Well well well, it's all over now...feels a bit strange not looking for the next days route, but I suppose this journey had to have an end, if only temporarily.
Back to work next week for another busy and rewarding year at Tashkent International School. I'm quite looking forward to getting started again, catching up with friends and teaching.
What's next? Turkey I think. From East to West next summer. It has been nice to ride for a cause as it opened up many conversations when people asked, " but why would you ride all that way on a bicycle?". There is no doubt that cycling to raise awareness of PWSA provided us both with a little bit more motivation, so I plan to do it again.
One rainy day in 38 cycling days, quite incredible. In fact clouds were a rarity, and somehow we managed to avoid serious sun stroke and heat exhaustion. Those early morning starts in Kosovo and Macedonia were worth it as they enabled us to do our daily distance before the mercury rose to 45c at road level, as it did on couple of occasions in the afternoons.
I think that we struck a pretty good balance, resting once or twice a week, allowing us to recuperate and to see some sites:
An opera in Verona, boats around Venice, humongous caves in Slovenia, pretty seaside towns in northern Croatia, national parks, city nightlife, beautiful islands, Dubrovnik’s charms, Albania's lakes and of course shopping in Greece.
The final 800km's in 7 days was a push, but I had prepared well for it and enjoyed the physical challenge. It has been great to spend time with my family, and I now feel well rested. I even feel now that I have been on holiday.
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