Bridget and Graham go to Kazakhstan!

[dellzeqq]

FNRttCers might have met Bridget Middleton. She's joined us on rides to Brighton, Southend and Whitstable. Bridget is my oldest friend - not 'old' in the RichP and Aperitif sense, but in the sense that we've known each other almost forty years.

You might not know that she and husband Graham cycled round the world in the late eighties. It took them two years. They went through China, which was a bit of a feat in those days, and they were in Tian-An-Men when the slaughter of the protesters started. Graham's photographs are terrifying.

They're now off to Kazakhstan. They've started a WordPress blog at
http://bridgetandgra...y-to-go/?ref=nf

Graham hasn't done much cycling in the last twenty years, and he's just recovered from Hepatitis C, contracted over 30 years ago when he had gamma globulin injections for the last trip, so they're going to start off pretty gently - aiming for 25 miles a day, and building up bit by bit. This is a heck of an undertaking, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't worried about them - but, then again, I was worried when they set off the first time. Anyway - I'll flag up any blogposts that wend their way back from places like Iran and Uzbekistan, and we'll be able to follow their progress.

 

[frank9755]

Good for them! Most envious as I want to go to central Asia.

It's a good job she checked the bar bag and kicked that cat out or the bikes would have been even heavier!

 

[rich p]

Good luck indeed to them. The temptation to do something similar is almost irresistable.

 

[albal]

envy __ good luck

 

[dellzeqq]

Disaster!

Bridget's lost the bottle opener!

http://bridgetandgraham.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/where-did-you-pack-the/

 

[theclaud]

Disaster!

Bridget's lost the bottle opener!

http://bridgetandgra...d-you-pack-the/

Eeek. They need to get into Germany quick. All Germans can open bottles with a spoon. But they can't wire plugs.

 

[dellzeqq]

http://bridgetandgra...ploaded-hurrah/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bridgetandgraham

some photos. Graham's clearly been shedding weight already!

 

[dellzeqq]

photos
http://bridgetandgraham.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/photos-uploaded-hurrah/
http://www.flickr.co...ridgetandgraham

I like this one - looks like the design for a cycling shirt
http://www.flickr.co.../in/photostream

 

[Aperitif]

Abridget too far...

Housekeys or teeth open bottles... Go Bridget, Go Graham! Superstrong mentality, of which, I am envious. Therein lies the problem...

 

[dellzeqq]

http://jena.tlz.de/w...-Jena-683334553

Who goes cycling from London to Kazakhstan, of course, over in Jena! Bridget Middleton and Graham Clift have met the most beautiful city in Thuringia, and were simply amazed at all of how Germany.

Jena. "Enough, apparently unfamiliar with this area as a turn to a map that already talking to a people and offer help," says Bridget Middleton. "In London, this would not happen," says Graham Clift, especially not when one is traveling with a bicycle.

Jena said a passerby for directions or the same invitation to a "Cup of tea" out! This would need English but in the afternoon, he said. It became clear to cyclists, what is going on with the Jena wonders and its towers up.

The English are two bicycles, four pockets and a tent on the road. At the recently married Kate Middleton and Prince William, Bridget, despite the same surname, no family connections. The globetrotter has recently worked with the BBC in London, where she lost the job. The severance has taken them to do something "for the previously lacked the time and perhaps later the force": a journey through two continents on the bike.
Even 20 years ago, the couple undertook a 14,000 mile bike ride. Countries that were not then on the route will now be approached. For entry into Iran, the English woman in a veil specially luggage. Are stretched, the cyclists, whether they get a tourist visa for Turkmenistan. As individuals, they would then have seven days to traverse the country.
<BR closure_uid_2znvzd="162">Are up to the Kazakh capital, from London, about 10 000 kilometers, including a small pan by Poland and Ukraine. From the end of the journey, Almaty in Kazakhstan, the two want to fly home in December.<BR closure_uid_2znvzd="163">Jenzig remained at the campsite on the English one night and started very early yesterday for the next 80 kilometers. Bridget Middleton is the way with a German road bicycle. Your companion has raised at least on its English German touring tires, the quality is much better, he says.


fantastic stuff! And Kate M even gets a mention!

They're just going in to Ukraine
http://bridgetandgra...sden-to-krakow/

 

[dellzeqq]

http://bridgetandgraham.wordpress.com/2011/07/30/odessa-to-erzurum/

Now across the Black Sea - the description of Batumi is fascinating!

 

[dellzeqq]

Hi Simon and Susie, Hope you are both well. I can't get into Facebook or the blog - and only sometimes my email so won't be in touch over the next few weeks. We are in Iran until late September (Tabriz today). Thomas knows where we are. Lots of lov e Bridgetx
Gulp!

 

[ttcycle]

Wow, that is something!

OT Simon but Emily Chappell is leaving for her RTW trip in September - thought I'd out the link on here if you're interested in reading it.

http://thatemilychappell.com/

 

[theclaud]

http://bridgetandgra...ssa-to-erzurum/

Now across the Black Sea - the description of Batumi is fascinating!

Great pics too!

 

[dellzeqq]

And in to Iran (gulp!)


Sat20 Aug (Text 2pm)
Gone into Iran a day early. Camped on the road between the border and Khoy -about 45kms from Khoy.

Mon 22 Aug (Text 1pm)
In Marand. All good.

Wed 24 Aug (Email)
In Tabriz. Will probably take a bus to Isfahan.

Thu 25 Aug (Email)
Unable to update our blog or get into Facebook <here in Iran>. Gmail& Hotmail a/cs unaffected so far...

Fri 26 Aug (Text 2pm)
Not going to Isfahan. <Back> on old route to Tehran. Now in Iran's"Butlins" 15kms NW of Bostanabad.