Finished! And just in time too. As Irish readers will know, the winter has arrived in Ireland in force and unleashed anarchy. On the plus side however, this has given me ample time to work on my 'throwing arm' as I prepare to head South to Antarctica and participate in the world's ultimate snowball fight.
Straight after posting my last entry from Paris, I returned to the hostel and celebrated in style with some suspiciously cheap Slovakian beer and a gang of New Zealanders (always great craic). The next day, with a solid hangover in tow, I began the two and a half day cycle to Le Havre. It was sad to leave France in the end. The two-plus weeks that I'd spent crossing it were fantastic. It really is a beautiful country with breathtaking scenery, a great culture and fantastic people.
A quick check of the weather forecast when I got off the ferry in Portsmouth made for some grim reading. Floods, storms, fog, ice etc were all expected to sweep in over the next 3 days. The race was on.My journey across the UK began with a bang. Literally. Although I'd noticed on the trip to Le Havre that my brakes were a little slack, I put this down to the effects of the pouring rain. This was a mistake! I thought about this deeply while lying facedown on the roof of a Fiat Punto that I had just careered into at the bottom of a hill. It turns out my brakes had completely worn away! After limping to the nearest bike shop to get my brakes replaced (and my front wheel unbuckled) I was back on the road and making good time.
Too good it seems, as it wasn't only my bike that began to fall apart. At the tender age of 27, while furiously peddling up a hill in Cardiff, I suffered my first major heart-attack. Or at least what felt like one. Fortunately after 20 minutes rest, some soggy jaffa cakes and a lot of fist pounds to the chest, I managed to cheat death yet again and eventually stumbled into Cardiff to rest up.
Overnight the predicted nasty weather kicked in and became my closest companion for the remainder of the trek across Wales, and even kindly followed me on the ferry crossing to Ireland. Despite having cycled for 9 hours that day, followed by a further 8 hour wait for the 2 am ferry, the crossing was so rough that I actually couldn't sleep. It's said that the Drakes Passage i.e. the waters between South America and Antarctica, are the roughest seas in the world. Given I had trouble even crossing the Irish Sea, it looks like I should be set for an interesting ride come March.
The cycle across Ireland actually felt like the longest leg of the journey. I suppose I had convinced myself that just getting to Ireland was all I needed to do and that the rest of the trip would be a doddle. Throughout the journey I had been using the Garmin 705 GPS to plot my route and, until Ireland, this approach was working swimmingly. Days whizzed by as I just followed that flashing pink line on the screen. Unfortunately this backfired in rural Ireland where for some reason the GPS refused to recognise the majority of minor roads. A particular low point discovering one evening that despite having cycled a total of 130kms, I had only covered 60kms on the map. For some reason my GPS had taken me through the back end of Tipperary for no apparent reason on my way to Cork. Thankfully, because I'm such a calm and rational person, I was of course able to laugh this off (ahem).
Aside from the occasional hiccup it was great to be back in Ireland and I really enjoyed the cycle across the land of sheep and Guinness. I'd never been to the Dingle Peninsula before either. What a place! Anybody who hasn't been is missing out on one of Ireland's great wonders and needs to pencil in a visit asap. Arriving at the South Pole Inn was an incredible feeling. Sitting in Tom Crean's old pub, surrounded by memories of this great Irishman and with the greatest pint of Guinness I've ever had in front of me, was special. It's something I'll always remember.
Aside from the occasional hiccup it was great to be back in Ireland and I really enjoyed the cycle across the land of sheep and Guinness. I'd never been to the Dingle Peninsula before either. What a place! Anybody who hasn't been is missing out on one of Ireland's great wonders and needs to pencil in a visit asap. Arriving at the South Pole Inn was an incredible feeling. Sitting in Tom Crean's old pub, surrounded by memories of this great Irishman and with the greatest pint of Guinness I've ever had in front of me, was special. It's something I'll always remember.
So there you have it. Across Europe in just under 4 weeks. The sadists among you will also be pleased to know that I'm writing this update in agony. My back is in bits! The reason? With 3 days of the trek to go, the panniers on my bike finally gave up and snapped off. Having little gear left that I could sacrifice, I stuffed everything in my backpack and slugged it for the remainder of the trip. Almost instantly, sharp stabbing pains developed in my neck making it impossible to turn my head. This was quickly followed by a 'Mexican Wave' of pain down the rest of my spine as the heavy weight put a huge strain on my back. Thankfully I finished the trek before I did any more damage! Plus this gives me a great excuse to sit in bed drinking cups of tea for a few days :)As you know this is just the start of my journey that culminates in an expedition to Antarctica in March. More updates will be posted here in the future as I track my journey.
Happy Holidays,
A
