June 28, 2023
Counting down
Kia ora
It's been a mixed blessing scrolling through CycleBlaze journals these past four years. On the one hand, I've enjoyed vicariously experiencing life on two wheels in other parts of the world. On the other, your obvious enjoyment has reminded me of how much we have missed cycle touring in Europe.
Exploring our own backyard is no bad thing, and we've had some fabulous experiences on the road and on bike trails in Aotearoa/NZ in recent years. Our country specialises in natural beauty - and there's plenty of it, crammed into a small footprint. But the built architecture of European countries, the imprint of so many centuries of humankind on the landscape, THIS is what we miss.
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Our bikes are in Switzerland-and have been for nearly four years. In what turned out to be a serendipitous meeting, a kind stranger who we met over coffee after parkrun in France, offered storage in her garage once we had finished touring in 2019. "We'll be back next year," we assured her as we dropped bikes and panniers off. Who knew?
The rest of the world seemed a scary place from Down Under during the pandemic, and airline ticket prices even more so. But it's time to renew our acquaintance; the world has obviously moved on and we're all pretending that Covid is behind us. So we've bought (still scarily priced) tickets and fly to Paris in mid-July. From there, a fast train to Lausanne, Switzerland, and a short hop to Grandvaux above Lake Geneva will see us reunited with our bikes.
The plan from there is to make our way to Basel, then to Alsace for a few days before joining the Rhine path through Germany. Anyone who has read previous journals of mine may remember my obsession with parkrun. This year's itinerary is blatantly structured around Saturday morning parkrun events, so there will be a train segment from Mannheim to Bremen to help make this happen.
From here, we will head west to the Dutch coast and south along EV12. Things become a little vague here (which we like) but after spending a week on our bikes in Amsterdam in 2018, we're keen to enjoy more time in the Netherlands in order to experience their cycling culture at first hand. We have a ferry booked from the Hook of Holland to Harwich in mid-August and will finish our tour by biking from Harwich to London.
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10 months ago
The expectation was I’d be able to return to NZ in a few months after things had settled down. Little did I realise what was ahead.
The return still hasn’t happened. The bike and the touring gear are waiting patiently in Nelson.
In the meantime both of my in-laws have passed, and one of my parents too. These past few years have seen many big changes for family and the world.
Happier times are ahead. I expect to return to NZ at years end for a family wedding. And to collect the bike.
10 months ago
10 months ago
And I was very fortunate to be able to do a major cycle tour here in Australia between waves of covid and border blocks. It paid off having more than one cycle touring bike.
And I should also add that one of my learnings from all that has happened, is to take cycle touring opportunities as they arrive. Don’t wait. Who knows what’s ahead to restrict travel again.
So well done you for heading back to Europe to be reunited with your bikes.
10 months ago
10 months ago
10 months ago