Several years and cycling trips later, someone said, over dinner, 'you should have a blog - get those pedal stories out'. But who would read it? 'Your mother would... '
The deal was done. This is for my mother - and potential pedal tourers everywhere. The last trip was to Cuba - on a whim - on my own - to learn Spanish - with the bike in a bag - and a map ordered on line from Stanfords. This time its different.
To implement this lesson you must first be a couch surfer (join at www.couchsurfing.com). Having joined - and notched up a few references (you need not only to let strangers stay in your house, but be nice to them too) - you can then start shopping - for friends. Your aim is to find a pleasant stranger to go cycling with - in the country of your choice, at a time of your choosing. This is not difficult - took me all of ten minutes (through one of the 'groups'...).
Two emails later, two phone calls later (one with aforesaid stranger's mother, the other with the stranger himself) - a plan is hatched. Meeting in Santander, Northern Spain on 1 September - at the ferry terminal. I'll be the person with the wee blue bike. He will have a red carpet. That was the easy bit.
For the next stage of the lesson - you need patience, time and money for phone calls. and the ability to work with 7 internet sites at once. Edinburgh to Santander with a bike can be done by plane (2 changes, lots of carbon, lots of hassle with bike bags and charges, £340), Eurostar (seat61 - 4 changes, even more hassle, over £250 and how do you get a bagged bike on the Paris metro?) - or simply by train from Edinburgh to Plymouth (£100 return), ferry to Santander (£188 return) - roll on roll off and no bike bag required.
Hot tip for the uninitiated - you need to talk to a real person at Brittany Ferries to get a bunk in a shared cabin - this is only £40 more than a reclining seat - which doesn't actually recline - according to my sources. Apparently it takes around an hour to unload the boat (for when you are booking your 'connecting train') but you should allow a bit more for the captain to fiddle around a bit at the pier.
And finally, a few days to find a couch in Plymouth (because of course there is no train from Edinburgh that connects with the ferry and you get a new pal into the bargain) and another couch in Santander (for local knowledge and a new Spanish pal).
Now its time to start training - because, although one is already superfit - aforesaid stranger will have been pedaling for a month before I arrive -
The deal was done. This is for my mother - and potential pedal tourers everywhere. The last trip was to Cuba - on a whim - on my own - to learn Spanish - with the bike in a bag - and a map ordered on line from Stanfords. This time its different.
To implement this lesson you must first be a couch surfer (join at www.couchsurfing.com). Having joined - and notched up a few references (you need not only to let strangers stay in your house, but be nice to them too) - you can then start shopping - for friends. Your aim is to find a pleasant stranger to go cycling with - in the country of your choice, at a time of your choosing. This is not difficult - took me all of ten minutes (through one of the 'groups'...).
Two emails later, two phone calls later (one with aforesaid stranger's mother, the other with the stranger himself) - a plan is hatched. Meeting in Santander, Northern Spain on 1 September - at the ferry terminal. I'll be the person with the wee blue bike. He will have a red carpet. That was the easy bit.
For the next stage of the lesson - you need patience, time and money for phone calls. and the ability to work with 7 internet sites at once. Edinburgh to Santander with a bike can be done by plane (2 changes, lots of carbon, lots of hassle with bike bags and charges, £340), Eurostar (seat61 - 4 changes, even more hassle, over £250 and how do you get a bagged bike on the Paris metro?) - or simply by train from Edinburgh to Plymouth (£100 return), ferry to Santander (£188 return) - roll on roll off and no bike bag required.
Hot tip for the uninitiated - you need to talk to a real person at Brittany Ferries to get a bunk in a shared cabin - this is only £40 more than a reclining seat - which doesn't actually recline - according to my sources. Apparently it takes around an hour to unload the boat (for when you are booking your 'connecting train') but you should allow a bit more for the captain to fiddle around a bit at the pier.
And finally, a few days to find a couch in Plymouth (because of course there is no train from Edinburgh that connects with the ferry and you get a new pal into the bargain) and another couch in Santander (for local knowledge and a new Spanish pal).
Now its time to start training - because, although one is already superfit - aforesaid stranger will have been pedaling for a month before I arrive -
No comments:
Post a Comment