Wandering CrankWandering Crank

Biking the World one crank at a time

Not everything goes to plan…

by Nathan Molyneaux on category

Actually since starting I’ve found very little goes to plan, maybe these just came along together.

Oddly, I decided to carry a small amount of food on days I had a tough climbs ahead of me.  So by when lunch came along, I had run out of food and was unable to find a supermarket, despite having passed several.  I’m not sure why I had made these types of decisions, but it made the day really tough.  I ended up grabbing a panini at a small side stall at Gruyere castle.  This turned out to be a bad idea, more on that later!

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The forgotten towns between Montreux and Lausanne

by Nathan Molyneaux on category ,

Packing and leaving camp early so I can get to a couple of outdoor shops before lunch. I start by heading downhill; this is always a lovely relief but I was soon shocked by the hills.  I had avoided them on my way through Switzerland and thought my planning was great!  No I just saved the pain till the end.

I had, finally, made the decision to upgrade my tent from my companion of five years, a Wild Country Helm 2, to the MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2.  I had been pondering this decision for about 6 months; I’m a fast decision maker, can’t you see!?!  Although still faster than some leadership teams I know!

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Stuttgart and a return to cycle touring

by Nathan Molyneaux on category

A short train journey and I arrive into Stuttgart. I was suggested a couple of museums to attend.  Namely the Mercedes car museum; unfortunately I chose not to do this but a bit more admin.  I had tax returns and paperwork to do.  You can never really leave life behind!

However, my visit to Stuttgart was to meet my friend Christina and her partner Jan.  I met Christina whilst working in Denmark and hadn’t met for over 3 or 4 years.  It was nice to see how they were getting on and their plans for the future.  The final night before I left for Switzerland and them off towards the Austrian mountains, they took me to the local restaurant. It happened to be located at the bottom of the apartment block.

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Nürnberg – a reminder of the Nazi preoccupation with themselves.

by Nathan Molyneaux on category

My final journey into Nürnberg was only 40km and relatively flat along the river Pegnitz.  The journey takes you through some of the small and picturesque old towns of Germany, the ones not ravaged by the war, and retain their old charm.

Life carries on…

I arrive into Nürnberg before lunch and head for the hostel to start the admin I need to do. Taxes, laundry and bike maintenance.  The glamorous life of a cycle tourist!  The hostel is rather bland, more of the commercial types where they squeeze as many in as possible.  This unfortunately means services and atmosphere suffer.  Not easy to meet people and a kitchen which is practically unusable.  Whilst it is possible to wash the clothes it is not possible to dry (machine broken).  I head off to find a Laundromat; it works out cheaper as well! Lesson learned!

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Calming down on the distance leads to a happier journey.

by Nathan Molyneaux on category ,

Getting out of Prague was a challenge though, there are a lot of road works happening on the cycle ways!  Following the Eurovelo 3/4 initally along the river made for a fairly easy first day.  That and adding a rehydration tablet to the water bottle for the first litre of the day.  It seems to make a considerable difference.  The original plan was to cook dinner around 6 and then continue onwards until 9 and then set up camp.  Following the usual three rules of wild camping:

  1. Arrive late
  2. Leave early
  3. Leave no trace

The weather; however had other plans and with a torrential downpour from 5.30 until about 7.00 I decided to head to a local restaurant and have dinner there whilst waiting for the storm to pass over.  Prague is cheap, but a local restaurant in a village not expecting a tourist to pop in is even cheaper and my eyes are on stalks at how cheap!  If these prices remain I could go round the World in gourmet style!

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