...Novice to "Expert"...

Written by Rebecca

Well, that's what Komoot says and I'll take that! 😀

There were a good number of highlights and challenges for me over the 5,110km, here are some of them…

...Holland..land of no hills and faultless cycle routes...

I'd convinced myself that the route along the Rhine would be a breeze…everything I'd read about it as a family friendly ride, suitable for cyclists of all fitness levels and just two weeks to complete the route from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea!

What I didn't factor in was our ride was sea to source, and the breeze turned into an easterly head wind, day after day grinding into the wind chill of 4dC. I was conscious of the words from Richard at Oxford Bike Works after my refit to a butterfly handlebar of now having the perfect bike trekking inclined position (30-60°) to increase energy efficiency, to relax and let go of tension…it just wasn't quite working out that way and the headwind was flattening me out into a ‘sporty’ (15-30°) position where my body is continually tensioned to performance level!

It's here my (Rebecca's) decision not to cycle Darwin to Sydney was made…if the Dutch headwind was frustrating me how would I ever knuckle down to hundreds of endless kilometres, with or without the dreaded headwind!

...Gradient...

The first big challenge was the Schelten Pass in the Jura Mountains, our route into Switzerland, a 500 m climb over 10 km and a maximum gradient of 12%. As you may have already read, I opted for my luggage to be carried by Markus’ cousin, and so my challenge turned into a highlight as I breezed up the Pass just behind Shimona and Levi who had joined us on their road bikes. It was one of the few times over our whole trip that the fully-laden Markus was in my rear vehicle mirror!

The second challenge, and I'm not great at parking these thoughts, so they play on my mind in the many weeks leading up to them, were the Bulgaria Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) which stretches from Serbia all across Bulgaria to the Black Sea. The lower foothills were long and consistently 5-8%, testing my endurance and high tech short padding (more of that later). And for the proper mountain climb, I got a ride both days and arrived to our accomodation early for a local thermal bath in 35dC!

So enough of the gradient challenges and I'm sure you'd like to know about how a novice's body copes with this type of biking. I think I can safely say every part ached in some way over the months - from wondering why my big right toe has it's own cycle rhythm to the painful saddle sores. The latter needed new shorts, lots of various ointments via photos at the pharmacy (not being shared here…) to the skills of ex-Community First Responder (Markus) and his role as Head of Maintenance in our team!

....Some of my favourite things...

Bike trekking definitely grew on me! I loved the slow way of travel that gave us time to absorb our surroundings and meandering through the villages where we could stop at cafes and drink a coffee or tea and chat to the locals.

Storks in Serbia and Bulgaria kept me entertained through many days, and being fortunate to see 20 or more all foraging after a hay-making tractor!

Food became a big part of the day, as I tried to keep fueling my own engine, with sweet rice pudding becoming a lunch staple alongside cheese, fruit, drinking yogurt, pastry and anything else protein/carby that could be found in the local stores....and then potato in any format (that's the Irish part) for dinner, usually with meat and simple salad.

The food choices definitely changed as we headed East, and if I had to chose my favourite country it's partly related to the food, but also the unequivocal welcome we received from so many people, the storks, the tracks and smaller road we rode with villagers selling their surplus strawberries, cherries, tomatoes and cucumbers, the simple yet comfortable accomodation and not least the complex history of the country and its people....Serbia!

Would I do it all again......? Let's see......

...Our Team...

We're strong together and apart, he's my best friend, soul mate and we have fun together! And when I'm out of my comfort zone, Markus is always there to motivate me and keep me going. He has an innate skill to bring out the best in people and if you're lucky enough to already know him or yet to meet him on his travels, you'll know what I mean!

And so, we now go our separate ways as he heads East towards Georgia and his end destination of Sydney and I head to Greece to meet with friends and then head back West to the UK.

At the latest we'll meet again in Sydney in Feb 2025, hopefully before….