I cycled in four countries
4325km
that took 66 days,
16 out of which I was resting.
I spend 310 hours on the bike pedaling which is about
5 hours per day,
cycling at an average speed of 18km/h,
reached a maximum speed of 64km/h and
minimum of 0km/h.

I cycled through 630 villages, towns and cities and
I used 12 regional road maps with a preferred scale of 1/200000.

I rode over 6 named cols,
Col du Tourmalet was the highest at 2114m, with a base at 750m and a climb over 18km.

I ate 85 bananas,
50 apples, pears, peaches, grapes and other fruit,
40 ice creams,
5 crepes,
40 baguettes,
20 croissants,
30 pain du chocolate, raisin, pomme and the rest,
10 focaccias,
15 pizzas,
1 casullet.
25 times I cooked my self either in the tent, the hostel or in houses

I gained 1.5 kilos probable from the
4cm of facial hair that grew during this time.

I was carrying 22 kilos of stuff, excluding the food of the day,
and 12 kilos which is the weight of the bike.

I slept 43 nights in my tent,
19 nights in hostels,
3 night on a sofa,
1 night in a hotel,
1 night at a garden and
I paid on average €15 per night for accommodation.
Only 2 of the campsites had free wifi,
about 10 more had paid wifi, asking on average €3 per hour.
On the other hand, half of the hostels had free wifi,
some would charge €3 per 12 hours.

I exchange my email address with 32 people,
half of them on a bike.
I took 2000 photos,
I deleted 200,
and published 620 of them on the blog.

I saw wild horses, sheep, goats, cows, bulls, cats, dogs, snakes, lizards, frogs, one scorpion, eagles, hawks, flamingos, and many other birds that I don’t know their names, beavers, mice, rats and many mosquito that loved my blood.
I believe I saw more than 1000 dead animals on the road
I saw dozen of bugs and snails trying to cross the road,
only 2 of them made it to the other side,
I killed 5 of them,
1 dead fly is still stuck under my bike since France.

I was chased by 4 deadly half a meter dogs,
none managed to catch me.

I saw no banana trees… so I will still be looking for them.

All the used gear

I don’t really like talking about products, but now that I’ve finished my two months cycle tour, I’d like to evaluate all the gear I was carrying with me in order to help other future cycle tourists to decide what they may need or not. If you are not into touring and you are not planning to do any, you will probable find the following text rather long and boring.

Bike stuff

Bike, Ridgback Flight T2 (2008 model)

I really like this bike and it did its jobs well. But unfortunately it’s not a bike designed for touring. Its thin tires (700×25) didn’t let me go to some off road cycle tracks and when fully loaded, the bike was feeling a little bit unstable, especially when I was cycling standing. In the beginning, I couldn’t stand at all, but after a couple of weeks I got used to the extra weight and I would ride standing for as long as I wanted. In facts it’s a little strange that I now find it hard to cycle standing when the bike is not loaded and I will have to get used it again. I should have listened Tim’s advice right from the beginning to swap the tires with (700×28) Schwalbe, which apparently are the most durable and appropriate for long cycling in different terrains. It would have probable saved all the trouble I went through, when I changed the worn out Armadilos with a random piece of shit, that exploded 20 kilometers down the road, ruined my rim and caused a chain of other problems. The bike has racing breaks with no much clearance, so a slight thicker tire means that they have to be deflated in order for the wheel to come out, which I think is not much of a problem.
It comes with carbon fork and seat post, which are great for a performance bike, but a little useless for touring. With so much extra weight, a few hundred grams don’t really make any difference. It’s also less flexible than aluminum, which means more vibrations on my arms. At some point before I started, I was reading about carbon components breaking and I was really worried about the fork and me kissing the tarmac. I don’t think that’s really an issue, as long as you ride the bike reasonable. There were many times that I hit bumps and pit holes, went down pavements and slight off roads paths and it is still in one piece. Also the fork can’t take front rack to attach panniers, which for me was a good thing as I limited to just rear ones.
My last little complain is its geometry, with the sheet higher than the bars. That’s good for high speeds, but not very comfortable as you put too much weight on your arms. The bar extensions, even if they take some time to get used to, helped a lot as you get a variety of positions to hold and prevent the wrists from getting too tired.
As a conclusion, I did the trip on this bike because that’s what I had at the time and if I had to do another one, I would probable use the same again. But if you need to buy a bike just for touring, maybe consider one that is designed for that purpose.

SPD pedals, Shimano M324

After cycling 6 years in England, I was seeing so many people riding with SPD pedals and cycling shoes that clip on to them. I was always thinking that wearing a special pair of shoes was too much of an effort to just get to work. Everybody advised me to get them for the tour and that’s what I am now advising now as well. Having your foot attached to the pedal, helps a lot in cycling. Rather than just pushing down the pedal, with SPDs you can also pull the pedal, applying force to the full circle, which makes a big difference going uphills. Someone once told me it increases your efficiency by 30%. They also ensure your foot is always on the correct position, preventing any injuries after a long ride.

SPD shoes, Specialised MTB

I chose these simply because they look a little more like ordinary shoes, rather than just dedicated cycling ones. The proper road shoes have a complete stiff sole, which makes cycling a lot easier, but walking impossible, where MTB ones will be a little flexible at the front. While touring, you will get off the bike many times and you don’t want to be changing shoes to go for a short walk.

Aluminum rear rack

The important thing for me was to have the plate on top that will double as a mud guard. Made out of alumium makes them lighter, but I am not sure for how long can they last. After two months using them, they are still ok, but have dents on all the points that the panniers touch. Someone also mentioned that if they snap, it will be impossible to weld on any ordinary metal workshop in case there is no bike shop around for a replacement. Also I wish they could be positioned a little closer to the wheel, to move the center of gravity lower.

Panniers, Ortlieb

Yes, they are 110% ideal for touring. Initially I was a little skeptic about their roll type closure system and how practical that would be. But as everybody was telling about these, that’s what I got they are perfect. They are easy to put on and off, they can double their capacity if not closed, they are 100% waterproof and very durable as they are made from the same material they make the truck canvas. I met German cyclists that are using them for two decades and they are still in very good and working condition.
As they are wider than the rest of the bike, its easy to hit them on obstacles and I did several times. Only during the last day, I hit the sharp corner of a concrete bench going very fast and I made a small rip to one of them. I had a hard object right inside the pannier that helped the canvas to rip. I believe that small rip will be easy to repair.
The best is to put all the heavy objects as low and close to the wheel as possible and the softer and lighter on the top and outside so they act as pillows in case the bike is dropped or hit and obstacle.

Handlebar bag, Altura Dryline

I find the handle bar bag very handy for storing all the small things that you need to access very often. It also doubles as a shoulder bag, which means when you lock the bike you can easily detach it and take all the valuables with you.
The one I got is alright, but not perfect. It’s big enough, but doesn’t have any compartments or pockets inside. It’s like a big box where you through stuff in and after an hour of bumpy ride they are all mixed up. Before I started, I got a thick foamy material, like they one they use for sound insulation, and cut it in the right size to fit at the bottom. I was keeping my papers and things I wasn’t using regularly under it and then I would stuck other things like maps, sketchbook and camera, in between the foam and the bag walls.
The bag also claims to be waterproof, but the material it is made of soaks the water. I am sure it has an additional layer inside to prevent the water going through and it never did, but I didn’t really experience heavy rain for a long period of time to see how true that is.
It also comes with a very handy detachable clear pocket that goes on the top to put the map in it. It’s extremely handy to have a map always in front of you, that you can read without stopping. It’s design problem though is that it only attached at the front, so while cycling fast or string wind, the map keeps flapping. I solved this problem by using two of these strong black clips and they worked fine.
Overall a good bag, I just wish the designer used it him self a couple of times to find out these minor problems and correct them.

Speedometer, Specialised speedzone comp

What I was looking was a wireless one that has a temperature reading, which was a little hard to find. I am still trying to decide whether it is better to have a wireless or not. My old stolen one was not wireless, but the wire snapped just after a year. You also have one less wire hanging off the bars.
But then you have an extra battery to worry about. I also don’t know if that’s the case with all wireless computers or just mine, but my biggest problem was interferences. It took me a while to understand why by the end of the day it was showing extreme top speed. Basically if I put it near my laptop it shows that I am cycling at around 30km/h, if I put it next to my mobile it goes up to 60km/h and automatic sliding doors will boost it to above 100km/h adding an extra kilometer every few second.
It has a nice and big readout, with all the basic functionalities, but its operation is a little hard to get used to it and its manual a little hard to understand. The good thing is that I download its manual as a pdf and put on my laptop, which saved me carrying the booklet with me.

Tools, Topeak Survival Tool Bag

Tools are essential in a bike tour. It has a good selection of the tools, as well as a compartment for a spare inner tube, a lube and some other extras. Very ofter I put it inside the dry sack, to make things fit better on the bike.

Cycling Clothes

Cycling top clothing, Rapha Classic Jersey, Sleeveless base layer

Probable my most valuable bit of clothing. I received it as a leaving present from my colleagues and I am very thankful for that, as I don’t think I would have spend so much money for cloths at the time. Now that I’ve used them solidly for every single of my cycling days, I think they are really worth the money.
The sleeveless base layer is made out of 100% merino wool, which is by far the best material for cycling and I only found out on this trip. You can wear it for 3-4 continues days cycling and sweating and it never stinks like cotton. If it gets wets it doesn’t hang and it is fast to dry.
The Jersey is 40% merino 60% polyester. It has the typical cycling pockets on the back. Very important, it has a nice minimal design and not all these vivid colors, or big brand names that most of the cycling tops have.
It also cames with arm warmers, very useful for the cold mornings or to protect the skin from the burning sun. There was never an issue of being too hot on these, as there is a constant flow of air while cycling.
Unfortunately after so many days wearing the top under the burning sun, its black color on the back side has faded a little bit, but other than that it is still in a perfect functional condition.

Cycling shorts, 1 Endura MTB with lycra liner, 1 Gore lycra

The shorts are also extremely important item for cycling. Everybody would say just use lycra and nothing else, as it is really the most comfortable thing you can wear while cycling. They look ok on the bike, but the problem is they look a little bit ridiculous when off the bike. So I got some mountain bike shorts, that I was always wearing while stopping within towns, villages or when it was a little too cold. They have plenty of handy pockets and they are made of rip stop material, but if they claim to be very breathable, I found too hot to cycle with if the temperature was above 30. They came with their own detachable lycra liner, so I bought another pair of lycra to be able to swap them around everyday. I bought this combination to save money, but I later found out that in a way you get what you pay for. The Gore lycra costs almost as much as the Endura shorts with the liner as well. The Endura lycra proved to be less comfortable, with a thiner padding that was not big enough to cover the entire seat. There were many times that I did my best to dry the Gore one as fast as possible so I can wear it the next day as well.

Socks, 1 Rapha, 3 Pearl Izumi

I wanted to be changing a pair of socks every day, so I had a few with me. The Rapha ones were made of 100% merino wool, which means I could wear them a second or sometimes a third day without a problem if I was lazy to wash.

Leg warmers, Altura

They are necessary for the very cold days. They also double as thermals under normal trousers or while sleeping in the tent during cold nights.

Gloves, Mitts Pearl Izumi, Full cycling gloves

I never had these before, as I thought they are a little too much for just cycling to work. But after cycling for 5-6 hours a day, wearing mitts really make a difference and I highly recommend a relatively good pair.
I happend to find the full gloves and they worked ok for the colder days. They wear thin enough to put them under the mitts and stopped some of the cold. But cycling in colder weather, I would probable need a lot better ones.

Waterproof jacket, Kathmandu GoreTex type material (but not GoreTex)

Everybody was suggesting me to get a good pair of GoreTex rainproof jacket. Apparently they are the best for cycling in the rain. The problem is GoreTex are very expensive and I didn’t want to spend that much money. Luckily other brands now make the similar material, which are probable equally as good but cheaper. I got mine from Kathmandu as it had 50% discount and it served me really well during the trip.

Waterproof trousers

I got the cheapest pair I found in my local outdoors shop. They pack extremely small, they are waterproof but also breathable. The thing is you don’t use them as often as the jacket, because lycras and skin dryes fast enough and legs don’t get as cold as your upper body.

Overshoes

I knew I needed some, I left it for the last minute and didn’t find what I was looking for in London. In France I kept visiting cycling shops, but most of what they had wouldn’t fit on my MTB shoes. I ended up buying some that are not made from the typical wet suit material, that perfectly fits the shoe. Instead they are made from a thicker material that are completely water and windproof, but they don’t look as great. I didn’t have to use them as much, but they worked fine when I did.

Helmet, the cheapest Specialized one

I just used the one I had all these years in London. I think the price on the helmets don’t really affect security, as all of them have to pass the same regulation tests. It’s just a matter of weight and look, but the important thing is how it fits on your head. To be honest I don’t think mine fits very good, as it leaves the sides and the back of my head uncovered and on top I look a little ridiculous on it. But that’s what I had at the time and didn’t change it. Maybe next time I’ll get something better.

Non cycling clothes

Trousers, North Face zipoff trousers.

As I wanted to save space and weight on my bags, these proved to be ideal. They are very light and pack within one one of the pockets, they dry very fast especially when I am wearing them. The end of the legs can be rolled to make them 3/4 shorts, or completely removed with the zips for the very warm days.

Jacket, Berghaus jacket

Many suggested me to get a fleece, which is very warm. But I already had this, so that’s what I took with me. I would wear it with non cycling cloths, during cold evenings and it doubled as a pillow when stuffed with other clothes.

Others

2 normal cotton underwear for sleeping and wearing along with the normal trousers. 1 cotton tShirt and 1 long sleeve for the evening and the days of. 1 pair of light summer shoes. 1 pair of flip flops.

Camping stuff

Tent, Quechua T2 Ultra Light Pro

That’s one of the things it took me the longest to research and decide what to get. It’s always a compromise between cost, weight, space and quality. This one is a two layers, two person tent, which means it fits just two men, or one with his stuff. So that’s ideal, as a one man tent is just like a coffin, with no much head room to let you change within your tent. It weights a little less than 2 kilos and comes with a very forgiving compression bag. However your fold the tent, it will always fit in its bag and then you compress it and becomes a small pack. I experienced some very strong rains and winds that kept me awake all night and thankfully the tent proved it self to be rainproof and steady. It takes about 10 minutes to pitch and another 10 to pack.
It’s only minor problem, which I am not sure if other tents have solved, is that after a humid night the flysheet get a little wet and many times I had to let the tent dry in the sun before I could pack it and go.

Sleeping Bag, Snugpak Softie

I had this sleeping bag for some time before the trip and since it packs small, there was no need to get a new one. It states comfort temperature down to 2c and the extreme low to -3. In reality these should be a little higher, as there were a few nights that I was a little cold. It probable has to do with the humidity as well. In general I was very happy with it and I don’t think I’ll replace it in a future trip, unless if I go during cold winter.

Sleeping bag Liner, Quechua silk liner

I bought this half way through the trip and it’s one of the things I which I had right from the beggining. It really adds a few extra degrees of warmth in the bag as I never felt cold while sleeping with it, even if the temperature within the tent droped below 10 degrees. On the other hand, you can use just that on warm nights.

Mat, Self Inflating Mat Compact

That’s a 3/4 mat and as it is a self inflating one, it packs a lot smaller than the normal mets. Initially I was a little worried choosing a 3/4 or the full one, but it proved to be ok and my legs didn’t complain. The mat creates a good insulation between the ground and the body, which is the most important thing to stay warm over the night.

Stove, campingGas

I bought this during the trip, as initially I was worried about the space and weight of my bags. So three weeks into the trip, I found out that it was essential to have one, to be able to cook for my self, save money, but also save some money.

Cooking equipment, Quechua 1-person alu cookset

1 pan, 1 plate. 1 fork, 1 spoon, 1 clamp and 1 cup

Towels, 1 small and 1 medium Kathmandu fast drying ones

I didn’t really use the small one at all, but just the medium one. It was not really fast to dry out and I always had to attatch it to the bike to dry during the day. I also used to be white.

Small things

Mobile phone. I bought a French ‘pay as you go’ SIM card for that month and a half that I was there.

Compass, the smallest/cheapest one I could find on ebay. Small enough to fit within the map holder, but good enough to show me the correct way.

Headtorch which I had to buy one during the trip, as holding my bike light with my mouth while cooking was not convenient at all.

Swiss army knife, which was used for many different things.

Small cloth sack that would pack small, but big enough to carry a day’s shopping or a few things when walking around the city.

Mp3 player

1 Book

Sunglasses

Bell

Big things

A netbook! I only thought about taking one a couple of weeks before I departed and initially I was very sceptic whether it was worth the effort and rick. But now I am glad I had one during the trip. First without the netbook, I wouldn’t be able to write and maintain the blog. Internet cafes were very rare, very expensive and not in my tent. It was easier to find WIFI access. I was using it to store and view all my photos. I had many documents with me in digital format to save in weight, like manuals, tickets, insurance contracts and even scanned pages from guide books. I had all my music there which would go in my mp3 player selectively. I was charging my mobile using a USB cable. And most of all I had about 20 movies with me, which helped a lot during missarble nights.

I woke up and I could already see Greece from the window of the ferry. I spend the last half an hour of the journey on the deck, looking how we were slowly approaching the port.

My parents were already waiting for me, to welcome me back to the country and home.

We loaded the bike on the car and we drove home.

Did its job well, now it is its turn to be transported.

I wish I had the desire to cycle these last 220km, but unfortunately I didn’t for many reasons. Greece is not very cyclist friendly country. The roads are poorly made and are full of unreasonably dangerous drivers that don’t respect others. Even been in the car, I was feeling a little unsafe. I am not saying it’s impossible to ride here, because I know many people that do and I will do as well sooner or later. It’s just that I’ve done the route Patra to Athens many times on a car and I would find it uninteresting and unpleasant to cycle, to take such a risk.

So here I am, back in this chaotic country, where drivers think is cool not to wear seatbelt or helmet, where you find cars parks on playgrounds, where the pedestrian zebra crossings are not in use any more, as a measure to improve traffic. But also here I am, back to the country of nice food and olive oil, where tomatoes taste like tomatoes, where you can afford to buy bags of oranges rather than just a couple of them and were the sun shines for most of the year.

Back to a home, 66 days later.

More posts on after thoughts will follow in the near future. But for now, I hope you enjoyed reading my on-line diary of this journey. If you did, maybe consider a donation and help me accomplish my second goal, which is to raise £3000 for MSF in order to help others in this world with more fundamental needs than us.

Thank you
Georgios.

Very strange morning, waking up knowing it is the last day of this journey and finding out it’s only 6am, as half of the guys in the room had to spend an hour packing their stuff. No breakfast in the hostel, so I left grumpy. But instead of looking for food as usual, I went straight to the port to get my ticket, the ticket that will define the end of this journey.

The check in was at 1pm, so I had plenty of time for breakfast. Since Ancona doesn’t really have much to see, apart from ferries that take Greeks to their home, I went to a cafe to spend my last two hours in Italy looking at the rain.

I boarded, we departed and spend the rest of the day thinking about my last two months and this great journey.

I knew I had a long way to cycle so I woke up earlier than normal. I had a rich breakfast at the hostel and departed for my last ride of this trip. 3 kilometers down the road, I realized I had forgotten to return the key and take my deposit back, so there goes my early start. Not long after, it started raining, I put my raincoats and continued. And then as I was going up and down the cycle lane on the pavement, I bumped onto a big concrete pot and made a whole on my left pannier. It’s not a big one or a big deal, but just a bit annoying this happened just on the last day.

A big camera, for big photos

This is the guy who makes the beach

I was following the coastal road and always trying to avoid the bigger road that was running in parallel. Even if I had checked a couple of times at google maps where to turn and join the big road, due to the useless 1/400.000 map I am using the last few days that lists half of the towns I am going through, I missed my turn and without knowing, I started climbing a mountain. I wasn’t expecting this at all and with the rain on top, I started getting a bit annoyed. After about 10 kilometers on the slopes, I saw a sign to the next city but through the big road, which is of course flatter, so I just turned right and went down the steepest downhill I’ve ever been on this trip.

The panoramic view of Cattolica

Hills, up and downs

Then the rain stoped and I was kind of expecting the strong head wind to start as the forecast was predicting the day before. Luckily the whole day was almost windless, so made the ride a little more pleasant that I had expected. Just after noon, I had my lucnh break and a short wonder around at Fano and then I continued for the last 50 kilometers.

A globe

The castle at Fano

And one of the streets

The factories by Ancona

I got to Ancona at around 6pm and went straight to the hostel to check it. I then cycled to the post to buy tickets, but unfortunately they were closed. So tomorrow morning I am getting there early to buy the ticket and finish this trip. At night, I looked for a restaurant and I finally had a rizoto, which I didn’t manage to have during these four weeks in Italy.

The monkey by the finish line

I was very happy to found out the hostel’s breakfast was a ‘help your self buffet’ and rather rich, which means I ate loads.

From Ravenna to Ancona is about 160 kilometers, so I’d have to cover the distance in two days. The only hostel I could find though is in Rimini, 60km away and not exactly in the middle. So I knew I had plenty of time to go there on an easy pace. Saying this, I didn’t have much choice, as half way through the day, the head wind became stronger making me go slow anyway.

Dead carousel

For the first hour, I was riding on the main road which goes parallel with the coast. That was very busy though and I really needed to abandone it. The coast at this part of Italy is full of resort cities, so I just looked for the smaller roads which are closer to the beach. As in most of the cases, resort towns are deserted during the winter months, so it was a little strange cycling within them. Most of the beaches were private, which I find wrong and it took me a long time until I found a small passage to access the sea and have my lunch.

By the empty beach

I bet this was packed two months ago

Nice little boat at Cervia

Knocking down a house is fun, but someone will have to sweep

I got to Rimini at around 4pm, located the hostel, left my bags and went back to the city and have a look. Rimini has many Roman relics, most of them under the city. So in many areas there are glass windows on the ground, from where you can see the excavated remaining of the old city. It also have a nice castle, where an exhibition was taking place, but didn’t go in as it has an entrance fee and it was too late.

A church with a strange wall

The second biggest square at Rimini

and the castle

I went back to the hostel to cook and have an early night in, as tomorrow I will have to ride the last 100 kilometers of this journey.

I ate the very rich hostel breakfast of one piece of bread and a marmalade and left Bologna. Of course on the way I stopped at a bakery to buy something a little more filling. It’s the first time I am having it, but this filo pastry, with cheese, ham and spinach was superb.

Today the weather was once again very cold, but while cycling and wearing the right clothes I was feeling ok. The ride was a little bit uninteresting in terms of scenery.The road was flat all the way, full of farm land and some mountains on my far right. Unfortunatelly I had a head wind making things a lot harder and on top of that my knee started hurting again. I was in a good mood though, as I know I am approaching my final destination very soon.

My first stop was in Lugo, where there is a nice old castle. The rest of the city looked a little bit deserted, but maybe that was because of the time. In Italy most of the shops and restaurants are shut between 1pm to 4 pm, I guess for their afternoon siesta which I think is a good thing.

From there it didn’t take long enough to cycle to Ravenna, where I spend the night. Unfortunately it’s already mid Octomber, which means it now gets dark by 6:30pm. So by the time I found the hostel, checked in and went back to the city center, it was already dark, so too late for many photos. For what it wasn’t late though, was to go to a restaurant and have a nice pasta Bolognesse. I know I am having it with one day delay, but it was still very good and it will probable make me pedal faster tomorrow.

Ravenna by night

Once again it was cold in the morning and for the first time after Pyrenees and the rainy days I cycled wearing my water/windproof and gloves.  By accident I noticed a cycle path running 20 meters parallel to the main road I was cycling, which of course was not shown on the useless map of Italy I’ve been using all these days. Generally maps and finding the way around in Italy is a little harder than France. Neither the maps or the roads have enough number signs. Then finding the right map is another problem. Where in France every book shop or supermarket would have at least 5 copies of the region and the nearby ones in various scales, in Italy it’s a matter of luck to find what you want. I’ve been to bookshops that only have ten random maps. One for a Greek island, one for Peru, one for Tokyo, but non for the region.

On the cycle path

About an hour later I got to Ferrara which was my first stop for lunch and a quick wonder around. The city has an impressive castle in the middle of it and today it happened to be the local market. Within the castle there was a small exhibition of photos taken with electron microscope and since it was free I had a look and found it rather interesting. I left the city at around 2pm and headed for Bologna, my final destination for the day, where I knew there is a hostel.

Clasic car parade in Ferrara

The castle in the middle of Ferrara

The other side

It would be nice if cannons were just shooting pumpkins

Unfortunately when I got there I found out the hostel was 6 kilometers out of the center, which was a little annoying as I wanted to go around the city during the night. I did spend about an hour to see a few things and then headed to the hostel. Even more annoying was the fact that there were no restaurants around the hostel, but just a pizza delivery. So there goes the Bolognese pasta that I was graving all day on the bike!

The big church at Bologna

One of the roads in the city

The leaning towers of Bologna

rock 'n' troll

And why not?

]]> http://blog.ch3.gr/day-61/feed/ 2 http://blog.ch3.gr/day-60/ http://blog.ch3.gr/day-60/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:54:46 +0000 Georgios http://blog.ch3.gr/?p=1033 91km of 3919km so far…

I woke up very early with a massive hung over, as I think I drunk two bootles of wine by my self the night before. I managed to go to sleep for another hour, before starting to pack my bike. Justin and Sam were leaving as well, so we said goodbies, exchanged emails and left the camp site.
From Venice you can take the ferry to Greece and initially I was thinking to end my trip there. But I don’t want to stop cycling yet. Since my knee feels better and I am not in a hurry to get back, I decided to go a bit further down and maybe take the boat from Ancona.
After spending three full on days in Venice, I wasn’t much for much. I took the quietest roads and headed for a hostel in a remote location by the Bianco canal. For most of the way there were cycle paths, so I didn’t have to deal with traffic, which was a good and smooth transition after spending three days off in a city without cars.

The morning cycle path

At Piove

Another nice cyclepath

One of the rivers I crossed

Train crossing

The Blanc canal

I got to the hostel at around 5pm. The staff there were very friendly and helpful with me. I was given a ground floor room so I can keep the bike with me overnight. The room had bathroom inside and six beds, but again nobody turned up, so overall a very good deal for just €17, the same amount I paid for camping opposite to Venice. It didn’t have wifi, but only a computer with a coin slot that charged €2 per hour. But again they appreciated the fact that I was traveling for so long, so they lend me their personal 3G USB key to use for a couple of hours for nothing.