“The longest journey starts with a single step “

Covid put the kibosh on a cycle trip in Europe with kiwi friends Carl n Rose 🌹, now after the world reopened we decided to head to France via the Uk with the objective to cycle a long route ( maybe 3000km ) taking lots of camping kit as we hope to camp all of June and July .

Leaving kerikeri with a huge amount of baggage was interesting , we checked 114 kgs the total of bikes in boxes and faithful servant Bob , the cycle trailer .

Arrived at Heathrow then a taxi to stay with our good friends Andrew and Judy at Welwyn Garden city . Has been invaluable to have their help with logistics , a safe space to leave our boxes etc and a retreat to rest and recover from the travel jet lag .

Andrew is also a keen cyclist , in fact I met Andrew for the first time over a decade ago when we cycled the famous Italian Alps climbs , the Motorola and the Stelvio. I could lie and say we flew up these stunning climbs with great finesse, but regretfully, truth be told we both suffered like the very unfit amateurs that we were .

We started the ride at Caterham which was close to the Avenue Verte , the official cycle trail from London the Paris .

The ride thru England was seriously cool , a real mix of road and off road , skirting Gatwick . Lots of old rail trail sections . The vegetation is spectacular, overgrown and noticeably roundup free. Mowing berms in the back country lanes and trails is not seen here. The lack of pervasive herbicide use is a lesson we in NZ need to take on board .

We have arrived to the coast at Newhaven ready to board an afternoon ferry to Dieppe in France . Has been a pleasant 130 kms , first night at East Grinstead in an old hotel , then a night camping at a place called Peel farm . Barb has managed very well , a tender butt but nothing time and or butt butter won’t fix .