the grand bike tour of 2009

Well, it’s nearly time…

Phase One – Japan
31 May – 17 June 2009

Phase One will be undertaken with myself, Alex, and a mysterious character known only as The Boy (who may or may not be my brother). The advantage to this set-up is that Alex and myself speak no Japanese, whereas The Boy has considerable kanji skills. But on the other hand, The Boy has not left Australia since he was 9, and has not done much camping since then either. Whereas Alex and I have spent lots of time travelling round and living in foreign countries. And camping.

We’ll be cycling around Hokkaido, and then Alex and I will go back to Tokyo to jump on a plane to Europe, while The Boy continues cycling around Japan.

Phase Two – Europe
18 June – 7 Nov 2009

Phase Two has Alex and I arriving in Dublin, meeting up with my mother, then travelling around Ireland for the next 10 days or so, hopefully getting a few days of cycling in. Then we’ll somehow catch the ferry over to Wales. Ride through Wales to London then Dover, take the ferry to France, then who knows what will happen! There are friends to meet up with in Europe, and friends who’ve mentioned interest in riding sections with us… so we shall see.

It’s hard to fit in all the places we’d like to go, and things we’d like to do, especially with the strong Euro smiting our plans left, right and centre. Doing a side trip to Iceland would be excellent. So would going from Finland to Estonia via St Petersburg. And drifting further east into Romania. And a trip down south into Greece! And more of Italy! And Spain! And Portugal! And Scotland! But for the sake of time and money these sections will probably be left out.