1. The tallest motorbike in the Guinness Book of World Records was built and ridden by Gregory Dunham. It was over 11 feet from the ground to the handle bars. The tires alone were 6 feet tall and the entire bike weighed 2.94 tons. 

2. Tom Wiberg of Hökerum, Sweden built the world’s smallest motorbike. The wheel base was 3.14 inches, and the seat was a mere 2.55 inches off the ground. This mini-motorbike can go a whopping 1.24 mph. Wiberg managed to ride the bike 32.8 feet. 

3. The longest motorbike was built by Oleg Rogov in Tver, Russia on December 19, 2005. The motorbike was over 31 feet. 

4. The longest motorbike ride through a tunnel of fire was made by Hou Jun in Changchun City, Jilin Province, China on July 19, 2007. The flaming tunnel was 178 ft. 10 inches. 

5. Billy Baxter, who lost his eyesight while serving in Bosnia, set the record for blind solo land speed on a motorbike at 164.87 mph on August 2, 2003. 

6. Hou Xiaobin of Binzhou City, China broke the record of the longest backward motorbike ride on October 4, 2006. Hou rode his motorbike backward 93.21 miles. 

7. The largest motorbike pyramid was built in Jabalpur, India on July 5, 2001 by the Dare Devils Team of the Indian Army Signal Corps. The pyramid, consisting of 201 men balanced on 10 motorbikes traveled 424 feet. 

8. Robbie Maddison broke the famous Eval Kneival’s record of longest motorbike jump in Las Vegas in January of 2008 by jumping his bike 277 feet. 

9. Emilio Scotto made the longest motorbike journey, traveling a total of 500,000 over ten years. Emilio began mapping out his route when he was eight years old. He’s even written a book detailing his epic journey. 

10. The largest parade of Harley Davidson motorbikes was conducted for charity in Denver, Colorado on December 8, 2002 and included 2,118 riders.

Ici, on ne voit pas très bien, en raison du contrejour, causé par le soleil couchant, mais si l'on regarde bien, on peut voir l'ouverture pratiquée dans la forêt, pour laisser place à l'A-5.

On voit l'amoncellement de blocs de styromousse, installés afin de servir de base à la chaussée de l'A-5, en direction sud.  Cette technique est utilisée pour réduire le poids des matériaux qui servent de base à la chaussée.

En me retournant vers le nord, on voit la fin de l'amoncellement de blocs de styromousse, à l'endroit où il reste encore un peu de montagne à retirer.

Au bout des blocs, en regardant plus loin, vers le sud, le terrassement de l'A-5 sud est plus avancé.

Cette fois, c'est la chaussée vers le nord, que l'on voit, mais en regardant vers le sud.  À l'avant-plan, une potence de lampadaire, avec la conduite électrique, en plastique.  Au-delà de la potence, la conduite est fraîchement recouverte de sable,...

...alors que si l'on regarde vers le nord, la conduite n'est pas encore recouverte.  Au loin, à droite, c'est la route 105.

À nouveau, la chaussée nord, vue d'un peu plus loin, vers le sud.

Sur la chaussée sud de l'A-5, un plan de concassage.  Il est fréquent, sur des chantiers de cette envergure, que l'on installe une telle usine directement sur le site, ce qui réduit le transport de la pierre fraîchement dynamitée.

Entre les deux chaussées, un poste de pesée, pour les camions qui transportent la pierre concassée.

Le soleil commence sérieusement à baisser.  Ici, à gauche, la bretelle d'entrée, depuis le chemin de la Rivière, et à droite, la chaussée nord de l'A-5.

Nous voici tout près du viaduc que l'on a vu dans la première moitié du paquet de photos.  En contrebas, la bretelle de sortie, à la fin actuelle de l'A-5 nord.

Cette fois, c'est le viaduc de l'A-5, en direction sud, au niveau du chemin de la Rivière.  Au loin, les feux des véhicules qui prennent l'A-5 sud, vers Gatineau.

Dans les commentaires reçus suite à la publication de la première moitié des photos de ce chantier, celui de Félix, qui me disait que ce petit bout de chemin, qui relie la fin actuelle de l'A-5 à la route 105 n'est pas une portion de chemin de la Rivière.  À proprement parler, il a raison, parce que l'intersection de la route 105 et du vrai chemin de la rivière est située à environ 125 pieds au sud de celle de ce chemin de raccord.  Je ne voudrais pas créer de désaccord, ici; il est plus que probable que la municipalité de Chelsea, là où se situe la scène, n'appelle pas ce raccord "chemin de la Rivière", mais quand l'A-5 sera prolongée, la sortie 21 sera identifiée comment, d'après vous?  Je n'ai pas interrogé qui que ce soit, au MTQ, mais il est plus que probable que l'on voit, sur la supersignalisation, la mention "chemin de la Rivière", probablement accompagnée d'une mention pour le Parc de la Gatineau, parce qu'il n'y a pas vraiment autre chose, dans les environs, que ce soit un chemin principal, ou un périmètre urbain quelconque.

Par contre, ce même Félix a aussi mentionné que "ça sent 2009".  Sur ce point, le MTQ, sur son site web, prévoit que ce tronçon sera effectivement ouvert à l'automne de 2009.  Le site raconte également, de façon plus vague, en utilisant le terme "échéancier technique planifié", que le tronçon suivant, de six kilomètres et demi, qui permettra de relier l'autre tronçon existant de l'A-5, près du village de Wakefield, dans la municipalité de La Pêche, sera construit entre 2009 et 2012, alors que le dernier, long d'environ un kilomètre, qui permettra d'éviter une section particulièrement dangereuse, sur la route 105, devrait être réalisé à partir de 2013, et être ouvert à la circulation en 2014.

A lot has been happening, and more good things are in the works. 

We have joined with Bike Michiana to form an alliance to promote bike lanes and paths throughout the community. We look forward to meeting with the County Commissioners, St. Joseph County Area Planning Department, and MACOG later this month to discuss this process and how we can all work together.

We were asked by MACOG to apply for a Safe Routes to School Grant.

Friends of Granger Paths was chosen by INOVA Federal Credit Union to receive their Grand Opening Gift to the Community in the amount of $500.

We hope to have a "Where's the Path? Community Walk" where the public can meet members of the board: we'll invite them to bring their kids, friends, and others to take a brisk walk around a neighborhood, enjoy the community and learn more about us.

Anyone wanting to know more about Granger Paths is invited to attend a meeting. We meet the first Tuesday of the month at the Harris Township Library at 6:30 p.m. Our web site, www.grangerpaths.org also has more good information.

One of our sponsors is the Granger Good Shepherd Church. They will have a "Harvest Happening" Sunday October 12th 2-5 p.m. to benefit Broadway Christian Parish Food Pantry & Good Shepherd Paper Pantry. Activities will include:

• A soccer clinic with Bethel College Soccer Players (2:30 p.m.)
• Bounce House
• Hayrides!!!
• Kids Games
• Bake Sale

Admission is a canned food item or paper product! Good Shepherd is on Elm Rd across from the Fire Station & Library

[Note: The photos are big. I mistakenly changed a setting on the camera and am too tired to adjust things now. More landmark pics are available on Flickr.]

I used to be smart. Today I decided that I'd ride my bike in to school  and take photos along the way so you all can get a mini tour of Rogers Park and Evanston. There are a few landmarks on my route -- the Dagel & Beli shop a few blocks from my house, the cemetery on the border of Chicago and Evanston, and the construction site near campus -- that help me know how much farther I've got to pedal before I reach my destination. I thought it would be fun to share these with all of you. So I grabbed my super cool tripod and wrapped my camera around the handlebars of my bike. I was off!

The ride this morning was perfect. It was still cool out and there weren't too many crazy drivers on the road. I snapped photos left and right, imagining capturing the landmarks not only for you but for Google Maps. A few people caught me in the act as I whizzed by on the bike, but they didn't seem to mind the flashbulbs.

Fast forward to 4:10pm when I was ready to bike home. It was raining. Now, a smarter woman would simply have ridden her bike to the train station and opted to allow public transportation to get her home. I decided to risk it since it was just a light rain. A sprinkle, really. And, besides, it wouldn't take me long to get home.

Well, that light sprinkle turned into a deluge just as I reached the cute little cafe in Evanston I've been wanting to try. By the time I reached the cemetery a half mile away, it was no longer fun trying to see  through the rain pouring off my helmet. Fifteen minutes later, when I was actually home, I was soaked. And dirty. And I had to laugh at myself for not believing the weatherman when he said it was going to rain today. Apparently in Chicago, the rain really does arrive when they expect it. Now I know.

"In 50 m turn left"

"route recalculation" "route recalculation" " route...route...route" ....and by this point you just might be so pissed with you SatNav system you will have surely missed your turn.  Mio Map's James** did cost us about an hour in Brasov after refusing to give us any more instruction because of going off route (despite the fact that Ioana** usually did route recalculations).

For all you lucky TomTom users out there we have great news, the boring "bestemming bereikt" *** with "Thank God you're there , I can shut up  now" . If the most fun you could have with you satnav was set in it swedish and listen to the directions on your usuall road home now you can have Eddie Izzard yelling at you "you turn ahead, I'll stay here" . Sounds to good to be true? Go here for proof. Already convinged? You can buy it via CC at EddieIzzard.com . Instruction are available for free on the same website, just in case you go " I don't need these, I have used machines before"...and chuck 'em out a window.

*or 6.2 € but with the financial thingie going on now that may vary

** standard Mio voices Jame for English, Ioana for Romanian.

*** destination reached = (nl) destination reached

C'est sur l'A-55, cette fois, à la hauteur de Saint-Wenceslas, près du site de pesée des camions, en direction sud, que la mort a frappé.  Une dame de 76 ans, passagère d'une petite Chevrolet Aveo, a perdu la vie, à la suite d'une manoeuvre de dépassement, ratée par la conductrice de la même voiture, une autre dame, âgée de 50 ans, celle-là.  Cette dernière a subi des blessures sérieuses, mais on ne craindrait pas pour sa vie.  Il semble que la conductrice aurait voulu dépasser, dans un endroit où la manoeuvre était permise, mais elle aurait hésité à le faire.  Elle se serait retrouvée dans la voie en sens inverse, et serait d'abord entrée en collision avec une première voiture.  La voiture de la dame serait alors partie en tête-à-queue, et aurait été heurtée, cette fois à l'arrière, par une seconde voiture, qui venait, elle aussi, en sens inverse.

En tout, cet accident a fait pas moins de sept blessés, en plus du décès de la septuagénaire.

La question revient, encore une fois.  Les autoroutes de type super-2 sont-elles sécuritaires?  Voyons les probabilités, dans le cas de cet accident.

L'accident aurait-il pu être évité si l'A-55, à cet endroit, avait été munie d'une bande rugueuse, sur la ligne médiane, comme celle que l'on installe sur l'A-50, entre Grenville-sur-la-Rouge et Mirabel?  Probablement pas, puisque la tentative de dépassement s'est effectuée à un endroit où elle était légale, si l'on en croit les policiers interrogés dans le reportage.

L'accident aurait-il pu être évité si l'A-55, à cet endroit,avait été construite sur deux chaussées séparées?  Définitivement!  La dame aurait pu dépasser en toute sécurité, puisque aucun véhicule n'aurait pu venir en sens inverse, ceux-ci roulant sur l'autre chaussée.

Ce n'est qu'un exemple de plus, qui s'ajoute à tant d'autres, de décès facilement évitables, sur le réseau autoroutier québécois.  Les campagnes de pub de la SAAQ, le bras "promotionnel" du MTQ, disent "Nous sommes tous responsables de notre conduite, sur la route".  Par contre, le MTQ a tendance à oublier qu'il est responsable de la route, sur laquelle on conduit.  Et si la ministre des transports, Julie Boulet, était interrogée, suite à cet accident, elle répondrait probablement que l'on ne peut pas tout faire en même temps, qu'elle a déjà procédé à des investissements record, ou encore, comme l'a fait son ex-collègue du conseil des ministres, Michel Després, du temps où c'est lui qui régnait, au MTQ, que "quand il est question de sécurité, il n'y a pas de budget qui tienne."  Vous vous souvenez, en 2006, à Laval, tout près d'un viaduc qui s'était écroulé?

Il serait grandement temps que la ministre des transports démontre, hors de tout doute, et à la face de la population, que "quand il est question de sécurité, il n'y a pas de budget qui tienne", et qu'elle procède à la construction de la deuxième chaussée de toutes les super-2 du Québec.  Il faut que les autoroutes du Québec soient toutes dignes de porter le nom d'autoroute, et le gouvernement se doit d'investir dans ce sens dès maintenant.

Reference: 1218735614

ERS (www.ersjobs.co.uk) have a Client urgently seeking to appoint a Technical Clerk at their Wallsend office. Wallsend is the base for Engineers supporting a long term legacy PLC replacement project, for fuel route control systems on AGR nuclear power plants. A Technical Clerk is required to support the team of Engineers, to include technical documentation control and general administrative support. There may be opportunities to develop technical role further for the right candidate.

Location

Wallsend, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK 

Salary

Attractive package and competitive salary, commensurate with and dependent on qualifications and experience.

Job Responsibilities

Document control for a large engineering project in support of a key client. Using Asset Guardian to manage project documentation.

Scanning documents and signing them in, updating records with revised documents, issuing documents internally for review.

Collating reviews and issuing documents externally to the client.

Inputting design reviews.

Checking in, documenting and reporting new software/documentation delivered from the client. Procedures for using Asset Guardian will be provided.

Preparing documentation packages for delivery to site on installation, collating docs and burning to CD. (Also includes some paper filing).

Travel arrangements for the project team, completing travel forms with details of trip, accommodation and car hire needs, and passing them to the relevant parties.

Print and process engineers timesheets, scan them and forward to the relevant parties.

Expenses, scan and forward with timesheets.

Arrange meetings for client visits.

Day-to-day office administration, copying, scanning, listing consumables requirements.

To register with ERS, discuss, or apply for this position, please contact Energy Recruitment (ERS) on 01454 203 460, or submit a CV to cv@energyrs.co.uk

Reference: 1218735614

ERS (www.ersjobs.co.uk) have a Client urgently seeking to appoint a Technical Clerk at their Wallsend office. Wallsend is the base for Engineers supporting a long term legacy PLC replacement project, for fuel route control systems on AGR nuclear power plants. A Technical Clerk is required to support the team of Engineers, to include technical documentation control and general administrative support. There may be opportunities to develop technical role further for the right candidate.

Location

Wallsend, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK 

Salary

Attractive package and competitive salary, commensurate with and dependent on qualifications and experience.

Job Responsibilities

Document control for a large engineering project in support of a key client. Using Asset Guardian to manage project documentation.

Scanning documents and signing them in, updating records with revised documents, issuing documents internally for review.

Collating reviews and issuing documents externally to the client.

Inputting design reviews.

Checking in, documenting and reporting new software/documentation delivered from the client. Procedures for using Asset Guardian will be provided.

Preparing documentation packages for delivery to site on installation, collating docs and burning to CD. (Also includes some paper filing).

Travel arrangements for the project team, completing travel forms with details of trip, accommodation and car hire needs, and passing them to the relevant parties.

Print and process engineers timesheets, scan them and forward to the relevant parties.

Expenses, scan and forward with timesheets.

Arrange meetings for client visits.

Day-to-day office administration, copying, scanning, listing consumables requirements.

To discuss this or similar posts, please telephone ERS on 01454 203 460, or to Register your interest, register a CV with ERS, or to apply for this post, please Contact ERS on 01454 203 460, or e-mail cv@energyrs.co.uk. Thank you. http://www.ersjobs.co.uk

To register with ERS, discuss, or apply for this position, please contact Energy Recruitment (ERS) on 01454 203 460, or submit a CV to cv@energyrs.co.uk

Reference: 1218735614

ERS (www.ersjobs.co.uk) have a Client urgently seeking to appoint a Technical Clerk at their Wallsend office. Wallsend is the base for Engineers supporting a long term legacy PLC replacement project, for fuel route control systems on AGR nuclear power plants. A Technical Clerk is required to support the team of Engineers, to include technical documentation control and general administrative support. There may be opportunities to develop technical role further for the right candidate.

Location

Wallsend, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK 

Salary

Attractive package and competitive salary, commensurate with and dependent on qualifications and experience.

Job Responsibilities

Document control for a large engineering project in support of a key client. Using Asset Guardian to manage project documentation.

Scanning documents and signing them in, updating records with revised documents, issuing documents internally for review.

Collating reviews and issuing documents externally to the client.

Inputting design reviews.

Checking in, documenting and reporting new software/documentation delivered from the client. Procedures for using Asset Guardian will be provided.

Preparing documentation packages for delivery to site on installation, collating docs and burning to CD. (Also includes some paper filing).

Travel arrangements for the project team, completing travel forms with details of trip, accommodation and car hire needs, and passing them to the relevant parties.

Print and process engineers timesheets, scan them and forward to the relevant parties.

Expenses, scan and forward with timesheets.

Arrange meetings for client visits.

Day-to-day office administration, copying, scanning, listing consumables requirements.

To register with ERS, discuss, or apply for this position, please contact Energy Recruitment (ERS) on 01454 203 460, or submit a CV to cv@energyrs.co.uk

Reference: 1218735614

ERS (www.ersjobs.co.uk) have a Client urgently seeking to appoint a Technical Clerk at their Wallsend office. Wallsend is the base for Engineers supporting a long term legacy PLC replacement project, for fuel route control systems on AGR nuclear power plants. A Technical Clerk is required to support the team of Engineers, to include technical documentation control and general administrative support. There may be opportunities to develop technical role further for the right candidate.

Location

Wallsend, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK 

Salary

Attractive package and competitive salary, commensurate with and dependent on qualifications and experience.

Job Responsibilities

Document control for a large engineering project in support of a key client. Using Asset Guardian to manage project documentation.

Scanning documents and signing them in, updating records with revised documents, issuing documents internally for review.

Collating reviews and issuing documents externally to the client.

Inputting design reviews.

Checking in, documenting and reporting new software/documentation delivered from the client. Procedures for using Asset Guardian will be provided.

Preparing documentation packages for delivery to site on installation, collating docs and burning to CD. (Also includes some paper filing).

Travel arrangements for the project team, completing travel forms with details of trip, accommodation and car hire needs, and passing them to the relevant parties.

Print and process engineers timesheets, scan them and forward to the relevant parties.

Expenses, scan and forward with timesheets.

Arrange meetings for client visits.

Day-to-day office administration, copying, scanning, listing consumables requirements.

To register with ERS, discuss, or apply for this position, please contact Energy Recruitment (ERS) on 01454 203 460, or submit a CV to cv@energyrs.co.uk

Reference: 1218735614

ERS (www.ersjobs.co.uk) have a Client urgently seeking to appoint a Technical Clerk at their Wallsend office. Wallsend is the base for Engineers supporting a long term legacy PLC replacement project, for fuel route control systems on AGR nuclear power plants. A Technical Clerk is required to support the team of Engineers, to include technical documentation control and general administrative support. There may be opportunities to develop technical role further for the right candidate.

Location

Wallsend, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK 

Salary

Attractive package and competitive salary, commensurate with and dependent on qualifications and experience.

Job Responsibilities

Document control for a large engineering project in support of a key client. Using Asset Guardian to manage project documentation.

Scanning documents and signing them in, updating records with revised documents, issuing documents internally for review.

Collating reviews and issuing documents externally to the client.

Inputting design reviews.

Checking in, documenting and reporting new software/documentation delivered from the client. Procedures for using Asset Guardian will be provided.

Preparing documentation packages for delivery to site on installation, collating docs and burning to CD. (Also includes some paper filing).

Travel arrangements for the project team, completing travel forms with details of trip, accommodation and car hire needs, and passing them to the relevant parties.

Print and process engineers timesheets, scan them and forward to the relevant parties.

Expenses, scan and forward with timesheets.

Arrange meetings for client visits.

Day-to-day office administration, copying, scanning, listing consumables requirements.

To register with ERS, discuss, or apply for this position, please contact Energy Recruitment (ERS) on 01454 203 460, or submit a CV to cv@energyrs.co.uk

5 men from Minnesota (Team USA Minnesota) did run today, including Lundstrom, who will run his 16th marathon, and Gabrielson, competing in his second. Along with other new members to the team and first time runners: Macharia Yuot, Josh Moen and Antonio Vega.

Lundstrom, Gabrielson and fellow marathoner Jason Lehmkuhle (who will run the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2) have been part of "Team USA Minnesota" since 2001.  Gabrielson said the team knows every square centimeter of the course and it apearantly paid off for him as he finished second today.

The top 3 male and female winners of the Twin Cities Marathon today are as follows:

First Place Male
Fernando Cabada: 2:16:32

Second Place Male
Matt Gabrielson: 2:17:38

Third Place Male
Edwardo Torres: 2:17:54

First Place Female
Olga Glok: 2:32:28

Second Place Female
Silvia Skvortsova: 2:32:39

Third Place Female
Elza Kireeva: 2:39:49

...for more marathon results, photos, comments, and additional information, please take a look at our sports forum: http://www.sportsonlyauction.com/board/index.php?showtopic=111 If you have comments about this post, please reply with your thoughts below or on our sports only forum...

Ça faisait un bon bout de temps que je l'avais en tête, celui-là.  Eh bien voilà, cette fois, c'est fait!  J'ai pris plusieurs photos, tant et si bien que je devrai les montrer en deux billets distincts.  Il n'y a pas de thèmes vraiment particuliers, au niveau des photos, alors j'ai séparé le paquet à peu près en deux.  Voici donc la première moitié de la pile.

Voici la fin actuelle de l'A-5, à la hauteur de Chelsea.  Les nombreuses balises vous dirigent vers la sortie 21, qui mène à l'intersection de la route 105, et du chemin de la Rivière.

Et voilà ce que l'on voit, quand on entre derrière les balises.  Un chantier qui prend forme.

Depuis le même endroit, je me suis tourné de quelques 90 degrés vers la droite, pour prendre cette fenêtre, dans le roc,...

...puis d'un autre 90 degrés à droite, pour vous montrer un dernier amoncellement de roc à faire éclater, à côté duquel la blogue-mobile a l'air bien petite.

Je me suis approché de l'une des pièces de résistance de ce chantier, à savoir le viaduc de l'A-5 nord, qui surplombe le chemin de la Rivière.

Le soleil a beau être éblouissant, sur la blancheur du béton, mais on peut quand même constater que la marche est trop haute, et que la blogue-mobile ne peut pas grimper là.

Une photo du viaduc de l'A-5 sud, prise depuis celui de l'A-5 nord, toujours au-dessus du chemin de la Rivière.

Au-delà du viaduc du chemin de la Rivière, la chaussée de l'A-5 nord a l'air beaucoup plus avancée.

Quand on prend le chemin Pine, situé un peu au nord du chemin de la Rivière, on doit passer sous l'A-5.  Le passage sous la chaussée nord fait penser à un petit tunnel,...

...alors que celui sous la chaussée sud, ben... c'est pas mal semblable, en fait.

C'est à cet endroit que le plus gros des travaux se termine, un peu au sud du chemin Cross Loop.  Ici, on voit une potence de lampadaire, au beau milieu des deux chaussées.

Ici, deux foreuses, au repos.  Elles servent à percer les trous dans lesquels on met la dynamite, pour exploser les parois rocheuses.

À cet endroit, on bouffe la montagne, petit à petit, pour faire place à la chaussée sud de l'A-5.

Entre la potence de lampadaire, que l'on a vu de plus près sur une pose précédente, et la blogue-mobile, on fait une petit bout de chaussée qui servira d'intersection entre l'A-5 et la route 105, que l'on voit en arrière-plan, juste devant les arbres.

Le bout de chaussée viendra recouvrir ce ponceau, et se rendra jusqu'au niveau de la route 105,...

...où il rejoindra cette bouche d'égout pluvial, présentement toute seule parmi les longues herbes.

Il reste encore une douzaine de photos, que je mettrai dans un second billet.  Comme je l'ai déjà mentionné, j'essaie de ne pas mettre trop de photos dans un même billet, question de donner une chance à ceux et celles qui ont des ordinateurs moins puissants.  Ce second billet suivra, dans les prochains jours.

Still feeling tired after my effort of Sunday, my spirits were dampened when I woke to the fiercest of winds.

I battled the hills and wind out of Kladovo for a while before I got the chance to enjoy a strong tailwind.

I took today slowly, taking a brake in Negotin to have some ice cream and enjoying all the tiny sleepy villages I passed through as I slowly made my way to the Bulgarian border. The last 3 days have been very slow going and its been a little demoralising to watch my long term average slowly move down from 19.5 km/h to 19.1 km/h.

It wasn't until I crossed into Bulgaria that I realised that how much the road surface had been slowing me over the previous few days. Its clear that Bulgaria's accession into the EU has resulted into some pretty smooth road surfaces between Bregovo and Vidin, but beyond that, I found myself questioning how it was that, based on the that which I have seen of the two countries, Bulgaria is part of the EU and Serbia isn't

The villages I passed through were by far the most backward I have seen, with old women working the fields in the late afternoon and not a tractor to be seen anywhere.

Whilst in Belgrade I spent some time researching places to stay in over the coming few days and I had found reference to a campsite on the Danube near the the ferry crossing into Romania. It was situated 4.5 km north of Vidin near the town of Antimovo. I even managed to find the coordinates for it. I arrived as the sun was setting and I found the gate to Dunav campinge locked. Two people well within earshot seemed to be ignoring my efforts to get their attention and I eventually scaled the locked gate to go and have a chat with them. From what I could make out from our exchange, this place has not operated as a campsite for 15 years and the propreitors would not let me camp there for fear that guests staying in the swanky lodges would take offence. Instead the kind gentleman I spoke to phoned a friend and let me camp outside his container with his dog. This is by far the least beautiful place I have spent a night and one that had me feeling very uncomfortable.

The trailer/container that I camped beside seemed to have been suddenly deserted months before and I wondered if the person whose abode it had been, had perhaps died quite suddenly. This weird note on the door added to this suspicion.

This is the most accident-prone bridge in London. Every few years a barge decides to hit the bridge, the most recent being in 2005. The roads around Battersea are themselves fairly unsafe due to the sheer number of railway lines that dominate the landscape in the area. But enough of accidents, we are looking at the bridge. And this bridge marks the end of London's classiest bus route:

(Why oh why doesn't the 19 run to Clapham Junction?)

On my epic journey through London, Battersea Bridge marks the beginning of 'Real London'. For where else do you get eccentric Victorian elegance matched by today's drive for more road space. For this is London's narrowest River Crossing at 40 feet.

The area around Battersea Bridge is a little bit strange itself. To the orth of the river lies the residencies of Chelsea while to the south is the 'bustling village' of Battersea, on of the few times that 'Saawf London' is busier than 'Noorf London'.

After the dire sense of hopelessness at Wandsworth, Battersea provided some respite for the soul. It is crazier, compact, almost claustrophobic and yet, is fun to cross. What became a chore for me, a mission to see the River Thames suddenly brightened up. Maybe I am reflecting on what was a dire summer in London, but the sun did manage to shine ever so briefly that day and here was the hope of the journey ahead...

And yes the bridge itself is pretty. It is the little details that count. Something that would seem a complete waste of time and money today, was once upon a time a flourish upon functionality:

Possibly my favourite crossing to date, Battersea Bridge is a place that I use far too often but have never had the time to appreciate. Sometimes I forget the reasons why I started this journey through London, but it is at times like now, that I am glad that I made the choice to step away from the rat race and to actually appreciate the city I live in. Well, might as well take advantage while you can, you ever know what the future may bring...

Getting there and away:

James, an Englishman living in Germany, is the first native English speaker I have encountered on this trip. He is only the third cyclist I have met since leaving Budapest. James seems to have met quite a few people and our discussion way into the night shed some light on this. In most other ways our experiences have been similar and it was great to have someone to share them with.

Roadkill was one such topic we touched on. I have briefly mentioned this in earlier posts and I will elaborate on this further now. Roadkill has become part of my daily life since I entered Hungary. There is no smell like rotting flesh and you can smell death well before you see it. Sometimes you are lucky enough just to smell it. I am still undecided about which offends me more: Whole swollen bodies on the side of the road, with flies buzzing around them, and no evidence of innards spilling out, or the more recent, less smelly, variety in pools of sticky red/black blood with organs spilt out onto the road, and brains spilling out through eyes.

Today, as I approached a recently mangled cat I heard a car behind me moving out to overtake me and I desperately hoped that he didn't run over the mortal remains... and potentially send some flying towards me!
I don't imagine that this makes for great reading, but it is one of the least glamourous parts of my daily reality which I am trying to bring across.

I also shared with James some of my route and my plans to be in Bucharest within 4 days. "Crazy!" he declared and he explained himself. This is when a penny dropped:

James is using a set of maps provided by Bikeline. Everyone else he has met has been using the same maps. As a result, he passes through all the same towns and villages as other cyclists, and relies on the maps to determine where he will be and when.
I spent some time studying his map this morning and it has a wealth of information and certainly would make this trip a lot easier. I feel a little stupid for not having purchased these maps.

That being said though, it has meant that my trip has required more indepedent thought, that I have been taking routes that others haven't nescessarily, and that I potentially have had a more unique experienced encountering people that are less accustomed to seeing cycle tourists.

Yesterday I met a delightfully friendly man on a ferry who took time to tell me about the Grand Canyon of the Danube. I entered this area as the sun was setting yesterday and today was by far the most spectacular day of my trip. After discussing the Lord of the Rings-esque landscape with James last night, I was absolutely blown away to emerge from a tunnel to find a massive head carved into the rock on the Romanian side of the Danube. I was quite unprepared for this.

I took today very slowly. Yesterday hurt me and as I started into a head wind, I decided that I need not rush to cover the 105km that I cycled today.

Over the next 3 days I hope to cover 400km, much of which will be a departure from the Danube, inevitably meaning that I will be heading uphill. I am getting an early night tonight.

There were a two firsts for me in and around Novi Sad; it was the first time I saw what is obviously an Eastern Orthodox church and I saw my first Roma/Gypsies in Serbia.

The trip between Novi Sad and Belgrade is one of my least memorable days. There was little that makes it stand out besides the hills. Although the Serbians are the friendliest people I have encountered thus far, the trip was spent primarily on primary roads with little opportunity to interact with people along the way and instead I fought it out with heavy traffic on poor and hilly roads!!!

Once more, these pretty handy profiles and maps are from Ascent software that I have been using along with my GPS and will write more about soon.

Here are a few pictures from today:

Crossing the Danube on leaving Novi Sad

A village I passed along the way (Petrovaradin I think)

A random street in Novi Sad

A picture taken on my arrival in Belgrade

Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement and support I have received so far. Thanks too to everyone that has taken the time to leave comments. I appreciate them. I will be spending a few days in Belgrade resting up, doing some maintenance, and planning the route ahead. Check back more soon for more posts.