Thoughts and feelings

I started playing football when I was 8 years old. I then continued to play pretty much for the next 20 years.  So many people have said to me " You, play football? You don't look the type" But I loved it. It wasn't about winning for me. It was about doing your best and enjoying it. Any team can get beat, that's not a problem, but I hated losing if the effort was not there. From me or my teammates.  Solo events are different for me, I'm challenging myself, and that's fine. But in a football team you have to drive others on, it's a collective thing. I've played football, tennis, volleyball, cycled, hiked. I even enjoyed badminton at school. For the last 15 years my main form of exercise has been running. Not short fast stuff, more the marathon and beyond distances, they seem to suit my mindset. I've always walked everywhere, it's so cathartic. It can be a walk out in the countryside, it's almost spiritual. Or even just a stroll to the su...

I thought I'd write a little bit on some of the other cycletourers that I have met after 7 weeks on the road. I'll put their ages down as I think in some cases it serves as a source of inspiration.  Daniel, 34.  He was riding from his home in Munich up to Hamburg to meet his brother, they were then going to carry on to Copenhagen. He told me he was a keen skateboarder and his plan for next year was to cycle to Greece and stay with a friend in Athens and go skateboarding every day. His bike was 100€ off Ebay and his tent cost him 30€. A couple outside Lidl, both 75. They had so much stuff with them, it's a wonder the bikes could stay upright. They had left from Rome and were cycling back to their home in Amsterdam. We stood and laughed for 10 minutes. They were both great fun. Then a teenage girl joined us, for a chat. She was riding for 3 days to stay with her grandparents, along the Rhine. Henrik, 59. He was going from Copenhagen to Marseille, he was on an old racing bike,...

I'm stood in the laundry room of the campsite. My endless search for a plug socket so I could charge my phone had brought me here. A Dutch guy walked in. We started chatting about football and stuff, he was really friendly. After a while he left, no problems.  Anyway, about 30 minutes later he came back in with his wife. After introductions we talked in depth about my trip and they were impressed. He then asked me how I felt about being out on the road. I replied it gave me a sense of freedom. To which he said  "But I also have a sense of freedom within me, mine is given to me by Jesus Christ our Saviour" My heart sank, I thought to myself - here we go. He then rambled on about knowing he'd be living forever in God's arms in the eternal afterlife. He said to me "You are a believer also" but it was said more as a statement than a question. I answered politely No, I'm not at all, but if someone is and it makes them happy then it's not for me to say...