Archive for August 2009

It’s official; Global Agents for Change’s Europe tour 2009 is now over. WE ALL MADE IT TO ISTANBUL! Looking back at the last two months is really just a blur of memories that haven’t even begun to make sense yet. I am willing to bet that most of us will still be figuring out exactly what we have gained from the tour for a long time to come yet. The fact every rider made it is really testament our teamwork and ability to overcome any ...

Written by Gala August 20, 2009 a split second decision this morning has decided that most of the agents are adding an additional twelfth country to the ride to break the cycle europe tour. and the winner is... greece! apparently mezek, our final sleep spot in bulgaria (just outside svelingrad) is about 15k from the greek border, so the decision was made to make it a tri border cross day. spending the rest of our leva at a cafe here in wonderful mezek with the amazing ...

You have a lot of time to think on a long bike tour, and Turkey has seemed like a mirage on the horizon for a very long time. Sitting in Amsterdam 8 weeks ago it was impossible to evision what it would be like to arrive here...after the epic, epic day that was yesterday it is clear we should never have bothered trying. We woke up on our last day in Bulgaria with Turkey on the brain, but breakfast chatter of an alternate route that ıncorporated ...

Written by Gala I always assumed, but never knew for sure, that there was a wall in bike touring. it creeps up slowly, and usually comes after about 7 weeks of strong cycling through unchartered terrain on tight schedules. Phillip, our driver, would have been the first to notice the trend with first a Keely, then a Nigel, then an Eileen, Erin, and a Shani in the car. I'd vouched after about a week of riding that I would ride the entire route to istanbul. No matter ...

Written by Chris

Just in case anyone thought we were just riding through the flat European countries, let me assure you, Bulgaria is not flat. Many of our last few days have included stretches where we have done at least 30km of linked hills and we have even traversed a couple mountains. By now most of us are in very good cycling shape, but no one likes to finish their day with mountain 6km straight up.

Bulgaria has also been interesting in ...

Check this out - week 5 & 6 highlights of the European Tour!

Written by Robbie Romania definitely gets my vote as the most beautiful country we've visited so far. The hills on either side of the Danube rising away from the river and the gorgeous inlets along the way were enough on their own, but the sinking sun over the bay at Hinova and the fishermen who I swear were there more to be than to fish clinched it firmly. Visually stunning. The people, though, will take me another trip to figure out. Where the Croats and Serbs we ...

Time Marches on as the wheels keep spinning Preconceptions are an interesting thing. While I know that most people in our group were very eager to visit Serbia many were also very weary of the "horror stories" that seem to be around. Even neighboring countries and past residents had given us tips and warnings about it, but almost none of them have been true. It seems like the further east we go the more the nicer, friendlier, and more welcoming people becoming, and ...

We are in Belgrade today! The morning was spent walking around the city with Jo and Mark; we talked lots about the bombings in 1999 and it was quite surreal and emotional to see destroyed buildings in the middle of busy intersections and in plain sight. For the first time on this tour, I feel like I'm in a different place. Whereas every country we've seen has its own flavour, Serbia takes it to a new level. No more Western Europe, this is Eastern Europe. The ...