Thursday 18th September I froze my cacks off last night. The last, unfortunately prophetic, comment I heard late yesterday evening “there will be a frost tonight” uttered with unbearable cheeriness from some geezer in a motorhome (smug b*stard probably had heating - I am the only actual tent here) had come to fruition. I pulled the drawstring on the neck of the sleeping bag as tight as it would go, so much that it would leave an imprint on my forehead in the morning. But it was still cold. The bag was rated down to -5° so either: The bag was now f*cked (it was quite old); I had gotten so skinny I was less impervious to cold or I was turning into a blouse. Probably all three. So after a fitful nights sleep and a ... read more

Sunday 14th - Tuesday 16th September OK slightly lazy combining 3 days into one page, but I have gotten behind and in any case all the days based in Strasbourg and its environs would not have warranted 3 entries. What a stunning city, straight out of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. Impossibly beautiful half timbered houses, tottering across narrowed cobbled streets, whilst glances skyward would reveal the similarly impressive Cathedral. If God created Norway as an exemplar of natural beauty then he must have had an assistant directorship when they constructed this city in the middle ages. Possibly the most beautiful city I have been too. And full of restaurants serving Baeckeoffe (like a Lancashire hotpot but with pork and in some cases lamb and beef as well) and Jambonneau (a simply enormous knuckle of ... read more

Friday 12th September As is usual when I express any smugness about the weather I get almost instant payback and today was no exception. It may have been a beautifully bright and sunny day in Walsrode when I left - gulping in the warm air with my visor up when below 100kph, but 200 miles south it rained all day. So within an hours riding the temperature dived from 24 to 15 and I was once again riding in the rain. Super. I had been on the A7 most of this week - what an incredible road, well incredibly boring. To think I bemoaned our A1, this road really does go on for ever. It starts in Frederikshavn (at the top of Denmark) and scythes it way down the face of Germany all the way to ... read more

Wednesday 10th November I am now coming to you from the scenic vista of a laundrette in Aalborg, Denmark and it is absolutely chucking it down outside. I abandoned typing the blog on the ship as it got too rough. So I am sat here dackless and sockless like some wannabe Levi 501 commercial, washing everything I have. And it is pathetic - barely fills a third of a drum, which is probably some clue as to the nasty habit of clothing reuse that has been a necessity this last few days. Motorways maybe boring but they are hard to fault as a means of A-B. Once off the ferry I just rolled the bike up to 85mph and sat there and Aalborg came up quickly. Also I could duck behind the screen - I just ... read more

Monday 8th September One thing about camping is that you end up in bed fairly early and also wake fairly early - so you do maximise your daylight. Walking back from my pizza last night the sky was as clear as and the temperature plummeting accordingly. Not sure what it fell to in the small hours but it was only 6° at 7 am this morning. Autumn was galloping in and I suspect after the autumn solstice winter isn't far behind. Anyway in the wee hours I had to put my hat on in my sleeping bag and the bag was well and truly zipped up, containing me inside a cotton liner and a t-shirt. After that I was warm enough - save having a nose like a labrador that'd been nosing in the freezer for ... read more