Author Archives: Cliff
By Cliff on 26 September, 2011

With only a few minutes now until my plane home leaves, this really is the end of the trip. Once I get onto the plane and land back in London, there'll be no more delusions that this trip hasn't finished.
But that's ok, because I know there'll be more- more cycling, more people, more... syrup.
It's been ...
Posted in Administration, America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 19 September, 2011

New York City: The end of a very, very long road. I feel a bit lost at the moment, trying to explain exactly where I am. I'm on Staten Island, in New York City. I'm at the end of the road in America, the final destination for this country, this continent. I'm at the finish line of ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 18 September, 2011

Despite my lop-sided sleeping pad, and a rather chilly night, I woke up after a full night's sleep, relatively undisturbed save for some irritating warbling that I can only assume came from a wild turkey... After a slow and relaxing breakfast of rather unusual but delicious oatmeal pancakes with (you guessed it) maple syrup, ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 17 September, 2011

It would of course happen that on the last time I ever have to set up my tent, in the tranquil setting of the garden of someone we're staying with surrounded by deer roaming around the woodland, wild turkeys warbling away, and of course mosquitoes buzzing incessantly around my head, that my sleeping pad pops. ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 16 September, 2011

Although I should really have realised it, it never occured to me that we would see such obvious signs of destruction from Hurrican Irene, which passed through the East coast of America a few weeks ago. The tiny town of Schoharie seemed all but completely destroyed by the storm, and the flooding after. effects. Every ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 15 September, 2011

I think that the sound of wind and rain, as it whips against the windows of a house is made worse by the fact that you know that for at least a short while longer, you can pull the duvet over your head and stay warm and dry. Which is exactly what I did. The ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 14 September, 2011

Cinamon rolls, scrambled tofu, pancakes and lots of coffee for breakfast. Pretty fantastic you might think? Indeed. But far better than that is the fact that it seems my love of maple syrup precedes me; no sooner had I sat down for breakfast, Brian revealed a bottle of the good stuff, explaining that he'd seen ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 13 September, 2011

It's definitely beginning to look like the equipment I have chosen has a specific lifespan, and is reaching its end. Aside from my shoes being constantly strapped back together with duck tape and zip ties, my tyres too have been reluctant to go on any further. The nail hole left in my tyre back in ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 12 September, 2011

Even though I crawled out of the tent into another sopping wet morning, I could tell it would be a hot day. And I wasn't far wrong. I didn't even bother to put my cycling top on this morning, and before long I had a thick film of sweat on my chest, dotted with dozens ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring
By Cliff on 11 September, 2011

I wouldn't really suggest staying up to watch NASCAR and drinking beer for those wanting to cycle a full day. By the time we crawled into our tents, neither of us were in the mood to be packing up and cycling off at the crack of dawn. So just after 8 the next morning, we ...
Posted in America, Around the World, Touring