Dover

Dover.

Dover was very exiting to go through, well perhaps not the town, but the ferry boarding and the jacket potato seem worth mentioning! After cycling for what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached Dover via a beautiful down hill cycle all the way to the port. We decided to stop of at Dickens corner cafe where the staff were so hospitable and the food was wolfed down in one. We then took a gentle cycle down the beach front, going slow enough to admire the vast harbour and the glittering sea - it was a sunny day and we were excited to board the ship! 

Getting on to the ship was smooth rollings. We were the first to board and the last to get off, it was quite funny because our little bikes were secured on to the ship with huge rusty chains, over shadowed by rows upon rows of big industrious lorries. After that fun, we wandered upstairs and took a seat by the window and left the dock just in time to see the sun set over England.

'It looked like you were having a nice sleep' I said to the smiley young woman in the corner.

'Yeah, I got straight on the ship and knew I had two hours until France, so made the most of it; I've just come back from Dubai' her accent was English but had a subtle hint of French, her name was Naomi and she was the first friend we'd made on out travels

By this point Naomi had taken a seat next to me and Sam and the conversation started to flow.

'I've just knocked back two espressos, think that should be enough to hold me through the hour drive to Lille'

'Lille?' I asked.

'It's a beautiful French city, that gets missed by most people. It's actually near the Belgium boarder, here is my number and if you want to make a detour that way, I will put you up for the night'.

That's one of the negatives of booking your accommodation in advance; on the one hand it gives you the security of somewhere to stay, yet on the other it prevents total freedom when traveling. Catch 22? Anyway, we never did get to meet up with Naomi again, and if you read on, you'll find out why!

Cycling in London

London. 

Exhilarating cycling and bastarding pot holes.

Sandwiched between busses and beeped at by cars and don't think the pedestrians won't have their say!

Red light, amber light, go.

It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to cycle through London and the worse bit really were those pot holes. 4 inches deep in some places and with only a millimetre of lycra between your pride and joy and the seat you're on, you tend to feel every single bloody unavoidable pot hole. You have to be brave and focused when cycling in London; great preparation for what was about to come in Belgium.

04/03/2014

Okay my lovelies! Yet again, over a few beverages, my friend and I have started getting very excited about our cycle to Amsterdam! We have just set a date! March 4th 2014. That's the date. Put it in your diary.

Comet ISON

It is strange to think that whilst I will be chomping on pizza and sipping cider tonight, one of the oldest objects in our solar system will be hurtling around the sun! The sun-grazing comet will reach perihelion (the point at which the comet is closest to the sun) this evening at 18.37 UTC/GMT, and only then will we know if comet ISON has survived the perilous heat of the sun.

According to NASA, ‘Comet ISON was first spotted 585 million miles away in September 2012’. That is five hundred and eighty five million miles away. Incredible. And now just over a year later it is but only 730,000 miles away from the sun. I find it hard to wrap my head around those figures, that distance and that vast unrelenting space.

Not only will this beautiful cluster of rock and ice look magnificent against our night sky, it will also if it survives, contribute towards scientific research; the comet is thought to be 4.6 billion years old. This means that this untouched, untainted and accessible comet is as old as our world; it could help us get closer to solving those age old questions. Oh what a cliché we are ... Always searching for that answer and never living in the moment of ultimately transient beauty.

To find out more:

http://www.cometison2013.co.uk/

Cycling: London to Amsterdam via Brussels - with all of the trimmings in between. °A Biking Adventure °

What started as a drunken suggestion between two old pals escalated quickly into the planning stages of a long bike tour, which begins in London and ends in Amsterdam, 2014.

Yes, London to Paris seems too mainstream for these two amateur cyclists (who - might I add - have never cycled outside of the UK). London to Amsterdam? Now there is something exciting; for the windmills and tulip fields appeal to the romantic swashbuckler's heart whilst the luxurious, flat roads appeal to the mind. We are in the planning stages at the moment, and at the very beginnings of that too - I don't even own the bike that I am going to be riding! I mean I do own a bike it is just very robust and weighs a tonne.

Rather brash, spontaneous and exciting - don't you think?

Stay loyal for more information on how we are getting on with planning our route to sore thighs and saddle-butt.