Manfred sits down and places a bottle of wine down on the picnic table not far from our tent. His treat, to enjoy while we pore over the map of Poland and he shares his experience and knowledge of this as-yet unknown to us country. He’s an engaging and educated man with a balanced view of the world. He tells me his parents were and still are holders of beliefs that he clearly doesn’t subscribe to. I wonder to what extent this has forged his balance. I would have liked to purs

It seems I’ve turned a corner in the last few days. Ironically, today’s ride was almost entirely devoid of them. Only long, Roman-straight roads through endless Elysian fields, waving their slowly ripening barley gently at us as we pass in the beautiful heat of the day. The only punctuation to this scene is the occasional cool, dark stretches of forest that we pass through. I tip my visor to get the smells – green. That untangleable mix of smells that comes from damp, cool ve

We made it. Our first destination. And also our penultimate one. We arrived in Munich to collect the Carnet de Passages, the two weeks we’d set ourselves to get across Europe thinking it was plenty in the end proving to be about spot on. A load lifted that I hadn’t realised was there. We’d made it by the date set, and whilst I always knew it was a flexible date, its achievement bolstered confidence. The odd goal can be good every now and again if applied properly. I now reali

Yesterday it felt we cheated the rain for the first time since setting out. And it felt good! We woke and I once again felt tired after a good night’s sleep. Even the frustration takes too much energy now. A migraine threatened as a blurred spot in my vision and I prayed it wouldn’t go further. Not for the first time I sighed at my feeble body. I’m tired of being tired. And the rain was threatening again. So internally I shrugged it off. It’s not like I can do anything about

The rain came again yesterday. Thick and fast, a black line in the sky racing over lake Konstanz blurring everything behind it with a wall of water. We watched it come. After getting off the bikes on the second time around Uberlingen for some food and a map check. We found a tree to shelter under and ate lunch with the ducks – some bread, cheese and salami that we’d bought the day before. People with umbrellas walking past, staring, unsmiling, turning away if we spoke or smil

I wake from a lovely night’s sleep still exhausted. I sigh, resigned to the fact that the tiredness that’s developed over the last few weeks will take more than one night of good sleep to fix. Nonetheless, I’m getting frustrated with my body for not keeping up the way that I want it to. I don’t want something as mundane as tiredness to rob me of enjoyment of this experience. Mickey points out that it’s been 2 weeks of intense change, plus a huge increase in physical activity,

It’s been difficult to organise my thoughts from the last few days. There has been so much to take in so much has happened both internally and externally. I’ll begin with the end and work back as the here and now always seems most certain. The weather is glorious today. The 33 degree heat is a bit of a shock to the system after so much rain and cold but I refuse to feel uncomfortable in the heat. We’re in a town called Epinal near the German border with France. Our experience

We ride the single track road, slightly raised in the midst of rolling arable fields for as far as the eye can see, all lilting in the breeze against the grey, sky blurred with mist. It’s the first time my heart has lifted all day, the first time I get hold of who I am, among this verdant peace. I spot the sign to the Hostellerie de Petit Spinois – the same that directed us, half desperate off the main road, having few other options at this late, hungry point in the day – and