Ultimate Buffalo

Bom dia gente !!

Eu espero que tudo está ótimo com vcs.

Eu saí de Rio algumas semanas antes, com ideai de viajar pela estrada ate Fortaleza, curtindo o carnaval em Salvador.

O que aconteceu ? O seguinte :-

Bom, foi embora da chuva de Teresópolis, peguei ônibus para o Rio de Janeiro, rodoviário Novo Rio. Cheguei lá, fiquei pensando a onde eu vou próxima, e buscando informações. Não quis passar 30 horas dentro de um ônibus só até Salvador. Também eu era curioso sobre a cidade ´´Três Rios´´, porque lá tem boa rafting, e com a muita chuva que caiu, podia ter muito bons correntes lá para fazer descentes.

Fui para lá e não conseguiu nada. Fui embora de lá, até Juiz de Fora. E depois, mais um ônibus para Leopoldinho, seguido por Muriae. Essa estrada, o BR 116, foi lenta, porque a estrada foi nas montanhas, pois, a vista fora de janela era lindo. Muito verde !!

Depois de Muriae, fez um erro de viaje. Fui para Itaperuna, estado de RJ, só para saber as possibilidades de lá, sendo as conexões. Passei uma noite lá, voltei para Muriae. Foi bem abafado lá em Itaperuna.

De Muriae, peguei ônibus para Carangalo, lindo cidade na beira das montanhas. Pensei bonitissima, com as decorações de carnaval pronto para as festas. De lá, peguei mais um ônibus para Manhumirim, com a ideai viajar para Alto Caparão para ver as possibilidades fazer um ascente da Pico de Bandeira, montanha 3 mais alto do pais (2,900 metros). Pois o ônibus quebrou só 15 km depois/apos de Carangalo. A cinta do motor quebrou. Decidiu ir embora a pé, voltando para Carangalo. Acho que uma força não quis eu perder o carnaval lá aquela noite !! Os outros viajantes falaram que é muito longe para voltar de lá. Veja bem : quando alguém fala isso.......não acredito em eles, porque essas pessoas não estão acostumadas de andar a pé por muitos kilometros (eles são normalmente tipo de pessoal preguiçoso e gordo !!). Eles normalmente acham que 5 km é longe (em minha opinião, 5 km é perto e 50 km é longe !!)

Então, voltei a pé com minhas 2 mochilas em 2 horas e meio. Não vi nada de perigo lá. Só tranqüilidade. E alem disso estou equipado com alguém conhecimento de artes martiais para me proteger !! Ninguém mexe comigo.

OK, só, mais uma vez em Carangalo, comi mais uma deliciosa sobremesa de arroz de leito que foram vendidos lá na rodoviária, peguei um quarto baratissimo num hotel frente da rua principal (R$ 10 só), tomei uma ducha, descansei um pouco antes de saindo para a rua para ver as coisas do carnaval (bem pequeno foi o carnaval lá, só algumas centenas de pessoas).

E depois voltei no meu quarto. Tentei dormir, pois, só consegui uma hora só, por coisa de trio elétrico estacionado só 50 metros fora do meu quarto (usei aquelas negócios dentro de minhas orelhas para tentar parar o som, pois, eles não foram muito efetivos.

A manha seguinte, foi oferido só um cafezinho e um pão branco para o café de manha (que surpresa num lugar tão ruim assim !!).

Peguei ônibus para Alto Jequitibá, pouco antes de Alto Caparão. Fiquei falando com duas simpáticas mulheres que trabalham lá. Eles me avisou que agora, não é um bom tempo para fazer um ascente da Pico de Bandeira, por coisa de trombas de água. Já foram algumas pessoas morrendo lá. Então, eu peguei esse aviso e fui embora para Manhuaçu. Escolhei um hotel, com TV dentro de quarto para ver por menos o carnaval de Rio etc. A cobertura foi muito boa. Eu estava um pouco triste para não tinha oportunidade ver o carnaval de lá em pessoa.

Essa viagem de ônibus esta me ensinando uma coisa : aqui, no Brasil, esse pais é tão enorme que, realmente, a gente demorar por caramba na estrada. Não que há sempre um ônibus para o seu destino. Vc deve, de vez em quanto, escolher um outro destino, ou, esperar até o próximo dia para pegar um ônibus até o seu destino. Isso afeitar muito a data de chegada de destino final. E por coisa disso que eu já hei perdido o carnaval de Salvador, por muito distancia, o melhor carnaval em todos esses pais, e, bem provalmente, em todo o mundo !!

Depois de Manhuaçu, fui para Governador Valadares. Passei uma noite lá. Sabe que, viajando de ônibus é realmente tão lento, tão cansativo, que vc sempre chega no seu destino, se ainda é só 3 horas de viagem, cansado e sujo, com roupas merecendo mais uma lavagem ! E isso que está acontecendo comigo !! Alem disso, vc gasta mais do que nos aviões, porque vc está perdendo dias ou semanas nas estradas, gastando dinheiro em lanchonetes (e aqueles que ficam ao lado das rodovias ou dentro de rodoviária cobra muito mais do que é normal).

De Governador Valadares, peguei um ônibus para Teófilo Otoni. E de lá, mais uma para Nanuque, passei uma noite lá. E de lá, mais uma para Eunapolis. E de lá, mais uma para Porto Seguro. Oba, cheguei na costa finalmente em BAHIA. Pois, só fiquei uma noite só lá, porque não gostei muito de camping. Apesar de sendo um show com DJ Tiesto e Babado Novo no lugar Axé Moi, eu fui embora. O camping lá, frente de rodoviário, foi bem ruim. Fiquei acampando na grama, pois muitos bichos foram gostando muito do meu sangue (sangue doce de fora !!).

Voltei para Eunapolis, peguei mais um ônibus para Itabuna, passei a noite lá. E o dia seguinte, um ônibus para o Salvador, chegando depois do fim do carnaval (que isso ??!!!), dia depois de quarta feira de cinzas. Fiquei triste sabendo eu perdi tanto festa. Com certeza, em 2009 e 2010, eu não vou viajar mais de ônibus aqui no Brasil, só avião !! Não posso perder mais festas e mais tempo na minha preciosa vida ficando dentro de ônibus com tantos retrasos e paradas.

Foi para o camping lá em Salvador, onde eu passei 3 noites. O camping foi renovado um pouco, em 2006, não tinha um café, nem café internet. Agora tem. Foi para o shopping Iguatemi e o shopping Salvador. As dois foram muito bom. Comprei algumas CDs.

OK, foi embora de Salvador, peguei ônibus para Aracaju em Sergipe. Ontem, durante esse viaje, aconteceu um incidente. Veja bem, vc pode imaginar sendo dentro de m ônibus, bem descansado, ouvindo musica de seu mp3, quando acontece um barulho, tipo explosão, fora de ônibus, que vc imediatamente acorda de susto, pensando que foi uma morte lá fora na estrada. O que aconteceu ? Um pneu foi destruído. Graças ao Deus, esse ônibus foi equipada com 6 rodas atrás (empresa : Bonfim). Então, esse tipo de ônibus tem abilidade sobreviver um acidente de estrada sobre as roas de atrás, pois, outro ônibus só com duas, não !! Cuidado gente com seus ônibus !!!!!

Que susto hein ??!!! O ônibus parou, o motorista trocou a roda mão, e nos fomos embora de lá (o acidente aconteceu mais ou menos frente de entra para ´´Conde´´ (ainda na Bahia).

Passei uma noite só em Aracaju, e hoje, peguei mais um ônibus para Maceió, a onde estou agora, na rodoviária.

Então gente, até a próxima reportagem da viajante na estrada Brasileira !!

Um abraço, um beijo !!!!!

Buff

BRAZIL, JAN - MARCH 2008

I am here for 8 more weeks of Brazilian madness. Arrived here January 12th, after departing Paris Orly airport, where my French friend Samir dropped me after a nice meal in Paris Montparnasse.

A quick flight to Madrid, to change planes. Get my bags and check them in for the next flight (better to do this than to check them all the way through - too many chances for them to end up in Bora Bora (nice !) or Timbuktu or Bangalore or Baghdad (not cool !!). In Madrid, I ditched the airport for a couple of hours as I had a 4 hour stop over before the flight to Rio. So, having noticed a church spire some 5 or 6 km distant or so, decided to go check it out, as there is usually a village next to churches in Spain.

Had some fun navigating the motorway system around Barajas Airport (on foot !!).....Oh well. Eventually end up in the village of the same name as the airport. Found a bar and a bar stool to accommodate oneself, took a coffee, pastry etc., usual chat with barman (what is the weather like, what is the village like, too much car traffic etc., same the World over).

Then back to the airport for the 10 hour flight to Rio, which left late. Ended up talking half of the way to a Brazilian chappie, quite friendly, good for improving one´s Portuguese !

Then Rio de Janeiro, Galeão Airport. Still the same, nothing new there. Even after the 2007 Pan American games.......No change. Still the same grey, grimy concrete. I just wish in Brazil that they could at least throw buckets of colourful paint over all the ugly, bare plain grey concrete that pervades the whole country, then at least the place would look less sinister. Still, it is the people that count, the rest is just material......And the people, as ever, just as colourful and friendly, much more so than any tin of paint !!

Took a taxi to the local bus station. No buses all night from there (arrived there c.1.30 am), took 4 hours out on the floor of the station to organise my bags, then a 5.30 am bus to a city in the mountains called Petropolis, where I thought I would go for a change. The family of my ex girlfriend live in Teresopolis, a city in the neighbouring valley (both are at over 800m altitude), however, I thought I would stay in Petropolis for a night for a change. Nice cool mountain air !!

Next day, I took a bus to Teresopolis, where I phoned the brother of my ex upon arrival at the station. He said I could stay at his flat, he would even give me the keys too. Very trusting.

Then a taxi to the area where he lives, and a short hike up a hill to a typically Brazilian flat (small, bare faced brick on the outside, painted walls on the inside, shower, toilet (yes, running water and electricity !!).

Most Brazilian houses, flats etc. look like those in "Favelas", however, the term "Favela" really should only be used to describe an area of housing where there are huge social problems, inc. high unemployment, drug trafficking, lack of basics such as running water and electricity, crime, murder. In fact, the largest "Favela" in Latin America actually has a Mc Donalds inside it I believe (typical Americans !!), so perhaps Favela" is misleading........One could say that the whole of Brazil is one huge "Favela" (due to the fact that ´´normal´´ houses look the same as those in "Favelas", both are unpainted, bare brick/bare concrete), but, in reality, myself being English, I would say that "Favelas" are those areas where one does not feel safe, plain and simple. Kinda like the flatlands near Cape Town, simply areas you do not go, as poverty is so bad that people would kill you just for a cigarette, or for one dollar.......These areas exist, from Sao Paulo to Rio, Cape Town to J´Burg, Delhi to Bombay, Manila to Caracas. It is just that here, in Latin America, the people living in these "Favelas" have more of a penchant to dispense with your life than do the super poor in say India. In India, the religion kinda keeps them away from mass slaughter, whereas here in Brazil and in particularly Caracas (World´s most dangerous city, probably), the Catholic Religion is so free and so liberal that there really is no incentive to stop hoodlems saying "vaya con dios" to you when they want to take your money/camera/cigarette etc......Best policy, AVOID SLUMS !!

However, I heard a story whereby a car full of middle class youngsters ("clase medio" in Brazil, these people have some money....) robbed a pregnant mother waiting at a bus stop, in a non favela area of Rio. Frankly, this is sick. These youngsters already have money. They had no need to rob. I guess they did it for a prank, or for a thrill.

Here in Brazil, the newspapers are full of crime. Rio is the city in the World with either the highest or 2nd highest homocide rate in the World. However, most of the homicides are in "Favelas", as there is an ongoing "war" between the "traficantes" (the men that control the drug trafficking trade). This war means frequent deaths to people living in the other "Favela". Also, the Police/Military Police are also involved, with a mandate to stop this war. However, in typically corrupt Brazilian fashion, these authorities are actually part of the problem, as they sell weapons to the traffickers and are no doubt also involved in the drugs business. This is of course a serious impediment to any progreess in the drug war. I have heard it said that the best solution to the issue of the "Favela" would be to bulldoze the lot of them or nuke them or carpet bomb them. These ideas of course are politically incorrect. Then there is the fact that 90% of the cocaine users in the World are in the USA. Also Europe/U.K................some years ago, there was a test done of banknotes in circulation in London ; they had 90 or 95 percent evidence of cocaine usage. Last year, the same test was done again. This time, 100 percent of the banknotes in circulation in London had evidence of cocaine usage. There is a connection between this cocaine being used in London and cocaine from South America/Brazil/Rio etc.....To stop Brazil´s drug problems, you must stop the demand, stop the people using it from LA to London, Bogota to Paris, Madrid to New York, Vancouver to Macao. It is the World over. It is a very difficult thing to stop, in the same scale as "could you imagine trying to stop people watching television or stop using the internet". You cannot control people´s habits, legal or illegal, unless you have a totalitarian regime the World over, like Stalin or Hitler or Franco or such other dictator. No doubt George Orwell´s 1984 type of vision might be able to control the World, but people nowadays want too much, want too much freedom, too many liberties.

"Favelas" were formed when immigrants from the countryside chose to travel to cities in search of a better life. However, quite often, the life they encountered was worse than the one they left behind. However, upon realising this, they had no money to return to their village in the countryside, as it had all been spent on travel to the "big city".

In Brazil, most cities are on the east coast. The east coast is very hilly. Immigrants from the villages put up low cost housing, originally in the form of shacks (of wood/cardboard/corrugated iron). However, now, most immigrants put up basic tenements with bare bricks......and either leave the roof open to the elements (in the absolute poorest of cases) or put a basic roof on of corrugated iron. Incredulously, virtually the whole country of Brazil looks like a favela, in terms of the houses. All bare brick. All infrastructures (more or less) are bare grey concrete, actually, both, visually, quite depressing to the human eye). My eyes now are trained to avoid this ugliness. I now search for green trees, grass, mountains etc. Much better for the spirit !!

I am in some joint (village !!) called "Alto Jequita" in the Caparao Highlands, northwest of Rio de Janeiro. Here it is cool !! (well, it is still 25c and sunny, but this is cool compared to the 40c of Rio !!)

Last night, I was taking this bus from a place called Carangola (which was looking good for a carnival party, as the town was well decorated and loudspeakers and open air bars were everywhere), when, about 10 km out, it broke down. Oh well I thought, it is obviously not my destiny to get to my destination !! So, I got off the bus and got my main rucksack out of the hold and walked off down the road, to get back to this town. I was thinking that the bus had kinda broken down..... as a sign that I might be allowed to get back to Carangola and enjoy the awesome looking carnival party (and buy another World class rice pudding from the stall at the bnus station) !!

I think the locals thought me mad, for someone wishing to walk many KMs with baggage. The bus driver proferred "Vai com Deus" as I walked passed him and the passengers who were waiting outside the bus. I walked on, listening to some pounding techno on my iPod (Misstress Barbara), providing the motivation to fast track it back to the previous town. I guess, Brazil, like any other 3rd.....2nd....1st World country, the "locals" (ho dads ??!!!) are mostly always lazy, at least in terms of them not wanting to walk for hours on end. This is how many of them end up obese with high blood pressure and drop dead in their forties or fifties, while those individuals who favour walking and bicycles for shorter distances over cars, trains, buses etc generally live longer, enjoy a healthier, better life and look younger. This modern, mobile phone touting, car and bus using, fast food eating population would rather wait 24 hours to be rescued while waiting in the broken down bus than walk a couple of hours down thew road and enjoy a cool carnival party. Well, to be honest, 10 km is not that far. In terms of a military style route march, I would proffer that, ok, 100 km (60 miles) is quite a long way, and, obviously, 1000 km (600 miles) is indeed a long way. Whjen locals start telling you that "so and so shop" is a long way, it means it is a long way for these lazy slobs who would rather take a car or bus. One time, this dude told me it was a long way, when in reality, it took me only 20 minutes !! And last night, the passengers on the bus told me it was a long way, when it only took me 2 1/2 hours. Nothing. It was a light, easy walk, even with 2 rucsacs !! Then again, most locals are not accustomed to any more exercise than lifting beer glasses off the counters of local bars (or here, beer cans). This is a true fact, based on observation of thousands of locals across more than 10 countries !! The percentage of the population willing to walk 10 km or do sits ups, pull ups and press ups off metal bars, is very small indeed. Mostly, people are slobs, ignorant, who will be the reason that the planet destroys itself !! I will always continue being a rebellious warrior !!

So that was exactly what I did, walk 10 km, check into the 1st hotel (really cheap), get a shower, cook up some food and head out to this cool little carnival.

Yeah, I just had to head back to the bus station (250 m from my hotel !!) to buy another one of those delicious homemade rice puddings that they sold there, just one reial (about 30 euro cents, really quite cheap). Then later I bought an ice cold beer, awesome !!

Today, at one of the bus stops en route, some dude ripped me off for 2 pastries and a can of fruit juice ! Typical travel stuff !! Last night was a really cheap hotel (R$ 10), inc. a cup of coffee (too sweet) and plain white bread roll for breakfast. The hotel dude offered this to me as I was leaving to get a bus......even though it was past breakfast time. And last night, as I was walking back to Carangola, these 2 dudes offered to give me a lift in their truck, however I refused as I was enjoying a nice walk !!

If only they did not always put salt and sugar in everything here, the country would be a better place (and people would not have such high levels of obesity and blood pressure !!).

Still, Brazil, as ever, has simply the most awesome tropical fruits : these run by the names of "cupuaçu, mangaba, caju, acerola, açai" etc (plus hundreds more). There are more tropical fruits in this country than I have ever seen in Thailand or Malaysia. They can be made up into a "Suco" (plain fruit juice) or a "Vitamina" (this is more of a milk shake type of drink, with milk or condensed milk and porridge oats added, sometimes ginseng and guarana too, for a really powerful shake (eg post gym workout !!)

And then there is the ultimate Brazilian cocktail, the "Caipirinha". This is now popular in Europe and the U.K., so really needs no introduction. Also ´´Caipiruva´´, ´´Caipivodka´´, ´´Caipilaranja´´ (derivatives, using fresh red grapes, vodka, fresh orange juice etc.

Brazil, future events :

Brazil, 2014 : Football World Cup (obvious !!)

Brazil, 2014 : Rock in Rio, Rio de Janeio.

World´s Largest Musical Event. In 2002, they had 250,000 people packed into a stadium much much bigger then "Maracana", in a structure they named "Cidade de Musica" (Music City). The scale of the place, the massiveness of the infrastructure (built on wasteland in the middle of nowwhere), beggars belief. Imagine something 10 times bigger than Wembley stadium...........then mostly concrete the edges, put piping underground to run ice cold beer from beer juggernauts straight to the beer taps......add cooling showers over bar areas, showers inside of dance tents (these showers being literally small showers pumping out cooled mist to keep the punters cool.....), leave some area of grass in the middle of the stadium.......Yep, a true music/rock city, unbelievale here in Brazil. Lord only knows what they will do for 2014 !!

Oh, one more thing : they will build a new high speed railway line to run between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (bullet train). Taking a bus anywhere in Brazil is truly an awful experience (but not as uncomfortable as India !!)......because the roads have mostly potholes everywhere. These potholes simply never ever get repaired, because the money that is destined for road repairs in Brazil....well, like most things in relation to money here in Brazil, gets, to put it politely, "misappropriated". Put crudely, the money is getting stolen, mostly by greedy and absolutely corrupt politicans, with huge (beer) bellies to feed, demanding wives, houses in Switzerland/Florida/Hawaii.....helicopters to run, Dom Perignon champagne to buy, Caviar etc....Yep, the white Portuguese who run this country still continue to keep the majority repressed. Even the new President Lula is corrupt. The other day, he even rebuffed proof from the Governments own Environmental Department, who had explicit proof of massive environmental damage and deforestation......he simply stated to the assembled press "the problem has been exaggerated and is not as serious as made out". Well, quite frankly, may this moron choke on his own car exhaust fumes. There is a MASSIVE problem here in Brazil. The AMAZON, or the lungs of the World and responsible for the control of most of the World´s weather (the green vegetation/trees)..............if this is all chopped down, the will be massive temperature rises. Imagine London in the summer with 50c. What about Miami with 75c......Quite frankly, the World must act now ! How ? When buying any product made from wood, ask where it came from. If the answer is Brazil or Borneo or any other 3rd World country DO NOT BUY IT !! Only buy from countries where they replant the trees after chopping down. In Brazil, the deforestation is done by ignorant, money grabbing and (illegal) lawless morons, who employ a private army of thugs to kill people who try to interfere or stop this deforestation. The only way to stop the supply is to stop the demand. Education is always the way forwards. Then there are always those people in the 1st World who give not a damn about the planet or the environment. They are so blinkered that they have no idea that the item of wooden furniture that they are buying who be from illegally obtained woods.

I truly wood like to think that there is a future for Planet Earth and Mankind, however, with so many blinkered people, people who are obessesed by such stupidity and the latest version of Windows/BMW/iPod/DVD/Microwave/TFT Television/Furniture...........the material consumerism, the internet, mp3, it all has to stop now. Everything in moderation with an education. The balance has tipped the wrong way.......it will be difficult to get the balance back. You must act NOW, if you wish to save the planet, or if you wish to have any kind of decent planet earth for your offspring or for the offspring of your offspring to live in. I am certain that your offspring´s offspring do not wish to walk around the planet in Space Suits equipped to deal with 75c weather (or pehaps these morons wouldn´t mind, they could be equipped with MP3 and air conditioning inside their space suits, they could take ´´virtual internet holidays´´´ by plugging their neo cortex into the net, sensors onto their fingers and aromas up their noses). I guess I am just an old fashioned dinosaur who likes things done the old fashioned way. If you want chips, dig up a potato, wash it, peel it, slice it up and fry it in (preferably) olive oil, NOT the type who gets in a car and goes to ´´McAuto´´ to get a drive by take out while letting ones pot belly rest firmly on the seat belt of the latest model of BMW.

I guess I am like the old fashioned dinosaur represented by Sylvester Stallone in that film with Sandra Bollock. In this film, Sandra Bollock represents the cop of the future, who takes these internet virtual relaity holidays, who makes ´´virtual love´´. Stallone is the old fashioned dude who likes things deal the old fashioned real way. the film is based in the year 21XX, however, Stallone is a cop from a previous generation. Hey, just imagine a future whereby machines issue you fine tickets for public swearing !! This is probably not too far off in the U.K., which has the highest levels of public camera footage in the World and probably the highest levels of (almost Orwellian) public ´´control´´. What is fair to say is that we need more people of this dinosaur type who are not afraid to challenge the status quo.

I heard it said recently that "there is no way back"......Frankly, this person just does not understand. We are in a loop. Currently, the destination is "latest/better/newest etc", however, there will come a time when the apex or summit of this is reached (judgement day), whence thereafter it all goes straight back to pre or post industrial revoluition era. The lifestyle at the moment for the planet is unsustainable. The no.1 problem is that there are too many human beings, now 7 billions. 100 years ago, there were only 1 billion. We must revert to lesser billions, otherwise all the food and water will disappear.....it is already disappearing, water levels are dropping. Northern China´s water table is now so low that they are attempting to divert part of the Yangtse river to provide h20 to the masses ! Madness. The solution is STOP REPRODUCING NOW. 1 child per family for every country, for every couple. Use condoms. STOP CREATING 2+ OFFSPRING FAMILIES NOW !!!!!!!!!! Otherwise there will not be food to feed your children´s children !!

That´s it for now from sunny Brazil.

Road Trip Stories from
da Buffalo......da dude who prefers da bicycle !!

"The bicycle is the future NOT the car" (comments please, theses please, no less than 1,000 words !!!!!)

Viernes 07 Diciembre / Friday 7th December 2007, Hotel Pamplona Plaza, Pamplona, Navarra, SPAIN
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Quentin A J Ford, Bicycle Road Trip, Autumn & Winter 2007 - SPAIN

The ´´RoadWolf´´ Bike & Bike Trailer project, 2007

Introduction, Development & Design, Where I am right now, the journey so far.

PART 1, 07/12/2007.
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Hi folks,

Well, I am currently in Pamplona, Navarra, north east Spain (home of the World famous bull run, although not in December - it is a summer thing !) (also the first big city for pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostela from St.Jean Pied de Port just over the border from here in France).

I have cycled all the way here from Ibiza (yep, my bike & trailer goes on water too.....I wish !). Wow, what an unbelievable trip so far !!

A quick summary of things so far :

I left my campsite (Camping La Playa, Punta Arabi, Ibiza) in early November with about 125 kg of equipment on board my custom built bike trailer. I cycled to Ibiza Town (aka Eivissa) and caught the Iscomar slow ferry (Carmen del Mar !!) to Denia. I prefer Iscomar, nice slow boat, also the cheapest ! Good seaworthy vessel.

Not too bad a boat trip, although I seemed to have gotten bitten by roaches on route while I slept on the floor (so much for Iscomar cleaning up their ferry when it was taken out of service for 4 weeks in the summer due to sub standard conditions....! )

It took me approx. 2,000 hours (plus or minus) to build the special equipment needed to make a bike expedition. Industrial strength custom built aluminium, stainless steel & wood trailer and strengthened mountain bike with custom mods everywhere.....(painted all white for road safety reasons !).

The reason it took so long is that the first series of prototypes were not up to scratch. The absolute very first trailer.....the trailer buckled after only 50 metres ! This first prototype was built in Alfafar (commercial area, large shopping malls etc.), Valencia, during the very hot summer of 2007 (some days were over 35c, one day was 42c in the shade !!)

Also the weather and Spain itself delayed the whole project. The equipment was built 100% on the street, by this I mean it was built on common land in Alfafar, some work was done on the equipment at my storage depot in Alfafar, being Trasteros Publico (gracias Julio !!)

However, most of the work was done on a campsite in Ibiza, being Camping La Playa (Felippe, desculpe por las molestias !!).

The many days of above 30c.....well, this made the work slow and tedious. On most days it was physically impossible to work between 11 am and 3pm, it was simply too hot or the sun was too strong, even under the shade of pine trees or tarps (or both !!)

Also, doing the work mostly on campsites, I had to be careful not to disturb other campers. The campsite ´´Coll Vert´´ was useful in Valencia (El Saler) because there was a dual carriageway next to it and the noise I made could not be heard, or at least, it was somewhat muffled.

The ´´insects´´ also delayed things. The bugs were a real nuisance. Awful mosquitoes in Valencia, biting DAY and NIGHT. Ibiza had some really weird almost invisible bugs (´´no seem ums´´ as they say in the outdoor world !).

Anyway, building this equipment would normally I suppose be done in a workshop. However, I did not have one of these ! Anyway, I prefer the outdoors and what better way to make a dream bike and trailer than in the outdoors itself !!

Encountering the correct materials was always a problem. Spain is not really the ideal country for anything to do with bicycles, as most people drive cars (France and more notably Germany and especially Holland are more bike countries). However, eventually, with enough ´´local´´ knowledge and much improved Spanish, I was able to get the correct materials from places like ´´Leroy Merlin´´ in Valencia (Spanish version of B & Q) or various ´´Bricos´´ or ´´Ferreterias´´ (smaller versions of same). The best ever place I came across was ´´Bauhaus´´ in Barcelona. This is a German place, the best stocked place I ever saw. They had the perfect alloy box tube sections not available elsewhere, I just could not transport them back to Ibiza !

Sometimes, I had to make longer trips to get materials (e.g. flying to Germany to get some special bike parts.....however, I did mix this up with visiting the famous music festival ´´Love Parade´´ in Essen !!).

Many many hundreds of hours were spent gluing (always Araldite industrial epoxy : this takes 3 days to set properly, although is workable after 12 hours, this was another reason for the huge timescale in the whole project !), sanding (manual sanding in 90f heat is TIRING !!), cutting (wood and aluminium), designing on paper (many many prototype drawings.

Also, the daily ´´siesta´´ (or lunch closing period) of anywhere from 2 to 5 hours) (can you imagine U.K. office workers taking a 5 hour lunch break ?!!!?) seriously delayed things. And even here, right here, right now, mid winter, Pamplona, NE Spain, things are still the same. Daily 3 hour lunch breaks, some days whole city or country just STOPS and CLOSES. Shops closing halfway through Saturdays. Others NOT opening on Mondays.

The other day, it was national day, tomorrow, it is some patron saint or other. No doubt, next week, it will be some other buttmunchs´´day !! Frankly (hey dude !!), Spain must have the greatest number of (what we call in the U.K.) ´´bank holidays´´ in the whole World. I reckon, if you add up regular work leave and all these others days off, the average individual perhaps has 6 or 8 weeks holiday a year !! What a life ! 2 - 5 hour lunch breaks.

SIESTA. FIESTA. BEACH. BAR. DISCO. Oh, here in PAMPLONA, today, the weather is very English. However, if you go to the coast, it is just like the best day of an English summer : 20 - 25c, people are sunbathing today, mid winter, swimming on the beach, from Barcelona to Malaga, the coast is having a late Indian summer (´´Poniente´´ wind) (in early December : INCREDULOUS !!!!) AND, if you want to go SKIING, not a problem : there is fresh snow not only in the Pyrenees, but also some (less) in Sierra Nevada.

And, in Sierra Nevada, if you want to, you can ski in the morning on the (mostly always) sunny slopes above beautiful Granada with its´ World heritage ´´Alhambra´´, and sunbathe on the coast (Costa Tropical !!) in the afternoon. Then party at night ! Yes, Spain has it all !! It is said that, if you want to party, Spain is the place ! There is literally a festival or carnival or some such other insalubrious activity EVERY SINGLE MONTH of the year. Makes England look somewhat staid, rusty and frozen. Stiff upper lip and all that. I guess it is the weather ?? Perhaps Norway or Finland is even worse for partying ??!!! (worse weather !).

And what about Iceland or Greenland ? North Pole ??!!! (Actually, they do party in Reyjkavik I here.....but it is super expensive up there. I here Christmas is REALLY nice in this Icelandic city : people have an ´´open house´´ policy which means that anyone is welcome to visit and make a little party (perhaps eat a mince pie or two and sip a brandy/whisky/´´glühwein´´/tequila ??!!!?? (hee hee).....the local folks have their houses beautifully decorated with candles and all. Perhaps the most awesome place to visit up north at this time of year would be the famous ´´ice hotel´´ in Sweden. Best time would be the opening party, when an ensemble of Swedish singers (a choir) carrying candles and all dressed in white sing and guests drink vodka (no doubt out of glasses made from river ice). Guests then sleep on solid ice beds covered in some kind of fur (moose, deer or such other).

Decor is awesome : ice sculptures. Artists, travellers etc come from all corners to decorate the joint. In the ´´hotel rooms´´ (ice caves...!!), wall artwork is....you guessed it.....ice art work !!

Back to the bike :-

I had to completely "re-invent the wheel on this project". Never in my life have I built anything like this. When I was younger, I used to build model boats, cars and planes, however, these were mostly from kit form.

For the "RoadWolf" project, I initially viewed other trailers on the market. In fact, perhaps the real reason I made RoadWolf was that in Spain, I found it so jolly difficult to buy a bike trailer (or at least a very good one) that I decided to make one myself, and improve upon what is available in the World wide market place. Also, it would give me something to do during my year off !!

The biggest headache during the whole project was :-

1) How to mount the wheels
2) How to connect the trailer to the bike so that, no matter what the bike did, the trailer would follow along in a well behaved, controller manner !

Regarding the first point, I initially thought of using standard front forks, but never found any (most bikes, at least in Spain, use suspension on the front forks nowadays).

What I did was ´´sandwich´´ the wheels between a central ´´base´´ platform (of wood and alloy) and an outer section of mostly (angle section) alloy.

This worked OK with light loads., however when a really heavy load was applied (and I mean heavy, ie above 50 kg !!), the outer angled alloy sides bent up.

The solution was to completely re-design the outer wheel supports. This I did, and quite frankly, as usual, I went way overboard, by using quadruply re-inforced box section alloy tubing filled with liquid foam (which expands and solidifies after a few hours.....).

The stop any bending of the whole platform (and to actually connect the outer wheel supports to the main base), I used 4 doubly re-inforced alloy box sections mounted 2 at the rear, 2 up front.

Wheels were originally 26" mtbs, however, after an accident on a motorway hard shoulder in Valencia (OK, I should not have been on the motorway......it was a navigational error), whereby the whole trailer overturned (due too high a centre of gravity), I thought that the solution to the instability would be to lower the centre of gravity (C of G).

This was done by using smaller wheels (20"). The actual main base of the trailer is quite narrow at 40 cm wide, however, it is long at 100cm. The gap between the main base and the outer wheel supports is 10cm. The total trailer width is c. 75cm

So, with 20 inch wheels, for the same base width, the C of G is now much lower. I also mounted an 80 litre ´´underbox´´ underneath the main wooden base to get the C of G even lower still (and to provide additional load carrying capability).

To reduce the weight of the trailer, and to provide access to the ´´underbox´´, I had to remove wood from the base by cutting in rectangular access hatches. These had to be massively reinforced later..... (50 hours of work alone, gluiing, sanding, painting etc.)

The central section between where the wheels are mounted had to have MASSIVE reinforcement. This was done by using aluminium & epoxy.

Regarding wheel mounting, the original method was to have the 26" mtb wheels mounted in holes drilled in the outer angled supports and holes on the angled outer section of the central main base. However, after much testing (and after that accident), I stopped using the larger wheel size in favor of the lowered C of G provided by the smaller 20 inch wheel. Also, there was wear and tear in the holes used by the 26" wheel, and no guarantees that these holes could withstand the abuse of the road, hundreds of miles with 100 kg weight.

I chose the 20 inch BMX wheel, as it is far stronger than any conventional bike wheel and has a very thick axle with large nuts. The dilemma for me was how to mounts these wheels on the trailer.

After many many visits to various ´´Bricos´´ and much thinking and designing on paper, by accident, I came across just the right thing. ´´Angle brackets´´. These are galvanised metal 90 degree brackets with pre driller holes.

Upon buying some of these, they did indeed have the correct size hole to accommodate the BMX wheels. Wow, happy days !!

The angle brackets were quadruply attached (bolts and screws, always stainless steel) to the outer supports and the main base.

THE CONNECTION TO THE BIKE

The second headache was how to connect the trailer to the bike. Well, I originally used a central ´´tow bar´´, basically a very simple solution whereby a small stainless steel eyelet is mounted inside a tube which in turn is mounted inside another tide, whole lot attached to underside of trailer using brackets, and a custom tow bar on back of bike was made. A simply vertical pin keeps bike & trailer together.

This system proved OK.....until one day when the tow bar on the bike came apart (wood proved to be the wrong material !).

So, I spent a good solid 100 hours developing a much stronger, really industrial strength version for bike and trailer.

So, what I have now is a triangular towbar on the trailer (think of the letter A......the trailer is connected to the bike at the top of the A.....the A is also a triangle !

The towbar on the bike is all alloy, stainless steel bolts etc., wood insides where bolts are used to stop the allow deforming. Also, epoxy strengthening. It took me ages to think up a system of how the trailer would ´´couple´´ with the bike so as to allow movement as follows :-

vertical movement (to allow for movement in the vertical plane, this is where the bike goes up and down, or the trailer, or both at the same time. This allow the ´´system´´ to cope with any and all hills/potholes/uneven roads).

horizontal movement (going around corners !!)

movement rotationally in the horizontal plane (to allow the bike to lean over or bank, ie during normal riding or while going around corners).

In fact, the system I ended up using allowed perfectly all 3 movements (or 3D). This is normally best seen in the ´´ball and socket´´ joint used on cars etc.. for towing trailers. However, apart from some tiny ball and socket items I saw in Germany, there was nothing available to buy on the marketplace.

My system is a vertically mounted stainless steel karabiner on the trailer coupled to a stainless steel D shaped shank or clip (both items from the World of yachting).

The problem with the latter is that you cannot detach the trailer quickly, you need a pair of pliers to undo the pin to remove the clip from the karabiner. Good for theft prevention, bad for a quick trailer detach.

Anyway, to summarise, an awful lot of hard work (physically, this is the hardest work I have ever done in my life.....), it is obvious I have a lot of engineering skills (thanks to my Father, I have inherited some rather incredible engineering talent !!!!!)

AND the RoadWolf bike and bike trailer system WORKS. Yes, I have proved how incredible it is. I have cycled all the way to PAMPLONA from IBIZA, via Denia, Valencia, Castellon, Tortosa, Fraga, across the Monegros Desert to Huesca, and over some serious mountain passes to Pamplona.

Always, the system was reliable. I always kept the equipment clean and in good working order. Always perfect condition brakes, derailleur etc. Maintenance every 3 days or so. Always checking for cracks or loose nuts everywhere (there are over 25 nuts and bolts on the trailer alone !). As the trailer is heavy (c. 100 kg, mainly food, tools & clothing and also camping gear), the bike brakes MUST be at 100% capacity : this means brake blocks excellent, clean , dry rims. I prefer old fashioned rubber brake blocks. The old style equipment is more easily field repairable and maintainable than the new (disc brakes etc) gear.

I must say, I am proud of RoadWolf. One time, after ascending to the top of an 800 metre (2,700 foot high) mountain pass, I had to descend the other side (in the dark !!). By then I was confident enough with the equipment to really let her ´´fly´´. So, coming down the steep descent, I let her take off and do her own thing. I think I registered a maximum speed on this descent approaching 70 km/h. This is well over 40 mph. This is IMPRESSIVE towing a 100 KILO bike trailer !!!!!!!!!! All the while, the system felt STABLE while also feeling AGILE.

I think the trailers stability is due to the very low C of G. Also, 100 KG keeps her on the ground ! The bike I use is a modified MTB, using the standard 2.1 26" mtb wheels that she came with.

Some people might think that mtb wheels are slow........Well, the reason that I use 2.1 wheels (trailer also) is for stability, but mainly for security. The roads in Spain are generally pretty rough. The minor roads (camis) are AWFUL. I mean, frankly, the camis are like trying to ride over the granite foothills of the Lake District or Snowdonia !!). So, 2.1 wheels it is, and they GRIP really well .......I have even achieved above 50 km/h on this system downhill, in the rain, boy, do they grip.....and then some !! I have considered trying to get some really good 2.0 Schwalbes......however, as they say "don´t fix it if it ain´t broken" meaning why change them if they are working ? So, I am still using orig. 26" wheels and orig. 2.1 tyres. What is special on my bike is the extra reinforcement to the main frame. I applied a bamboo support to the main triangle. Araldited in place. Painted. Added a triathlon type handle bar extension ; added extra sets of handle bars. Best to the look at the pics elsewhere here, as a photo speaks 1,000 (or more !!) words.

I am using a 10 function bike computer. Frankly, the bike computer is a must (and could be a lifesaver). It is of utmost importance to know how many kms I have done. To know my max speed and average speed. It allows me to pace myself, also to know how far to the next village etc.

I keep an eye of temperatures as well. I am aware of my physical state. I keep well fuelled up (pasta, oats, fruit, veg, chocs etc), well watered (water, oranges, tea, coffee (and by night, beer, wine, gluhwein and now Baileys with Coffee in the cold weather !!!!!). The latter night time ´´fuel´´ is always appreciated alongside a nice fire. Fire is a friend (one of the 5 elements !!). So, a cool beer, a glass of freshly made gluhwein (basically warmed red wine with apple and orange pieces and spices, eg cinnamon, and if possible, fresh ginger) I make a fire when I can (saves on gas and keeps me warm !!) (controlled fire in a small ´´stove´´).

Sleeping system : I use a small mountaineering tent, duck down sleeping bag, goretex overbag (when it is deemed necessary, ie damp, or damp with cold). I have 2 tarps with me. One is a 4.5 m x 3 m one. Large by any standard. Good material, many tie down points. The 2nd tarp is a 3 m x 3 m one. To the underside of this 2nd tarp I have taped 2 space blankets. This tarp, when it is used over the tent, reflects heat back to the tent. Also, when I sit underneath it, my body heat is sent back to me. Result, I stay warmer !!!!! However, the downside of the taped space blankets to the tarp is that, if there is any movement of the tarp, the space blankets make a noise. This is quite annoying if there is a strong wind......However, like all noise, one tends to tune out this ´´white noise´´ eventually.

Navigational system (forget GPS - no good when the battery is kaput). I have been using the sun as a navigational aid. Sure, some people use compasses......however, I am a simple fellow, rather old fashioned, I wish to use really OLD techniques. So, it is really simple to use the sun to navigate by. You just have to know your ´´compass´´ pretty well. You also to take into account the seasons. It is now almost mid winter, the sun is quite low here in NE Spain. Sometimes, the sun is not visible due to cloud. One can also navigate using the shadows created by the sun.

I saw a really old fashioned clock some 50 or 100 km back - it was simply a vertical granite stone with a metal rod (angled I think) protruding, with inscriptions on the granite.

Simply, you can tell what time it is by the shadow cast over a fixed object, whereby the shadow is narrow over a vertical flat surface. This is what that old clock was. Similarly, you can tell in which direction you are going by the direction or angle of shadows. This does take some fluency in compass boxing, but this was what we learnt at boarding school in ´´seamanship´´ classes (as well as all sorts of knots....., however, the most used knot I use is the ´´bowline´´ - simple, strong, safe, easy to undo, the best knot that I know of !!).

Mostly however, there are ROAD SIGNS everywhere. This makes navigation easy. Also maps make navigation easy.

There are some funny stories about people using GPS devices in England. The computer tells the driver (who has NOT been paying attention to the ´´real world´´ outside his or her car or cab window) to go down this or that lane......More often than not, the driver soon encounters some problem or other. Perhaps there is not actually a bridge over that river. The computer directs the articulated lorry driver to take a narrow road that is just wide enough for a motorbike and side car but BUT an Australian style road train !!!!!

There is also the safety issue : any driver of any vehicle that is driving while looking at GPS or Computer screens (or on board DVD players) or while talking on (even hands free) mobile phones is not as well in control of the vehicle as someone who has their mind 100% on the task of driving.

When I am on my bicycle, I must have this 100% concentration. I could not cycle at high speed with a trailer while talking on a mobile phone or while watching a movie on a portable dvd player. The number of times that I have almost had an accident with a PEDESTRIAN in Spanish towns and cities.....I have lost count. Frankly and simply, people using these devices are NOT aware of their surroundings. Pedestrians walking down sidewalks/pavements are not aware of what is going on around them. They cross roads, they do not see me, they do not see cars, they have their minds on their conversations. This is DANGEROUS. OK, you cannot really ban pedestrians talking on mobiles while they move around towns and cities (although I would love this to happen, to make the roads and pavements safer), but any use of these devices while driving really ought to be banner in every country.

Spain is somewhat behind in many respects (quite 2nd or 3rd World still in some parts of the country). Only now, Dec. 2007, are they starting to penalise people for driving too fast. So many people drink and drive and drive too fast here in Spain, the stats are scary. Only today, right here in rainy, grey, overcast Pamplona, I saw some idiot careering down a steep hill, on the wrong side of the road, at high speed, enter a roundabout on the wrong side..........I can only assume that he was either drunk or asleep, or that the car brakes had failed, or some mixture of these (or scarily, all 3 !!). Eventually this moron came to a stop at a bus stop. Then there was the clown who (in Alfafar, Valencia, this mid summer) managed to drive his car actually over the vertical central concrete road dividers (like 6" high vertical paving stones), causing no doubt untold damage to his underpan, and then same monkey ´´bounced´´ back to correct side of road and came to a quick stop curbside while narrowly missing taking out a concrete lampost ! And this all happened 20 metres in front of my eyes while I was repairing my 1st prototype trailer curbside on the other side of the road !! (someone was looking after me ´´up there´´ !!!!! )

That´s all for now folks. More later....It is now really late., 02.46 am on this (free) hotel internet computer....., my bed is calling me !! Tomorrow night, it will be back on the road, and in my nice (little !!) tent. Let´s hope for a rain and wind free day and night, to make some decent progress up towards Irun on my way up north towards BORDEAUX (France). Another day, hopefully the weather will be fair to me, we shall see !!

Good night, Bonsoir, Buenos noches, Boa Noite (como a gente falam no Brasil e Portugal .....com saudades !!)