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Firstly * sycophant mode on* thanks to Mark and the mods for actually letting me back on STW. Without STW this journey would have been very different and poorer for it *sycophant mode off* Will one of the mods pass this on to Mark please?
Its been quite a journey both physical and mental and its been good having you all along for the ride if more than a bit weird having folk following me. I'm still surprised that folk are interested and I tried to make the updates worth reading . I've used social media a lot Whatsapp groups, here and facebook and its nice to have that contact with folk. I don't speak any other languages well enough to have a conversation so its helped keep me sane. I've met a load of lovely folk through STW and randoms en route. Special mentions to Ton for being the only person who actually joined me for a days ride and expertly guided me thru darkest yorkshire, the lovely French / south African woman who told me about the village party and with whom I had a nice chat when I was feeling blue. P7eaven ( malvern rider) for probably the most random moment of drinking beer and then just as it gets dark going to look for standing stones to Paula my ex colleague who lives in northern Spain and allowed me to base myself there for week or two. I've also been given a lot of good tips most useful of which was the websites provided by Edukator Loads of other folk as well and its the people I've met who really made the trip.
I don't really know how far. I gave up trying to keep a record early on deciding I just didn't care enough. Well over 3000 miles I'm sure. 16 weeks of which 12 were spent actually riding. Ive mainly had tailwinds and sunshine. Ive been roasted in the hottest summer ever and drunk water by the gallon. Some fabulous days riding. A fair few well earned beers.
The bike? Its been fabulous. Comfy, reliable and lovely to ride. Quite a relief having spent all that money. A quick link on the chain failed and I had a spare. Driveside rear bolt on dropout loosened off slightly and caused a clunk which I spotted quickly and the cranks creaked until I bought a proper allen key to tighten them properly with. 4 punctures. Chain has been adjusted 3 times and had wax reapplied once( ta molgrips). I had to put some oil on it for the last 500 miles. Its deffo worn tho. Brake pads now need replacing – they are pretty worn. A bearing in the trailer failed and was easily replaced. I managed ok on the climbs with nice low gears but I did spin out too easily downhill
Kit? Its always a compromise. I'm pretty happy with what I took but a bit more kitchen stuff – plastic boxes for food and more seasoning and spices would have made cooking for myself easier. I cooked most nights as it was. Pasta or rice with veg and a bit of protein.
Having the bigger tent was great and it stood up well even tho I did manage to tear it being clumsy I was able to repair it with the tenacious tape I had with me and it kept out every drop of rain. Im well pleased with it. The foam underlay was very nice on sunbaked french campsites and with a decent thremarest that I bought in Ireland to replace a cheapy that failed I slept well despite two inflatable pillows failing on me!. Old man noises every morning crawling out of the tent tho. I think around 70 nights in the tent.
Charging batteries was a pain. I managed it on most campsites but did have two batteries nicked when left to charge in the loo blocks. I don't know what the best answer is to this one. I was so dependent on my phone I think a backup phone might have been a good idea.
Trailer? It did get more and more rattly through the trip but on balance I'm glad I took it. I did notice the weight of the whole outfit when climbing for sure but I had far less crap than the average tourer I met and I hardly walked anything with my superlow gears. One big bag for packing is so convenient as well but I needed the wee rucksac on top for stuff for the day that is easily accessible and to take into supermarkets. The bike weights 14 kg, the trailer 5kg and all my kit 14kg plus water and food. I needed and used everything I had with me bar some of the spares. Apart from the above kitchen stuff there was nothing I was lacking. Its a long time to be camping.
Arse? I had problems keeping it all infection free. Antiseptic and antifungal creams kept it all low level enough but given how sweaty some of the riding was – right thru the heatwave of days on end well above 30C I didn't suffer much.
Head? I'm still absorbing it all really but I do feel one heck of a lot better than last time I was sitting in this flat. I took some of Julies ashes with me and scattered them in appropriate places as she told me to do. A friends veg plot, the woods she played in as a child, in some lovely parkland in Amsterdam, and in the river near the top of the highest pass I climbed in spain – the best days riding of the trip appropriately enough. Anxiety has been an issue at times. Disproportionate to the situation. I might have to go back to the head doctor but otherwise I do feel good mentally and physically having done the trip. I'm lighter than I have been for 30 years. A few muscular/ skeletal tweaks but nothing serious. I have a ridiculous cyclists tan and my eyebrows are sunbleached.
It feel really odd to be home especially as back from Santander only took a couple of days
What a trip its been. I have really enjoyed it and not had too much type 2 fun. Any day on a bike is good, a good one fabulous and I have had a lot of good days on the bike this summer. I have done pretty much what I had planned as much as I had a plan. Nothing has gone badly astray. Its not really sunk in yet but bloody hell its been great.
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/tjs-recovery-ride-advice-routes-rides-n-beer/
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/tjs-recovery-ride-2-ayrshire-and-ireland/
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/tjs-recovery-ride-part-3-now-its-wales-turn/
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/tjs-recovery-ride-part-4-im-in-england-heading-for-hull/
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/tjs-recovery-ride-5-the-low-countries-and-france/
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/tjs-recovery-ride-part-6-y-viva-espana/
Great to hear, so glad you got what (I think) you wanted from it. However....
I had to put some oil on it for the last 500 miles.
Judas! 😉
I just want to say a big thanks for taking us along with you!
Didn't really keep abreast of your ride but it sounds great, glad it's helped you feel better but always feel strange after a long trip once back home, expect you'll have itchy wheels again soon.
Most of this has been in a trying time of my own - this has been a great escape.
Thank you TJ!
Yeah, I second that. it was great opening the forum in the morning and reading what you had seen, ridden by or eaten the day before. It's also a good map for the changing pastries of the UK, Ireland and Europe.
Thanks for the journey and I look forward to any future one!
As above, I don't think I've commented at all on any of your threads during the trip but have been an avid reader. Living a great cycling trip vicariously through you has been a fantastic distraction. Glad the trip was a success and you've certainly put some miles in the legs.
Brilliant TJ, what a great trip and reports along the way.
Glad it all worked out for you and if you’re ever up this way (Glencoe) and fancy a ride/beer give me a shout.
The blogs/posts were brilliant, i.e. we can follow and enjoy as well even from a desk;)
Waiting to see if chips and beer were available...we had to make our own;)
I never know which is the best touring but as biking it's the getting out there that is important, thanks and if you can keep posting. C
Good for you tj 👍
thanks for the mention Jeremy. and thanks for letting us all enjoys your journey.
and like i said, i would love to join you for a trip...... just say when.
glad you got what (I think) you wanted from it
It was as simple as "what do I want to do next summer?" "ride my bike..." I didn't really set out to achieve anything other than to go for a long bike ride. I knew it would be good for me.
I also enjoyed following along, tinged with disappointment you didn't decide to carry on down through Spain.
It was great to read it all and to feature as a stop on the route. We had a couple of good environments despite the tinder-dry environment nearly flaring up into an argument once 🙂 fortunately being present in real life meant it was taken as it should have been.
Arse? I had problems keeping it all infection free.
What shorts? Bog standard or high end?
a wonderful adventure to follow Jeremy, both here and on FB. It has been really uplifting.
Nicely done 🙂
Where the hell is that Like button?
I have really enjoyed following along, and recognise I have a need to do something similar in my future.
Virtual hugs, and perhaps a brew or pint one day.
For the record, this is my favourite pic of the trip. 🤣
What shorts? Bog standard or high end
Aldi and lidl. When sweat is running down your back and into your arse crack tho........ No chaffage at all which was good but a few zits and fungus infections from the lack of ventilation
from the lack of ventilation
I would loose the shorts then.
Those two last posts should be enough to get this thread closed. 😉
Well done TJ. Enjoy some proper Scottish beer tonight 🙂
Aldi and lidl. When sweat is running down your back and into your arse crack tho…….. No chaffage at all which was good but a few zits and fungus infections from the lack of ventilation
I know you're a tightwad but next time spring for some Assos shorts or similar. I have their basic line which I got on sale for £80 or thereabouts. A massive difference in arse health. And not expensive long term - I'm on the second set which I bought last year; the previous pair were bought in 2006 for my 24 hour solo effort.
If I were doing a mega tour I'd get two pairs of the middle range ones. Not high end, they are stupid money!
Thanks TJ, your journey has been interesting and inspiring in equal measures, best wishes for your future endeavours.
Really enjoyed following your adventure on FB Jezza. Really inspiring.
Thank you for sharing; I really enjoyed the reading.
You do seem to be human, after all.
Having followed your story since your other half passed away i think your mental strength which enabled you to do this is amazing - it would have been so much easier to just fall apart and retreat into yourself, however its obvious the trip has given you time to think, and hopefully to start to heal.
Anyway - the big question is what is next? would you do something similar again?
As you've found out - Europe is pretty well set up for this sort of thing..
I cooked most nights as it was. Pasta or rice with veg and a bit of protein.
The way I read it, you survived entirely on a diet of pastries, chips and beer!
Looking forward to volume 2.
The way I read it, you survived entirely on a diet of pastries, chips and beer!
The Alf Tupper diet.
Need to get a European map up on the wall in your flat with a pin for each STWer who'd willingly put you up for a night or two (or put up with you for a night or two) then start planning your summer 2023 tour, cotton threads round the pins...
Maybe colour code the pins based on political affiliations for maximum fun.
(and a couple of other colours for places to visit and fixed points like ferries etc)
Drunkards cycle?
I bet you’re in the bath now (and have been since you got back?!)
Enough of your fantasies.
Charging batteries was a pain. I managed it on most campsites but did have two batteries nicked when left to charge in the loo blocks. I don’t know what the best answer is to this one. I was so dependent on my phone I think a backup phone might have been a good idea.
dynamo front hub? there are some issues with the lower/variable speeds compared to an out and out audaxer type arrangement
folding solar cell which can sit on top of the trailer while you ride? (insert solar? in Scotland? jokes here.)
I just want to say a big thanks for taking us along with you!
another amen to that 😉
I think this has convinced me to build a wheel up with a dynamo front hub if I were ever to try it. Maybe even put it on the trailer as the wheel is smaller to more rotation and wouldn't mess up my bike normally.
Been a great trip and has strangely made me want to do this more that some of the big magazine article type journeys, you know the sort of thing.
Thanks for the stories and keep the wheels rolling
Ha ha, this is great - it's like the after credits clip you get on some films now. Another to say well done TJ, hope you enjoy relaxing for a bit now. Will have to find you on Facebook so I can relive the adventure again
dynamo front hub?
This was discussed earlier - the dynamo hubs are great but apparently have unusual bearings that are hard to get and to replace if there's a problem on a tour.
Lol at matt_outandabout.
The photos of pastries have been my favourite.
Enjoyed the trip reports, got me in the mood for my much shorter trip down through France to Italy.
RE dependency on the phone
Having lost my phone on a cycle trip through France to Italy this summer (but I did get in back in the end as some hikers found it, and showed it to another cyclist why knew me) on my next trip I will definitely take a spare phone.
If any one need to get a new phone in France in similar circumstances - I found a Carrefour hypermarket is the place to go to get a SIM free phone, and Tabac / open all hours store is the place to get a pay as you go SIM, had to use a French address to activate the SIM online (using wifi) , I had to provide photo of ID but I di dnot have to provide proof of address.
Re charging batteries I have used - charge in toilet block and dynamo to charge batteries.
If leaving in toilet block I normally leave battery late at night and retrieve it very early. Plus label battery and charger with name and contact details.
I now have a https://pedalcell.com/ rim driven dynamo. Much better set up than hub dynamo plus adaptor that I have used before.
Have a good winter looking forward to your next adventure.
Tim
tailwinds and sunshine
Perfect title when you write up your memoires!
It’s like we were all with you on the journey TJ.
Except it was only you had had the achey legs.
Great reading!
I've loved following along, thanks for the updates.
I've just received a Snapfish photo book of my own summer travels. I deliberately didn't put all the obvious scenery shots in, and instead put plenty of spiders/food/incidental pics in, and I'm really pleased with how it's turned out - a sort of magazine of our trip. Going to add some handwritten notes of where pics were taken and so on, but just flicking through has reminded me of so many little things we saw and did that I'd already forgotten. I printed 165 pics and it cost about £25 with a 50% off deal (keep a lookout, they often do them in the run up to Christmas). It took a bit of faffing to put together, but I feel like it's been worth it - and I'm not usually one for hoarding or 'stuff' at all. Maybe you should consider compiling your own album from your travels so it's there in hard copy to catch your eye and flick through on a gloomy day?
Thank you for a an enjoyable read over the last couple of months. I'm planning for a cycling adventure somewhere in France for a week or two next summer.
It's been fascinating, educational, inspirational and humbling following your posts.
All the best for the future as you adjust to being back home
Thanks for sharing your journey with us. I’ve really enjoyed reading your updates and hope that it’s given you the head space you needed. Now get planning the next one 😊
I've been on and off this site for about 20 yrs. Seldom post, just a lurker; but checking in with your journey has been awesome and inspirational.
Glad you're home safe and sound and glad you've had an amazing experience after a brutally tough patch. I look forward to future installments. Someday I'd like to do a big mission of my own.
More power to you, TJ 👏
I have enjoyed following your journey
Welcome home and slange var
Thanks TJ. I'd echo what others have said, it's been great to live your adventures vicariously. I hope it's helped you get fine closure and sorry not to have met you when you passed through ramsbottom.
Thanks TJ. I'd echo what others have said, it's been great to live your adventures vicariously. I hope it's helped you find closure and sorry not to have met you when you passed through ramsbottom.
Really enjoyed reading your posts on here. Hope you got what you needed from it, which it sounds like you did.
TJ I know you did this for you
But I think for me (& I suspect others who read it) it's been great to vicariously ride with you, had a genuine positive effect
Still gutted I didn't realise how close you were to us in France, I think you must have cycled right past our holiday park!!!
TJ, it was great to meet you round at Gnusmas' place in Carmarthen. Cycling in that heat was a bit epic so you well deserverved that pint or two. Your travels have been a bit inspirational tbh and have entertained and motivated myself and maybe a few others.
" I took some of Julies ashes with me and scattered them in appropriate places as she told me to do. A friends veg plot, the woods she played in as a child, in some lovely parkland in Amsterdam, and in the river near the top of the highest pass I climbed in spain – the best days riding of the trip appropriately enough. " This made me cry. You are an absolute star.
Head down to Carmarthenshire again, there is loads to see, do, eat and drink. Free accommodation too- I hope you don't mind a loopy collie called Max though.
The riding around here is more than OK too.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading the various threads covering your trip. I'm inspired and more than a little jealous.
Jeremy you have given so many of us a real adventure this summer, I was slightly annoyed I had finished my own adventure the week before you. Passed through Edinburgh on the 23rd.
I guess we both undertook our trips with a slight trepidation of what it would be like without our partners?
I decided not to document it as firstly I'm really indecisive as to what people want to hear and secondly I was meeting many people I have not seen for over 40 years so taking pictures seemed a bit intrusive.
You have really captured the soul of travelling by bike mostly on your own (well done Ton for the day ride with TJ)
Also over the last 7 weeks I have been following my sister (she is a STW forum member) and her partner walk the whole of the High Pyrenean Trail, Atlantic to Mediterranean.
It's been an emotional and humbling time watching both your respective journeys & though I have probably done a similar distance to you TJ mine was Porsche powered and not the pure form of leg power.
Next year perhaps many more can take that important life affirming leap and just get out there and tour.
Once again Jeremy thanks for a summer of adventure 🙂
So nice to meet you.
Thanks for your kind words.
Love, light and peace,
Pete and Sue.
It’s been amazing seeing this thing escalate. When you were with us, I think your intentions were a bit more modest, so it’s been amazing watching it turn into the epic adventure it became.
Don’t forget that just because this particular journey is over, the bigger one is always ongoing and all the people you saw along the way would like to see you next time too
It was great to see you, have you stay for the evening and use your visit as an excuse to get the troops together for the evening.
See you soon, hopefully, you cantankerous old git 😃
+1 to everything everyone above has said!
I guess we both undertook our trips with a slight trepidation of what it would be like without our partners?
More than slight! I have not traveled on my own since I was 17. Julie and I had made many plans and obviously those all went out the window. I knew I had to do more than just fester in my flat and all I wanted to do was ride my bike. Staying not too far from home meant that at any point I could just go home at any point and get home quickly if my head broke
It’s been amazing seeing this thing escalate. When you were with us, I think your intentions were a bit more modest, so it’s been amazing watching it turn into the epic adventure it became.
It was always my hope to get to my pals in Spain but that seemed a long way away when I stayed with you. I had the route planned in legs and as I approached the end of one I pondered starting the next. In Amsterdam I had a rest and decided I was not ready to go home yet so set of on the longest leg which was quite daunting. I have a couple of pals in France and Germany that I had hoped to visit on my way to Spain but that would have been another 3 or 4 weeks ride and I had a deadline to meet up with folk in spain. When I set off I had the whole route in mind and ended up doing most of it. I came close to continuing south from Northern Spain as well.
I decided not to document it as firstly I’m really indecisive as to what people want to hear and secondly I was meeting many people I have not seen for over 40 years so taking pictures seemed a bit intrusive.
I didn't take photos of many of the folk I met and also always asked permission if I did. Time spent with old friends and family was left out as well for that reason. I am surprised that folk were as interested as they were in what I had to say and sometimes it was a bit tricky to know what to post. Posting has created a record of the trip for me which is a good thing as its the only record I have and the contact with folk was a boost when I was lonely
Really enjoyed following your journey TJ. All the best to you!
A really uplifting story. So many would have just closed the blinds and hidden away. To "just get out on your bike and ride" is brilliant.
I'm sure you will work through the challenges of anxiety. As someone whom has struggled with several bouts of anxiety and/or depression over the last 25 years, I look back and think, "Well, at least the anxiety made things exciting!" I think I only started to get on top of the anxiety when I learned to actually embrace it.
Short story... I once had a huge anxiety attack whilst on a solo motorcycle tour of Europe. I started to head home but just got worse and worse. In a blind panic I abandoned my bike and kit in Zurich and jumped on the first plane home! 10 days later I had calmed down a bit. I flew back out; found the bike (untouched), and carried on 🙂
Best Wishes
If one picture and one escapade would sum it all up it was this. A pint with p7eavan ( malvern rider) in a pub somewhere in the Welsh borders
Followed by going to see some standing stones. riiiiiiight. Meet a random of the internet, drink beer and head into the dark
Vicarious adventuring this summer has been fun. Thanks.
It seems like it's got your head space settled too which is a win for you.
Anyone heard from TJ since he got home? Seems to be quiet on the forum.
last time i saw him he was dragging his bike up here............ ;o)
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That's OK. I was worried getting home might be a tough time and when he didn't respond on the rugby thread I thought I should check.
He's turned to Buddhism.
Im fine - just culture shocked 🙂 Its nice not packing up every morning