mudyshox

Seeing the lights of England growing larger in the darkness sparked off an odd set of emotions.Happy to be getting back to the Mothership, journeys end, but sad that this epic trip, this rustic lifestyle was entering its final chapter.It was cold,not Spanish cold , but English cold.Snow has fallen over night , dusting the hills around Plymouth in an Arctic blanket. Cycling from the boat onto English soil, we were finally back, back on the left for the first time since Thailand some 14 000 km ago , waving to my family on the departure lounge deck, the very place they had waved goodbye from in August 2008, twenty eight months ago, suddenly it didn't feel so long since we were here.Weve only had seven days off since seeing our families last in Croatia, ... read more

Bedarieux was just what we needed in terms of rest.Phillip and Madleine were the perfect hosts and keen to hear of our trip so far.We even took in Armistice day, local style watching Nicoli, their son play Le Marseillaise.A brave choice for him and parents alike as he's only been playing for about two weeks. Refreshed we cycled on passing Mons la Trivalle, a place I had worked with friends eighteen years ago, try as I might I couldn't quite remember the place although the bar did look vaguely familiar.Dropping down out of the mountains we joined canal du midi which runs from Sete til Toulouse, some 240km.Lined with autumnal Plane trees with leaves a foot deep on the tow path it was beautiful but it was slow.Thoughts of flat , quiet paths were pleasing ... read more

After seven days of camping, usually in the wet we were very happy to see Francesca and enjoy a few days in her roof top flat right in the centre of Bologna's old town.What a place too.Its a university town, has over 30km of archways ,several old towers and enough churches and old building to rival any European capital.Italy's really growing on us as a country and with a hostess as easy going as Francesca we had a great crack wandering about the place.Mind you we did spend quite a lot of time back at the flat indulging in a bit of rare 'indoors'. Lovely day to stay in,isn't it? Too bloody right, no doubt it'll piss down the day we leave...... Francesca's boyfriend,Tati's cousin and my mate Frederik turned up from Copenhagen to see ... read more

To begin with we got the feeling that Montenegro was a top cycling destination, narrow lanes from the border with only the odd car or two for company were ideal for a lazy afternoon ride.Then we got to the main road.Maybe were a bit tired of having trucks up the arse , but out on the coast road its a reality,beautiful enough but risky.Blind corners,fast traffic, climbs and more twists than a Hitchcock movie had me looking more in my rear mirror than watching out front. We took a break at Stari Bar , an old abandoned city overlooking the resort of Bar.With a name like that I was'nt surprised to meet a load of Brits wandering the place, I guess from now on we will meet many a tourist as we press on into ... read more

You know youve been on the road a long time when the stray dogs start following you around, looking at you with pity in their eyes.We're a bit frayed round our material edges now,Tati's sandles are more glue than fabric, my shorts are more patchwork than Elizabeth Taylor's face and the less said about our underwear the better, but its all good round the world character.Some of the cyclists we see now are a fresh faced, clean panniered lot straight out of the autumn 2010 bike catalogue, where as weve taken on the more sylish cardboard box, hobo look,which by the way takes a lot of fine tuning.I just wish the local dogs would stop offering blankets and a kennel for the night.Our own kennel was renamed some time ago the ''favela'' for its run ... read more