Epilogue 2025
That was an epic ride!! A full 6,536 kilometres (over just 62 biking days)…including a whopping 84,413 metres of ascent! To put that in a bit of perspective…the Tour de…
90. Dartford to Cambridge
Our last day!! Alas!! Three wonderful months are coming to an end! And for the first time on the trip both Strava…AND Bosch…failed to register the ride! The distance is…
89. Eastry to Dartford
Corey and I survived our shared room surprisinglysurprisinlgy well!! But it was SOO hot in the room……it was difficult to get a lot of sleep anyway!Too hot B, B and…
88. Brugge (Belgium) to France to Eastry (England!)
We had 120km to ride to catch our ferry from Calais. So it was an early start!! And a bit unsettling…to know we had to go that far to catch…
87. Bruges
Why do we call it Bruges?? Locally…the name is Brugge. And the nearby port is indeed Zeebrugge…Brugge on the sea! And we not choose to bastardise that name!! Anyway….after six…
86. Mechelen to Bruges
This was the sixth day on the trot of riding! Corey’s bum is sore….joining the club! But it has been a big stint…well over 650kms…250km of it in the rain!…
85. Maastricht (Netherlands) to Mechelen (Belgium)
We woke….to more rain…..lots of it! So we decided to trust the forecast…rain clearing later…and leave at 9.30. And then the weirdest thing happened: as we wheeled the bikes out…
84. St Vith (Belgium) to Germany to Belgium to Germany (etc) to Maastricht (Netherlands)
We woke to rain. No worries…only 85km today! Although…after yesterday’s soaking…we were not wanting a repeat! So no rush to leave. The sun came out…so we left at around 9am.…
83. Trassem (Germany) to Luxembourg to Germany (again!) to St Vith (Belgium)
Today would have been…certainly…the best ride since the Alps! And I say would have been…for it was just MISERABLE…!!! My longest ride ever in the rain!! It did not stop…
82. Blieskastel to Trassem
We could have followed a flat river route today…but instead chose the ‘shorter’ route through hills. Probably a mistake really…for it was not an overly pretty or enjoyable ride with too…
81. Strasbourg (France) to Blieskastel (Germany)
A very comfortable day today (well apart from those pesky bottom pustulences….which seem to be an on again off again sort of thing…definitively on today!)….with the moderate climbs all well…
80. Strasbourg
What a lovely city!! I was here back in….1975(!!)…between grape-picking jobs …Alsace harvest being a couple of weeks later than Champagne! And I loved it then (I specifically recall eating…
79. Tuttlingen (Germany) to Strasbourg France)
A long day! Corey’s longest ride ever!! Most of the day was spent on tiny roads (effectively cycle paths you can drive on!)…which form an extraordinary network across Germany. ….as…
78. Lochau (Austria) to Tuttlingen (Germany)
Why Tuttlingen? Just a name on the map really…sort of half way to Strasbourg…where I do want to stop! A relatively easy day today……meandering around the lake for most of…
77. Lochau (Austria)
A watery rest day today….. Blog….washing…coffee…. swim….sunbathe….swim….sunbathe…siesta….beers….food. Simple! We were not staying in the prettiest spot….. …but the lake was mirror-calm and the swimming was great! We wandered into town…
76. Davos (Switzerland) to Liechtenstein to Switzerland to Liechtenstein to Lochau (Austria)
A long day today….. ….but a relatively easy day! First…an amble around Davos’ lake… ……a short climb to our last Alpine pass…. Before a long long descent! That is Klosters……
75. Trepalle (sort of Italy!) to Davos (Switzerland)
After yesterday’s bonkers day…I had planned a relatively easy day today!! As so it looks…. But it ended up not being quite as easy it looks! Lovely start to the…
74. Plaus (South Tyrol) to Trepalle (sort of Italy!)
We knew today was going to be a big test……and it turned into a monster! Probably the biggest day ever!! A day of superlatives in any event……the single biggest climb…
73. Campitello di Fassa to Plaus (South Tyrol)
Corey’s first day on the bike! And we were leaving the Dolomites today….so we took a wee detour….to climb one last Dolomites pass. Passo Sella! Another beautiful ride…..on a fresh…
71 & 72. Campitello di Fassa
Time for a rest…and changeover time! It is always a bit surprising when these changeovers actually work! For obvious reasons they have to be planned well in advance! So Corey…
70. Pianaz to Campitello di Fassa
Ten weeks in to the ride today!! And Corey is arriving! So after yesterday…..it was a well-deserved short day today! Not however without its challenges……the minor matter of climbing 1,700…
69. Obertilliach (Austria!) to Pianaz (Dolomites Italy)
This was some day!! And as I trawled through the photos it was difficult to believe this all happened in the one day….so much extraordinariness!! So I apologise for the…
68. Kranskja Gora (Slovenia) to Obertilliach (Austria!)
Now there is a surprise!! No plans to go to Austria at all! But looking at the route…this made sense!! On the map…a straight line westwards..sort of! (…sorry…Strava failed today!)…
67. Ljubljiana to Kranskja Gora
It was an easy ride out of Ljubljiana. Fantastic cycle paths everywhere. But with all the traffic lights….it was quite slow! We then hit the main road….which was fast and…
66. Ljubljana
I have passed close by Ljubljiana at least six times on my various travels…but I am a bit ashamed to admit that I have never stopped to visit! And it…
65. Delnice (Croatia) to Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Today was the day we planned to get our bearings issue sorted!! I spent a long time on Rab chasing bike shops…& bearing shops..in Ljubljana…to find the right bearings in…
64. Rab to Delnice
Before describing today’s blast of a day…..last night was a bit of a blast too!! We had opted for a big last meal after our time on Rab! Lovely restaurant….absolutely…
62 and 63. Rab
Two full days of rest and relaxation….in an ace apartment! And overall a much better place than my arrival day’s blog might have suggested! So I will just show some…
61. Korenica to Rab Island
After our exertions of the last few days…..we were looking forward to getting to Rab. Our island destination….for a few days off!! Nice start to the day……climbing over two set…
60. Dubovska (Bosnia i Herzegovina) to Korenica (Croatia….or more corrrectly….Hrvatska)
After our marathon of yesterday……we had a bit of time up our sleeve today! So it was a slow start….with breakfast provided!! I had selected our inland route from Sarajevo….to…
59. Travnik to Dubovsko
After yesterday’s fairly awful ride…I was really worried that the chaos on the road was going to continue …and didn’t sleep well at all! This is no fun! And so….this…
58. Sarajevo to Travnik
The day started focussed around Andrew’s bike. We had learned yesterday…that the ‘noise’ from the rear wheel was a serious issue!…but that they had no time/ability to fix it! So…
57. Sarajevo
A well-earned rest day today…in the lovely old town of Sarajevo….now - it seems - fully recovered from the war. Blogging, washing etc etc Andrew headed off to a bike…
56. Pljevlja (Montenegro) to Sarajevo (Bosnia i Herzegovina)
A whopper of a day! My longest ride ever! And a day containing the scariest moments on the ride so far! We had decided to make a bee-line for Sarajevo…to…
55. Berane to Pljevlja (still Montenegro)
A relatively short…and relatively easy…day today…relative to our adventures of yesterday. As soon as we left town….we were straight back into impressive scenery… …..and then……roadworks! A full 30km of half-formed…
54. Gjakova (Kosovo) to Berane (Montenegro
Our fifth border crossing in just seven days! Sadly…only the one full day in Kosovo. And so to Montenegro. What a great day of riding… To Peja (source of Kosovan…
53. Gjakova (Kosovo)
Sadly…only the one full day in Kosovo. I believe it ranks well bottom of all European countries in terms of GDP…yet somehow if feels much more civilised than - say…
52. Peshkopi (Albania) to Gjakova (Kosovo)
Before I start on today’s journey….a few photos from Peshkopi last night. The Albanian Giro!! It happens everywhere in the country…between around 6 and 9 in the evening. Everyone goes…
51. Ohrid (North Macedonia) to Peshkopi (Albania…again!!)
Alas…we did not spend long in North Macedonia…as today we were crossing back into Albania….for the second time in just three days! And today was the biggest Google error of…
50. Trpejca to Ohrid
Fiftieth day!! OMG…where did that time go? And to celebrate? The shortest EVER ride……! Not all roses however…for we first had to push the bikes up around 50 steps to…
49. Erseke (Albania) to Trpejca (North Macedonia)
Monday today…it must be North Macedonia! Haha…like some whistle-stop bus tour of Europe! Three countries in two days! But nothing whistle-stop about cycling. Only the one night in Albania…but we’ll…
48. Ioannina to Erseke (Albania)
I (usually) like to break in new companions a bit gently! But today was not one of those days!! A big triple-tonner for Andrew’s first day!! But compared to Iain’s…
47. Ioannina
A day of breakfasting and wandering…… Ioannina has a fascinating and complicated history…Hellenic, Byzantine, Ottaman….and has only been part of Greece since 1913….after the ‘first’(?) Balkan war. The history of…
46. Ioannina
We had arrived into Ioannina a day earlier than originally planned…to allow Iain to leave on the Friday….and get to his cricket game on the Saturday! ….which meant that he…
45. Neraidochori to Ioannina
Iain’s last day! Alas! That came around quickly! But we made it a day to remember!! Simply….the biggest day ever! My first ever quadruple-tonner! Who would have thought!!? I remember…
44. Karditsa to Neraidochori
A relaxed day today……if you can call a 1,300m ascent relaxed! We are planning a crossing of the highest pass in Greece…and Neraidochora is the last place I could find…
43. Tymfristos to Karditsa
What a fantastic day of riding! Well…..75% of it! I’ll let the pictures tell the story really! But what a gorgeous landscape…climbing to over 1,500m… …and this is one of…
42. Glyfa to Tymfristos
The sun was out again this morning…good news…for today we were heading back into the mountains! It was a lovely start to the day…sort of following the convoluted coast of…
41. Glyfa
After our busy holiday on Skopelos..today was a very chill day! More of this… Yesterday was really the first sweaty-hot ride of the trip so far! It’s been warm enough…
40. Skopelos to Glyfa
Departure day!! After such a good week it was a bit of a wrench…particularly so early in the morning after a late last night! But Iain and I were on…
34-39. Skopelos
What a great week we had!! Family time at its best! This is where we were staying…Agnontas…one of the smallest villages…sort of like Greece used to be!! Just perfect! I…
33. Prokopi to Skopelos
The reason for the big day yesterday…is that we were on a mission to catch a ferry to Skopelos….and we did not want to spend last night on the wrong…
32. Tinos to Prokopi (Evia)
Yesterday was a wonderful big day! Today was just a big day! Of the above mileage…we cycled ‘just’ 133 km. And all of the ascent of course! Not an abnormally…
31. Tinos
Tinos is not tiny!!! And not a tiny day on the bike either…as I set out to explore!….rather than the let the grass grow….as this Tinian cyclist seems to have…
30. Naxos to Tinos
I must admit to never having even heard of Tinos before planning this trip. But it was on the way. So why not!? Or maybe it was my subconscious anagrammatical…
29. Heraklion to Naxos
Having been staying in tiny and largely empty places for the last few weeks….it was surprising to arrive at our ferry to find hugely long queues of folk waiting to…
28. Rethymno to Heraklion
The main road along the North coast of Crete…is big…and fast! So we opted to detour inland…and onto the ‘old’ road! Great decision…as we biked up and down all day…
27. Loutro to Rethymno
It has been a bit of a mission to get to Gavdos…lots of ferries…lots of not-a-lot-of-cycling! So….after a very relaxing day in the gorgeous bluetro Loutro…we were pleased to get…
26. Loutro
Blue sea…blue sky….no vehicle access….perfect!! (…to be fair…today was one of those days when the sky was hazed by the dust from North Africa…but hey…it meant we did not burn!)…
25. Gavdos to Loutro
After all the bike-pushing and climbing yesterday…my legs were sorer this morning than after any of the rides to date! So it was a good job we had nowhere to…
24. Agia Roumeli to Gavdos
The short cycling days continue…as we fart around on ferries to get to our ‘destination’…..well, the start point…of Gavdos. So today…our ferry leaves - hopefully - at around 11.30. But…
23. Kissamos to Agia Roumeli
Martin left this morning….good and early…too early of course….but we did make sure that he would not have to wait for more than an hour at the dismal bus yard!!…
22. Avlemonas (Kythera) to Kissamos (Crete)
Our ferry across to Kissamos does not leave until five, so it was a happily lazy start to the day! But I was thinking that I had maybe been a…
21. Neapoli to Avlemonas (Kythera)
It was a nice relaxed start to the day…as we only had to roll down the hill to our 9am ferry. I had booked the trip on line…but had never…
20. Kyparissi to Neapoli
A bit sad to be leaving Kyparissi. A real gem! And I vowed to myself to return within two years or so! It was a fairly daunting start to the…
19. Kyparissi
A day to chill. The perfect place to do it! And…..that road? I made no progress really….except - apparently - that the original plan was to carry on North to…
18. Tyros to Kyparissi
With only 70kms to go today…it was a relaxed start to the day. Muesli in mugs (which Sophia had nicked from the next door restaurant…to allows us to make ourselves…
17. Levida to Tyros
After our big day yesterday…today/tomorrow’s rides are now a bit shorter! And they needed to be! I woke up in the night…and some bloody numskull (the Beano, remember..?) had turned…
16. Andravida to Levida
Did I say something about a big day? Well…today was one! Martin’s first triple-tonner…and his second longest ride ever! Straight through the mountains of the north Peloponnese…which rise up to…
15. Ithaca to Andravida
A bit of a bitsy day really. It was just the way the ferry timings worked. So a 9am ferry over to Kefalonia….but then no ferry onwards unto 14.45. So…
14. Ithaca
I do love this is island! With a population of only around 3,000….it is raw and beautiful. The mythical home of Odysseus. A nominal rest day today….but having got my…
13. Lefkada to Ithaca
It turned out to be a surprisingly big day today! Three islands. Two ferries. And a heap of climbing on the bikes in between! There are two routes between Lefkada…
12. Parga to Lefkada
A shorter ride today! By ‘mad’ standards anyway! But still a surprising amount of climbing….as we took the coast road, on the advice of our cycling fanatic host! Not as…
11. Ksamil (Albania) to Parga (Greece)
It was an early start….for we had organised a bike shop stop to hopefully fix that spoke, straighten the wheel and replace some brake pads!! (..all Martin’s braking…hahaha!). And with…
10. Ksamil
Both Martin and I have streaming colds!! So it was a good decision to stay an extra night!! A very lazy day! A wander around town. A visit to the…
9. Dhermi to Ksamil
A great start to the day! Hard as a rock! My tyre, I mean! Such a relief! Today was hard….but beautiful. It must go down as one of the great…
8. Berat to Dhermi
A big day! Have I said that before? But the graphic above gives an idea about how the day panned out! A first…after all my rides…..100km of riding…..wobbling up and…
7. Berat
A rest day! So no great excitement today. Except my tyre is flat again! Pumped it up and took it to the one bike shop in town…but no ability to…
6. Durres to Berat
It was a wakeful night! Trying not to snore! Hahaha! The boat was late arriving. So it was not until 10.30 that we raced off the boat. First in line…
5. Nocera Umbra to Ancona and beyond
I had originally hoped to get a bit closer to Ancona yesterday but there is a bit of an accommodation vacuum on this route…so we risked the night in Nocera…
4. Orvieto to Nocera Umbra
It rained. It rained a lot…. …in the night! But we woke to blue skies!! Well….they were a bit blue! Actually mostly cloudy….but IT WAS NOT RAINING!! And it did…
3. Civitavecchia to Orvieto
My prayers did not work! (Do they ever?). It is hosing down!! But we have a long way to go…..and with our ferry leaving Ancona in 57 hours time….we just…
2. Ferry….to Civitavecchia
Not much to report today! On the ferry……very relaxed…..and not a bad boat at all! I was a truckie for a lot of the trip!! Whilst us mere mortals are…
1. Collioure to Barcelona and beyond
The team are ready! Back at our favourite bar for a last coffee before setting off…for a very relaxed first couple of days! (We’ll be near Rome tomorrow!) Given the…
Prologue
Why…”The Stone Ride”…? Simply a catchy acronym to hide the madness of the proposed bicycle ride from the Southernmost point TO the Northernmost point of Europe!! Roughly……: And that does…
Epilogue
And so ends another epic Mad Bike Ride!! We cycled further than ever before….430km more than last year. We climbed more metres than ever before….68,067….but only pipping last year by…
85. Puigcerda to Collioure
We started the day…by leaving Spain….entering France…then a few kms later…we re-entered Spain…into the enclave of Llivia! A very strange bit of history really…as Wikipedia notes: “Following the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659),…
84. Cannolich to Puigcerda
Whilst yesterday was a bit of an unknown…today was relatively easy! All day on tarmac…but taking us across the highest pass in the Pyrenees! A great breakfast…was followed by a…
83. Llavorsi to Canolich (Andorra)
Today was simply an epic day!! During these rides….there are some ‘planned’ days…which generate significant levels of anxiety…simply because you can find no information about the proposed route! Other than…
82. Llavorsi
A rest day. The last rest day of this journey! Not much to explore…but at least the rain held off….and the sun came out…..! …..so it was just a rest…
81. El Pont de Suert to Llavorsi
I woke at around three in the morning…to the sound of rain! Alas!! Rain! Spain! Pain! No rush to leave once again! But it did ease once again at around…