Going Going Gone

And there off, and at the first hurdle its, no it can't be, it's Adam Blencowe in the lead but will he stumble and fall...

Not sure why the racing analogue, particularly as it was the slowest start for the beginning of any race I have ever seen and also its not really a race! Well maybe it is against time.

I have to be in Istanbul in 17 days to meet Hannah, if not that will probably be the last I will see of her.

Anyway so the long and the short of it is I have left! I left on the 9th September at 6pm from 14 Doughty Street, Bloomsbury (AKA Base Camp - and a rather nice one too!)


Day 1 - 69 miles London to Rye.

Welcomed into Karen and Mark's lovely new home and went to local pub.

The ride down had been very wet so i was in need of the refreshment.

Got back to there house and promptly on cue passed out on there couch. The excitement had been too much!

Made it to bed eventually and had a good nights sleep.


Day 2 - 231 miles Rye to Paris, via Dover/ Calais ferry.

Woke up in the sunshine - great!

Got to the ferry, almost last to arrive but loaded on first.

Waved good bye to the White Cliffs of Dover. Bye bye Blighty.

Good ride all the way, the motorway between Calais and Paris was not that fun though.

Got to Paris - beautiful city. Clean streets, open boulevards and warm air.

A friendly Motorcycle taxi showed me the way to the Louvre, near Harriet Miller's (Harry) flat.

Harry and Edward Crutchley (Ed), both old friends welcomed me to the Parisian life and we had a meal at Ed's flat with a few old faces and a good chick pea curry (to get me in the mood for India)


Day 3 - 0 miles Paris.

Stayed in Paris and hung out with Amy Heffernan and went to Louvre (I had always wanted to and never been). The Louvre is incredible and massive. If you haven't been go, if you get the chance.

In the evening I went out with Amy and met her friend Antoine, we had a very good meal, I had Steak Tar Ter and it was good Parisian send off.

Day 4 - 288 Paris to French/ German border (near Colmar).

It was good riding today after I got out of Paris - it took me about 30 miles of getting lost and wandering around to find the right road, I think this is a hazard of cities. Once I was on the right road though it was good to be free from the city. The road may have been Roman it was very straight and I shot through the country side which was very flat and agricultural, reminded me of Norfolk. Towards the end of the day I cam to the beginning of the mountains, near the border. The bike struggled a little here, which doesn't boad well for the future but it made it up and over the first few and then I decided to look for a camp site. I found a very pleasant one, completely deserted. It was only 4 euro!

That night I had a local dish and in the middle of the night my stomach decided it didn't want it anymore and it was a dash to the toilet! God knows what i will be like in Indian if this is what I am like in France!!

It rained all night.

Day 5 - TBC Lindau, Lake Constance.

After waking in the rain, packing up in the rain and riding in the rain all day, I was a little fed up of the rain.
It seeps through everything, all the rips seams anywhere there is a the slightest gap...

By the evening I decided camping was not option, so I found a good youth hostel and took a dry bed for the night.

That day I had learnt a good lesson, never ride on the Autobahn on a 125cc motorbike. You simply aren't fast enough.

Lindau was a very pleasant town on an island in the lake and I wondered around and found an old German pub that seemed to be the residence of a few local soaks and sold some good German fare.

So it is now Day 6 i hope to get across Austria today. I am trying to get to Croatia and the good weather as quickly as possible.

It looks like it is going to be another wet day so enjoy your Sunday roast and I will let you know how I get on!

If you haven't donated yet and you would like too, please do! See the link below.

We are almost at the totals for both charities so hopefully I can get to them before I get to Istanbul!

Thanks and lots of love,

Adam