Month: November 2015
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What happens to me on this journey is mostly outside my control
I promise you this camera is on its way out. I give it another … I give it another three weeks. Having now cycled in temperatures approaching fifty degrees Celsius, and comparing it to cycling in temperatures of around minus thirty degrees Celsius two winters ago, I have to say – it’s definitely better to be […] Continue reading →
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I had lost my way so badly that I risked losing everything
The north-east coast of Turkey was famous for its unique take on the national cuisine; also for its tea and hazelnut plantations. Huge cheese-filled pizzas swimming with molten butter and chunks of spicy sausage; great platters of grilled meat with rice; stews of aubergine and tomato and green peppers and chickpeas: these delights sat tantalisingly […] Continue reading →
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It was almost as if the very land conspired to help us on our way
The riding continued, slowly and methodically, but the days ended too early: December had arrived. Turkey wasn’t quite as warm or exotic as I’d imagined, and the available daylight hours were shrinking fast. One night, setting up a makeshift bed beneath a table in an abandoned summertime beach complex, my ailing head-torch finally broke from […] Continue reading →
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The route was going to be every bit the challenge we’d imagined
I followed Andy north along the Asian bank of the Bosphorus Straits, then – when the city started to recede – we headed east on the smallest through-road we could find. My dormant leg muscles brought the world into movement once again; the simple pleasures of fresh air and perpetual motion mine once more. Soon […] Continue reading →
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With a casual gesture along the top edge of a map, Selen sealed the fate of Ride Earth
I rose at sunrise, packed my makeshift bivouac on the quayside and began to cycle behind Andy along the hard shoulder of the enormous coastal highway towards Istanbul. The road signs indicated that it was still over seventy miles distant. Today would be a long and gruelling day. Sometime after midday, the signs for Istanbul […] Continue reading →
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Europe passed into history with the wave of a soldier’s hand
Europe passed into history with the wave of a soldier’s hand, and smiling officials beneath big red and white Turkish flags welcomed us to their country and gave us permission to stay for three months. We’d never need that long, of course, but it felt good to have been given plenty of breathing space for […] Continue reading →
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The world needs trailblazers. For people to stop treating places and experiences as products to be consumed
The last time I’d looked at a map of Sudan, no road had been shown on the Nile’s west bank. Nothing, it seemed, existed over there at all. But now I can see palm trees and foliage on that distant shore, just as over here. And anyway, I figure, the world needs trailblazers. For people […] Continue reading →
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I would forever relish not knowing what lay round the next bend.
Andy stopped ahead of me and I did too while we waited for the girls to catch up. Standing in the shade, I swung my arms around to warm up, and – suddenly – accidentally flung off the beaded bracelet I’d worn since leaving home. It flew through the air and into the undergrowth. I […] Continue reading →
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This gruff little man seemed to jump at the chance to have three desperate explorers stay the night
In Sebeş, a dreary city of abandoned industry and loitering groups of men, we were due to be reunited with Magalie, and all of us – Maria in particular – were looking forward to the prospect immensely. Needing somewhere to stay overnight while we waited for her arrival, and having found that the town’s sole […] Continue reading →
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I was dimly aware that the proving grounds were coming to an end.
The rain still hadn’t stopped when dawn broke, exposing the same dark clouds and pot-holed thoroughfares that had welcomed us into the country. The heady days of good living under the summer sun now seemed like a distant memory. Grim faces drifted along broken pavements, eyeing us suspiciously as we cooked breakfast in a dilapidated […] Continue reading →