Heading back to Cyprus

"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we're so glad you could attend come inside come inside"



It's been a good summer in the UK  but now it's time to follow the Sun!

So here I sit at gatport airwick departure lounge ready to fly back to continue my adventures on the island of Cyprus.



This is a strange microcosm of all that is artificial in human life.
All around me people rush around, hang around, and sleep around. Bellies full of overpriced junk food, cabin bags stuffed with unecessary duty free and travel goods on sale in the rip off shopping mall called an international airport. It's all so commercial, infact a better word would be pathetic really. Time to fill my mind with more important thoughts.
I wonder if Gordon has made it to the other side of the road safely yet. Will the goat herders dogs remember me and refrain from eating me? Are there any ' crappy' fruit juices left in the cafe fridge? These are all more important to me.
The guy next to me has less important things to occupy his mind. Like verbally castrating an underling employee for messing up a deal on a print run. The woman opposite smiles at me as we both realize this guy is a loud arrogant pr%ck with no interest in important life issues, such as Gordons epic walk across the road, or the feelings of the underling he is shouting at. Thankfully all this will soon be behind me.

I feel grateful to have survived security here. Belt, shoes, removed I feared for the body searcher as I held up my arms. Would my jeans stay up? Thankfully they were tight enough and I was allowed through.
I lied to easyjet about the bike bag wieght to avoid the inquisition. The illiterate guy on the oversized check in however was having none of it. He new for a fact that golf clubs wieghed more than 18 kilos and regardless of my insistance that i've never played golf in my life wasn't able to stfu for long enough for me to explain that the bloody great big bike logo on the bag was a clue as to its contents. I smiled and pushed the bike through regardless of his ignorance, he dug in and called a lady who could actually speak English who confirmed that a bike symbol on a bag did infact indicate its contents were a bike. My bike was wieghed again and accepted, much to the dislike of the illiterate one. I smiled and wished him a life of happiness at Gatwick.

There are lots if Scots here. I wonder if they fear life under Scottish rule, or didn't they do that yet? I must make an effort to watch a news bulletin One day. Nah, maybe not!

Here one can buy all the necessities of life, including a mobile phone cover bejewelled with fake diamonds for £599 !!  A small bottle of water costs just £1.50 'half price' and its rumoured one can aquire a sandwich for under a fiver if one looks carefully!

Many thanks go to Gav at Quest adventure for saving the day yesterday whe my FSA crank failed just before flying out today! If you want to buy a bike or get one serviced go here!

My thanks also go to Paul for the lift this morning, much appreciated mate. It's good to know I have friends in Mordor, and I will miss you all. And so it is with a belly full of smarty cake and my first card bingo win under my belt that I venture forth once more to foriegn shires.

Most of all I will miss Celeste. My true friend. We will ride together again before long. But as I take off,  I'm feeling very lucky to me doing what I am, and wish those that arnt as lucky as me much happiness.

Flying over the Mountains over Austria

Sunset from behind as we approach Cyprus

The flight was quicker than I had expected due to a tailwind, clearly Cyclops was preparing the ground for this entrepid cyclists adventures to come and getting some practice in on providing tailwinds!

Iwas joined by the obligatory stag week gang of cool dudes bound for the joys of aya napa, they managed to behaved well enough for two hours before two of them got caught smoking in the toilets like little boys at school. The crew took a dim view and announced to the cabin what had happened and how they were in breach of civil aviation rules, and should have a little more respect for the lives of all abourd. Too bloody right I thought, although all it seemed to achieve was to elevate the two culprits to God like status in thier group. Hey ho, even I was young once lol!

Sitting here now at midinght Local time its 28 c outside and the stars are out in force, Good things are about to Happen !