Pam's cycle challenge diary

On 10 October 2007, Pam Daruwalla left England to start on a journey of a lifetime. Pam has decided to cycle 2,000 miles across Europe and in the process help to raise vital funds for Epilepsy Action.

• Latest update

Wednesday 10 October - Day 1

We've made it safely to Istanbul with us and bikes in one piece though Dave's knuckles rather white after a spot of turbulence!

Cycled 40 km or so into town to our hotel which is right next to the Sulanhamet. Our bikes are already starting quite a few conversations and plans of cycle home raising a few eyebrows!

Have had a lovely dinner and we are now drinking Turkish tea and smoking a pipe whilst watching a whirling dervish. The weather is great though very windy, will hopefully stay the same direction and blow us into Greece!

Monday 15 October - Day 6

The trip is going really well, we have covered over 300 miles already and spent last night in Xanthi in Greece and tomorrow should arrive in Thessaloniki. We are making great time and are on track to get to Dubrovnik for the 21st ahead of schedule for Dave's flight on the 24th.

We had a great time in Turkey, people hooted their horns, made us tea every time we stopped and gave us presents including carwash for the bikes!

At this pace I should be able to complete the trip in six weeks but it may take longer as there are mountains between me and France! Also the days will get shorter cutting my cycle time and it may be harder on my own.

A number of people are planning to meet me at Dover and cycle me home which will be nice.

Tuesday 23 October - Day 14

It's 23rd October and we're in Dubrovnik in time for Dave's flight tomorrow. In less than two weeks we've covered 903 miles and six countries. We were offline through Macedonia - lots of mountains and bad roads! There were lovely roads through Albania, nice people but crazy mountains; one day saw us do 90miles over two 2000m plus mountain ranges. They all speak Italian though... finally the degree came in useful :)

Montenegro was beautiful but rainy and I came off my bike so now have swollen, bloodied forearms. We stayed last night in Budva and when we set off the rain had gone and we had a lovely cycle to Croatia. I am a bit nervous about the next phase of the journey; it's been nice having Dave as company so being on my own will be a bit lonely but a different adventure. It'll also be lighter going; campsites are closed so not really safe for me to camp on my own so sending all the gear back with Dave.

Can't wait to cycle 10kg lighter and without all the crazy wind drag!

Sunday 4 November - Day 26

I left Verona yesterday morning, with the usual send off from the front desk.. “You’re going where? You’ve come from where? Complimenti!"

Thankfully with the maps purchased the previous day I managed to get out of Verona without another stint on the dreaded ring roads they put around each Italian city. I'd ended up on them twice the day before which is technically illegal as they're like motorways, but once you're on them you can't get off until the next exit. I also figured that I was unlikely to get fined, the last time the carabinieri caught Trude and I hitchhiking on a motorway they just drove us to a better spot and gave us some tips on how to get a lift.

Anyway the road from Verona was pretty flat I stopped for a break in a garage and had a Coke, after explaining the trip I then ended up having to explain it to every customer who came in for the next 15 minutes and then had to take their addresses and promise to write when I go to London before leaving with a bar bag full of brioches as they were concerned about where I’d eat!

I headed on towards Brescia, suffering two punctures and was very grateful that Dave had spent his last night repairing all our spares and neatly taping them up for me. The back wheel was also making a terrible noise as it has been buckled since an encounter with a manhole cover in Istanbul.

In Brescia I stopped for a panini before heading off again and not five minutes later a cyclist in full race gear pulled up next to me, Mario was 53 and cycled beside me chatting for a while and offered to show me the right road towards Monza. We took up the whole road but if anyone complained he'd gesticulate at them, he also jumped all the lights telling me in Italy they are not compulsory for cyclists. When a younger pretender overtook us on a lovely bianchi he gave me a nod and we raced him round a few roundabouts.

Safely delivered onto the right road we said goodbye and I headed to Rovato. The road was flat with fields either side and quite a few industrial buildings.

I realised I wasn't going to make it to Monza in time so stopped at Treviglio and found a nice hotel, in hindsight I probably could have made Monza before dark but I didn't want to take the risk. Deposited my bike in a storage cupboard behind the hotel, had a shower and fell asleep by 5:30pm! Not surprisingly woke up about 2am and struggled to get back to sleep but it was a little too early too start cycling.

Headed from Treviglio towards Stresa, writing off the idea of making Domodossola and wanting to stay in one of my favourite places and have another chance to see the Borromean Islands. Miraculously I managed not to get lost all day, not sure how as there were about a million roundabouts, turn offs and junctions.

There were loads of road bikes out, individuals, small groups and clubs. They all seemed to be coming in the opposite direction and they'd shout "Brava" as they past, it seems a little uncommon for women to ride.

Stopped at another garage on the hunt for batteries for the dead GPS, got the men to take a 1600 mile photo which was a bit approximate without the gps. This brought more questions on how far I'd cycled and more complimenti!

The rest of the day was lovely; it's still sunny and fresh. I stopped for lunch in a giant Auchan as most things were closed. There were loads of ambulance people outside with a stand and I asked if I could leave my bike with them so I didn't have to take my panniers with me. When I returned they asked where I’d come from and induced lots more oohs anahhs and best wishes.

Reaching laggo maggiore the last 30 kilometers or so were lovely cycling along its edge. I was a little apprehensive as a previous visit at this time of year had found everything closed but the good weather means there are lots of people around and I found a hotel no problem.

Anyway I'm off for dinner; I'll need my strength tomorrow for the Alps!

Tuesday 13 November - Day 37

I came into France last Thursday from Switzerland, passing through Pontarlier and picking up thermal cycling socks before stopping at Bresancon for a lovely lunch where the chef pointed me onto a cycle route for the 30km or so to Dole though I stopped just before there and found a nice hotel for the night. My A-level French is coming back to me but I'm still throwing in the odd bit of Italian here and there! I've been watching lots of French TV every night which is helping a bit!

I set off on Friday towards Auxerre, the winds were terrible and I was cycling straight into it, the ground was really flat with no trees so there was no protection, after cycling for 25miles or so I was throwing up, I think just from the wind hitting me all the time. I cycled into Dijon and found a cheap hotel, they didnt have a room ready so I went to a teashop nearby and had some pasta and coffee and cakes to warm up. The lady in the teashop was lovely, I told her about the trip and that i'd stopped early because I wasn't well. She said to come back if there was anything they could do for me and gave me a hug! The weird thing about being on the road is you get no physical contact from anyone (not that I'm a very tactile person anyway) but it was really nice to have a hug!

I went back to the hotel and had a sleep and then went to McDonalds for dinner and had a phone call from Jackie which really cheered me up and loads of lovely messages from everyone.

On Saturday I still felt a bit dodgy but wanted to cover some ground so set off in the drizzle towards Tonnerre which I'd decided was a good route to take. Again it was windy and drizzly but I came up with a new plan... to stop for a coffee every 25km or so, it was kind of a necessity as thats as long as I could cycle for before I lost feeling in my feet. I started out along the canal it seems there's always a good cycle path next to them and thankfully there was! The first coffee stop was in a bar that was full of women betting on the races, the next had just a couple of men, the third another betting bar where i had a croque monsieur and a conversation with a couple of locals about the trip. Past the 2000 mile mark and celebrate with a huge slice of chocolate tart.

Eventually made it to Tonerre and found what seemed to be the only hotel in town, a cheap one star one that smelt. Had a massive dinner to celebrate the 2000 mile mark.

On Sunday, I cycled towards Paris, another grey and rainy day and I felt fluey so resorted to getting the iPod out for the first time on the trip, cycled until about 11:30 and found a lovely cafe for a sandwich and lots of coffees, chatted with the lady owner who was really nice. There were various ceremonies on the way for Remberance Day and there were lots of flags and wreaths on the memorials in each village. The music helped keep me going through the drizzle though i had to quickly abandon the shuffle function as everytime i'd be getting to the top of a hill an Arabic lesson would kick in which kind of kills the momentum!

Stopped for a cafe to warm up in the afternoon, it was a bit off the beaten track and as I walked in one old bloke said to the other 'Elle est perdue!' I said no just cold, then told them about the trip, they asked me loads of questions for the next half an hour before I said i had to go, one of them saying his daughter lived in Fontainebleau and could put me up for the night! I ended up instead in a roadside motel where the kitchen was closed so I went to bed without dinner.

The next day was beautiful blue skies and I had a lovely cycle to the outskirts of Paris, I tried to find a cycle route along the Seine but then gave up and just followed minor roads. It was a lovely cycle into Paris and I managed to avoid the routes national until I arrived at a roundabout, I couldn't see any other way but to get onto the N6 then I noticed the roundabout had a bicycle in the middle and the building next to be was hideous orange, I looked on the wall and there was a plaque, completly by accident id ended up at Le Reveil Matin, starting point of the first Tour de France in 1903!!!! In Rijeka my last stop in Croatia the only English book in the hostel was Chasing the Chimney Sweep, a book about the original 1903 race and a man's attempt to follow its route. I' d toyed with the idea of trying to find the cafe but had given up and there i was by accident.

From there on there were cycle routes along the Seine, and very quickly, and with slightly water eyes I arrived outside Notre Dame. I took photos there and heading on to the Louvre, cycling around Paris was great. I called my cousin "we're at l'arc de triophe just cycle up the Champs Elyesees" so I did and it felt amazing and there under the Arc was Matt and Phan with big hugs and lots of photos and an interrogation from an American about the cycle none of us quite able to fathom what I'd achieved.