We conceived of this trip - a six month long, +/- 10,000 km amble across the north coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the spring of 2014. The longest bike tour we've done in the past was a 12 day affair around the island of Maui so this is a big step up for us. Though both experienced travelers and bikers, being on the road for 6 months sounds daunting. We've become creatures of habit. We love our comfy 'memory foam' mattress with special pillows, our gourmet kitchen and beautiful home. Our daily lies are rich, varied and full of activities. Squamish is such an awesome place to live. The thought of giving this all up (at least temporarily) and living out of a small tent with all we own strapped to our bikes has us questioning.....what the hell were we thinking? Oh well, too late now. The tickets are bought with departure for Istanbul, our starting point, slated for April 15, 2015.
The map above shows our route, or at least what we thought it might look like when we drew the map. But now, it seems with every new piece of information, with each search of the Internet or look at Google maps we change our planned route. So, we'll let whimsy be our guide and go with the flow. We will want to stay away from busy roads, large cities and we'll avoid the tourist traps. We'll camp where practical but hostels, pensionnes, refugios and AirB&B will provide some comfort and warm showers as needed.
Our flight home is from Malaga in southern Spain so we'll have to average approx. 55 km/day to make it in the time allotted. What with stops, rest days, break downs and the like, it sounds a bit ambitious. Not to mention that we aren't getting any younger. Jim will turn 60 in May and we'll celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary shortly afterwards, and thus the name for our tour - the Never Too Late Tour. It's our way of being optimistic; of convincing ourselves that it is never too late in life to take on something new; of not letting complacency, and the multiple aches and pains of aging get in the way of yet, another small adventure.
We hope you'll enjoy following along.
The map above shows our route, or at least what we thought it might look like when we drew the map. But now, it seems with every new piece of information, with each search of the Internet or look at Google maps we change our planned route. So, we'll let whimsy be our guide and go with the flow. We will want to stay away from busy roads, large cities and we'll avoid the tourist traps. We'll camp where practical but hostels, pensionnes, refugios and AirB&B will provide some comfort and warm showers as needed.
Our flight home is from Malaga in southern Spain so we'll have to average approx. 55 km/day to make it in the time allotted. What with stops, rest days, break downs and the like, it sounds a bit ambitious. Not to mention that we aren't getting any younger. Jim will turn 60 in May and we'll celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary shortly afterwards, and thus the name for our tour - the Never Too Late Tour. It's our way of being optimistic; of convincing ourselves that it is never too late in life to take on something new; of not letting complacency, and the multiple aches and pains of aging get in the way of yet, another small adventure.
We hope you'll enjoy following along.