The scenery: As I am writing this I overlook lake Bled in Slovenia and think... I really just cycled here. The first few weeks have been a very hectic time with loads of new things that took some getting used to.

Postcard like photo of Bled castle

Daily routine: Creating a cycling routine was not too difficult, every morning I get up at about 8 have breakfast, usually with a lovely host, film the first clip of the the day and then I am on my way at about. Once on the road I cycle for about 2 hours and then look for a cool place to have lunch, these first two hours are often interrupted by me taking videos and photos of the numerous things I see and experience on the road.

Take off day!

After lunch there is more cycling, more filming and very important more eating. I have really mastered the art of eating while cycling. What I have not mastered is physically consuming enough food to reach the amount of calories I burn in a day. Where about 3000 kcal normally do the job I now have to consume about 5500 kcal. To put this into perspective that is about that's about 1 kg (10 bars) of chocolate. So I eat as much as I can and try to catch up a bit on my calorie deficit on my days off.

The gear I bring on the trip.

Then at about 5 pm there are a few options. I will either arrive at a host where I will spend the night, arrive at my campsite or I have to start asking about and hope that people will let me pitch my tent in their garden. So far I have gotten invited to sleep inside when asking if I can pitch my tent and for that I am very grateful.

Once the place to stay has been sorted I have food chat a bit to the person I am staying with and do some digital work such as editing, posting or researching the next days. I realised I am not great at social media and maintaining it which is why I am now only writing my first blog three weeks and four countries into the journey.

The journey:

On the 21st of August at 11.11 I cycled off from the Vrijthof starting this mega monster super duper crazy cool lunatic charity ride. From one moment to the other I was on my way...

The first few days I followed the rivers Rhein and Main in order to finish in Würzburg. This meant not too much up- or downhill which was greatly appreciated. I cycled on busy cycling paths, met loads of cool people, had the greatest views of old towns and vibrant cities and most importantly crunched miles.

A nice lil' throne one the way to Würzburg.

Then there were some hills and valleys and I arrived on my first place where I had some time off! I just chilled and made sure the bad weather passed by. The aim for the next week was set and it was a new country... Austria, the land of mountain passes, beautiful scenery and yodeling. The first two I got to experience a lot but the latter one not so much.

As I made my way down the Donau in Germany on my way to Austria I clocked my fastest hour on the. 26 km/h, which doesn't sound like a lot but on a 20 years old Koga Randonneur with 40 kg of gear dangling on it the distance is impressive.

Once I crossed the border into Austria I realised that this hour will remain my fastest for quite a while as the Alps arose ahead of me. In Linz I had a day off to try some of the famous Linz cake, arguably the oldest cake in the world.

1000km mark.

Then in the third week I attacked the Alps and had days on which I went up more than 1 km. As in I went 1 km straight into the sky on the bike I mentioned before. I will be honest with anyone reading this, I am impressed by that. At the end of the week I made it to Slovenia and I am now just sitting on the dock of the bay in Bled.

Sunset in bled.

All by myself:

As expected it is difficult to be all alone all the time. Even though I have met the most wonderful people and made great memories with them I am alone on my bike most of the time. It was quite surprising to me that I miss having someone there most in the times things go really well. In moments when I see a beautiful scenery, cycle mad quick or cross a border and tick off another big thing on my way to Hong-Kong I miss being able to share this with someone else. I have called loads of friends and have been very in touch with everyone at home but it is not the same as really having someone there. So I can't wait to have Max cycle by my side.

The backend of the Alps in Slovenia.

Ending: The next blog will be much sooner than in 3 weeks but I am still learning how to balance all the tasks that I have thrown myself at. If you think you can help with anything that comes up in the journey please contact me! Please also make sure to spread our message so that we can make a change in Medellín.