One of my blog posts on June 22 concerned an around-the-world bicycle effort by three British young people. By that time they had already reached Egypt. Since then I've arranged for Twitter to keep me informed about their progress. Periodically they furnish "Fact Attacks" on the specifics of their trip, plus blog-posts of their several daily travels. Not since Richard Halliburton's day have I been so interested in a bicycle ride. Their trip is not really around the world because bicycles are not capable of crossing large bodies of water like the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The trip started May 15 in London and is scheduled to end about eight months later in Miami. I'll try to keep up with them.
FACT ATTACK
15th May: from City Hall, London to Dover
Trip Distance: 126.86km
Trip Time: 6h19m
Average Speed: 20.07km/h
Max Speed: 51.31km/h
16th May: from Dover, England to Arras, France
Trip Distance: 125.45km
Trip Time: 6h18m
Average Speed: 19.89km/h
Max Speed: 55.34km/h
France - Paris / Lyon / Marseille
Montelimar and the rather bizarre service station
By Iain
After three long, hard and hot days in the saddle we have followed the river Rhone 240 miles south to Montelimar, an ancient town on the banks of the river. Our route from Dijon was meant to follow the Rhone which has carved out a cycling friendly gorge through the hills of the Massif Central which rise menacingly on either side of the river. The valleys are littered with vineyards as the Burgundy wine region stretches south from Dijon and then beyond Lyon, turns into the Rhone wine region. Our enthusiasm to get off the beaten track occasionally got the better of us which with hindsight wasn’t too clever when the thermometer hit 36C, the afternoon wind pounded us head on and we found ourselves far from the flat roads going over way more hills then our legs would have liked.
Tunisia - Tunis / Tozeur (Tunisia’s largest salt lake) / Matmata (Star Wars film location)
June 11th, 2009 by Iain
It was not even 6am and we had barely left the frontier town where we had spent our last night in Tunisia before we ran into the first police check…..”Passport?”. We were still 30km from the Libya border and given the uncertainty over the visa changes, nervous of any officials. As with many of the Tunisians they [...]
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Libya - Tripoli / Leptis Magna (prominent city of the Roman Empire)
June 16th, 2009 by Susie
Libya, Libya, Libya.
First things first, we should probably make a bit of a confession. Well, not a confession as such but point out that we have - over the last week - had a little bit of help…
Libya, is not an easy country to get into. As our visa situation so ably highlighted, rules and regulations [...]
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Time out in Tripoli See more stories >
Egypt - El Alamein (WWII battle ground) / Sidi Bishr (surfing) / Cairo and the Pyramids / Kuraymat solar station
Good run in to Marsa Mutrah complete with Wacky Races style police chase. The sea here is stunning. Going beach hunting!
about 8 hours ago from txt
Jordan - Aqaba / Wadi Rum (rock climbing) / Petra (ancient city, cut into the rock face) / Dana Nature Reserve / Karak (ancient crusader stronghold) / Dead Sea
Syria - Damascus / Palmyra (oasis caravan city)
Lebanon - Beirut
Turkey - Sirnak & Cudi Mountain (Noah’s Ark alleged landing point)
Iran - Qazvin (former capital of the Persian Empire) / Mount Davamand (highest volcano in Asia) / Mashad (Iran’s holiest city)
Turkmenistan - Merv (Silk Route city, UNESCO heritage site)
Uzbekistan - Burkhara / Samarkand (one of the world’s oldest cities) /
Tajikistan - Fergana Valley
Kyrgyzstan - Osh (largest outdoor market in Central Asia) / Irkeshtam Pass
China - Western Chinese Desert / Kashgar (oasis city) / Qaidam Basin solar power station / Xian & the terracota warriors / Mount Hua (China’s ‘most dangerous’ hike) / Shanghai
US - Alcatraz / Napa Valley / Yosemite (El Capitain) / Death Valley / Solar Two power plant / Monument Valley / Austin - Texas / New Orleans / Miam
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