Day 9 – Wednesday 1st June 2011
“Why??”
It’s a question a number of people have asked me, and I’m sure many more will ask when I get back. Why do such a trip? And why do it on a bicycle?
Well, it all started a couple of years ago when I was talking to a university friend called Rob. He was telling me how he and his girlfriend had been saving as much money as they could, over a number of years, so that when they had finished university, they could spend 5 months travelling around the world. And they did! Assuming all went to plan for them, they should have been back in the UK a few months ago. Good for them – but it got me thinking... and that is often a dangerous thing!
I wondered if I could do some sort of trip when I finish university... after all, I would have spend 6 years just to get a Bachelor’s degree.
(Ok, here’s what happened: I started by doing a Maths degree, as it was what I was best at. During the first year of the course I got involved with a couple of people who studied Film and TV, helping them with their films and having a good time. In my second year of Maths, one of the best lecturers left and one of the replacement lecturers didn’t seem to be able to teach very well, making the work rather difficult. Added to which, there was far too much statistics for my liking and I found myself borrowing video cameras and making a number of films... to the point where I decided to change courses to study Film and TV. That put me back in year 1. In year 2 of Film and TV – my fourth year at university – I was getting bored with being a student and found myself frequently travelling to Snowdonia for some walking adventures... and that meant that I actually failed that year. So, year 5 of university was spent re-taking 1 module so that I could pass the second year, and year 6 was spent doing year 3 of Film and TV, being thoroughly bored of being a student but working hard to make sure I could get out of there!)
So I felt that some sort of grand adventure was definitely in order. Having learned how to live on a minimalist budget (i.e. by not doing the typical student things and wasting copious amounts of money on copious amounts of alcohol... which meant I never regretted it the morning after), I worked out that I could spare about £1,200 to spend on my big adventure. If you’re wondering why, on Day 0, I mentioned “a little over £1,000,” then it’s because about £150 was spent on buying things like maps and new tyres, etc.
Then came the issue of where to go on this trip, and I wondered if I could get to Egypt, as I mentioned 2 days ago. I’ve always enjoyed cycling and about 2 and a half years ago my friend Tim and I took 5 days after a set of exams to cycle from Aberystwyth to Capel Curig, spend 3 days walking in Snowdonia, then cycle the 75 miles back again. It was a fantastic trip (albeit very cold... it was January, after all!) and one I shall remember for many years to come.
So there it was: cycling to Greece and back over a few weeks. And already the plan has changed a little... I was looking at some maps the other day when I was in Avallon (O Avallon!) and figured out that the route I had planned – which was to head further South in France before going over the Alps, over the Little St Bernard pass (Col du Petit Saint-Bernard) into Aosta in Italy – would take about the same number of days if I did it slightly differently. Ideally, I wanted to go over the Great St Bernard pass (Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard), but that would mean going over “les Alps” into Switzerland before going back over them via the pass. 2 trips over the Alps? I’d rather not...
But then I thought, “I’m so close to Geneva, why not pop over there?” So I’m headed in that direction.
Having got up early this morning, leaving Beaune campsite shortly after 8.30am, I’d blitzed almost 50 miles before 1pm. My average speed was 13.3 mph! And it was just as well... because the rest of the day was a long slog uphill as I made my way through the foothills of “les Alps,” pressing on until I got to St-Laurent-en-Grandvaux.
I must admit, it was well worth it. The number of times I considered stopping and wild camping in the woods, and yet I was thinking, “It’s not even 5pm yet, it’s too early to stop and wild camp!” But it was just as well that I pressed on... the lady at the campsite reception said it was due to hit 0°C tonight! She said that instead of being out in the cold in a little tent, I could sleep in the campsite’s games room. And it’s much warmer!
I was actually contemplating roughing it one night in the Alps, part way up the Great St Bernard pass, then I could make people think I was super fit by being at the top by 9am or something silly. But after what this lady said, I don’t think that’s a good idea – I’d freeze! I mean, so much for having a siesta during the hottest part of the day, it’s worth pressing on just to stay warm.
So there we are, Geneva tomorrow, and if I can push on far enough, it’ll be the Grand St Bernard pass the day after. Lovely jubbly!
But it does mean that I’m contemplating a new challenge... you see, I’ve been to Paris already, I’ll be in Geneva tomorrow, I’m going to Roma... and Athens. I wonder how many capital cities I can knock off... can I make it an average of 1 per week? Maybe that’s a silly challenge... maybe not...
(On typing this entry up, I contemplated cutting that last paragraph out because of the glaring error: Geneva is not the capital city of Switzerland... that would be Bern. Call me a “Dunce” and make me stand in the corner! But Geneva is probably the most famous city in Switzerland and at the time of writing that’s probably why I thought it was the capital.)
Stats
Mileage = 79.61 miles
Riding time = 7 hours 22 minutes
Average speed = 10.7 mph
Top speed = 30.8 mph
Total mileage since start = 524.5
“Why??”It’s a question a number of people have asked me, and I’m sure many more will ask when I get back. Why do such a trip? And why do it on a bicycle?
Well, it all started a couple of years ago when I was talking to a university friend called Rob. He was telling me how he and his girlfriend had been saving as much money as they could, over a number of years, so that when they had finished university, they could spend 5 months travelling around the world. And they did! Assuming all went to plan for them, they should have been back in the UK a few months ago. Good for them – but it got me thinking... and that is often a dangerous thing!
I wondered if I could do some sort of trip when I finish university... after all, I would have spend 6 years just to get a Bachelor’s degree.
(Ok, here’s what happened: I started by doing a Maths degree, as it was what I was best at. During the first year of the course I got involved with a couple of people who studied Film and TV, helping them with their films and having a good time. In my second year of Maths, one of the best lecturers left and one of the replacement lecturers didn’t seem to be able to teach very well, making the work rather difficult. Added to which, there was far too much statistics for my liking and I found myself borrowing video cameras and making a number of films... to the point where I decided to change courses to study Film and TV. That put me back in year 1. In year 2 of Film and TV – my fourth year at university – I was getting bored with being a student and found myself frequently travelling to Snowdonia for some walking adventures... and that meant that I actually failed that year. So, year 5 of university was spent re-taking 1 module so that I could pass the second year, and year 6 was spent doing year 3 of Film and TV, being thoroughly bored of being a student but working hard to make sure I could get out of there!)
So I felt that some sort of grand adventure was definitely in order. Having learned how to live on a minimalist budget (i.e. by not doing the typical student things and wasting copious amounts of money on copious amounts of alcohol... which meant I never regretted it the morning after), I worked out that I could spare about £1,200 to spend on my big adventure. If you’re wondering why, on Day 0, I mentioned “a little over £1,000,” then it’s because about £150 was spent on buying things like maps and new tyres, etc.
Then came the issue of where to go on this trip, and I wondered if I could get to Egypt, as I mentioned 2 days ago. I’ve always enjoyed cycling and about 2 and a half years ago my friend Tim and I took 5 days after a set of exams to cycle from Aberystwyth to Capel Curig, spend 3 days walking in Snowdonia, then cycle the 75 miles back again. It was a fantastic trip (albeit very cold... it was January, after all!) and one I shall remember for many years to come.
So there it was: cycling to Greece and back over a few weeks. And already the plan has changed a little... I was looking at some maps the other day when I was in Avallon (O Avallon!) and figured out that the route I had planned – which was to head further South in France before going over the Alps, over the Little St Bernard pass (Col du Petit Saint-Bernard) into Aosta in Italy – would take about the same number of days if I did it slightly differently. Ideally, I wanted to go over the Great St Bernard pass (Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard), but that would mean going over “les Alps” into Switzerland before going back over them via the pass. 2 trips over the Alps? I’d rather not...But then I thought, “I’m so close to Geneva, why not pop over there?” So I’m headed in that direction.
Having got up early this morning, leaving Beaune campsite shortly after 8.30am, I’d blitzed almost 50 miles before 1pm. My average speed was 13.3 mph! And it was just as well... because the rest of the day was a long slog uphill as I made my way through the foothills of “les Alps,” pressing on until I got to St-Laurent-en-Grandvaux.
I must admit, it was well worth it. The number of times I considered stopping and wild camping in the woods, and yet I was thinking, “It’s not even 5pm yet, it’s too early to stop and wild camp!” But it was just as well that I pressed on... the lady at the campsite reception said it was due to hit 0°C tonight! She said that instead of being out in the cold in a little tent, I could sleep in the campsite’s games room. And it’s much warmer!
I was actually contemplating roughing it one night in the Alps, part way up the Great St Bernard pass, then I could make people think I was super fit by being at the top by 9am or something silly. But after what this lady said, I don’t think that’s a good idea – I’d freeze! I mean, so much for having a siesta during the hottest part of the day, it’s worth pressing on just to stay warm.
So there we are, Geneva tomorrow, and if I can push on far enough, it’ll be the Grand St Bernard pass the day after. Lovely jubbly!But it does mean that I’m contemplating a new challenge... you see, I’ve been to Paris already, I’ll be in Geneva tomorrow, I’m going to Roma... and Athens. I wonder how many capital cities I can knock off... can I make it an average of 1 per week? Maybe that’s a silly challenge... maybe not...
(On typing this entry up, I contemplated cutting that last paragraph out because of the glaring error: Geneva is not the capital city of Switzerland... that would be Bern. Call me a “Dunce” and make me stand in the corner! But Geneva is probably the most famous city in Switzerland and at the time of writing that’s probably why I thought it was the capital.)
Stats
Mileage = 79.61 miles
Riding time = 7 hours 22 minutes
Average speed = 10.7 mph
Top speed = 30.8 mph
Total mileage since start = 524.5
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