Bavaria D5 Last night was busy in the town square where some men in lederhosen were erecting a very tall tree. They were shaping badly but I think they were spinning it out a bit for the crowd who were eating and drinking in the street in 24 degrees. We were eating in Paladinos, just off the e square. I say eating but mostly drinking since they were that busy it took a while to arrive. The Allee Hotel was very nice with good rooms and good breakfast. Out along the river today in warm sunshine passing through a lot of farmland growing all crops and quite a bit of newly planted maize. There was some hay being made so their must be livestock which must be kept inside all year round. A stop was made ... read more

Bavaria D3 The Turkish Cesme restaurant last night was very good. The festival all over town is an event put on by local Protestant churches every two years, with around 100,000 people attending from all over the country. The logo they have, Jetz ist die Zeis means ’The time is now’ with music and singing everywhere. Big shock overnight, I awoke at 4am realising that I had not packed my cycling shoes. A big bag emptying session followed with searches for bike shops on my phone. A Trek shop nearby said it opened at 8am so an early breakfast and off I went only for it to not open at all due to Corous Christie holiday. A Decathlon shop 4 miles away said 9am, so off I sped only to be sat there like a rat ... read more

Tomorrow many of us will be travelling across Europe to start a 16 day cycle tour of Bavaria. Some of the 12 participants are already on their way having visited relatives along the way, or travelling by train and cycle. This is a BIKEXPLORE tour lead by me in this wonderful area of Germany, rich in history and traditional architecture. Much of the route will be on excellent cycle paths in the country and along its vast river network. The tour starts and finishes in Nuremberg going in an anticlockwise direction for 860km passing through Augsburg, Munich and many other impressive towns, following such rivers as, Aisch,Eger, Isar and Danube. We hope that the weather will be kind to us , as it has been for the past three weeks in the UK. The forecast is ... read more

Ireland the North 2. Dundalk An overcast day with better weather than forecast with the odd spitting and a few heavier showers demanding my cape escape its moorings on my rear rack. Quite an uneventful ride through rolling dairy country, although some may say that some of the hills are definitely not rolling. One nice descent was followed by a rumbling sound from my front wheel which was found to be a puncture. Luckily it was not raining and a quick wheel removal showed that it was caused by a thorn, which was duly removed by my teeth since I had no pliers. I got out my spare tube only to find it had a Schrader valve which will not fit. It must have been sent to me by mistake as I never use schrader. Lorna ... read more

Ireland the North 2. Belfast Short run today from Larne to Belfast. Cycled past the roundabout in Larne with a large golden crown as a centrepiece. A very sharp and not so short hill out of Glynn made us breath a bit heavily, and someone behind me sounding as if it was their very last breath ever. A bit of undulation in cow country lead us to a very welcome long descent to the A2 at ’Eden’ by the Kilroot power station. A brew was taken at the clock tower cafe in Carrickfergus before moving on to Belfast. Bill made a visit to the recently refurbished Norman Carrickfergus Castle which has been besieged by the Scots, English, Irish and French over the centuries. Belfast was approached using a very pleasant cycleway for several miles to the ... read more