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Blog
“How like a winter hath my absence been. From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen, What old December’s bareness everywhere!” – William Shakespeare
I learned a couple of new things today:
Firstly; perfectly-slick 26″ tyres are not well suited to speeding down the lanes and roads of Kent – especially when aforementioned highways and byways are solidly covered with enough snow and ice to build a new continent with.
Secondly; getting off the bike and pushing isn’t much more fruitful. If you’ve ever rolled a giant snowball, you’ll know that you only need to get a small ball rolling; the adhesion of the snow and momentum will do the rest…
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“One through nine, no maybes, no supposes, no fractions. You can’t travel in space…you know, without, like, you know, uh, with fractions – what are you going to land on – one-quarter, three-eighths? That’s dialectic physics man.” – Photojournalist (Dennis Hopper), Apocalypse Now.
D’em jungle drums been playing; smoke signals and semaphore observed and interpreted:
We have had contact from our intrepid adventurers of the Mekong River!!
Message follows…
“Sorry for no contact in the last few days; there are some very rugged and wild places in Laos and Northern Cambodia where internet access is unavailable!! With some parts pretty much like the set of Apocalyse Now…
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The Monster Mash Up Anniversary
A non-cycling related post for a change.
It’s a whole year since my stag-do last Halloween; alas, talk of a stags reunion came to nothing – but what better way to re-live that debased and debauched affair than with an anniversary song:
“If wrinkles must be written upon our brow, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should not grow old.” – James A. Garfield
There’s one ‘wrinkly’ I know who certainly hasn’t let his spirit grow old:
The original cycling nutcase ‘Guru’ – A.K.A ‘Noshta’ – A.K.A ‘Dad’ is heading out to Cambodia next week on a 2 week cycling adventure!! He will be meeting up with my elder brother Tom (himself no stranger to derring-do and venturousness) with the aim of taking in a quick tour of Angkor Wat before cycling from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh and then into Vietnam and towards Ho Chi Minh City.
In hybrid street parlance I say “Mad props to the old pot and pan.” (Kudos is due to father)
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8 days later
Back on British soil now; even if it is something that the Spanish government would like to change. Ride back to Gibraltar over the last few days has been fairly flat. Geographically and emotionally.
It’s been hard to top the highs and lows of riding the Veleta. I’m still blown away that I made it up there. Over the last few days, I would find myself passing through a small fishing village or hilltop town – quietly punching the air, mumbling ‘get in the office’. The relatively dull ride back is punctuated by these happy memories of achieving the goal.
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Pico Veleta 1, Continental Cycle Climb Challenge 1 !!
The agony and the ecstacy! Made it to the summit today at the second attempt. I’m so thrilled to be able to repay the generosity and kindness of everyone with the result.
It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but can honestly say that it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve done. The weather was absolutely perfect, the view unparalleled.
I have many photos and videos, and much to tell. Sadly, I am too tired to think, let alone type. Thanks one and all, and look forward to seeing you soon.