102 days, 3495 miles The ancient cities along the Aegean coast, unlike along the Troad peninsula, are still inhabited…still bustling cities, with people and vehicles of all sorts trying to navigate the narrow passages. It’s proven easier just to walk through the towns, along sidewalks and alleyways. The scooters zip…
91 Days, 3175 miles What a difference 100 feet makes, as soon as the Turkish guard stamped my passport the road tripled in width, and the drivers suddenly knew how to drive! I hit the first ATM, which apparently was programmed back in the day when 200 Lira was worth…
80 days, 2760 miles With all my usual bicycling tactics proving useless in Bulgaria, I’ve developed a new playbook. My favorite new tactic: semi-abandoned roads. They show up on the map, but before the trip I was confused as to why google maps wouldn’t let me plot a route using…
70 Days 2410 miles The flat riverbank abruptly ended at The Iron Gates of the Danube, where the river carves a path straight through the mountains. It took quite a feat of road building to go through the canyon, 21 tunnels in all. Most of the tunnels were short, but…
60 Days, 2050 Miles Across the Great Hungarian Plain; it’s pretty flat and rather tranquile. The raised levee kept me clear of the mud, and the sheep kept the grass short, it was a bit like riding across a golf course. The small towns were fairly festive this Saturday. The…
51 Days, 1630 Miles The Vienna National Library had an excellent exhibit on the composer Bruckner, with his scores along with headphones to listen to the various pieces. I could listen to the music in the stately hall while watching the librarian try to decode the obsolete shelving system. She…
42 Days, 1310 Miles It was one last day of rain, cold rain, 46-degrees all day, it gave me flashbacks of Norway. I spent the better part of the day tramping through muddy cow pastures, finding the meadow from The Sound of Music. I might have been a shivering mess,…
32 Days, 960 Miles Venice was a slight navigational error on an otherwise carefully plotted route. But it was a mere 25 miles off course, and the weather was rather splendid. I felt like I should at least take an evening stroll around the town in my camp slippers. I…
24 Days, 685 Miles It’s going to be a hot one! I try to get up earlier and earlier, but it just keeps getting warmer. I gaze out across the pre-dawn landscape and admire that it’s already 77 F out, and the sun hasn’t even risen. Even the sunflowers have…
15 Days, 395 Miles The first order of business in Rome, and really the only order, was to obtain my official Pilgrim’s credential. My route North would initially follow the historic Via Francigena, The French Way, the route between Canterbury and Rome. Despite going the wrong direction, and lacking the…
