Day 4 - checking every turn

Aachen to Bonn

Suprisingly quick ride despite the navigation disaster that almost defined today. Between the pre-war map, GPS with no data, rubbish German signage and a compass that needs 10 mins for calibration, we had to stop at every junction and guess at the right turn.

Tomorrow´s ride follows a river the whole way - navigation bliss.

Day 3 - 3 countries in one day

We managed to leave the asparagus obsessed (enough to host an asparagus festival !?!) Diest (Belgium) and cycle straight through the entire country of Holland (check the map, haters) to get to Aachen in Germany today.

We passed through Maastricht quickly because we couldn´t remember what that treaty was all about. A nice mix of canal paths and Devonesque Holland countryside which took our minds off our numb bums.

Day 1 - Woe the wind

Dunkerque to Gent

Apparently it takes four times as much effort to cycle when you´ve got a headwind. Man, we felt that fact in our faces today. We were only doing 12 mph and it felt like 100! It wasn´t.

It was slow going, but we made it to Gent and the wondeful Myriam Dolders b&b (who donated some of the fee to Unicef). Pretty city, nice frites.

Ready to go...

We're packing bags, pumping tyres, tightening brakes, and of course, consuming carbs. Our trip starts tomorrow - and we're fit, confident, excited...but a little nervous at he same time...

So we'd like to say thanks to everyone for their support! We'll see you on the other side

keep checking here, because we'll be posting up photos and bits throughout the journey

We wish we could take the cats

But unfortunately, we can't. But Ronnie has come to the rescue once again! She's looking after them while we're away. Thanks Ronnie!

She's been having trouble donating online - have you?

It seems that some of you have been struggling to donate on the JustGiving website. We're not sure why their site's not working properly, but we think it might have something to do with heavy traffic on their site for the London Marathon.

Our advice:
- try to donate from a different computer
- wait until Monday 14th
- if none of the above works, send us a cheque to 39 Jebb Avenue, SW2 5XQ and we'll big you up here.

Could someone you know put us up for the night?

The cost of doing the trip is having a big impact on our bank balances so saving some money on accommodation would be a real boon! These guys have already offered to put dan up ;-) It would be great to stay with someone less scary though.

If you know anyone who lives in the following places we'd love to stay with them:
Dunkerque, Gent or Diest in Belgium
Aachen, Bonn, Kamp-Bomhofen, Frankfurt, Werthiem, Neustadt an der aisch, Velburg, Bogen or Obernzell in Germany
Linz, Willendorf or Vienna in Austria

Stuffing our faces

I'm not sure we're gonna come back as lean as we think. We'll have to be putting 3500 calories down our throats a day - to keep up with our hungry legs. & We're on a diet of carbs the week before we leave. Hopefully my bike won't cave under the weight