Cycling Home For Christmas

The Background

I decided many years ago that one day I would cycle home for Christmas.

This was drawn from inspiration when Alastair Humpreys walked home for Christmas and showed what a great adventure it could be, a seed was planted after reading all about it. A year later a good friend of mine Patrick cycled home from London up to Yorkshire, which further set it stone that one day I would mimic their adventures. One thing that was consistent about both of these Microadventures it that is was unsurprisingly cold, and they both found it really tough.

When my family decided to have Christmas in Germany one year, I thought this was a great opportunity for a mini tour of Europe.

A quick check on Komoot and from Dieppe where the ferry would dock onto the continent, to where the Johnson Clan had set up base in Treis Karden, was roughly 600km. I foolishly commited to try and do it one go – with no overnight stops.

Less foolishly I also decided I would use this event to raise the profile of a great charity Naomi House and Jacksplace. A children’s hospice in Wessex who offer respite, community, emergency, end of life and post bereavement care on good days, difficult days and last days

I made a rule for the donations that the maximum amount could only be £2. I did this so that more people would be able to donate, and then I would increase the supporters of the cause and therefore increase the awareness of the charity.

My training leading up to this went pretty well with a couple of 200km days completed with relative ease, I was pretty confident on the night before departure.

Kit packed onto my Marin Gestalt using a frame bag and adapted Thule handlebar bag and I was all ready.

All kitted out ready to go!

The Warm Up Leg

Leg 1 saw me cycle 127km from Winchester to Newhaven with roughly 800m of climbing. A relatively average day in the grand scheme of things and something I was not overly concerned on. The headwind and rain had other ideas though making it much tougher. I arrived into the ferry port much more fatigued than I had expected. I also managed to get a puncture in the last 200m of the day which added further insult.

The ferry over didn’t provide as much rest as I had wished. I stupidly forgot to consider the time it was planned to dock was an hour ahead. Instead of being a 5 hour journey it was only 4, so I ended up losing an hour sleep. After faffing with my kit and repairing the puncture I only got 2 hours of unbroken sleep, and then getting up early enough for some breakfast.

This lack of sleep really wasn't factored into things and was due to make an already tough next leg, even tougher.

The colourful beach huts near the end point

What Have I Done!?

After leaving the enclosed port in Dieppe at 0500, which gave me a false sense of current weather conditions, followed by a steady climb out of the city, I was presented with the most unappealing cycling conditions one could hope for.

Headwind, rain, cold, dark and no cycle lane.

Thankfully I was lit up like a Christmas tree and in France they are very accommodating to cyclists.

The first 90km of the ride was absolutely miserable. Non-stop headwind and rain.

I waited patiently for the sunrise to hopefully warm me up and boost morale, but thanks to heavy cloud cover and rain it was not the feel good factor I had hoped for after 4 hours of head down pedalling.

I waited until I was warm, it was light and I had eaten my breakfast before making the claim that it was the hardest 100km I had every ridden. Compared to any event or route I had done in the past, the first 100km was very, very tough.

As I passed through France thankfully the rest of the country was a lot more enjoyable on quiet roads and even had some sun for company.

Things stayed pretty steady after the first pit stop until I left France. Quiet roads which were generally pretty flat, I was able to make decent time. It also wasn't raining and I had dried off from the mornings downpour, so generally morale was good.

My aim was to do six, 100km blocks. After each block I would have a decent feed, recharge my kit, and fill up my water. This worked out to roughly 4 hours of cycling during my time in France when it was light, warm and flat.

I felt so good towards the end of the day in France, that when the light was fading that instead of going in for a rest at the end of a scheduled 100km block, I opted to keep going making full use of the remaining light.

I finished France off in good spirits. The biggest country leg complete and I was happy with the dent it made in the overall distance. The roads were perfect for this kind of thing, and the courteous drivers always make cycling here much easier. A big element of luck also worked out that each pit stop had decent food along with places to get everything charged. I also remained warm and dry which always help!

Sound On! The only footage from that first 100km

The view for most of my time France

A rather uninspiring border crossing

The fuel of Champions whilst airing out my feet

Into the Witching Hours

I entered Belgium in the night with temperatures just hovering about zero. This momentous occasion was marked by an imaginary line on a pitch black B-road in the middle of a field.

I was only in Belgium for about 55km so it was short and sweet in terms of distance. I had planned to stop in Arlon, which was the last town before I left the country, at 04:00. However there was nothing open, no kebab shops, vending machines, petrol stations, nothing. Which isn't particularly surprising considering how early/late it was, but it did prove a real frustration. I was at this point now really cold. I put on my wet weather gear purely to keep me warm, and kept my head down for Luxembourg. It was only 40km but it was a real battle. I was massively flagging here.

Thankfully passing into Luxembourg for sunrise helped put a smile back on my face. I found a petrol station selling food and coffee. If that place had floor space for me to curl up, or even a chair to sit down on, I am pretty confident I would still be there now! I was so tired, with no energy and struggling leave.

Thankfully the next block from here took me to the city of Bitburg in Germany. Somewhere I was really looking forward to stopping at, and entering Germany signalled I was close. Leaving Luxembourg was a delight, the city is beautiful and I was on a cycle highway which was ace. Even more important as I was super sleepy at this stage so not having to worry about cars made it much better!

Germany decided to throw a spanner in the works with the road I was meant to cycle on giving me a big red no-entry sign, a Komoot special it would appear. It was at this point I knew I was knackered. All I had to do was simply reroute from where I was, to where I wanted to go, which was only about 20km away. This took me ages, I couldn't think straight and struggled with any decision making. Thankfully a friendly local told me about a cycle path which went all the way to Bitburg. A slight detour from my original route but I managed to reach my well-deserved Bitburger Pils in Bitburg, along with a nice big German meal.

A morale boosting pint

The Home Stretch

The final section was about 115km and took me from Bitburg to the end point.

There was no rain forecast so to help freshen me up I opted to change into my spare cycling clothes in the hope it would give me a new lease of life - it did not.

Navigating out of Bitburg was all smooth and I headed for the Mosel river. There was one cheeky climb, the last of the trip, to get me onto this flat cycle highway, which felt way worse than it actually was.

As the sun set I was on the flat and winding cycling path following the Mosel river, past Cochem castle all the way to Tries-Kardon. I slumped onto my aero bars and just let my legs tick over as much as they would allow. The aero bars did help in the trip in providing me with an advantage in terms of efficiency, but more than anything they allowed me to mix up my riding position from time to time, and ultimately give my arms a rest from holding me up on my handlebars. Right now that's exactly what it was doing, it allowed me to just lean on them and take away some effort in my upper body.

I got into Tries-Kardon 39 hours after leaving Dieppe. I had expected it would take me about 30. The vast majority of this extra time was lost in the final third of the ride. None of this was made helpful I don't think as I was doing this after 2 hours sleep and a pretty tough day riding into Newhaven the day before.

But, saying all that. What did I expect? It was a ridiculously long way, in winter, so surely it was going to be difficult.

I arrived into Tries-Kardon so tired I forgot to get a celebratory photo to finish. I stumbled inside, greeted by my family, and then handed a beer.

The next few days I was shattered, and I had an appetite which took full advantage of the delicious German Christmas Market food and drink.

Will I do something like this again? Probably, but hopefully in the summer months!

Full breakdown of stats are available on Strava:

Distance = 611km

Total Climbing = 4,741m

Average Speed = 20.7kmph

Elapsed time = 39 hours Riding time = 29.5 hours

Average heart rate = 121 bpm

Total Calories = 12,495

The final climb overlooking the Mosel river

The day after - still looking and feeling rough!

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