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Europe Miscellaneous by Bike

Here’s a few photos I took along the way from London to Istanbul

At the start line. The line on the ground under the bike is the Prime Meridian, at Greenwich.

Greenwich Start Line

I finally reached the Danube at Donauwörth – I was pretty happy about making it to there, as it meant easy riding for over a thousand kilometres coming up

Danube at Donauwörth

A bit of a cool morning to be in the tent – I was sleeping in the beer garden, right next to the Danube, as it was still too early in the season for most beer gardens. I will have you know that I was offered this position by the campsite owner, it was not a case of falling asleep right outside the pub. In spite of the ice on the tent, I was actually pretty warm.

Ice on the tent

Yet another beautiful lunch stop, beside the Danube, the path all to myself

Lunch stop along the Danube

Passing through the Wachau wine-making region

Exactly. You’re not in Greece anymore.

In Hungary there were two roads going in my direction – one a motorway, then this one, which had “no cycling” signs – I just ignored them, and the police left me alone. One time I tried taking a back road, it was blocked by army men with guns. So I went back to this road.

Orsova, on the Romanian border with Serbia, has a lovely waterfront area, which could all be really nice – except for the huge rafts of rubbish no-one seems to worry about cleaning up

Orsova waterfront rubbish patch

The Romanians were very friendly – even the train drivers blew their horns. These guys stopped me for a chat at the side of the road. Note the fetching fluoro I now have on

The roads in Romania are improving, but they’re not always all that great – this shot was of a yellow road. Even the red roads could be rough, but there are a few nice new sections, and more EU money pouring in

Rough Romanian Road

These Bulgarians appealed to me – I’ve seen horse-drawn carts, but not many car-drawn horses. Note the guy sitting in the boot holding the reins

Bulgarian Car-Drawn Horse

My last day in Bulgaria was fantastic riding, but I was pretty happy to see this – I had just crossed a continent

Turkey 1km

Obligatory shot of the bike in front of the Blue Mosque. Pretty pleased with myself in getting here

Bike in front of Blue Mosque

Have been thinking about getting a shave and a haircut in Turkey, but I’m not sure now. Starting to get used to the beard, and if I shave it now, I have to go through the annoying early weeks again

Bearded weirdo