Dave and his Bike

I’ve been home a few weeks now, and have become accustomed to not packing up and moving on, and the fact that I have a list of jobs to do. Back to being responsible then…

So I thought I would add another, sort of final post to my blog (before the next adventure). Basically my thoughts on how it’s gone, what I’ve learned, some (possibly boring) statistics and the like.

The Aftermath.

It all felt quite surreal on the last day. Riding on familiar roads which I hadn’t visited all winter; climbing some ascents which have historically been something of a nemesis but which now felt much more comfortable (never easier); getting back to our house, with food in the fridge, clothes in the wardrobe (more than two t-shirts to choose from), and comfortable chairs to sit on as opposed to having to sit on a bed, lie down or stand up. The surreal aspect was that in some ways it felt like it was only yesterday that I had been here. It wasn’t.

Jane had promised that she wouldn’t have a list of jobs for me to complete in double-quick time, and at least give me a week or so to wind down and ‘re-acclimatise’ before I set to with tasks which I have managed to avoid for the last seven months. Unfortunately it didn’t quite work out like that. With both of us having been away for a couple of weeks, an old house can always throw a surprise or two at you (and often does). This time it was that our downstairs toilet (the macerating variety) had taken our leave of absence as a perfect time to finally give up the ghost. Not the best news I would have liked to come home to. Shit job. Literally. No apologies for the pun. It had to wait a few days until a new one could be purchased.

Other than that, I enjoyed being able to give my bike a long overdue and well deserved service. Or a re-build to be more accurate. New handlebars, bar tape, cables, bottom bracket, chain, and much grease, oil and polish. It almost looks like new. A test ride confirmed that a bit of love and care goes a long way, as it felt like a new bike too.

Other than the obvious issues I had in Argentina with my back wheel, my bike has performed admirably and I’ve enjoyed riding it. That said, it’s quite nice to be back on something carbon fibre and much lighter. My wheels (or just the hubs) will be dropped off at Barron Cycles in the near future for a complete re-build, then I’ll be back ready to tour again.

The jobs started soon after – mainly continuing with the house renovations and improvements. We have seen lots of friends, and I have regaled them with stories of my travels. I have probably bored them to death and they will be actively avoiding me soon. The question of “what’s next?” came up regularly. Initially I brushed it off, being more than happy to be home with some stability. After about three weeks I found myself accidentally looking at maps, working out distances and times and working out routes. It won’t be as far or as long next time. I can’t afford the divorce. Jane and I have also looked at destinations for next winter’s adventure (together), which is much more realistic.

I am currently enjoying cycling the routes closer to home, and am definitely feeling the benefit of some solid winter training miles. The UK and family beckons, and we will be there very, very soon. I’m properly looking forward to that, followed by a long (hopefully hot) summer here at home in the Dordogne. I am no longer saddle sore, still have a bit of tendinitis in my knee, and haven’t put any of the weight back on which I had managed to lose. So all good on that front.

The Overview.

Lots of friends have asked questions about my experiences, ranging from ‘where was your favourite food?’ to ‘has it changed you at all?’, and pretty much everything in between.

Starting with the first question: it’s hard to say. The pizzas in Italy, baklava in Turkey, curry in India, pad Thai in Thailand, and steaks in Argentina were all amazing, as was the new food I discovered in practically every country I visited. Sometimes even the best food gets boring when you have it every day, but I am back to fancying a curry quite frequently. There was nowhere really that I particularly disliked the food.

I’ve also been asked which was my favourite place. Again, that’s pretty much impossible to say – they all had good and bad points. I regularly documented my love-hate relationship with India. The people, culture and scenery amazing; the pollution depressing. Thailand really is the land of smiles. And noodles. Australia and its wildlife was fascinating. Chile, Argentina and Uruguay were fantastic – particularly the Andes. I would (and hopefully will) visit them all again. Europe was ‘interesting’, as with hindsight it wasn’t different enough to make it feel as much like part of a round-the-world trip as other places did. That doesn’t detract from the beautiful scenery and lovely people I met there.

It was always going to be a bit of a clichéd life-changing trip. I just didn’t know in what way. I (and others) thought it may make me more tolerant. It hasn’t. I’ve always, possibly arrogantly, considered myself as being very tolerant of individuals and their preferences. If anything this trip has made me less tolerant of governments and religions around the world. At the risk of being contentious or controversial, I found myself feeling very frustrated or sad at times with the way both governments and religions suppress (and oppress) their communities, dictating what they can say, wear, or eat, thus limiting their freedom of thought and expression. They also allocate funds in different ways, which to a European seem quite bizarre, but in reality are just different – the pollution springs to mind (again). Having said that, most people seem happy with their lot, and no-one I met on my travels complained or grumbled about the hand which they have been dealt.

Which brings me on to my overall impression of the journey. I feel very humbled and privileged to have been able to have done it. On many occasions I found that the saying ‘Those who have the least, give the most’ is inherently true. Despite frustrations about being asked ‘which country?’ and being badgered for selfies, I was a focal point to the people who took a genuine interest in my travels, which is flattering in itself. Being given coconuts, custard apples, lychee, water and many other things by people I had only just met was humbling. Hosts saying ‘I would love to travel like you’ and sighing deeply at my passport stamps or photographs made me realise (even more) how privileged I am.

Would I do it again? Abso-bloody-lutely.

Some Statistics (The boring stuff).

In 218 days away from home I covered a total of 10630km (6644 miles) by bicycle. Not as much as I anticipated.

Out of 218 days away from home I rode for 137 days (seems I had quite a few days off). The total time on the bike was approximately 545 hours. I ride at an average of 88rpm (no cadence meter, but plenty of time to count), therefore if I turned the pedals at the same rate the whole time I would have done 2,877,600 revolutions. Accounting for a bit of coasting, and slower revs on the climbs I would bring that figure down to about 2,000,000. Which may account for the occasional sore knees.

I climbed 68,579m of altitude.

I used three sets of tyres, four sets of brake blocks, three chains, two cassettes, wore out one saddle, broke five spokes, got through two pairs of cycling shorts.

I had one crash, one hospital visit, broke one toe, lost one pair of glasses, and had an upset stomach twice (for about 20 minutes). I think I was quite lucky not have been ill at all.

And finally…

Thank you for reading my blog. Knowing that people were keeping an eye on where I was, and the occasional comments on my blog posts, kept my spirits up when I was flagging a bit. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.

The adventures will continue. Just not for as long next time (apparently).