I've updated my website, and changed the link:

Europe: http://www.machka.net/RTW_2012/RTW_Europe_2012.htm

Asia: http://www.machka.net/RTW_2012/RTW_2012.htm

We're in Amsterdam ... and trying to figure out what to do next.

I updated the story on my Europe site a couple nights ago, and that story takes us to Berwick-Upon-Tweed. Since then, we caught a train to Newcastle, then cycled to the ferry, then caught an overnight ferry to the port outside Amsterdam, and then today we cycled to and around Amsterdam.

I have to say, I'm not that impressed with cycling in Amsterdam. Hualien, Taiwan was somewhat frightening at times with all sorts of traffic everywhere (cars, scooters, motorcycles, and lots of bicycles), but I was more comfortable cycling there than I was here today.


At Central Station in Amsterdam. There were 3 levels of bicycles in the bicycle parking on the right
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7109/7...8f3abd16_c.jpg
European Tour Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7630125688286/

How much do the loaded bikes weigh? Have you ever had everything soaking wet, and needed to pack up the wet gear, and get going on the bikes?

The bikes with gear weigh about 40kg (~88lbs) each, loaded but with unfilled water bottles and no food.

As to the second question, the weather has been bad enough in Britain for us to avoid camping for the very reason you identify -- packing up everything wet, and then unpacking it wet that night. But we have ridden through some wet days, such as yesterday in Holland, and the gear inside has remained dry -- packs and handlebar bags.

On the ferry leaving Newcastle, I though we would be leaving the wet behind. The ship's captain avoided one storm, and headed for blue skies and high, light cloud. But when we woke up next morning and peeked outside, it was... raining again, and didn't stop until we had ridden almost all the way into Amsterdam. Then it started again last night.

I read the pages about the UK. I never realized there are so many interesting things to see there. I like old historical things too. I would never get out of there.

I am sure we could have spent quite a few more weeks there. But like most things, I think one would need a break after a while. The place is full of castles and mansions, and it's great that they have been preserved rather than knocked down for the sake of progress. But there are so many, it's easy to become blase about them as you pass them.

One of the things that truly did impress me was the willingness to help and the friendliness of the people in the tourism industry (bus and ferry tours, B&Bs, pubs, etc) and especially in Scotland. I cannot recall one encounter that I would call negative. Considering Britain has had a bad rap for attitude in the past, it was a truly pleasant surprise. Now if only the Brits could do something about the weather... :)

:lol: Bike camping in the UK ! The perfect storm !

Are you going to Italy? Lots of important historical things there.

I've been thinking that something I'd like to do would be to take the 6 months we're allowed to be in the UK (visa regulations), and divide the UK into 6-8 sections. We would rent a house in each section, and spend 3 weeks or a month cycling out in various directions (maybe using the train system to get further out and see more) as we moved from section to section. A whole bunch of hub-and-spoke tours. I noticed in some areas we could rent houses for a week or more if we had wanted to.

It would be a great way to get to know the UK, to cycle many of the little meandering roads, and to see the historical things.

Maybe that will be an idea for a few years down the road. :)


We are going to make an attempt to get to Italy. Right now we're in the Netherlands and we're slowly (at this point) making our way southward.

You've been unfortunate with the weather. Even by Scottish standards, this year has been awful.

The trouble with a world tour, I guess, is that you get only a brief taste of lots of places you'd really like to explore in depth. Now that I have plenty of time, I'm considering whether I want to do that sort of thing, or take several weeks to explore one country at a time. I think the latter, on balance.

One of our ideas behind doing the type of tour that we are doing is that it is kind of like a sampler platter where we get to try little bits of this and little bits of that. Then later, if we liked something, we will see about returning and seeing exploring an area in depth.

We would really like to return to Hokkaido, Japan after spending 10 days there on this tour. We only saw a very small part of that island, but liked what we saw, and we've chatted about returning for a month next time.

Scotland is another place we enjoyed (despite the weather), and we'd like to spend more time there ... a couple months would be good.

We've both been to France twice before, and we're planning to see more of it this time. We've spent most of our time, in the past, in the northern parts of France, so this time we'd like to focus more on the southern parts. And I could see us returning to France several more times. We'd actually like to live in France for a little while, but I don't think we can at this point.

The other significant factor for us is that we don't live on the doorstep of these countries. To get to them means a long and comparatively expensive trip that carries other downsides, such as visa restrictions (six months in the UK but only three months in the European Schengen Zone).

That means we have to work and save quite hard to get to where we want to to.

We reduced the cost factor this time by purchasing round-the-world tickets.

So roving the world is not quite as simple or cheap as it might appear on the surface for people our age (again a factor because under certain conventions, we would be able to work to support ourselves as we go if we were under the age of 30).

Yes, I get that. I used to work with an expat kiwi who was over here on a two-year contract. The thing he loved about being here wasn't just exploring the UK - though he did love that - it was the fact that he was only three hours away from Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Madrid etc etc. he spent most of his salary on long weekends in great European cities. We get a bit blasé about that, it's very easy for me to go to these places whenever I want.

If you are cycling south from Amsterdam, stop off in Bruges. It's an almost perfect sixteenth century town.

I've just read that northern Taiwan where we were a month or so ago is in the grip of flooding from a typhoon that was downgraded to a tropical storm. So it's not just Britain and Holland where we are at the moment getting heavy downpours.

We are taking a bit of a break just south of Amsterdam (my first day off the bicycle after 8 days straight of riding ... Rowan rode a little bit today too), and debating what to do next.

We were thinking of heading into Denmark and Sweden, but haven't heard good things about the weather situation there ... and we spent about a week longer in Scotland than originally planned because we liked it that much. So I think we'll have to give Denmark and Sweden a pass this time. They'll be on our list for next time. :)

We would like to get onto the Rhine Route soonish. I'm not sure how far it is from where we're located, so we haven't decided whether to cycle to it or take a train.

Only 2 months here, and so many options!!

Oh, and with my day off, I've been loading photos into my Flickr sets ...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7630125688286/

Our touring bicycles, set up for extended touring ... :)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8164/7...40bc3988_c.jpg


One of the inns we stayed in while in Scotland ...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/7...0daa6e5e_c.jpg

Machka & Rowan - thanks for the updates and pictures. I'm really enjoying reading the blogs!

Thanks ... I hope to update my website a bit more tomorrow.


We are on the Rhine Route ... the Rhine Cycling Route. Well, OK, we're camping a little way off the Rhine Cycling Route, but we're not far from it (a few km), and plan to start riding the day after tomorrow. Another rest day tomorrow to try to give my right knee a chance to heal. All up today, we rode a grand total of 12.5 km. :)

As "luck" would have it, when we stopped at this campground to ask about accommodation, the manager asked Rowan what kind of cycling we were doing, Rowan mentioned the Rhine Cycling Route, and the manager gave us a book with detailed maps and information about it all the way to Mainz. Another cyclist dropped it off just recently, having finished with it, so it is ours now. :)

Between here and Mainz, a little over 400 km, there is an elevation gain of 100 metres. My kind of terrain!! :)

There's another approx. 400 km after Mainz to where the Rhine Cycling Route ends in Switzerland, and from what I understand, there is more climbing in that section.

We're not sure how this will go, but we plan to take it easy. Ride 2-3 days, take a break, ride a bit more, take a break. We want to see some of the area, so we may end up stopping for tours of castles or whatever there is along the way. And we're thinking about taking a train trip to Luxembourg just to have a look. It will likely take a few weeks to get from here to Switzerland.

Then, if we can get all the way to Switzerland, Italy isn't far away. :)

More updates on my website: http://www.machka.net/RTW_2012/RTW_Europe_Main_2012.htm

More updates on my photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/machka-...7630125688286/


We're in Germany now, following the Rhine Cycle Route.

Hopefully, you will not beat our record for 35 days of rain on a tour. I am really enjoying your updates and photos.

Remember the law of castles: Castles are always located on the highest hill around, if it is not a major hill it is only a chateau:) This makes riding to them challenging, and will add some elevation to the route.

Thanks!

I think we may have already passed the 35 days of rain. We get all excited every time there is a bit of blue sky. I keep taking photos of it so we'll know what it looks like later. Although I do have to say that the last 2 days have been pretty good during the day, but it rained quite a bit last night, and looks like it may again tonight.


France is really "bad" for having castles or churches on top of hills. You see a spire in the distance, and you groan quietly to yourself because you know the road will go there, and that there will be a climb.


So far, however, the terrain has been pretty good. We had some hills around Arnhem, NL, but otherwise it has been mostly flat.

We have been on this tour for 51 days, and of those 51 days, we have cycled 33 days. We are over 1000 km so far. After today, I think we're somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1075 km. We've been cycling quite regularly, especially since we got to Europe.

Bravo!

And if you are considering extending your adventures in Europe, and are able to swing it, visit the Czech Republic. I've heard the riding is excellent.

Sounds like Italy is possible. Don't miss any of the historical things. I am so jealous !!!!!!!

I've updated the story again, and am working on the photos ...
http://www.machka.net/RTW_2012/RTW_Europe_Main_2012.htm

We're into the Rhine Cycle Route now ... experiencing the good and the bad ...