I could put the names in the title, but they’re fairly meaningless. The hotel in the first Aegean town, Altınoluk, had the most phenomenal breakfast. Here’s a picture. I only had the salad, cheese and meats, olives, chips, hash browns and bread with jam and honey. Apart from that the room and hotel were fairly new. I cycled into the beach front promenade resort type affair, (called Altınoluk), for dinner, which was bland and disappointing. Still, it didn’t cost too much. Had a really late start the following day, (Sunday), as the next stop over was only 60km away. Not far at all. Here’s a pic ..read more

When I was looking at the roads on Google maps, they all looked so level. Nothing spectacular to see on ‘terrain’ view. The reality was it was 4 hours climbing, 1 and a bit hours down hill at the end. As some consolation, the wind was behind me on the climbs. By the time I had reached the coast, it had switched direction. Still. You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I’m holed up in my hotel now which seems pretty new. It’s not a great big chain, but having been here a couple of hours, it seems pretty functional. My hotel in AltınolukBeaches There’s quite a lot of beaches here now, all of a ..read more

Probably the easiest day on my trip so far. Gelibolu bay – Gallipoli bay A meagre 30 miles or so. My muscles will be thanking me for this time off. Boutique hotel Didn’t think much. If I’m honest. Breakfast was good. Room was noisy. TV has less working channels than all the other hotels I stayed in, (all 2), still. No English speaking channels when the others did. There were other things which were lacking the attention to detail which is the essence of the ’boutique’ experience. Breakfast at 8 rooms They tried to charge me for an orange juice. That was with breakfast. Not really happening is ..read more

Very testing. Wind in my face. Lots of hills. Significant hills which were long, steep and on winding roads. After the first 12 minutes of so getting out of Kumbag, spent the entire morning stood on the pedals. This really didn’t go away, or at least the wind didn’t. It was joined by a hailstorm later on! The hills did improve in that the bends went away. When you’ve got bends like that, it’s impossible to sit down and just cycle normally. In terms of the geography, flora and fauna, things were much more interesting. Breakfast Was late at the hotel, service started at 9. It was a nice breakfas ..read more

Yes, there is a place called Kumbag! I thought I should visit… More seriously, it was the only place with a hotel that I wanted to stay at on the peninsula that was a reasonable distance from Istanbul. Tower of Sauron? Day of roads And main roads at that. I left at about 9am. Cycling out of Istanbul was pretty hectic. These capital cities usually are. I covered a total of 92 miles, during which my chain snapped. I suspected from the sounds it had been making on cycling excursions around Oxfordshire, it was going to happen. For this reason a packed my chain link breaker. A simple tool which wil ..read more

Tomorrow I will begin the cycling part of my journey. It was a lucky thing that I decided to visit some of the galleries and musea on the other side of the river. Derailleur trouble It turns out the front derailleur was not functioning too well and it took me around 30 minutes to sort it out. I ended up having to take it off the frame entirely and reset it’s position. It must have taken a knock somewhere, either in the hotel or in transit, meaning that it wouldn’t reach the higher gears 17 – 24. Better to discover it now. Get it out of the way. Cycling around Karakoy After that I cycled down t ..read more

From here. I’ve sorted my boat out, as much as I can. I’ve sorted my teeth out, as much as I can. The flooding rivers, (Thames and Cherwell), are finally abating (a little), although the Thames is still on red boards as I write this. It’s time to move. Here’s an update on some of the things that have been going on over the last 2 weeks. Easter in Gloucester Did a little tour of my relatives for the holiday period. Went to visit sister in Gloucestershire for bank holiday Monday. Due to the wetness of the environment, the usual bank holiday walk in the country wasn’t possible. Instead we took a ..read more

Every four years, boats on the UK canal and waterways require a safety examination called a Boat Safety certificate, or BSS. Most of the stuff they’re looking at is to do with your fuel and energy supply and isolation. That means the batteries, the gas and the diesel. There’s a set of guidelines published in the Boat Safety Scheme, and compliance is dependent on one of their certified inspectors visiting your boat and ensuring it meets the required standards. A couple of weeks ago, I had the inspector Mark Paris, based in Thrupp, (just down the road) come and do an inspection. It failed due to ..read more

Swept away Went to get some water on Sunday, this involves moving the boat to the water point rather than the other way around. Which ever way the boat is facing, I go in that direction until I reach one. North is Thrupp 1hr 20m. South is Wolvercote 1hr 20m. They’re both a similar distance, both have 2 locks. Rain Overflowing overflow – Kidlington Lots of it over the last few days, to add to that which was already on the land from the previous few weeks. It rained quite heavily the night before, and when I set out the canal was flowing quite fast down toward Oxford. This made things a bit more ..read more

Are you tired of dealing with connection problems on the Android Auto app? Discover the ultimate solution in this informative video that will help you bid farewell to frustrating disconnections. Say hello to a seamless and uninterrupted experience with your Android Auto. Watch now to unlock the secrets to resolving connection issues and enjoy a hassle-free driving experience! Bugbear for Android Auto solution Just to give you a bit of background, I use the Android Auto app every day for work. I use it to navigate between the various locations, and also to listen to my play lists on YouTube mus ..read more