Woke around 7. The tent was very moist inside. One skin tents are certainly not the one. I spent longer packing that I should have as a dog with a long trailing rope leash took an interest in me and ended up messing and tangling up all my attempts at organisation. Eventually I found its owner upon a mobility scooter, and the annoyance was alleviated. I set off after 8.
I decided to follow the northern, straightforward route beeline had suggested. At first it seemed like I’d made a mistake as I wound my way through more suburbs and small urban conglomerations. In stopped at an ASDA for breakfast and bought a meal deal (prawn sandwich, lion bar, Lucozade) and some sushi. I ate the sandwich to fuel myself for the day, then continued.
Eventually the towns gave way to countryside. The route was relatively flat, but I got a few small vistas of English countryside. I had a pleasant day of cycling on quiet roads. At 13:00 I stopped on a bridge, sat on the edge, and ate my sushi. Lewis called me as I was descending a hill and I related the story of my last day in Istanbul to him.
Around 14:00 it started to rain. I coated up and took a detour from the beeline to make my way along the canal, to the hope and anchor pub near bath where Sean (another uni friend) works. I arrived there around 15:10. Sean greeted me and showed me where to put my bike around the side. His boss gave me a free pint as a welcome back to England after I told him about my cycle. What a lovely man.
Sean and I chatted about the cycle, but mainly about the future. He’s planning to take a sport scholarship in Memphis Tennessee. Sick. At 4:30 we left the pub, planning to cycle a lil together, however… horror of horrors! I had a puncture! It never ends. I let Sean head off as he had limited break time and wanted to get a run in. He offered to get me a spare, or let me crash if I couldn’t figure out a repair.
I found a metal staple embedded in the tire and pulled it out using my nail clippers. I imagined I saw another and spent 10 mins fruitlessly searching for it. In the meantime I got out the “spare” tire – which was the one the screw had gone through on my last day cycling in Turkey, and exacted a repair on this obvious puncture.
It seemed to hold. I put the wheel back on and cycled off at speed. When I was 200m away I realised I had forgotten my helmet and had to go back for it. Having retrieved it I cycled the rest of the way home as fast as I could. I zoomed through two tunnels, then around Bath, over the river, alongside the rail line, through the first/last tunnel, then into Bristol.
I was trying to beat the sunset so Dad could film me arriving. As it was I did 35km in 2 hrs 15. I turned off the cycle path at an unusual point and passed through several nice parks reminiscent of the dingle. At last I reached Waitrose and knew where I was. I got to the top of my road at 19:10. I called dad and he directed me to wait while he got ready.
I rounded the corner of the lane and saw the fam – Mum, Ben and Dad with the camera, all lined up there. Up I went and said hello. Dad filmed it all. It was nice to be reunited! I wonder if any of the footage came out? It was so dark.
Ben handed me a beer and I embraced them all and got a few photos. Then I put the bike away in the shed from which I had taken it almost three months prior. It had been a long way.
I went in, presented my gift of 1kg of Turkish delight, had tunafish pasta (perfect) and chatted about my travels and the trip Mum and Dad had taken driving to the south of Italy and back. Ben went out to a friend's and dad and mum showed me all their photos and the audiobook they had listened to. It’s good to be home. Dad went up for a quick bath. I washed up and wrote this.
Soon, I hope, I’ll get a long-awaited bath too. I’ve been dreaming of it. But for now, at last, the trip is truly over!
Final count:
Km cycled: 6,255
Countries visited: 13
Dogs chased by: countless
Punctures: 6ish
Days on the road to Istanbul: 62
Days total to Istanbul: 76
Days total: 88
Pairs of shoes: 2
In this recounting:
Use of the word “Endless”: 37
Use of the phrase “found myself”: 36
Mention of Repair: 11
Use of the word serpentine: 8
Mention of punctures: 13
Use of the word vista: 7
Most mentioned (visited) countries in order: Greece (19), Croatia (10), Italy (7), Turkey (7), UK/England (7), Albania (6), Germany (6), Switzerland (6), Austria (4), Slovenia (4), Bosnia (3), France (2).
Most mentioned nationalities/languages of visited countries in order: English (33), Greek (27), French (21), German (21), Turkish (14), Italian (7), Swiss (7), Albanian (6), British (4), Croatian (4), Austrian (2), Bosnian (0), Slovenian (0).
Most mentioned nationalities of countries not visited (I think): Australian (18), American (16), Kiwi (10), Canadian (4), Dutch (4), Indian (4), Israeli (3), Kazakh (3), Belgian (2), Egyptian (2), Scottish (2), Spanish (2), Argentinian (1), Chinese (1), Finnish (1), Norwegian (1), Pakistani (1), Saudi Arabian (1), Welsh (1).
It’s over. I’ve had a great time by and large. There’s been lots of ups and downs. I’ve had low moments atop bleak mountains, in lonely hotel beds, listening to sad songs, but I’ve come through it all stronger, and the good far outweighs the bad.
I feel a lot happier than when I started. For the first time in months, perhaps years, I’m excited about the future. I’ve processed the past, and I hope it stays that way. Now my journey is at an end.
Now what I write, both in terms of intelligibility and legibility, is clearly suffering. I’ll leave my account here, and I hope to take it up again some day soon. But, for the near future, I’ll no longer consign my memories to paper.
My hand hurts.
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