Howard Websdell

Rome to home hopefully

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

14days13hours Rome to Chester.
Thankyou for following along, especially the guys at Murphy. It’s been very sweet.
Cycling from London to Chester in a day is not advisable, but felt like the only proper way to finish this.
Rome to Home ✔️

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Raiding every café between Rugby and Chester. About 110 miles left.

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

So today has been a short ride but a long journey. 31km to the Hook of Holland, a ferry to Harwich and a train into London. Tomorrow I’ll be carrying on this rollercoaster north to Liverpool by Thursday night. 350ish kilometres to go.

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

As imagined, we were bonked by the mad headwind for the full 69miles. Made it to Rotterdam.

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Back on two wheels and today’s route is almost entirely in bike lanes and bike highways.

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

All the spokes, both wheels and we are set to head to Rotterdam this afternoon. 👏

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Currently sat in the Eindhoven Canyon service centre getting a new spoke, please cross everything for a fix, thanks (it’s a long walk to Rotterdam)

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Made it to Eindhoven, 1 broken bag, 1 broken bicycle spoke and 1 large glass of “Spezie” which appears to be half Fanta half coke in a pint glass 🤷🏻‍♂️ off on a bike repair mission tomorrow as there is a reason wheels aren’t usually eggular. 181km/ 113miles 📈

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Made it to Bonn just outside of Cologne last night, emotions were a bit high so we called it time at 180k. Real food and a bed was required.
Onwards to Eindhoven and our second to last border crossing before British soil.

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Made it to Frankfurt: 215km making it our longest day by far. Got caught in a storm this afternoon which ruined our mood, another 160 tomorrow to Cologne
Getting hot spots on the souls of my feet and the saddle appears to be summoning some kind of demon on my under-carriage

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Made it to Stuttgart, there’s a beer festival, safe to say we are staying the night. Nice rolling 100k done today, but plenty of distance to make up tomorrow.

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Day 5 of riding took us from München to Ulm. Riding in Germany is a welcome flat tarmac, but having to bunny hop from cycle path to the road made it hard to find a rhythm.
More of the same as we head to Mannheim tomorrow. #r2h2019

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Lunch time update: we set off from München at midday, pouring rain as we moped around the city searching for innertubes and bike lights. Currently 80k in, approximately 60k to go until we arrive at Ulm for the night ♻️

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

The German alpine road, brought about 100k of views, fresh tarmac and some of the fastest miles we’ve done.

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Evening all: after the longest day yet, starting at 6am and finishing as I write, I am awfully glad that’s over. Pushed through Innsbruck and into München. 1 day, two borders, 1 flat tyre and a much later finish.
Will assess the legs tomorrow morning after locating innertubes. x

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Made it to Garda on the fixed bicycle. Bit of a rest/ exploring day before getting back on route North to Innsbruck tomorrow

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Bike is currently in the shop getting the headset fixed, I must have lost a component in the bike box here. To quote the mechanic “you are not a good mechanic, don’t be one”

There’s one career path closer I guess... 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

140k done this morning with out getting off except for a slash. Everywhere en route was closed so we didn’t have much choice, either ride in the rain or sit in it 🤷🏻‍♂️ hostel sorted for two nights here so hopefully that gives us time to fix my bike before moving on

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Day 3 of riding:
Long miles, hit it hard 145k done. Average a hot 27km/hr. Got restless while waiting out the sun so hit the road; 38• made everything a bit harder.
2l of iced tea, 2 iced coffee, 2 slabs of pizza, a bar of chocolate then spaghetti and wine in Florence.

[Howard Websdell @HowardWebsdell]

Day two of riding:
Breakfast was a litre of Coca-Cola, a banana, a gel, half a slice of pizza and a positive attitude.
130k completed for the day, we intended a 160 but called it early as M’s stomach isn’t dealing great and spending time in sun.
Tomorrow Florence.