Sid and Doris Bonkers and their Epic Journeys
"Everybody is normal until you get to know them"
Vegetation – Road Signs – The Sweet Smell of the Strimmer – Road Laying Machines – Roofrack Of The Day 1. Vegetation We’ve been in “Mediterranean Arid” (as I think Kew would call it) pretty well since crossing over the central Bulgarian hills, but in Italy it’s definitely different. Trees to inspire Roger Dean, often full of extremely noisy colonies…
Read moreSome thoughts about food. The right food in the right place – Is it dinner time yet? – Would you like a coffee with that sir? – Have you done your homework? – Self catering? Really?1. The right food in the right place We set off determined to eat the food of each country, and not to go for the…
Read moreHot air hand dryers – More reasons not to compete in the Tour de France – Vending machines – Stones on the roof – Major Bumsore – The Milestone Question – Prevailing winds, truly. 1. Hot air hand dryers I used to LOOOOVE hot air hand dryers when I had a motorbike. I remember sitting under one in a motorway…
Read moreLook there is Autofity BAT! In CAPITALS because this is a famouf place, it was advertised on posters for milef or indeed kilometref around.And there are many hysterically funny names for tyre shops across Europe [many of which Doris has criminally failed to record on camera, apologies for that].In Hungary they were Gumi Service. Then in later countries, Vulancizers, Elasticons…
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A place to park the occasional gem… “It’s a good job these shoes aren’t white any more or they wouldn’t match my trousers.” (In Amsterdam) “I wonder whether you get a lot of Dutch people going to Venice.” “I knew it (the route) was going to be bad when I rode past a construction site with all the bike path…
Read more“S” writes: Hey! It’s Tour de France time! I’m soooo excited!! I get to sit on the sofa with the remote control for the television, it is a Very Responsible Job and I take it very seriously. [It’s ok, we’re watching it on ITV4 catch-up on the PC – D.] I am “G”s biggest fan, well not biggest of course…
Read moreThe SS16 runs along the whole of the top/east/back-of-calf coast of Italy, and we’ve actually cycled up about half of it, now I look at the map. We started at Bari and left just before Pescara. And here are some things that flitted through my Doris-ian mind as I pedalled along it. We started in the “deep south” of Italy. …
Read moreAs we progressed south through Serbia and Bulgaria, we started to see a fashion for pre-booking grave spaces. The his ‘n’ her graves have been a bit thought-provoking, but in Apricena we find a huge newly-built mausoleum where you can reserve as many slots, for as many generations, as you want. Having seen a couple with their fronts off, I…
Read moreI thought you would like this notice, which was posted at intervals alongside a very nice cycle lane somewhere south of Giovinazzo. Showing various famous Italian cyclists, it contains suggestions such as cyclists: I will run red lights with caution; pedestrians: I will jaywalk with caution; and generally: don’t be a jerk. Splendid stuff. Says all you need to know…
Read moreSo I mentioned Spotto and its variants. Part of the pleasure of this game is creating new versions on the fly – “Boato” has been going for a while and requires the boat to be in a very unlikely position/condition, for example in the middle of a roundabout. In Lesvos we were talking to some repeat visitors who explained that…
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