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Here it is..Our first post in our latest blog.
Where to start ????
Since our last blog
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we have had several large trips which I have neglected to document for a variety of reasons.
These include, laziness, no internet access (this seems confined to Australian travel) & repeat visits to some of our favorite places, which was great for us, but would be even more boring than our usual boring blog.

So now for something completely different (forgive the Monty Python pun). a cycle journey around Germany. This is something we would have never considered doing ourselves, but after a pleasant bicycle ride around Howard with our friendly cycling group around 18 months or 2 years ago, we were enjoying a nice cup of coffee with our cycling friends when Greg said he & Wendy were going to cycle around Germany & would we like to come ? Of course we said yes, as it seemed to be forever away & something we would not have to think about for a long long time.

Well it seems that a long long time has passed in a flash & the time is upon us & the reality of what we are setting out to do in 2 weeks time is a little daunting.
Our lead up to this point has been quite good up until about 6 weeks ago. Our cycling fitness was pretty well at its peak for a pair of old farts with at least 300 klms a week rolling under our wheels.
Then 6 weeks ago I developed a superficial blood clot in my left leg. 'No worries' says the doc 'no worse than a pimple', 'be gone in no time' says he. Two days later another clot 3 times as big & over the next week at least 4 more large & painful clots.
So after some haggling with another medico, a referral to a vascular surgeon who discovers several more clots & a DVT. So I,m thinking, can a one legged cyclist  manage a trip around Germany ?
Well apparently not, so off to the surgeon for vein ablation, vein stripping & sealing. All seems to go well & with only 2 weeks left to departure a final scan gives the all clear for our trip.
This is very good & a little bit scary as the upcoming trip now seems very real & current cycling fitness is now questionable due to training interruptions with the leg problem.
So I guess, like all good adventures, it has started with a drama. I am hoping not to have too many more.
As it turns out there will be 8 of us cycling. Yvonne & myself, Greg & Wendy,both of whom are experienced cycling tourers & ex military, which means everything is precisely organised & I don't have to do anything & if things do go wrong we have someone to blame, perfect.
Then there is Alison & Stewart, a couple from Hervey Bay who cycle out to Howard every week & often join our group for coffee & the occasional ride. We don't know them all that well yet, but after 5 weeks living in each others pockets, I think we will be pretty familiar with them.
The other couple, who's names currently escape me but will be very familiar in 2 months time, is currently in Amsterdam & cycling toward a meeting with us in Frankfurt. This tends to concern me a little, as anyone who does a 1000 klm ride to warm up for the main event may be somewhat fitter than us.
The departure date is May 31st, very close indeed, with much preparation to go. It is not easy packing for 2 months & still keeping total luggage weight to 7 kg. We are dreading the long flight in cattle class, Hervey Bay - Sydney one and a half hours. Sydney- Dubai 14 hours. Dubai - Frankfurt 7 hrs plus airport waits. I will probably sleep for 3 days on arrival.
I will report more when there is more to report.................................

Here I am in hospital with 4 weeks to go before cycling around Germany. Not a good look.
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