15th August 2006

Well, I am on my own now, Colin having left for Prague by train early Sunday morning. I have really appreciated him being with me for this first 12 days of my venture. I have valued his wise counsel and encouragement when the going got tough, particularly the second day after we left Brussels where we climbed 1,000 metres that day (and reached 46mph on one of the descents!!) For him to have taken two weeks off to ride with me on the start of my journey has been a real gift to me. Hopefully some of the photos he has taken back with him will be on the Website soon. We tried very hard to reach Prague by the weekend, but had to stop just short of the Czech border in Hof where there was a rail connection to Prague. We rode over 250 miles in the previous three days and now I have had to take it easy for a couple of days to recover!!

Now I am in the Czech Republic where I have hit a couple of problems. I have noticed oil is leaking from my hub gear and that one of the mounting bolt has worked loose, for which I do not have the right sized driver to tighten, but all the others are good and secure. I hope to buy or borrow the correct driver in Poland. The roads also present me with a difficult choice, the small ones tend to be in poor condition and the bigger ones very busy, at the moment I am staying off the big roads and continue to make progress, although a little slower than planned.

My next objective is to reach the border with Poland by the 20th where I am looking forward to meeting Pawel and all his friends (and enjoying the pleasures of a comfortable bed!).

Thanks for your support and interest in my journey.