Q: So the Epic Journey to Istanbul has delivered! What changes did you make as you went along?
Doris: I think we became a little more fixated on Istanbul as a destination as we went on, and that straightened the route out and meant less sightseeing. We didn’t go to some bits of Bulgaria and Romania that we originally had on our route, and we found we ended up with some “transit days” that had some long dull sections. But we tried to stay true to the nature of “Epic” which is to find interest in small things, so no day was without interest.
Sid: I think we decided against Romania when we met a nice Serbian in Amsterdam, heard from Alistair how tough Romanian farm dogs could be, read the Bike Line books and saw the trucks on the other side of the Danube. Going through Bulgaria was straight lined South East partly because we found a route with quietish roads with fewer mountains to get over. It was interesting in its own way. The sites we saw were those that an economic history or political tour would choose. Schumpeter describes Creative Destruction and we saw a lot of it. It’s not churches and landscapes but its got its Memories Better Than Experiences. And actually some things we might remember, the non-ironic folk dancing, the Highland Farm, meeting Sparky, planes on sticks, boring food, ruins of small towns, wouldn’t have happened if we’d just been trying to go via Interesting Places.
I think we had Istanbul on the board early on, as time and distance went by it seemed more attainable. Riding to Belgrade and turning west for holiday Croatia would have been epic enough. But S&D Enterprises had a big one in their sights. Istanbul is a long way, it’s difficult on the head and we did it together. ProBike in Istanbul reckon to see a few riders from Northern Europe each year and we were the first they’d seen this year. High paw.
Q: How has your fitness worked out?
Doris: Ah, that has been a bit of a disappointment or should we say an enlightenment. We vaguely thought that we would get fitter, and would be confidently planning 100-120km days with 1,000-2,000m of climb if we needed to. Instead we’ve ended up with 100km/1,000m as our top end, and a general feeling that 80-90km is what we should plan for day after day. Also don’t mention the knees.
Sid: My resting heart rate, when writing a blog for instance, is now around 43. Riding the bike at home, sans panniers, with our CTC pals will be very interesting. We have lost some weight, but not much. I can pull my 34″ waist shorts past my bottom if the belt is not cinched up tight. Doris seems to have lost quite a bit of her bum. We are no better at riding in the heat, that might be the limiting factor on the run home.
Sid: My resting heart rate, when writing a blog for instance, is now around 43. Riding the bike at home, sans panniers, with our CTC pals will be very interesting. We have lost some weight, but not much. I can pull my 34″ waist shorts past my bottom if the belt is not cinched up tight. Doris seems to have lost quite a bit of her bum. We are no better at riding in the heat, that might be the limiting factor on the run home.
Q: What about the knees?
Both: Please don’t mention the knees. Doris’s Magic Gel, originally prescribed for one knee for an unspecified period of time, has become a key part of the daily regime. And the sight of Sid and Doris trying to navigate a set of stairs is best avoided.
Q: Does it feel odd to have “finished”?
Both: The first part we always intended to prioritise the journey over the holiday while choosing to go into East Germany and a generally more easterly route than needed. We enjoyed our visit to Weimar and Eisenach. There was an element of purity about riding to Istanbul. Later we found interesting things where we went. Early on we decided to go to interesting places. That pushed us into the D020 for instance. It is done.
From Istanbul and onward holiday and seeing things has priority. Mileages can be gentler, stops more frequent. The ferries will help us across Greece. From London to Istanbul the foreign-ness increased, possibly peaking in Bulgaria. From here (Greece, where holiday towns are very easy) everything will get more familiar in Italy, France especially and maybe Spain. And who knows, one day we may feel up to adding in some more hills.
We do talk about “what’s next”. Anna and Alistair were thinking that another river might be a great idea – they were thinking of the Po, we might think of the Loire. Downhill all the way with easy navigation, that’s very tempting. But let’s see if we can cycle all the way round on the EuroEpic first.