http://bambooodyssey.com A ride from London to Sydney on bamboo bikes Thu, 09 Oct 2014 06:09:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.38 http://bambooodyssey.com/france/london-uk-to-the-black-sea-sunny-beach-bulgaria/ http://bambooodyssey.com/france/london-uk-to-the-black-sea-sunny-beach-bulgaria/#comments Thu, 04 Jul 2013 04:51:51 +0000 http://bambooodyssey.com/?p=3139 We did it…..as the sea came into view….oh, not again .I am crying…. again……have we really done it? I am calling out….I can see the sea….i can see the sea. Li doesn’t hear me….she is racing the last leg.
The first real hurdle is now complete. I remember day 1, wondering wether we would even make the UK coast. Then, would we make it to Paris….Champagne… Germany?…the crest of the next bloody hill, each day, sometimes each moment, a new challenge, with the span of Europe, our journey to the Black Sea, a thought almost as daunting to me as the cycle to Australia. I never considered myself a cyclist, I’ve been a slow developer with a slowly growing passion for the bicycle.
The Black Sea, like our future destinations, was a shadowy goal rather large for my initial lack of fitness and queries as to my will power. Not just will power, would i enjoy myself, and if i didn’t, would i go home? It was enjoyable. This is stage one. Done! Yes we still have a few days ride, to Turkey, Asia, over the mountains until we say our goodbyes to Europe but we have swam in the Black Sea and it feels.,…done!
I am rather pleased with myself…..pleased with Li….our journey, but also my own journey as Li lives her own. If Li were not so busy navigating so she could spend more time writing, I know her observations, challenges, ups and downs would be significantly different to my own. Some days i am sure i am her challenge….And I need to thank Li. If not for her, the past 3 months adventure, would not be the story it has become. The landscapes, the people, the animals, day and night, the effort…..It has been fantastic, surreal, so that the occasional discomfort is just a reminder that I am awake and not still in London soon to rise from bed and make self ready for another day’s work, a days work that at this point i can not imagine.
Passing slowly through 10 countries there have been stresses, times when it is too easy to take out the toll on each other, together constantly, but this is my journey….no, this is your journey. You cycle too fast, cycle too slow. Our journey….we have become just that little bit kinder, more gentle, more caring, motivating and I wouldn’t chose to ride any other way. Thank you Li.

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