ISTANBUL-OR-BUST FOR MARIE CURIE HOSPICE SOLIHULL  

ISTANBUL-OR-BUST FOR MARIE CURIE HOSPICE SOLIHULL

 

It seemed like such a great idea at the time and in the planning: raising money for the new regional Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull by riding a pedal bike through 12 countries to Istanbul at the very edge of Europe. As the crow flies, that’s 2,100 miles from Solihull to the former city of Constantinople on the Bosphorous. Well it couldn’t be that hard, could it?

After all, what got me into Lions in the first place was the support given by Shirley Lions Club when riding a Dawes Atlantis racing bike more than 3,000 miles from San Francisco to New York. Throughout that journey, the hospitality shown by Lions’ clubs and their families across the USA was heart-warming, inspirational and humbling. And all to raise money for the chosen charity on that occasion, the Police Dependents’ Trust.

But that was more than 30 years ago when as a young bloke, misplaced self confidence means you take such challenges in your stride. Now the wrong side of 50, a little overweight and with border-line high blood pressure, this may have been a quest too far. Although at least on this occasion it would not be a solo venture. Veteran cyclist Bob Tench (63) wanted to cycle the full way. Whilst fellow retired cops Steve Broatch and Paul Robinson (both in their early 50’s) were prepared to bike it as far as Dover.

And thus it was that on a hot sunny day in mid-July, we four intrepid cyclists were waved off from the Solihull Marie Curie Hospice by staff, friends, Shirley Lions Club President, Gillian Conlon and fellow Lions. However, you may recall that back in July 2013, the UK was going through something of a heat-wave. Was that why yours truly was close to feinting and throwing in the towel just south of Stratford-upon-Avon – little more than 25 miles from journey’s start? That was when the enormity of the challenge hit home and with it the fear of failure, a powerful motivation in itself. Indeed, over the next three days the cycling proved to be extremely gruelling, due largely to the heat and humidity.  



 

With Paul and Steve having cycled their allotted miles, from Dover onwards Bob and I were on our own. Cycling out of Dunkirk and within hours into Belgium, we spent the next few days criss-crossing the border with France. We passed the many First World War battlefields and cemeteries that crowd this landscape and stayed overnight in the totally rebuilt town of Ypres. At the Menin Gate, a five minute walk from the town centre, it was especially poignant to witness the sounding of the Last Post – a daily occurrence at 7pm.

Hard cycling through the Ardennes and back into France along busy and often desolate roads in the region of Lorraine. But the vineyards of Alsace were fantastic to witness and provided some of the most enjoyable cycling of the whole odyssey. Seeing Storks nesting on the rooftops of the ancient buildings in Eguisheim still haunts the memory.  



 

Crossing the Rhine into Germany became a slog of a ride and after the beautiful city of Freiburg, our cycle into the Black Forest proved to be the deadliest form of endurance test until we reached Turkey! Articulated lorries can be dangerous beasts at the best of times (especially in huge numbers), but battle-scarred mentally we did at least manage to survive. Thereafter, the route took us to the source of and alongside the River Danube – a much safer biking option. However, 100 miles down-river we differed on this issue and thereafter took separate routes to Istanbul – albeit meeting together on a regular basis.

The Danube is a slow moving river, almost as still as a mill-pond along much of its length. This is certainly true during its meanderings past the many castles in Germany and in Austria where it appears to be brown in colour. That said, after visiting the famous Ferris wheel in Vienna (the one featured in the movie, ‘The Third Man’) its colour was secondary to the bike route through a mile long nudist colony! Even on a weekday afternoon it was heaving with clothes-less inmates of a certain elderly age. In such circumstances it is a determined skill to avert one’s gaze for so long a period of time!

Only when the Danube flows into Slovakia does it appear to turn blue, just in time for that gem of a city, Bratislava with its mediaeval heart. Where the river has been dammed it can on occasion be half a mile wide, but despite the ship-sized locks there is very little boat traffic. Instead, there are numerous holiday camps and bathers in the approach to cities like Belgrade and the beautiful Hungarian capital of Budapest, where the Danube is sufficiently narrow for the famous Chain Bridge and many others to span its width.

After cycling through the fields of chillies that surround Kolocsa, the self-styled ‘world capital of paprika’, Croatia became country number eight – and with it the first occasion on which we had to produce our passports since leaving Dover. Strange then that the beauty of the Croatian countryside and friendliness of its people, is so at odds with the heavily damaged water tower and now peace memorial in Vukovar, a reminder of the civil war that heralded the break-up of the former Yugoslavia. A day later it was back across the Danube into Serbia, a country of similarly friendly people, roadside fruit sellers (gorgeously delicious peaches!) and one that is far less visually nationalistic than my prejudices had imagined.  



 

Once past the village of Ram and Golubac Castle, the Danube Gorge provided the most stunning of scenery as well as 22 unlit road tunnels through which you have to cycle. The river also marks the border with Romania to the north – country number ten. Romania was very much as imagined, biking through a predominantly agrarian landscape with horse-pulled carts much in evidence – and a good many Rover 75 cars! So that’s where they went. However small the village, Romanian and EU flags welcome and say goodbye as you enter and leave its confines.  



 

At Turnu Maurele with its Ottoman design influenced cathedral, the Danube was crossed for the final time, heading south into and through the penultimate country of Bulgaria. Once again this proved to be a landscape devoted to agriculture country with Linseed the crop of choice hereabouts – and throughout Europe (from Warwickshire to Istanbul) it was witnessed. The best Bulgarian memory comes from the town of Topolovgrad and the faded splendours of the Imperial Hotel. Its long time resident is a blue and yellow Macaw named Archie, a bird with a strikingly bare chest. When I asked what had happened to his feathers the response came back (complete with Russian style accent), “Archie is a very old bird.” On that point I could empathise with my feathered friend!

The twelve day mega heat-wave (with temperatures reaching the mid-40 degrees centigrade each afternoon!) necessitating the drinking of a litre of fluids every hour, finally came to an end in Bulgaria. Yes, once across the border into Turkey it was amazingly somewhat cooler, largely due to a ferocious head-wind coming off the Black Sea! Thankfully, for the first 100 or so miles in Turkey there was a decent hard shoulder on which to cycle. Thereafter, only danger and traffic chaos where cyclists are in constant danger and appear to be invisible to motorists!

Nevertheless, after cycling for 33 days and having covered 2,630 miles (500 more than expected) and with an average of almost exactly 80 miles a day, Bob and myself reached journey’s end in Istanbul on 15/16 August. We devoted several days to touring the most famous of sights: the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace amongst others, before cycling across the Bosphorous and into Asia for a celebration meal.  



 

Altogether, a fantastic experience in itself, my trusty Specialized ‘Crosstrail’ hybrid (half road, half mountain bike and a veteran from ‘John o’ Groats to Lands End the Long Way’ in 2010) had served me very well. Bob’s Dawes Galaxy had similarly proved itself up to the job, although sadly, it was stolen in Hungary a fortnight later. What I lost was 10 Kg’s (21 lbs) in weight – now sadly all but completely put back on! But it was an extremely gruelling and arduous undertaking, more so than we had ever imagined or anticipated.

Most importantly, we are now close to raising the £10,000 promised for the Solihull Marie Curie Hospice. And of course donations can still be made at the justgiving website. The easiest way to find the actual page is to Google justgiving and markstokes istanbulorbust. Incidentally, none of the money raised has gone to for the ‘holiday’ itself. All four cyclists paid their own way, all the way – including the extortionately priced one way return flights.

Finally, Google ‘istanbulorbust’ for the blog and pictures that was completed on just about every day of the ride. And if you want more information, I am available to provide photograph-based, presentations concerning the experiences on ‘Istanbul-or-Bust’, organising and undertaking a pan-European biking odyssey and using it as a means to raise money for charity.