Glasgow - Istanbul in 3 weeks is no easy ride. You know it's not like me to big myself up AT ALL, but I have gave myself a good old pat on the back for what I've accomplished. And yes there has been blood sweat and tears, a lot more tears than I really want to admit but fuck it, I think I've earned a good old greet.
The first 5 days of being away I genuinely didn't even think about being back home, I was on cloud 9 just pedalling along whistling and generally just having a great time. After those 5 days I can't really tell you where it all went wrong but for the next 10 days I was mentally in a really bad place. I couldn't get myself going in the morning in my increasingly smelly tent and the weather through Germany and the Czech Republic didn't help much. It rained and rained and rained then throw in a bit of wind and there you have the perfect weather to completely destroy any cyclists morale. I knew I had to keep going, not as if I could just turn round and go home. I kept telling myself "it will get better" "man up you pussy" ha that worked a little. Its second nature for me to motivate people, I need to be good at that for work, motivating myself came a little harder but I eventually got into a good place and started to have fun again.
With the bad spell out the way it was time to start enjoying myself and have some fun. I didn't do this trip to be miserable for 3 weeks. It pretty much all changed in Prague, what a great city. Pain in the arse to get to but once you get there it's amazing. I checked into the first hostel I seen just to get out my smelly clothes and get a shower. The hostel was amazing, met loads of people who were all doing different adventures through out Europe. Did you know people actually still hitch hike? Like a lot of people. Each to there own but fuck that, I'll stick with my sore legs and bleeding arse over getting slain by some mental trucker. Anyway... Everyone shared there stories about where they've been and what they've done it was quite refreshing to hear that not everyone had been partying and having an amazing time which I thought every person travelling done.
Off into eastern Europe I went. I was expecting western Europe to be the highlight of the trip and eastern Europe just to be average. I was completely wrong on that one. Romania, Bulgaria and turkey are the 3 nicest countries I've been EVER!! The hospitality of all three is nothing like you would get in the uk. In Romania I knew I was about a week away from Istanbul so decided it was time to book a flight. I asked this random couple if they knew where an Internet cafe was to book the flight. Turns out everywhere is closed in Romania on Saturday aswell as Sunday. They kindly invited me to walk 5 minutes with them to there house and I could use there Internet. I got the flight booked and was ready to leave and they asked me if I wanted to stay the night, so I could get a shower and have a proper bed to sleep in. I was gobsmacked, completely shocked. I accepted there offer and it turned out to be one of the nicest nights of the entire trip. Got showered, took the dog a walk along the river, went out for dinner then watched a movie. It was the happiest I had been in a while and Adi and Amy if your reading, thank you very much, you made Romania one of my favourite countries. The kindness in Romania didn't stop there the next day I was cycling through a little village that runs along the Danube river, and this family stopped me on my bike. At first I thought FUCK I'm in for some trouble but then the father came over with a little tray of bread and the kids were filling my water bottles up. I sat for about half an hour with them eating and me trying to explain that Scotland isn't in England. Amazing families and such a friendly country. (apart from the wild dogs, there cunts!)
At this point my days were flying in. I was happy on the bike and feeling strong. Then I saw mountains with snow on them in Bulgaria. At first I just laughed it off, then they got closer and closer and closer. By now I felt amazing on the bike. I was doing around 120 -130 miles a day. A silly little hill with snow wasn't going to change my mood. Not this close to Istanbul. Just south of Sofia the road started to point up. This was the real challenge I had dreamt of. So for a day and a half it was 3 hour climbs up averaging about 7mph going up, soon as I got to the top it was the biggest smile on my face for about half an hour flying down these mountains. Checking if the road behind was clear so I could move out to take the racing line through corners. It was fucking amazing. Very dodgy with the way I was cycling but that's what made it amazing. The longest run I didn't even have to pedal was about 6miles (10km) the mountains are so rewarding. You know once you climb up you get to fly down. Headwinds on the other hand...there's nothing rewarding about them. Thankfully I didn't have any real headwinds through Europe until the end.
Istanbul is the most beautiful city I've been in but also the most mental. There are so many cars, everywhere! It is the scariest place to cycle. I eventually had to stop and just push my bike on the pavement. It was chaos. I was walking pushing my bike along the street literally laughing like a little kid to myself. I couldn't believe I had actually made it to Istanbul. I was over the moon. I could have easily taken a 4 hour flight from Glasgow to Istanbul, it would have been a million times easier, this was meant to be a challenge. It was soo much harder than I thought it was going to be. The mountains I could climb, not very fast, the headwinds I could cycle through the hardest challenge was all in my head. I've found out a lot about myself since leaving Glasgow. People said it would be life changing but I shrugged that off, I didn't really think it would be. It has really taught me that I take too much for granted. How happy and hospitable the people I've met has inspired me. Going to make some big changes as soon as I get home.
I recommend that everyone goes travelling one year instead of going on a shitey boring 2 week piss up. Go and see a bit of the world. It's surprising how much you can see in such a short time. Even if you think it's not going to be for you give it a try I can guarantee you won't regret it. I definitely want to go traveling again. By myself? No! By bike? Hell fucking no!! My next adventure will involve some sort of automobile.
Hope to catch up with everyone in the next few days. First I need to go and lock myself in the house with my darling girlfriend for the next 2 days :) so don't phone me! PEACE!
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