the day, but segment one was run totally in the dry and even some sun.

Although built up, I generally had a good run after initially running on cycle paths then through the pretty pedestrianised centre of Hasselt   

Coming out of the town I saw Nigel and Monica in the camper at the traffic lights, but I had a green to cross in front of them so managed to keep them behind for a bit by riding in the road!

Still mostly on cycle paths, this segment to coffee went better than hoped and I reached first stop on time

Running through the next town I saw this sign  Sadly I did not have time to stop, but makes you think what really is on offer?

It was now that the weather changed. Despite the clouds being relatively high, the rain started and got harder. In addition the route got more complex through what seemed to be one village running into the next and then to add insult to injury some stretches of famous Belgian paves

 Ok in the dry, if just very bumpy – I could feel the muscles vibrate inside their sheathes – but really lethal in the wet, especially as the top picture shows,  with a fantastic crown on the road. This meant running on the ridge or in the furrows with the back  tyre slipping and sliding constantly particularly on uphill sections.

Holding the front straight too was a real challenge.  My hats off to the TdF guys and I can see why Chris Froome does not like the paves.

This meant that the lunch stop at the battlefield of Waterloo, was not reached until well gone 3, 200 years too late. A change into dry gear and lunch was followed by a trip up the Butte du Lion mound   Something that displeased Wellington as in creating it they destroyed the contours of his battlefield.

A trip round the museum and the best 3D museum film I have ever seen, meant that it was almost 6 by the time it came to leave.

 Deciding to reduce mileage for the first time this trip, as I was not keen to run in the dark and wet in such built up surroundings, saw a short 16 mile segment in yet more rain to a hastily found campsite with the most powerful showers ever.

This means that tomorrow could be a 125 mile day or we may decide to eat a little into the planned rest day on Monday. Sadly the weather forecast for the next few days does not look favourable and the inside of the camper looks like a washing line.

Wish me luck.

Hasselt, Belgium

Day Twenty-One 110 miles 797ft

This is the fifth country we have been to in 7 days, but is it really a proper country?

Cycling through a Dutch town, I noticed that the car number plates on people’s drives changed from Dutch to Belgian – there was no fanfare- Welcome to Belgium. 

The Belgians were all very polite, but said sorry every time I asked them to move. In general everything is a little bit scruffy and requires a bit of TLC. 

Today dawned cool with clear blue sky and it was to stay that way making it the warmest day since leaving the Arctic! 

 Leaving the campsite just before 9 and cycling along the top of a dyke towards Doesburg I managed these great shots.  

 The route then took me through the famous Second World War towns of Arnhem and Nijmegen, known from the film “A Bridge Too Far” 

 This is the identical replacement at Armhem and below is a shot from the similar bridge at Nijmegen 

 As ever the cycling was flat, apart from the bridges, but progress to coffee was slow, as I had to go through both of these big towns, stopping and starting at all the lights and being prepared to race off with students and increasing numbers of Lycra clad middle aged chaps like me when the lights went green.  In addition getting caught at two level crossings which are also very common. 

 Continuing the WW2 theme this small roadside memorial told the story of a Lancaster shot down in February 1945 and how only the Australian tail gunner survived. He successfully campaigned to have this erected in memory of his lost comrades.  

 Passing through several more attractive Dutch towns and admiring some of their nice buildings. Nigel joined me for the last couple of miles, before a very late lunch and we struggled to keep up with a granny on her bike. It was only when I sped up and chatted with her that she said she had an electric bike-she was well chuffed anyway.   

As I said earlier, leaving this Dutch town, moving into Belgium happened unnoticed except for car number plates and unfinished pavements, otherwise much was the same.   

At this stage I fortunately found this cycle track after the Garmin broke again. This then kept me off the unreasonably busy roads for the final 20 miles, but crossing one was only achieved after more than 5 minutes when a kind driver stopped to let me across. 

The campsite tonight has a good selection of beers. We stay in Belgium, cycling all day again tomorrow, as the next rest day is not until Monday.  

Doesburg, Netherlands

Day Twenty 117 miles 551 ft

First impressions count so they say. Well Holland has made a very positive impression on us for this trip. 

In theory. the land is no different to that in Germany, flat and uninteresting, but here there are bends, small fields, trees and windmills. The Dutch look as they have fun, as opposed to the ruthless efficiency of their German neighbours.   

Having struggled by just using maps over the past week and the choice of routes in each town getting greater, I wanted to use the hours spent at home over the past year planning the route. 

The problem with the Garmin was it freezing if it was used for routing as well as recording. So if I could use my spare one for the map the problem may be solved. 

With a bit of rearrangement this morning, Nigel and I reconfigured the cockpit of the bike as below  

Note, map on Garmin one, ride details on Garmin two, two LED flashing lights, easy access crossbar bag – housing, emergency blanket, energy bars and the all important jelly babies. All inner tubes and tools carried under the saddle. 

The new set up worked a dream, the only issue is that we now have to ensure that I charge up 5 items overnight!

Because of this faffing around I did not get started until just after 9am. 

A cold morning,  but no rain forecast once again, it was off on mainly cycle paths alongside straight roads. 

Fairly tedious riding, with the Garmin mostly ok, but occasionally choosing a mud path instead of Tarmac. 

On one such occassion the main road was closed, but my route was adjacent, which was fine until it became an impassable sandy track. Returning to the main road, I saw a chap who looked like the main engineer draw up in his car and asked if I could cycle down his closed road. His reply indicated that it was ok, ironically the road was closed to allow for the building of the cycle path alongside!

 
Moving to the edge of Germany , I was surprised to see the maize fields  dotted with these nodding donkeys courtesy of ExxonMobil. I had not realised that there was a small oil field here. 

  
Now the Garmin is up and working, the advantage is that it takes me right into the heart of every town. This was the pretty centre of  Neuenhaus, the last town I went through in Germany. 

 As with all Europe the border is passed without fuss, just like crossing a county line and lunch was taken just inside Holland. 
Although the crops were the same-it’s not worth scrumping maize by the way-the roads have corners, fields are smaller with hedges and   cycle lanes abound, just making Holland so much more friendly. 

The cycle ways were full of the recently retired, in pairs or groups bumbling along from cafe to windmill, seemingly enjoying themselves. Not sure how much of that you would see in the UK unless we had the safety of cycle paths. 

 
Dedicated cycle tunnels and bridges under roads are common. This is the best one under a motorway  

As the route was again a bit longer than expected, a quick tea stop was added, which was rudely interrupted by a big skid and crash, as a van piled into a car that had pulled out in front of it, just 50 metres up the road. At once, Nigel & Monica in policeman and doctor mode, went to the scene, where happily the air bag almost certainly saved the van driver from injury, and no serious harm was done, except to two very bent cars. 

The final 22 miles to the campsite were blasted along under a cloudless sky, and a very good day was finished with another barbie. 

Cloppenburg, Germany

Day Nineteen 108 miles 1000ft

Not a shady road or even a cruel friend, but according to Google translate, a hurt road, in real language a knackered road. As I was to find out today not everything German is perfect. 

  
Looking out over the small port from our official parking spot on the wharf, again we were blessed with good weather and had another early start to catch a ferry. This time across the river Elbe. 

I had a short  1.5 mile ride along the river levy, where even the sheep were German (the towels were down) and refused to move forcing me to weave in between them as they lay across the path. 

 The ferry was  a good 20 minute trip along and across the Elbe, before I set off for segment one of today’s ride to coffee. 

There were no climbs on today’s ride at all, apart from a few bridges over canals, motorways and railways. So in theory it was an easy ride. Certainly it was the least climbing I have done in a 100 mile day. 

  
The land was certainly flat and agriculture was either maize or dairy farming. In addition I saw some huge nurseries specialising in acid soil varieties such as heathers and conifers. Judging by the size and number of tractors the farmers do not go wanting. Towards the end of the day I passed a massive peat mine ( not sure of the correct terminology) surrounded by no smoking signs, which explains the number of nurseries.  

 After our coffee stop Nigel and Monica made a short detour to meet up with her aunt for the first time in over 30 years – an emotional experience for all. 

This meant that for once, I had to fend for myself at lunch, but now that there are frequent towns it was not too difficult to find a bakers shop to sit down and have a coffee and Pflaumenkuchen, excellent. 

Most of today has been on cycle paths running alongside roads which in the main are excellent, as they keep you away from the speeding traffic and lorries, only tree roots causing nasty ridges to jolt you and slow you down. Whilst they are superb the only issue is that often the path goes into the village on one side of the road then switches across out the other side, often requiring a last minute dash across the road and the grass verge. 

A second ferry across the Wesel river saw it run for just me on my bike and two cars. 

  
If anything the countryside got flatter, but the state of the small country roads made the UKs seem brilliant. The standard warning sign at the start of almost every road junction was Strassen-Schaden. To be honest that was right. I have never seen so many different issues with roads in a very bumpy 30 miles. There were two inch wide cracks (many just filled with tar creating graffiti like patterns on the road), edge subsidence, potholes, just gravel, washboard Tarmac, and worst of all, a section for 5 miles made of of blocks, looking like someone’s drive, which caused everything to vibrate like crazy.

 
My apologies for going on about the road surfaces but with tyres pumped up at 120psi a cyclists relationship with the road can be very intimate and all consuming!  

  
  A pleasing day, as it was dry and I got another 100 miles done, and 2000 miles completed  on the trip. The final total is looking more like 3800 to 3900 miles at this rate     An earlier finish tonight just after 6 allowed time to do a check over the bike ready for tomorrow    

  In someways it is good to prove that the Germans aren’t great at everything. It is disappinting though  that as well at these roads the 3G seems non existent, so a comprehensive blog with pictures may have to wait. 

Tomorrow sees us cross into Holland. We are flying through these countries now. 

Gluckstadt,Germany

Day Eighteen 120 miles 2470ft

There are some days that are meant to be long and others that just become that way. Today was the latter. Getting up early and starting to ride at 7am I did not finish riding until 8pm this evening.  

In theory,with 1892 miles covered, I have surpassed halfway today and may even break the 2000 barrier tomorrow.   

  
We got up at 6 and Peter and I were on our bikes in cool early morning sun at 7 for our short 3.5 mile ride to the ferry, our shadows spilling across the fields. 

Denmark did not disappoint and gave us a flat straight road to finish

 
We were booked for an 8.15 ferry but  managed to get one half an hour earlier with me hiding in the camper  to avoid paying extra. A great breakfast on board followed during the very swift 40 minute crossing. 

Rejoining our bikes just outside the harbour we were now on the German island of Fehmarn, which was much like Denmark being flat although the roads had more bends. 

 
Another good bridge took us onto the mainland and the bizarrely named Swiss Holstein. There are a couple of big lakes, but the North Downs are higher.  I suppose these small hills seem like mountains in comparison to the flat lands around. 

 Peter was able to cycle with me until a belated lunch stop, as he needed to get to Hamburg for a flight home. It was really good to share some of the trip with my bro. 

The reason we now seemed much slower, was not because of cycling more slowly, but more towns slowing things down, cycle paths requiring the switching of roadsides  and checking the map etc. I have a feeling this will be a issue most of this week. 
With Peter being whisked to the airport, I now needed to get to our destination. Initially thinking it was about 40 miles a start at 4.30 should not have been an issue, but with delays through towns and the actual distance 55 miles it was going to be touch and go to get there before dark. 

Putting on all my bikes lights and keeping to cycle paths where I could, I wanted to get to the camper before sundown dead on 8 pm. It’s not that I cannot cycle in the dark but prefer not to so took this up as a challenge. 

  
Saw a great deal of farming activity including harvesting and plenty of ploughing, the pleasant wet earth smell lingering in the air. 

Having made some minor wrong turns,  I was pleased therefore to see the first sign for Gluckstadt with only 13km to go at 7.35. 8.5 miles in 25 mins on the flat, can be done but the sun was getting lower. 

Coming into the outskirts of Gluckstadt things were looking good. I was not sure of the campers location  but remember it was on the west riverside part of town. 

First problem was a closed road, but there was a cycle path through the adjacent park, so I took that, then coming out of there, the level crossing gates were down. Another anxious 3 minutes lost waiting for the train to come past. 

Sadly the main road then did not come out by the river, so I had to thread my way through several housing estates to find a road which linked down to the cycle path that runs behind the river levy and to the little harbour where the camping cars are allowed to overnight. 

Only 2 minutes left – was my hunch right about the campers location- yes it was, I could see it and got to the door bang on 8.00 in true contrived Top Gear style. 

Tomorrow sees another two river Ferry crossings of the Elbe and the Weser. Monica is also hoping to see her German aunt for the first time in over 30 years as we pass close to Bremen where she lives. 

Apologies for so few photos today but German upload speeds are not good. 

Rodby, Denmark 

Day Seventeen 101 miles 1873ft

Is not a type of Danish coffee, but is a reflection of the roads cycled today. Denmark proved to us, that it is Europe’s lowest nation with a maximum height above sea level of just over 500 ft.   
After a great weekend’s rest exploring Copenhagen with my wife, Caroline, who flew over for the weekend, today was back on the bike  

Aside from the compulsory visit to see the Little Mermaid, paid for by the Carlsberg brewing magnate, the main highlight was a visit round the house of Karen Blixen, who is known in the UK for “Out of Africa”. As a cycling connection her former coffee plantation in Kenya was sold off for housing, which became known as the Karen suburb of Nairobi where Chris Froome was raised.  

Today I was joined by my brother Peter, who we picked up at Copenhagen airport, at the same time we dropped Caroline off on Sunday evening. 

  
Part of doing this tour is to experience different types of cycling. Leaving our well defended campsite in glorious but cool sunshine, we then had the fun of riding through Copenhagen in the Monday morning rush hour. 

Whilst I would not dream of riding in London like this, the cycle paths and priority to cyclists made it fun. I understand Copenhagen has an award as one of the worlds most bike friendly cities. It was amazing how quickly some of the guys in suits sped along to get their bikes into special multi storey bike parking too. 
  
 Leaving the city past Copenhagen Zoo. We did not see any giraffes. The road took us out of the suburbs and along behind the coast, again still on cycle paths, all the way to our coffee halt after 32 miles.   

 Turning inland, Peter and I then,still mostly on cycle paths, probably made the fewest number of turns over the next 30 miles ever.  

 At one stage we could see 6 miles straight ahead. Luckily the wind had switched completely from last week and was mostly pushing us along. This added to the fact that the road was not that hilly led to us covering 25 miles in under an hour and 20 minutes (19mph ave).  
 This is reputedly Rapunzel’s tower in the best preserved castle in Denmark, though is some way off our selection in the UK. 

Just before our lunch stop we crossed a two mile long bridge linking two islands even that was mostly flat and straight. 

   
    A great alfresco lunch was added to as Monica had obtained the largest Danish pastry ever

  
 Another tedious bit of straight line riding across the next island took us over a very windy bridge to the final island of the day

  
  At this stage we were able to find some more enjoyable country roads through farmland to the campsite. 

The flat land was mostly laid to agriculture with large fields and very few trees, though I did manage to forage 3 sorts of wild plum, for a fab fruit stew this evening, during our lunch stop.  

 An Evening barbecue was followed by a chat round the camp fire.   
 It was great to cycle today with Peter, as those straight featureless roads would have been much tougher on your own. 
Tomorrow we cross from Denmark to Germany, where Peter will cycle with me before Nigel will take him to Hamburg to catch A flight home as I proceed to the overnight halt. 

Here are some more of the flowers seen over the past two weeks. I have annotated those I think I know but please advise me if you know better 

Thank you    
Candytuft?

  Canterbury Bells
White Lupin – most were blue or pink this was the only white one I saw. 

  ?  Corn Cockle?

  ?  Knapweed 

 Common Toadflax  

 
?

Copenhagen, Denmark

Day Sixteen 92 miles 2608 ft

Leg Three Southern Sweden completed. Total mileage 1671
Thank you Sweden, Hello Denmark

Today dawned sunny, but certainly the coldest morning of the tour so far, trying to avoid Russians running round in boxer shorts and conscious that we had a ferry to catch an early 8 o’clock start was achieved.  

 As you can see the mist was still hovering over the lake as I rode past

The first segment today took me up into the wooded hills above Torup and although a little bumpy, were a great way to end almost two weeks in Sweden. 

The woods were interspersed with small dairy farms and reminded me much of the Massif Central region of France except the Lingonberries were still there as well as Bilberries. 

In the middle of nowhere I came across another Geman cyclo- tourist  his bike laden high with kit, going from Hamburg to Oslo. 

In addition there are always those lakes, this one in particular was mirror like in Quality  Finally,  coming off the hills, the terrain flattened out and was more like Picardie, with big open fields and short steep drops into river valleys. 

Cycling was super tough here as the wind, which once again was from the  South East, started to get up and the cycling was certainly not enjoyable, although we kept off the main routes and even had a few long distances on cycle paths. 

 
After lunch,  across more fields a 600 ft climb over this ridge, alongside the motorway loomed into sight from many miles away. In fact it looked worse than it was, just seeing the whole thing in one go is so off putting. 

A not great descent down the other side into the wind and then more flat riding brought me to the edge of Helsingborg and the ferry terminal. 

A short 20 minute crossing followed by a 20 mile ride along the coast into our campsite situated within the walls of a Victorian fort complex again into the wind. 

 
Coming the other way obviously on their way home from work on a Friday evening were many Danish MAMILS, going about 20 mph faster than I, as they were being pushed by the wind. 

It remained dry all day for the first time for a few days. 

So the main Scandanavian legs of the trip are now completed and over 1600 miles done with 2000 to go. Nigel, Monica and I can thoroughly recommend all these countries as clean, tidy and beautiful, so worth a visit as long as you do not mind the weather or midges and mossies. A camper van certainly being the best option. 

We still cannot understand the weather,  which was awesome up north and has got colder as we venture South- just not right  

I have two rest days now- the longest of the tour- to look round Copenhagen and being joined by my wife for the weekend. 

In addition, my brother Peter is flying out Sunday to join me for a couple of days as we will cross Denmark and go into Germany. 

Next proper blog I hope to post on Monday. Please keep donating 

Thank you. 

Torup, Sweden

Day Fifteen 110 miles 2638 ft

The morning dawned misty at the top of Mosseberg hill overlooking Falkoping, but it soon started to lift so that we could see the town under the cloud 

  
This morning Nigel and I spent a good deal of time running through some route changes to keep us on the country roads and not have the type of experience we had yesterday. 

I take a lot of time preparing the routes for these rides, running through them 3 or 4 times before being happy with the choice, but equally will change them if we can find better, which in this case with improved understanding of the Swedish road network, a new, longer but much safer and more enjoyable route was decided. 

The forecast for today was sunshine and showers. It was not wrong. 

   
 The first segment to coffee was almost dry with a light shower, I delayed the next departure by ten minutes to allow another one to pass, but it was in vain really because after 20 minutes the heavens opened and as I cycled through a village called Hokerum the Main Street I was cycling up became a river with my front wheel creating a bow wave. The pictures above show the other side of the cloud after I emerged into the sun. I started to dry out before it then rained again. So had another kit change at lunch.  A picturesque stop as below. 
   
The countryside had changed over the past two days and is very much more agricultural with a full range of cereal crops, some dairy herds and many horses. The pine trees and logging still remain however. 

One of the benefits of cycling is seeing everything at a slower pace than driving, but also it allows you to  take in the full smells of the freshly cut pine trees, ploughed earth or cut grass. I thought that we were experts in the UK at mowing, but we are amateurs in comparison to the Swedes. Going through almost every town or village someone was out mowing, or if not the robot mower was busy doing it for them. 

Road signs here have been amusing, today’s favourite, if it is not sensored first is this one. 

 
Although threatening more rain it held off, and making it a four leg day again, following a brief tea stop I got in just after 7pm for the third day running. 

The highlights of this last segment being the sight of some Common Cranes in the fields 

 
 For a change, we had rooms in a hostel and had a very interesting chat with a couple of Russians, who were inspecting the installation of a corregated cardboard machine for a Swiss Company? 

This is the last night in Sweden, tomorrow sees 75 miles to go to the ferry to Denmark. 

Really enjoyed it here, everything is clean, works and the people have been properly hospitable, with some spectacular scenery, if you like water and can cope with insects.