Recap - Week one

Seven days, four countries, two coaches and a ferry. What a week!

On Thursday 12th June, we set off on our adventure bimbling around by bike. Setting off from Worcester, we rode in the direction of the south east to reach the ferry we had booked in five days time.

Along the way we stopped off in both hotels and campsites after cycling around 35 miles a day. The terrain on the way was pretty rolling and we had few major hills to contend with - this we were grateful for as we are carrying almost all that we own on our bikes and our legs need breaking in! That’s not saying that all the routes we took were smooth…

The highlights of the days were meeting friends and strangers on the way. Catching up with old friends over dinner who were also fabulous tour guides (thanks to Conrad and Becky for pointing us towards the Dragon!). Meeting friendly faces outside shops, at bus stations, and on the ferry have all been very memorable and we hope that there’s much more of this along the way.

Starting our cycling in the UK where things are familiar has been a great opportunity to get used to being almost constantly on the bikes and adjusting to our new way of life. The weather has been extremely kind which has helped.

Getting enough food and sleep have been priorities as it can be tiring both cycling miles with fully loaded bikes but also experiencing new things all the time.

Settling into our different roles on the road is key for us and it goes something like this:

Sam - maintenance (both bike and kit), technology (including website, charging), cooking and stove, bed set up, washing clothes and cookware.

Beck - navigating (a huge thanks to my past work colleagues for their super-kind contributions on my departure earlier this year which allowed me to get the Wahoo Roam V2), meal planning, tent erection, washing clothes and cookware.

The weather has been good so we’ve been very lucky in having the time and space to carry out our tasks without much stress. When the weather turns and it’s cold and wet, knowing what you’re supposed to be doing to set up camp/eat is essential.

Bimbling at speed - you may have noticed that we’ve sped across parts of Europe by public transport. This is in no small part due to the visa restrictions put upon us by Brexit which allows UK citizens 90 days in every 180 days in the Schengen Area. To enable us to have more time exploring places further afield, we made the decision early on to use buses and trains to get us further, faster.

The next week will involve lots more cycling as we make our way slowly through northern Denmark and across the waters to Norway. We are also yet to fit in many of our leisure activities (reading, sound recording, photography) around our day to day survival activities so want to redress this balance in the coming days. Let’s see how this goes!