Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I plan to do a solo bike ride totalling 686 miles in 11 days from Tower Bridge, London to Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, Germany

Starting from London on the 9th August, crossing the channel to France I will then travel via Rouen to Paris onto Fontenay, Troyes, Chaumont, Epinal, Freiburg im Breisgau, Stockach, Lindau (Bodensee) arriving at Neuschwanstein on the 19th.  Average mileage will be 62 per day !

I'm doing this to support Matt's Fund which is raising awareness and funding research into Malignant Melanoma & Skin Cancer.  Matt was 24 when he died through Melanoma and his story can be seen on the facebook page linked.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. They make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.   Thanks, Dieter

 

Here the map of the trip:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=uk&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=110037230088861465686.00048d698d7555abf62e3

 

9. August 2010 - Day 1 completed!

Started at 13:00 from Tower Bridge, London and arrived at 19:50 in Newhaven. 62 miles in 7 hours! There are some big hills here!

10. August 2010 - Day 2

On schedule in Rouen. Rain all day and it is getting more difficult.

11. August 2010 - Day 3

On schedule! Arrived in Paris today. Phone is not working, but I can keep in contact with email. Not only do I share the whole day with my bike, I've also got it now in the bedroom.

I look like a hobo, shower gel is good for getting the smell of my clothes, but not so much the stains, both tshirts are covered in sweat stains and oil. My bike's holding up quite well, the handle bar grips are coming off so I keep having to wrap them back up. It needed oiling after the rain but I found some Germans who had some spare grease for it, though I'm still having a little trouble shifting.
Yesterday was long, but the terrain wasnt as bad as the first couple of days so it worked out ok.

12. August 2010 - Day 4

Over 105 miles in one day. Arrived in Troyes late. The hills are getting steeper and longer.

13. August 2010 Day 5

I had a great day today, i did 63 miles. The tomtom decided to take me through 5 miles of wooded dirt tracks and then through a vineyard (I'm in the champagne region you know). About a mile after that i got an irrepairable puncture, and id also forgotten to buy new innertubes. I was 30 miles from the finish and i couldnt use my bike! So i walked about a half mile to a bar and, using my gcse french skills, asked the bar tender if there was a bike shop nearby, he said yes there is and fired a load of directions at me, i said i didnt understand, and the guy next to me at the bar told me him and his friends would walk me there, i couldnt believe my luck! They took me to the place but it was shut, with a notice in the window explaining that the owners were on holiday for a week. Its worth mentioning that neither him nor his friends could speak a word of either english or german. At this point, they decided to make it their Life's Mission to get me a new inner tube. They took me to a bike shop on the other side of town, also shut, same reason, they took me to a car parts shop, no luck, we went to one of their houses to check if he had any the right size, no luck there either, then they walked me to a supermarket, at least a kilometer away where they sold the ones i needed! (only 2 euro 50 too), id spent about an hour with these guys, and after i fixed my bike, i didnt even know how to thank them properly in their language, I offered to buy them beers but they outright refused. After that i climbed a 5 mile long hill without even a proper downhill part, maybe thatll come tomorrow.

When i arrived, i got to the right address but couldnt find the youth hostel, i askes a woman on the street, she said it was closed, i said, at what time , she said it closed 2 years ago, I managed to find another hotel though.

Im tucking into a big pizza and a load of chips now (high carb of course). Ill be in epinal tomorrow evening, arriving maybe about 8pm.

It was a huge motivation to have beaten the fundraising target today!
 

14. August 2010 Day 6

I found today extremely hard and I've decided to take tomorrow as my rest day. Hopefully i can recover before taking on the next two days. As i was preparing my bike this morning i started talking to a dutch cyclist who was going past, he asked me where my cycling shorts were, i explained to him I'd left them in the previous city and he gave me a clean spare pair! I did not like the rain today (another reason for taking a break tomorrow), and the hills are definately getting more aggressive. Im in an f1 in epinal atm, its a strange place and they sell tortellini in the vending machine :).

 

15. August 2010 in Epinal Day 7

I decied to stay in bed. You need a snorkel to bike today! Just rain, rain, rain. Peddaling with fins too difficult.

16./17. August 2010 Day 8 & 9

In very bad weather through France to Germany and more hills to climb. And on the 9th day I got lost in the Blackforest. Needed to return to Freiburg

18. August 2010 Day 10

What a day!
Today was tough, the hills are.... like nothing I ever imagined. I spent between 10am and 2pm climbing from freiburg to neustadt, but from then on it was 90% downhill, the views are fantastic, the roads are better. I'm currently in Singen, the jugendherberger was full, so was the next hotel I tried, but i managed to find a room relatively cheap here. I still think friday is a manageable target... difficult, but manageable.

19. August 2010 Day11

No more hills for today. A stroll along the Bodensee and I have run out of money.

20.August 2010 Day 12

Rode through most of the night and the target comes very close!!! 11:30 Job done! Neuschwanstein is very busy with tourists. Grandpa was there to pick me up. Now for a few days rest into the Austrian mountains :).

Overall, even though I had no idea how hard it was going to be, it was a fantastic experience, and I'm so glad I did it.

The donations you made were a huge encouragement and pushed me to the finish.

Thank you everyone for donating!

Dieter 

 

Press coverage:

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/London-Munich-Matt/article-2503507-detail/article.html