Two reports today - one for cyclists and one for the support team

Cyclists - Without Dom Where Would We Be?

3rd January - Midyat to Batman - distance 82km - descent 370m - av speed 20.5km/hr - current position 41,07E 37,50N

Accusations were flying over breakfast with Dom accusing Jamie of horrendous snoring. Whilst he claimed to have recorded the snoring (sad I know but our Dom is very thorough!) the supposed evidence was pitiful if that. As Dom retreated with tail between his legs the cyclists (with the support team still travelling across Turkey to meet back up with the team) set off at just gone 8am for the leg to Batman.

First 25km saw a gradual rise of around 150m with road quality leaving something to be desired. Scenery was a mixture of Provence and the Peak District – beautiful. Snow peaked mountains came closer and finally we reached the remains of previous snow fall. After a quick break at 21km, the riders were greeted with a wonderful 25km descent into Hasankef. The roads were covered with the names of famous riders - Armstrong, Virenque, Ullrich, Clarke, Rouan, Faulkner, Lyle and Sanderson to name a few. The only problem was – where was Dom our intrepid leader?! A text message soon gave us the answer – he had punctured and had no pump! Now Dom always tells us about the 7 p’s that constitute a successful trip (prior preparation and planning prevents p… poor performance) – if only he had listened to his own advice.. Being the intuitive leader that he is, he managed to walk the bike to a garage and watched while a local gave his bike wheel a thorough MOT. Whilst all this was occurring at the top of the mountain, the others were at a local school. Whilst Jamie played football with the school boys and scored 2 wonder goals (he outjumped the 12 year olds to score a headed goal), Sarah chatted to about 50 school children and Pauline and Nic were marched into the Head Masters office. Luckily for the 2 of them, the Head Master gave them cups of tea whilst they watched Jamie and Sarah outside.

After lunch the riders passed through wonderful scenery along the waters of Hasankef and were re-united with the support team of Dickie and Rowena just outside Batman. The final 15km passed by and the sight of hotel with Turkish Bath and sauna was more than welcomed. It would have been very rude for us not to have sampled the full range of services on offer. As I type I can hear Rowena enjoying the masseur...

Posted by Nic

Support - We’re Back

1st to 3rd January - Al Qamishli to Batman - distance 1280km

There now follows a brief version of events which took place over the last few days. To some this may seem long winded but you are the lucky ones who have the choice to stop reading whereas we had to endure the world's craziest border.

After escaping through the short route to Turkey the cyclists thought they would be free from the drive and direction from the slave drivers in support. Wrong. We’re back and just in time. The statistics speak for themselves. Over the last 3 days the cyclists have completed a leisurely 130km. Something to do with mountains and heavy packs on their backs. In the same time Martha has fought crocodiles, dodged suicide drivers and completed a 1300km diversion and all for $100.

So why 2 days to cross the border I hear you ask. Well the question did cross our minds as well but it is all in a name you know. Our documents stated that we would cross at Bab Al Hawa so of course that is where we had to cross. The fact that we told everyone when we entered Syria where we were going and what we were up to obviously fell on deaf ears and was missed by the company that sorted our papers and everyone else we asked on the way that said that it would not be a problem. It must be said at this juncture that the Syrian border guards, police and customs did sympathize but could not slip us through, despite what seemed like a last ditch effort to break through with a policeman hanging on to the back seat only to be stopped short outside immigration again. So Ro and I had a mini adventure and a slow lesson in bureaucracy.

It took us about 6 hours to make it to the border at Bab Al Hawa. The Syrian roads are nothing to write home about. They are generally in order and only have the odd pot hole. They are quite empty so most hazards can be missed with ease. The roads are raised and have a little hard shoulder before dropping off into random fields. The most dangerous thing about the roads is the Syrian drivers. Utterly dreadful and placing their faith in Allah at every moment. The overtaking manoeuvres are frightening and the lorries think nothing of coming in your lane and staying there. Luckily we have discovered we are some form of a cat hybrid outliving their miserly 9 lives.

At the border we were to call a mysterious man called Mohammed Ewsef. I suspected that he was some kind of Kaiser Solksa man from the Usual Suspects but allegedly he did exist but he would not see us and he may turn up the next day and may give us our money but may not. At this stage it came down to a matter of principle. It was only $100 but I was dammed if this company who had already screwed up our paperwork were going to get us again. The Syrian customs man was a star and as we were wondering whether we would be able to cross the border he took us to diner in their work restaurant. Very civilised and just what we needed at the time. After lots of messages and what seemed like a team of 6 customs and movers and shakers on the case a man in a scouser shell suit arrived. He of course refused to give us the money without a Turkish stamp. Now with a single entry visa to Syria this is not the easiest thing to achieve. Requesting a policeman to take statements about the theft taking place he almost came around to my way of thinking. $60 up front and the remaining $40 on return of the illusive stamp. At about 0015 our papers were declared ok by the Syrian customs men so we agreed that we would hope to return within the hour to receive the extra $40. Of course nothing is quite that easy. You see the Customs men don’t talk to the police guards so we had to explain to everyone we met that we were just popping to turkey for a stamp and returning. They thought we were insane but being British we can get away with it.

On entering Turkey it was like entering the twilight zone. Cheerful Police greeted us and asked why we didn’t have a number plate and the ritual begun. We found Turkish customs and a very polite man who just looked at the papers. After looking at the papers for more than 30 minutes he said come back tomorrow. We said no so he gave them another stiff looking at and told us to go back to the police. The police as confused as we were, just stamped it to get rid of us. At 0230 we found our little weasel of a man and claimed victory. At 0300 we slept in the van outside duty free.

The next morning started well. A few small treats for the team and into Turkey. We were instantly recognised and waved through which was nice. Immigration was straightforward and having purchased our visas we set about the small issue of Martha. Our papers from Jordan and Syria were not good enough so they said we should go back and get some new ones (one of the many ridiculous ideas floated). We were then taken to a new room where we sat for an hour while they discussed the papers. Unfortunately that is all they did. Ro eventually got bored and went off sketching leaving me to get on with things. Eventually a bond was decided upon as the best course of action and the only way we could get through. A great idea until they decided that it should be $6500. There was a convoluted calculation to reach this sum but however calculated it was impossible. The nearest bank is some 15km away and you are only allowed to take $2000 into the country which we didn’t have a call to the British Embassy was in order. Luckily we had been talking to Gulsen for a few days and she was very helpful. I do not know which of the many calls swung it but the bond was significantly reduced to a working sum we could afford. All it needed then was a further 2 hours to do the paperwork. During this time Rowena sketched and I was swung from office to office getting insurance and being offered food. It must be said that although the process makes paint drying look interesting the staff were incredibly polite and couldn’t do enough for you. They understood our plight but rules is rules and trying to create a logical solution is not simple.

At 1350 we exited the gates and started our drive for freedom. Immediately struck by the lush pastures and snow topped mountains we were relieved to be on our way. The roads and driving skills are not dissimilar to Syria but it was a long slog. We had to go North 100 Km before heading East. I must admit that I slept for most of the afternoon and drove the night stint. We did manage a brief dinner stop but at midnight a hotel was needed. 150 km short of our target of Batman but not a bad effort.

This morning we had lie in until 0900. Luxury. Soup for breakfast was odd but beat the runny eggs and very odd cheeses on offer. By lunchtime we had found a hotel for the team received an odd call from Dom requesting a bike pump and rescuing and set off to find them. It didn’t take long and we were pleased to see the familiar silhouettes of the bikes in the distance. Sarah was very pleased to see us and tried to go over her handle bars and through Martha’s windscreen but luckily Martha survived unscathed. Re-united we will ensure the cyclists get moving again not only to stay warm but selfishly I have wind that there is a ski resort 100 km down the road and a little play may be in order.

Posted by Dickie

Into Turkey and into the hills

2nd January - Nusabin to Midyat - distance 50km - ascent 480m - av speed 15km/hr - current position 41,20E 37,20N

The cyclists had a prompt start, fuelled by a puff pastry cheesy roll from a bakery across the road which rapidly filled up with interested school children ("collars up is cool wherever you go" noted Pauline). The terrain has completely changed; the start of the mountains mark the boundary between Syria and Turkey. The road started in the valley floor, winding inbetween the peaks next to a small, crystal clear river - the number of cafes suggest that the valley must be quite a tourist spot in the summer. Nic and Jamie streaked ahead and we found them trying to throw rocks into an open-roofed hut 30m away - they weren't leaving until one had gone in.....so Dom obliged! The route then turned uphill onto the plateau. It was quite a climb, broken only to photograph the truck which had fallen half way down the hillside.

We came up into a wetter environment, the colour of the landscape has changed from burnt orange to brown (with pink limestone for the rock lovers!). Now back in mobile signal we heard from Ro and Dickie - the border crossing has been trickier than they hoped but 'there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel'. More details will follow when we are reunited. However, given the dwindling day length as we go north and our reluctance to be on the road too long after dark without support we chose to stay put in Midyat and push on to Batman tomorrow.

The cyclists are currently all in an internet cafe (from where I hope this will load up ok) drinking Turkish coffee (it has a caramel tint, mmmm), Ro and Dickie are 400km east of us and going for Batman.....will we ever see them again? Log on tomorrow to find out!

Posted by Sarah

Divided we continue

1st January - Al Qamishli to Nusaybin - distance 15km - ascent 150m - av speed 22km/hr - current position 41,10E 37,04N

Long story short - Ro and Dickie drove ahead of us to the border, some 12km north from the hotel. We followed an hour later and were through to Turkey with everything ticked and stamped before Dickie and Ro had given their passports over. The problem is that Martha is supposed to go through a different border crossing 500km east of where we were. We'd been told by lots of people (some very important) that we'd be fine but these officials were having none of it so the team was split up - the cyclists continued into Turkey and our wonderful support team took one for the team and have started the long drive round.

The light was fading by the time we had gone through the paper pushing of the border so the cyclists stayed in the town just on the Turkish side. We passed the afternoon eating burgers and cakes, did emails for an hour and then returned for pizza and more cake! The forced short day will no doubt do our legs good, we just hope the border crossing goes ok for the others....

Posted by Sarah

First 1000km...come on!

31st December - Marqadah to Al Qamishli - distance 167km - ascent 110m - av speed 22.1km/hr - current position 41,15E 36,55N

It was an early, chilly start and we were glad to put foot to stirrup and warm up. The first 25km leg passed quickly, particularly quickly for the boys who tractor surfed 20km of it! The girls, being much more purist chose to do it under their own steam, however, when Martha came by at a perfect 30km/hr it would have been rude not to slide into her slip stream, and so Pauline and Sarah had their first surf.

The day passed uneventfully through vast, flat, ochre desert punctuated with colourful washing lines and rows of pylons. The people remain friendly though fewer speak english and there is an increasingly Kurdish feel to the place. Over lunch there were discussions as to how to approach the Turkish border; while Syria will let us out easily enough we need certain documents for Turkey which may not be available at every crossing point. Dickie and Nic spoke to the British Embassy, but information was sparse and so the plan remained fluid.

Just when I was disparing that there was nothing to talk about today Jamie proposed an idea, "sack camping, lets push on through the night to the border, it's only another 55km", prompting a look of horror from Pauline! It turned out to be a great idea. Sarah donned her 'be safe, be seen, (be sad according to the boys)' flouro jacket, head torches were on, Ro and Dickie filled us up with more tea and we cracked on. By 5pm it was pitch black and the novelty of cycling in the dark took our minds off the distance. We whipped along in good time, Dom setting a good pace at the front. On the penultimate leg that first 1000km arrived and Nic led a chorus of ogi ogi ogi. Before we knew it Ro and Dickie had returned with more tea and news of a lovely hotel 14km away - fanastigorical! Ro, aka monkey, did some more filming from the top of the van on the final leg and then, after 167km and 7 1/2 hours in the saddle, we arrived at a hotel with duvets, underfloor heating, hot showers, Amstell larger and a feast fit for kings.

We managed auld lang syne at midnight after a fast and furious pub quiz, and then by 12.10 we were all fast asleep. It was a really long day but that final push to the hotel really made it.

Posted by Sarah

Camel road kill

30th December - Deir Ezzor to Marqadah - distance 94km - ascent 85m - av speed 21km/hr - current position 40,45E 35,45N

After making use of the hot powerful showers in the hotel for one last time, we prepared to straddle our saddles once again and head back into the desert, the Turkish border almost in our sights. The first 25 km went rather quickly for some, especially for Jamie who has mastered the art of truck surfing! This is where you gather speed as a truck overtakes,and then tuck in behind it and enjoy the pull from the slip stream. Nic and Dom were obviously very jealous of Jamie's skill and attempted to truck surf with him but just couldn't keep up. Maybe a few lessons are in order! After a water break, Dickie decided to stretch his legs and joined the cyclists for a couple of 25km sections. All was going well for him until as if out of nowhere a couple of snarling dogs took to his tail, barking and snapping at his heels. In a mad panic and without knowing his own strength, he pushed a little bit too hard on his peddles and broke his chain. Luckily the dogs soon lost interest and while Sarah and Pauline cycled on to meet Ro so they could help with lunch, Dom and Nic got to exercise their bicycle repair skills and fixed Dickie's bike in no time. Just over the hill, Ro had prepared an amazing lunch which included some left over pizza from last night - very tasty! While Pauline and Ro returned to their youth and started doing hand stands, the rest of the team made full use of Ro's new rugs and enjoyed the sunshine.

After lunch most of us were frustrated by the head wind, but Sarah was having more trouble from a couple of kids on a motorbike who kept riding past and slapping her bum. However they soon realised that this was not a good idea as she told them to "**** off or I'll **** your **** ** ******". The strong head wind seriously slowed our progress and it soon got to that point in the day where we had to start looking for somewhere out of sight to camp. As Pauline led us out of a small village, a stone thrown by a group of kids went whizzing past her wheel but this soon stopped as Dom, Jamie and Nic rode past looking very mean - they're all talk these kids! We found a good camping spot a couple of Km off the road. The tent now gets put up in no time at all as team work comes naturally to such a bunch of experts. We are also so organised that we can even manage to fit in and gin and juice before dinner. "umm no lemon, just ice in mine thanks Pauline".

Posted by Jamie

To the Euphrates

29th December - Middle of nowhere to Deir Ezzor - distance 104km - descent 120m - av speed 24.8km/hr - current position - 40,12E 35,20N

“Don’t move! Relax and stay where you are!” .....No we were not being held up by bandits, we were trying to get everybody to relax so they could take their resting heartbeat for our stats report. It isn’t easy getting a bunch of laid back people like ourselves to settle for long enough to get the proper reading. After a veritable feast and a good nights kip in the desert, how could we have anything less than a low reading…unless you are Sarah who had an ‘action’ dream and needed to go to the loo so much her rate was racing……ask no more?!

Anyway our star team, Ro and Dickie keep presenting pleasant surprises on us and this morning was no exception with chocolate spread, jam and honey to add to our choice of how to make flat bread more interesting. They also keep us away from dismantling the tent as our ‘that will do’ attitude could mean that our gorgeous tent may not last the trip.

Nic, our illustrious navigational leader (and leader of the cleanest bike award) led the way on the bikes this morning for our 25km stints which flew by as we had a tail wind. Even I got a high average speed. One of our stops coincided with an intriguing set up of a small tent, a woman with an enthusiastic wave beckoning us to come near and a smart car pulling out. Curiosity prevailed and as we cycled up and introduced ourselves, the woman’s attire and make-up struck us a unusual, as all the other roadside women we’d seen had been shepherdesses and this lady had loads of makeup, a rather unforgiving tight fitting dress with low cut neck and no sleeves. It wasn’t long before we realised we had just met our first ‘lady of the road’ and our normally un-phasable men decided it was time to go but not before Jamie asked for a photo to add to his Syrian cultural photo album. Funnily enough he was refused. Don’t ask, don’t get!

We cycled on and got to Deir Ezzor where Dickie and Ro had found us a great hotel and wanted to show us some of those chaotic road systems that seem to work without rules. Ro took to the roof to catch on film the fun that bikes can have dodging cars, children, bikes, hundreds of people and barrows in narrow streets. Dom’s previous bike courier days means we have a natural role model for dodging, avoiding or creating mayhem. The fact we are here at all created a Mexican wave reaction in the market streets with men and children crying out from their chat tables and stalls with greetings of welcome. Syria has exceeded our expectations in more ways than one.

Finally, we got the email working last night so we can now send as well as receive. Many many thanks to Kenrick Turner back in the UK without whom this would not have been possible. Thank you!!

Posted by Pauline

Winkler here we come!

28th December - Palmyra to the middle of nowhere - distance 112km- descent 24m - av speed 25.6km/hr - current position - 39,25E 34,50N

After arriving at our genuine oasis in the desert it was always going to be hard to leave the delights of Palmyra. It had been a welcome respite from the hardships of the long road. After a late start trying to get the solar panel to work we were on the road for about 10am, much later than usual.

Our tailwind seems to have deserted us, nevertheless we made steady progress settling into our routine of 25km legs. These take about an hour and the system seems to work well. Everyone cycles at their own pace but we usually arrive within a few minutes of each other. The monotony of the desert is not nearly as demanding as we thought it might be. Our pace is such that the horizon is constantly changing and the hills andx scarps on either side of the road are particularly stunning in late afternoon light. Despite the scenery most of the team members have now reached for their Ipods. All except Dom of course who left his on the kitchen table at home where he wouldn't forget it! Thankfully Nic took pity on him for the last two legs and leant him his high intensity aerobics mix.

To break the day we came off the road into a small town to find a drink. After stopping at a cafe in the centre of town we were besieged by a crowd of children. Tourists were clearly a novelty here! Pauline and Jamie took charge teaching them songs and magic tricks. We escaped back to the main road chased by a growing crowd down the main street. A few km down the road we were caught by Dickie and Ro who had been doing a major shop back in Palmyra. Sarah needed some urgent medical attention after impaling herself on a rusty pole at the side of the road - say no more.... Another half hour into the wind and we pulled up behind a rocky crag at the side of the road where we've made ourselves a very homely camp. The generator is on powering our remoska cooker for roasted vegetables later after beers and G and Ts. It's a hard life!

We're now a week into our cycling and finally we're settling into some kind of routine. Dickie and Ro are doing a fantastic job of supporting us and trying to feed us enough food. Despite this we're already losing weight as its simply impossible to consume enough calories for the exercise we're doing. Nevertheless the whole team are performing superbly and we're working together seamlessly. The days are packed with cycling, making camp and then of course updating the website. We've had some excellent feedback from those following our progress. Please do pass on the details of what we're doing by email to those in your address book. We're trying to raise a significant amount for charity of course and the more support and interest we have the better. Feel free to add a link direct to the website.

We heard yesterday that a German cyclist Gerry Winkler is attempting the same journey as us. He is some weeks ahead of us and will be on the South side of the mountain at the same time as we are on the North. We wish him well of course despite the bizarre coincidence that he is following the very route that has been posted on our site for the last year! This is not an easy journey to complete especially if you're on your own. We of course have the support of each other and cycling as a team of 5 is much easier. Nevertheless the pressure is on. England 5 - Germany 1, ring any bells! Place your bets.....

Posted by Dom