The bike passed! I’m glad we used Gray’s in London.

Okay, so what have we learnt?

The route:

• Europe is bloody freezing in March/April
• Bielefeld (where?) is easily forgotten

Clothes/gear:

• You can’t beat proper bike gear for staying warm & dry
• Helen’s micro down jacket was much more versatile than my stripy fleece type thing
• Nike Combat compression thermals are brilliant; no need for anything else under cordura winter coat, so you don’t feel like Michelin Man
• I need a better system for not losing small expensive items like 64GB USB memory & phone adapter (didn’t make it out of first hotel)

The bike needs:

• A better horn
• A bigger front brake master cylinder (already ordered off eBay)