Pedal for Charity's Blog
jonny: day 68 - 8 september 2008
Started our day as soon as the trains started leaving and the light was good enough, I kept the trophy of the Alps (in my village in France) as my goal to reach that morning. Made it in good time to my house and chilled for a couple of house in the swimming pool, then we decided to cycle down to Monaco for some photos and a good final location to finish with our cycling (although we will be doing a few trips in the next few days to visit the area around the house ad Monaco to complete fully the 6000 kms, as well as talking to interviewers and important people about our journey). 5,885 km.
All in all, the adventure was incredible, seeing cities and countries from a completely different point of view. Many times were painful and hard, having to get up every day and look forward to hours of pedaling through mountains and hills but very satisfying once we had conquered them.
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jonny: day 67 - 7 september 2008
Continued on our quest for final completion of the journey and made it all the way to Milan which turned out to be a very beautiful city. Surprising my parents tomorrow by arriving a day earlier to Monaco than planned, taking the train from Milan at 20 past eight and arriving in Ventimiglia along the coast from Monaco at 1 in the morning, sleeping rough on the platform. 5,833 km.
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jonny: day 66 - 6 september 2008
Andy’s Birthday!!! Made it an especially long day on the bike just for the occasion, competing a large distance and making it all the way to Verona on the way. Managed to stay at a campsite for no charge, thanks to the manager who was also working with an African charity donating food, clothes and other useful equipment. 5,698 km.
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jonny: day 65 - 5 september 2008
Just spent the whole day in Venice looking at the sight sand having a nice walk around without the bikes. So many people in the town though pushing each other around, would be horrible to live there, I think. 5,546 km.
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jonny: day 66 - 4 september 2008
Made it to the Venice camping site on the main land as bikes are supposedly not allowed on the watery part of Venice. Venice tomorrow and pizza this evening from a grumpy Italian waitress. 5,546 km.
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jonny: day 65 - 3 september 2008
early start and early finish close to the city of Aquilea on the coast of Italy, our last country before finish. Down two valleys in Slovenia, where the people seem to have found a special way of making uphill roads along rivers going down valleys. Anyway, very nice cycling and 50 percent discount at the campsite on the coast will allow us to reach Venice tomorrow. 5,418 km.
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jonny: day 64 - 2 september 2008
Followed the river up towards Bled and Bohinjska, really very beautiful, completely clear turquoise water and mountains rising up directly from them. Taking a train tomorrow morning for about five minutes, going through the highest mountain in the middle of the range so we can continue the next day towards Italy. Had a little bit of fun in the rapids then decided to go to Aquapark for some tubing and swimming, one of the things I thoroughly miss, being on a bicycle all day. 5,295 km.
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jonny: day 63 - 1 september 2008
Cycled around Ljubljana just visiting, the city offered quite a few nice sights as well as an extraordinarily good pizza for lunch. Ended up deciding to stay in the same hostel for another night (“My Hostel” very good) and leave towards the north of Slovenia for a small day trip in the mountains, rumoured to be quite beautiful. 5,193 km.
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jonny: day 62 - 31 august 2008
We just continued to follow the river all the way to Ljubljana in a massive feat of strength and stamina, with 176 km on the clock. 5,176 km.
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jonny: day 61 - 30 august 2008
Quick to complete the trip from Varazdin to Zagreb and completing the sightseeing of the four or five buildings rather fast also. We went to the cinema after all to see the Zohan film with Adam Sandler, which I recommend. Stayed in a good hostel Lika, which offered a free beer with the stay, probably the only way to get people to come and have a look at Zagreb. However, the rest of the country is nice. 5,000 km.
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jonny: day 60 - 29 august 2008
Really long day of cycling again, about 8 to 9 hours solid on the saddle. We made it all the way to Croatia (Varazdin) and stayed in a hostel for a discounted price. Very friendly hotel manager and daughter. We stayed on the 7 road in Hungary all day, forbidden for bicycles but there is no other way to go and noone seemed to mind at all. 4,915 km.
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jonny: day 59 - 28 august 2008
Passed by the Memento park on the way out of Budapest, which is a very small collection of large statues from the communist era. It obviously wasn’t very prevalent in Budapest as they were so few of them. Made it a little further than Siofok, a small Cancun-like place for young teens. 4,751 km.
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jonny: day 58 - 27 august 2008
Just went around Budapest, resisting the temptation to have a bath in the famous baths. We went to the zoo, which was a brilliant treat for me, to get defecated on by a bird as well as seeing a polar bear quite close was actually exactly what I wanted. The rules of distance of visitors to the “wild animals” are obviously very different here. 4,629 km.
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jonny: day 57 - 26 august 2008
Arrived in good time to Budapest but spent about 2 hours looking for the hostel ( obviously we didn’t have the address, just the road). However, once we did reach the hostel it was actually very good (Amazing hostel is the name) quite small which allows us to talk to other people and even a girl, which hadn’t happened for ages. Andy and I were tripping over each other to get a word. Unfortunately, she had all eyes for another. Such is life. 4,614 km.
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jonny: day 56 - 25 august 2008
Pretty bumpy trail with many wrong turns as it seems Eastern Europe don’t need cycle signs to follow a path. Anyway, we just kept going all day again, with Andy’s turn to cycle without his hands, showing up all the local elderly cyclers. Slept in a campsite this evening close to a French couple who were completing Vienna to Budapest, just the smallest part of our journey, but still good fun. 4,488 km.
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jonny: day 55 - 24 august 2008
Saw Vienna in the morning, which was incredibly nice with lots of nice buildings to stare at. Made it to Bratislava in the evening to the Red star Hostel, dilapidated but lots of camaraderie from the managers. E got kicked out of this Belvedere House with our bikes in Vienna, as of course bike tracks are a lot more harmful than people’s tracks. Anyway, we should continue along the Danube to get all the way to Budapest. 4,364 km.
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jonny: day 54 - 23 august 2008
Very long day of cycling with overcast weather and another large distance completed. Continued our route along the Danube, using no hands of course and made it all the way to Vienna without really meaning to, so had to find a hostel late in the night. We actually ended up finding a pretty cheap hostel quite close to the center as well as quite close to an all you can eat Chinese. Perfect. 4,281 km.
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jonny: day 53 - 22 august 2008
Made it into Linz and spent some time on the internet there trying to sort out some more photos but failed. Stopped off opposite Ybbs in the garden and almost got blown away by a storm. 4,126 km.
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jonny: day 52 - 21 august 2008
Noticed a huge change between CR and Austria, with green and lush countryside as we entered the EU again. Also, the sun seemed to improve my mind completely. Our day ended about 20 km from Linz, staying in next to a friendly couple´s house. Once we arrive in Linz, we should be taking the path along the Danube which goes all the way to Bratislava and further to Budapest. We are also on track to finish the 6,000 km in about 20 days hopefully, if all goes to plan. 4,006 km.
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jonny: day 51 - 20 august 2008
covered a good distance, reaching halfway down towards Austria. Just a long day of cycling, although a late start, which shows that the cycling we did actually complete was efficient. Stayed in a camp site with a swimming lake in the evening with a good sun to warm up and dry our tent from the previous camping. 3,889 km.
