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JKB's Bike Ride

Around the world by bicycle…

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How To Cycle Around The World
- Choosing a Bicycle
- Navigation
- Which Direction?
- Sleeping
- Eating
- Safety
- Extreme Weather
- Visas
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Bulgaria

Near the Macedonian border

Lizard saying hello

Goats crossing

Goats crossing

Just past the Macedonian border

Old school Bulgarian cars

Melnik

Leaving Melnik

Leaving Melnik

From Melnik to Krushevo

From Melnik to Krushevo

Mountain pass

Mountain pass

Storm brewing on the mountain

Popski Pass!

Camping at 1,400m

View from mountain-top

Picnic break in Rhodopes

Water spring

Gneiss stones

Krushevo

Krushevo

Our converted camper van home

Krushevo

View over valley

View over valley

‘Weeping Man’ rock

‘Weeping Man’ rock

Dospat lake

Campsite

Between Dospat and Smolyan

More concerning roads

Shiroka Laka

Mountain pass towards Smolyan

Watch out for bears!

Between Smolyan and Zlatograd

Zlatograd old town

Between Zlatograd and Momchilgrad

Rescuing tortoises from the road

Psychedelic shower

Another ‘vanished’ road

Another ‘vanished’ road

A donkey waiting for the bus

Last campsite in Bulgaria

Country no. 15 – Bulgaria!

Entering Bulgaria

Merope centre

Merope centre

Merope centre

Abandoned factory

Old houses

Belogradchik

Belogradchik

Belogradchik

Belogradchik

Camp site up the mountain

Between Belogradchik and Berkovitsa

Between Belogradchik and Berkovitsa

Rock formations between Belogradchik and Berkovitsa

Belogradchik

Climbing the pass towards Sofia

Climbing the pass towards Sofia

Snow-capped mountain

Snow-capped mountain pass

Heading down towards Sofia

Between Sofia and Dupnica

Candle-lit bar

Sofia

Sofia

Sofia

‘Delta Hill’

Lost again…

Another gorgeous campsite

Our campsite lake

Campsite breakfast

5,000km!

Flooded trails

So much for this ‘road’

The not so short ‘shortcut’

National park between Sofia and Blagoevgrad

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Today is precisely 3 years since I left home on my bicycle. It is now also 1 month since I arrived back in London. Alas, all good things must come to an end and so for my last post I shall leave you with some statistics on my cycle around the world: Total distance: 48,850km (30,350miles) Countries cycled: 42 Days spent cycling: 639 Hours spent cycling: 3232hrs (equivalent to 135 days continuous riding) Average distance per day: 77km (48miles) Average speed: 15km/h (9.3m/h) Highest elevation: 4,708m/15,445ft above sea level (China, January 2016) Total elevation gained: 420,756m/261miles (equivalent to 48 times up Mt Everest from sea level) Furthest distance in one day: 185km/115miles (8hrs 15mins cycling in Australia, August 2016) Longest time cycling in a day: 9 hours (over 140km in Iran, May 2015) Most elevation gained in one day: 2,700m/8,900ft (over 80km in China, May 2016) Shortest day: 20km/12miles (2hrs in East Timor, October 2016) Top speed: 75km/46.5miles per hour (Thailand, May 2016) Fastest day: 24km/15miles per hour (over 50km in USA, July 2017) Slowest day: 6km/3.5miles per hour (over 37km in China, January 2016) Hottest temperature: 46C/115F (Australia, December 2016) Coldest night temperature: -20C/-4F (China, January 2016) Coldest day temperature: -15C/5F (Iceland, November 2017) Most water carried at one time: 25 litres (Australia, December 2016) Most punctures in one day: 3 (Australia, December 2016) Longest distance between civilsation/water: 225km/140miles (Australia, November 2016) Longest time between punctures: Approximately 9,000km/5,600miles (From UK to Armenia at the start of the trip) Most falls in one day: 3 (One ice and mud in Scotland, November 2017) Collisions with cars/motorbikes: 3 (Georgia, China & Indonesia) If you would like to read more about my journey then do check out my website www.jkbsbikeride.com where I have documented the whole trip. See you next time!

It's a wrap!! Today I arrived home in London having cycled around the world. 30,000 miles - 42 countries - 3 years. Feel like I should have something profound to say at this moment in time but I don't think I have the words to do the occasion justice. Right now I'm just pleased to have made it home in one piece, blessed to have had this opportunity and humbled to have been able to share these stories with so many of you. Thanks for being part of the adventure. THE END

DAYS UNTIL FINISH: 1 This is what the last three years of my life looks like on the world map. On this small image it looks like I have joined the dots between beginning and finish but there is still a 40 mile gap which I will ride tomorrow back to the start/end. I never thought I would cycle so far around the world when I left London in early 2015 - this is, after all, my first ever bike tour - but here we are at the end of 2017. Next post from me and I'll be at home!

DAYS UNTIL FINISH: 2 There's a little part of me that is tempted to cycle around London and just keep on going in an entirely new direction. I can't help but flick through old pics from the last three years and reminisce about the places I have travelled with my bicycle. The nostalgia creeps in when I'm reminded of all the incredible roads I've pedalled on this journey. There have been so many of them. It will be weird to stop cycling after so long but the time feels right to head home. I can't relive my ride around the world but the memories are more than enough. Now it's just a couple easy days back home - no mountains, hopefully no ice and only traffic lights to slow me down... The end is neigh!

DAYS UNTIL FINISH: 3 Dedicating this one to my bicycle - both my best friend and worst enemy. I don't think a love/hate relationship has ever been better defined. We have seen the world together and while I'll return home still in one piece that poor bicycle is falling apart. I owe it a very big thank you, so cheers you beautiful chunk of steel!

DAYS UNTIL FINISH: 4 (still) Running a day later than my initial eta thanks to the snow, a cold and a broken gear shifter. I'm not in a hurry as England has been looking pretty gorgeous in all this white, but I must admit - when I imagined cycling across Blighty I didn't picture THIS!

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