UK Archives - A Bike Journey

Early Days

26 May 2010

Sunday morning we finally closed the door to our flat for the last time. We loaded up the bikes and said goodbye to our neighbours, Martino and Emma. They even made us some muffins and waved us off as we wobbled around the first corner. || The bikes were slightly heavier than during our test rides. They felt fine on flats and downhill, but uphill we really went at snails pace. We cycled out of Ealing and through Notting Hill and Hyde Park. Arriving at Buckingham Palace, the Changing of the Guards was…

Less is more

23 May 2010

We thought it would never end. Endless To Do lists, To Do list to manage our To Do lists, but finally we have parted with our “worldly possessions”, 12 boxes shipped backed to Oz, destined for the folks garage (cheers mum & dad). || The good news is we won’t have trouble in the morning deciding what to wear. Our wardrobe is stripped down to its bare essentials: 1 pair of trousers, 1 shirt, 1 pair of multipurpose shoes (cycling, evening wear, disco). It is in many ways rather liberating. ”The wonderful things in life are…

A Night of Adventure

19 May 2010

On Monday night we went to “Night of Adventure”, a charity event held in the Vue Cinema in Leicester Square, London. This was a very inspiring evening with 15 professional adventurers, each presenting 20 picture slides about their adventures.|| The speakers ranged from a 24 year old girl rowing across the Indian Ocean, to a guy skateboarding across Australia and a cave explorer mapping unexplored caves in Spain. There was also a guy living in a self-built tree house in England for 6 months, as well as a team of women from tropical…

Getting in shape

2 May 2010

Getting in shape for a big overland bike ride normally involves gym sessions and spending time on the bike. As we found out, it can sometimes also involve MRI scans, hospital admissions and spinal surgeons. || I (Frederike) have been suffering from recurrent back pain ever since our Lands End to John O’Groats ride last summer. The problem being that the back pain only shows up after cycling – not a good sign considering our planned trip. Several months of rest, followed by massages and three months worth of physio sessions didn’t help, so…

Goodies from SOS Children

28 April 2010

Our vests from SOS Children have arrived, along with some bike stickers (pictured) and a sponsorship guide. The orange vests will certainly help us draw attention to the charity, as well as to ourselves, as we’ll be more visible in the traffic! || The kids on the stickers are so gorgeous. Their smiles will remind us of the good work SOS Children does while we’re on the road. We’ve also set up our charity page on Virgin Money Giving. This website allows people to sponsor us, and will process and pass donations on to…

No way back

3 April 2010

Having given notice to our workplaces, informed our landlord about our leaving date, and told friends and family about our plans, there is really no way back. Less than eight weeks from now, we will be setting off from our flat in London, point the bikes east and head towards Australia. || The first time the idea came up was seven years ago. I was studying in Germany, and Guy was living in the UK. One day he phoned me and declared: “I’m going to cycle to Australia”. I decided that he was crazy and didn’t talk to…