The Physicist Blaise Pascal wrote: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone“.
As much as I love living in Prague, sitting around is no longer sustainable. Solo cycling presents miniscule risk of contagion, so it’s time to re-don helmet and resume my tour. The Oracle beckons!
I had hoped to spend Easter 2020 completing the stage from Belgrade to Skopje and Thessaloniki. As the situation is still rather febrile in the Balkans, I don’t want to be crossing any land borders right now, so I’m flying directly to Greece to complete my circuit of the Peloponnese, and maybe further afield.
I still aim to get back to Belgrade by bike, if that will even be possible this year. We’ll see.
The remnants of my life now stuffed into a Prague storage unit, it’s carpe diem or something. Let’s just get this show back on the road!
September 1st-8th will be downtime on the Island of Paros, hanging out with my buddy Adrian, finishing work projects, getting acclimatised to the heat, and generally shaping-up. I have a monster food baby after lockdown – at least 80% Gorgonzola – and it’s gotta go.
Then it’s off to The Peloponnese, starting at the eastern edge and taking a clockwise coastal circuit, with occasional forays inland and to the mountains.
I’ve mapped out a list of the main archaeological sites I want to see, but mostly I’ll be keeping a loose schedule, leaving plenty of time for sipping Frappés, jumping into the sea, and generally acting the maggot.
The bike, after several rebuilds, is running smooth as Serbian butter and has been heavily trialed over the hills of Prague, and south along the river Vltava. I’m still impressed with the Big Apple tyres. They roll!
And no, it’s not a mid life crisis. That was at least 15 years ago. I have the synthesizers to prove it.
A victory for hubris over good sense? Time will tell. My Covid test came back negative, and I have no antibodies. What a good lad I’ve been! If there’s another lockdown in Greece, I’ll just rent an apartment and work from here for a few months.
First stop – the Island of Paros. See you there.