2011 Europe Trip Diary
This diary originated as a blog, of a European bicycle tour in 2011, our fifth such trip, and I have now reorganized it as a diary so it reads form beginning to end.
I have also added some of Roz’s photos that we did not have time to include in the original blog.
I have done little editing on the original blog entries, as I want the flavour of what I felt at the time to come through.
This was a fairly arbitrary trip of 3725km. It was arbitrary in the sense that we intended to go to Scotland, but only if the weather was OK, otherwise it could have been France. We had not intended to ride as much of Belgium as we did, but this was a result of the weather, as the diary describes.
On going through the blog entries again, I am surprised that the weather did not look as good in retrospect as it seemed at the time. Perhaps we were a bit lucky, but we did get a mix of good and bad weather. I suppose that the point is that it didn't really matter. We loved the trip as we always do.
The rough map is designed to give an overview, and there are very detailed maps included on each of the day stages. The day maps were built from data from a GPS data logger, so are accurate to about 50m, and also include altitude data, so it is possible to get a feel for the terrain.
To view the elevation profile, click on the Google maps link underneath the embedded map. From the Google map version, click on the KML link above the map. Open the file in Google Earth, (You must first have installed Google Earth). On the left panel, expand the folder and right click on the data file, and select "Elevation Profile". Unfortunately, this can be slightly messy as there may be more than one file. But it does work.
Preparation
February, Tickets Early March, Scotland and Gear Still March, GPS Late March, More GPS
Mid April, IPad Mid May, Preparation
Holland and Belgium
Day 1, 18th May 2011, Schipol (Amsterdam Airport) to Utrecht
Day 2, 19th May 2011, Utrecht to Arnhem
Day 3, 20th May 2011, Arnhem to Lottum
Day 4, 21st May 2011, Lottum to Elsloo
Day 5, 22nd May 2011, Elsloo to Spa
Day 6, 23rd May 2011, Spa to Huy
Day 7, 24th May 2011, Huy to Brussels
Day 8, 25th May 2011, Brussels
Days 9 and 10, 26th and 27th of May 2011, Brussels to Vollezelle
Day 11, 28th May 2011, Vollezelle to Kortrijk
Day 12, 29th May 2011, Kortrijk to Ypres
Day 13, 30th May 2011, Ypres to Veurne
Day 14, 31st May 2011, Veurne to Zeebrugge
England
Day 15, 1st June 2011, Hull to Scarborough
Day 16, 2nd June 2011, Scarborough to Middlesborough
Day 17, 3rd June 2011, Middlesborough to Tynemouth
Day 18, 4th June 2011, Tynemouth to Haltwhistle
Day 19, 5th June 2011, Haltwhistle to Carlisle
Scotland
Day 20, 6th June 2011, Carlisle to Dumfries
Day 21, 7th June 2011, Dumfries to Newton Stewart
Day 22, 8th June 2011, Newton Stewart to Stoneykirk
Day 23, 9th June 2011, Stoneykirk to Ayr
Day 24, 10th June 2011, Ayr to Glasgow
Day 25, 11th June 2011, Glasgow to Tarbet
Day 26, 12th June 2011, Tarbet to Oban
The Hebrides
Day 27, 13th June 2011, Oban to Salen
Day 28, 14th June 2011, Salen to Isleorsnay (Skye)
Day 29, 15th June 2011, Isleorsnay to Uig (Skye)
Day 30, 16th June 2011, Uig (Skye) to Ardhasaig (Harris)
Day 31, 17th June 2011, Ardhasaig to Stornoway (Harris)
Scotland
Day 32, 18th June 2011, Stornoway to Tain
Day 33, 19th June 2011, Tain to Foyer
Day 34, 20th June 2011, Foyer to Spean Bridge
Day 35, 21st June, Spean Bridge to Blair Atholl
Day 36, 22nd June 2011, Blair Atholl to Perth
Day 37, 23rd June 2011, Perth to Edinburgh
Day 38, 24th June 2011, Edinburgh to Cocksburnpath
England
Day 39, 25th June 2011, Cocksburnpath to Morpeth
Day 40, 26th June 2011, Morpeth to Darlington
Day 41, 27th June 2011, York to Hull
Belgium and Holland
Day 42, 28th June 2011, Zeebrugge to Kapelle
Day 43, 29th June 2011, Kapelle to Dordrecht
Day 44, 30th June 2011, Dordrecht to Alsmeer
Conclusion, 9th July 2011