Mountain climbing on bikes !

As far as pre ride discussions go this one was just a touch different, kms to be ridden (70+), metres to be climbed (2, 000+) and what was the difference between "dinking" & "dogging" !

Henley keen on getting Thommo to honour yesterdays bet over England's loss to the the West Indies, suggested that he be "dinked" in the main street before the start of todays ride. Thommo unfamiliar with the Australian colloquialism thought that the term might have been related to "dogging" and went a whiter shade than his already pale English skin at the thought of doing such with Henley !!!

Yes this mornings peleton had one extra addittion when one Kevin T Henley joined in from his "death bed" as we rode out of town. We knew that today was going to be a tough one having read the trip notes prior but we weren't aware of what was in store for us. As it was, the only flat bit of our pre lunch ride was the 10kms going out of Kukes. From there on in it was a soul destroying, energy sapping climb with constant gradients of 10% + with one 300 metre section a stomach churning 17%. Amazingly Kev was one of a few to ride this section without getting off, a decision that he would pay dearly for later on in the day !

An Albanian Ferrari ! 

The Ferrari closes in on Lee ! 

The climbing continues !

Kev - The Machine !

17% and steep !

Coffee stop 1 !

Coffee stop 2 ! 

Even Dilksy, NZs' answer to Alberto Contador, found the going tough at one stage hallucinating believing that Pauline Hanson (complete with Burqa) had become New Zealand's next female Prime Minister !

Somehow we made it to lunch at the 40km mark with most of the 2, 000 metres days climb already covered and a fair bit of our body weight left back on the incredibly steep climbs in the 30c temperatures !

Lunch was a picnic affair with once again a lovely array of local fare accompanied by about 11 cokes each to replenish some of our lost fluids !

A safari lunch !

Assured by our guides that the after lunch section would be much easier we went straight back into climbing mode although to be fair these undulating sections at least provided a modicum of relief.

Finally we reached a peak with a beautiful landscape filled vista that signified the start of a 15 km (mainly) downhill descent. 

Descent completed we regrouped 4km out of town with the invalids (yes Henley was one of them) and the early arrivals who'd had a beer or two waiting for the rest of the group to arrive and the team support bus (so they could carry on drinking !) .

The rest of us including Robbo, Kiwi Pete,  Pommie Kev and self negotiated 4 more kms into town where we fell over each other from exhaustion when we finally dismounted our bikes.

There were some real champions today, H for his near suicidal performance , Robbo for backing up from his two late night Racqi's (a jet plane fuelled alcoholic drink) Julia for her outstanding never say die effort and the smallest of our group Linda (about half H's size and about 1/3 of mine) from Sweden who cycled the whole distance without a single complaint unlike a few others in our group.

We ride tomorrow to Ohrid in Macedonia for a  bloody well deserved rest day !

P.s. Despite tonights ribbing no further discussion will be entered into re Australia's test match loss today to Bangladesh !

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More hills less heat !

It was with a fair degree of trepidation that we stuck our heads out of our respective hotel windows to check whether yesterdays furnace like conditions were likely to continue. Thankfully overnight rain had significantly cooled down the air with some of us even thinking of initially riding with jackets.

Day 2 - Almost recovered from yesterdays furnace !

Underway after sleeping like the dead the previous night, it wasn't long before we were soon back into climbing mode but thankfully the 10 percenters from yesterday were replaced with less savage ones. Even still the day did include 5 -6 climbs longer than 2kms with one just before & after lunch totalling 9 hard earned kms !

With that many ascents there were also some great downhills with the pick being a 9km run dodging sharp corners, the odd mid road culvert and a lengthy bitumen cut away where they'd dug up the road to lay an internet cable and simply patched it up with home made bitumen most of which had sunk below road level ! !

Robbo takes in the great view ! 

Dilksy on a flyer !

The scenery close to the Kosovo border today was ruggedly beautiful, a sequence of mountains and valleys with the odd lake interspersed. There was surprising little evidence of crop fields but plenty of evidence of concrete pill boxes built during the paranoid period of the Communist rule !

Once again H was a non starter with his frustration at being sick becoming more and more evident. At one point with Kev in the support van and our driver (Juli) looking a little tired I suggested that maybe Kev could give it (driving ) a go as his European driving skills would be guaranteed to wake Juli up - " F.ck off" came the quick reply from Henley suggesting that his recovery is just about complete !

Signs of previous military presence

Our delicious lunch being prepared !

George - Someone stole my bike !

The final segment included a less than pleasant ride on the verge of a freeway to the town of Kukes to complete an 81 km day with 1200 metres of climbing apparently about 1/2 of the climbing that's in store for us tomorrow (damn) !!

Other than our customary few beers and brilliant food the day did produce one gem when Pommie Kev stated that he'd dink Henley on the back of his bike if the West Indies beat England in the 2nd test ! Well beat them they did and at the time of print the argument is still going on between the two of them about whether in fact that dink should take place going uphill (Henley's suggestion) or on a screaming downhill  descent ( ...Pommie Kev's)

With so much climbing Day 3 could see quite a few of us in the team bus ! 

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Entering The Furnace !

If we thought we were in for an easy first day we could not have been more wrong !

We started sedately enough as we rolled out of bed just on 5a.m.. Once Henley got off the floor we packed and got ready for our 5.30 a.m.departure. 

Leaving Tirana provided a few glimpses of a pretty austere looking countryside while giving our asses a nice shake up on a rapidly deteriorating road. Stopping for morning Tea Pommie Kev swapped his customary pint for an ice coffee sending shivers in hostelirie share prices, while H fondled a nearby basket of apples before realising that they were not ours ! Venturing further north we entered a national park of sorts before finally arriving at Komani Lake where the parking space for cars emerging from the tunnel and about to board the ferry resembled a car park version of rubiks cube !

En route - Pommie Kev without beer in hand !

Lake Komani's 5 storey (not) car park !

Finally underway with our support van and a bike trailer on board we relaxed for 3+ hours taking in this beautiful Lake in parts not disimilar to a Norwegian Fjiord !

Beautiful Komani Lake !

The two Kevs !

From here on the story goes a bit vague ! Disembarking from the ferry we donned our cycling gear and checked over our bikes with Henley wisely deciding to delay his entry back into the ring ! 

I must have hallucinated for the next 3+ hours because all I can recall is having visions of cycling up steep sand dunes in the Gobi desert ! Hot was not the word with an air temperature of 39c and a road temperature of 40+c. Riding the flat (what little there was) was torturous let along the agony of long stretches of 10% roads (do they only have 1 road sign in Albania - as all seemed to read 10%.!)

We're set to go !

The view back down our climb !

Most riders struggled with the heat (me included) and I took every opportunity I could to grab handfuls of ice cold water from running streams in order to cool down one big overheating engine !

Mike's melting !

Somehow we all made it to our destination some 40kms distant (most absolutely knackered) racing for multiple ice cold drinks ! Thomo's training in the lava fields in Hawaii seemed to have done him well while both Kiwi and Pommie Pete's efforts were outstanding with both not having to once produce their senior cards for special treatment !

A special mention to Julia also for even trying and while she may have spent a bit of time in the support bus her effort was inspiring - I'm at sure at one stage when passing i heard her muttering "If you think you're taking me on another hard core cycle trip you're ...."- in preparation for her assault on Pommie Kev when she caught up with him !

The next two days provide a little respite in heat but bugger all in terms of distance and climbing ! A late starter he may be but the current word is that Henley will throw caution to the winds and get on the bike tomorrow providing he gets out of bed safely !

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House of former Communist leader !

Enver's luxury penthouse !

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Day 1 Albania !

After what seemed like 3 hours sleep (in fact only about 5) after our midnight sojourn to the pub we emerged on a soon to be hot day to get our first glimpse of Tirana Albania.

Scoffing through breakfast I took off with Pommie Pete at a rate of knots to join a free city walk tour recommended by Kiwi Pete. Kev and Julia did likewise on a privately organised tour while Henley appearing late for breakfast decided in true Aussie spirit to pass on his remaining germs to the newer members of our cycling group.

Our walking tour was excellent with info provided highlighting how the former ruthlessly run communist country had only achieved democracy in 1991. Despite the progress made (particularly on human rights) the country still faces significant challenges with over 17% unemployment and an average wage of just $10, 000 AUD a year ! 

From statues, to mosques, to churces to underground nuclear bunkers and above ground machine gun posts we strolled around town on a bloody hot Sunday morning

Tiranas "water cooled" main square !

One of nearly 200,000 pill boxes previously dotted around the country !

A distinctly Communist Mural !

Tirana's former Nuclear Bunker - now a memorial 

Communist style buildings 

One of the highlights included walking past the house of former communist leader Enver Hoxha an unimpressive and now dilapidated 2 storey building still standing as Albanians slowly come to grips with an oppresive past that included the incarceration and torturing of  thousands of locals.

Walk done we headed with Aussie Kev to the nearby Sky Tower complete with revolving deck to have a beer and take in the views. We sat back and took in the mountain filled surrounds and suburbs of dated architecture.

View from the Sky Tower !

Hoping that these are not the hire bikes !

A rest and it was time to meet up with rest of our group and be briefed re the coming 12 day adventure that starts tomorrow with a beautiful cruise followed sadly by numerous kms of climbing.

A lovely dinner of mixed food (mainly vegetarian) gave us a chance to become acquainted with the remaining members of our group with the final tally being - 2 Aussies, 1 Kiwi, 1 French Canadian, 5 Brits, 1 Swede and 1 Brit living in Australia - 

A 5.30 start tomorrow and we're on the road !

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On the road to Albania !

With Albania and some hard riding days imminent we took the opportunity to use the morning to stockpike on protein and fat (commonly referred to as eggs and bacon) washed down by numerous cups of coffee. Henley made an appearance shortly after 9 looking a half % better than yesterday and with 50kms under his legs and a pulse still evident he is heading in the right direction !

With bags packed and repacked (we managed somehow to cram everthing into carry on bags) we took the longish journey (2& 1/2 hours) along a series of dual carriage ways and motorways to Gatwick Airport. The journey may have been long but it was not without plenty of entertainment as in following Pommie Kev & Julia in our hire car we soon learnt that indicators were an optional extra in the UK ! After leaving numerous cars hedge bound after maneouvering at the last minute to keep up with K&J we decided it was safer to break out by ourselves on this beautiful Bank Holiday weekend.

The entertainment continued when I nearly stalled in the middle of a 14 lane roundabout (it seemed as much) but it was Kev still suffering from his Royal Brunei cold that won the play of the day by asking mid journey what the ever changing instrument on the cars panel was - "looks to be some sort of distance measuring aid" said Kev. After a theatrical pause I turned round and said it was in fact the cars on board clock !

Entering Gatwick Airport we still had more moments ahead having to first do one lap of the airport in an attempt to refuel before returning our hire car and then do another after we mistook the car rental return sign with the passenger drop off sign ... around we went again !

Checked in and reunited with Pommie Kev and Julia, we caught up with the 5th of our 6 reuniting group members Pete Robinson who'd journeyed down from Sheffield in the mornings traffic mayhem caused by a shocking overninght multiple fatality crash. It's been over 6 years since we last caught up with Pete in London doing a city cycle and it was a delight to once reunite with this affiable giant !

3 hours later we finally departed on our British Airways flight to Tirana Albania, a 2 & 1/2 hour training exercise in how to become a magicians contortionist assistant on a plane absolutely jam packed - this felt almost identical to flying on one of the many cheap and nasty budget airlines that proliferate this part of the world !

On landing our journey to our Tirana hotel provided brief glimpses of a heavily industrialised area but a not too austere outlook ! In fact our midnight walk to the nearest open bar (as one does when arriving in a new country) for a couple of pints showed that Tirana could almost have been anywhere in Europe with well dressed young couples walking the well lit streets.

All it takes now is to touch base with the 6th member of our Tibet 2010 troupe Kiwi Pete Dilks, also my companion on the 2016 Spitti-Leh Indian Himalayan cycle expedition. Pete had earlier reported in from Tirana indicating that weather conditions were not dissimilar to Christchurch NZ at 33c (obvious bullshit but not likely to be corrected with the Kiwis 2-0 up in the Rugby over the Aussies !) Pete though did indicate that the real highlight so far was discovering a plethora of Gelato shops in town !

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On Yer Bike - UK !

It was a moment of startling clarity when we came to the conclusion that as we were just about to embark upon a "cycling holiday" that it might actually be a good idea to get out on our bikes !

Dragging Henley out of Intensive care (not easy with drips still installed) we journeyed over to the Isle of Purbeck on an absolute stunning 20c day (about 20c less than what we are about to be hit by in Albania). Cycling "Blyton-esque" along beautiful country lanes and rambling through forests we made our way some 25kms to Arne and its lovely cafe/restaurant where the obligatory cake and coffee awaited us. Sitting outdoor in the sun  in the forest setting was sublime !

Time for a cuppa 

The Poole chain ferry to the Isle of Purbeck 

Cycling back Pommie Kev took us off road on a forest single track complete with the odd rocky and sandy section - conditions not ridden by Henley since his famous Slovenian incident back in 2015 best remembered by his blood soaked jersey and the one fingered salute he'd given at the Italian border upon leaving Slovenia ! This time though we all got through unscathed and rejoined the main road to our return ferry to Poole

Pommie Kev leads the way !

What a gorgeous cycle day although it is definitely worrying that I could feel so tired when the days longest climb was only about 100 metres !

Kev, Julia & Mike 

With our bikes now endorsed for our France leg it is now time to focus on Albania - packing for what should be bloody hot days with a few cool nights as we get into the mountains

Ps A special mention to Kevs wife Julia who along with Kev since our arrival has performed the roles of nurse, chef, seamstress, laundry attendant, host and friend to both self and Kev - fabulous !

P.s. An editorial retraction - in an apology to all Wolverhampton fans it should be explained that yesterdays reported chant of "you've never won fu.king anything" was in fact  "you've won f.ck all" !

Albania here we come

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Warring Tribes !

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Albania - Zero minus one !

Our intensive level of pre Albania training (0 kms cycled) stepped up a gear when we arrived in Poole Dorset to the home of fellow adventurers and good friends Kev (referred to as Pommie Kev or "PK") and Julia.

Feeling that some cultural acclimitisation was essential PK took us off to nearby Southampton to interact with some warring English tribes in a form of ritual bonding . The choice of weapons was a round ball while the "warring" was referred to as football ! The atmosphere (read non stop chanting) was chilling with calls to action (read insults) including "What the fu.king hell was that  (used to describes shots that missed) to "You live in a shithole" to "You've never won fu.king anything" referring to the local tribes absence of trophies / severed heads or something like that ! For the record Wolves 2 Southampton 0 and a great night was had by all !

Invigorated by our linguistic exercise (.. well all except Aussie Kev "AK" who is still struggling with a Royal Brunei induced cold) we also took to the road (again 0 kms cycled) to walk to nearby Poole Beach shivering ourselves as we watched a few brave people venture into the ice cold water.

Exhausted after our 3-4 km walk we took to one our favourite English past times replenishing vital lost bodily fluids 

Kev & Julia 

Albania is now only 1 day away and with such well planned preparation and K's current health status, it is likely that our expected peletonic dominance will be short lived that is if we have any energy to get on the bikes at all ! Roll on Albania !

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Preparation Phase !

As far as big scale expeditions go this one got off to a pretty inauspicious start! Our meticulous planning (read Henley standing on his circa 1960's bathroom scales with bike boxes) to avoid any undue airport angst nearly came undone when our check in clerk noted that we were 2kgs over our limit no doubt due to H's 7kgs of bandages packed to aid his inevitable prang !  Thankfully for us though she was soon distracted by a family next to us that were 30kgs overweight as they attempted to lodge 44 kgs of large boxes as carry on - at a charge of $40 a kg excess the math indicated they were going to be in for a rude shock - sadly we could't help but smile as we snuck by!

The 3 legs of 21 hours flight were predictably claustrophobic with our collective sleep totalling 45 minutes. My 20 minutes share were laced with hullicinations ! One particulaly vivid one was that I 'd somehow found some ping pong balls and was trying to place them into Kev's wide open and lolling mouth ! Needless to say we were both pretty stuffed by the time we arrived at Heathrow !

Our fears of a global heatwave were temporarily relieved on arrival with welcoming mid summer temps of a mild 18c showing that Trump is indeed right and that 40c temps in Albania and melting ice caps are just a temporary aberration !

Our drive southwards did not start well when our arrival at the car rental depot revealed our hire car to have slightly less storage room than our actual bicycles. With storage of our bike boxes impossible in our Skoda "shit heap" we pleaded for an upgrade and were relieved to be provided with a Volvo (something or other) which had at least one milimetre extra storage to spare ! The choice of me driving with knees embedded in my nostrils and limited ability to control clutch or brake was no contest when compared to letting H loose once again on foreign roads !

Different ways to close the boot !

Finally we were able to get under way with our early Sunday morning drive to Honiton /  Devon 3 hours distant almost pleasant !

Arrival UK /Honiton sees us now go into serious expedition preparation - key strategies include 1) Working out how we can pretend not to understand English when predictably questioned by our Kiwi colleague over our inept Bledisloe Cup Rugby performance 2) Establishing how the hell we can fit our entire Albania kit into one carry on bag each for our flight to Tirana while wearing 3 layers of clothes in near 40 c temperatures and most importantly 3) Working out where the hell Albania actually is ! 

Less than a week to go and all is not entirely well !

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Albania Beckons !

We're packed and ready to wing our way to the UK and Albania in time to join up with fellow travellers for the 27 August start of our Redspokes Albania trip.
Our 14 day journey covers an amazing sample of Albanian culture and scenery starting off with an incredible trip across Komani Lake, described as a breathtaking lake set amidst fjord like scenery comparable to that of Norway. We then continue through mountainous areas with Ottaman stone built buildings crossing Roman trade routes working our way to the Unesco listed Macedonian town of Ohrid supposedly built with 365 churches - one for each day of the year. Heading further south we meet up with the Vjosa Roiver one of the few remaining wild rivers in Europe and take in some welcome thermal springs. We also and visit the town of Gjirokaster, birthplace of Enver Hoxha the hardline communist ruler from 1945-85 who ruled over an era of secret police and internment camps and who's paranoia is evident today throughout the countryside with the remains of the 700,000 one man concrete bunkers built to prevent external invasion !
Like any good Redspokes trip we do a fair bit of cycling spending 11 of our 14 days on bike covering over 800 kms with a fair bit of climbing including one day with 2050 metres  and finish off with a memorable descent from the Llogara pass ! 
All in all it should be a  fantastic trip ( ...although temperatures a few degrees less would be appreciated !)