I feel your pain. hate to be stuck on those roads especially when you know somewhere there is an alternative! been there, done that!

Hi Trish, I have been reading your comments in the Andersons and Grampies journals. It's been ages since we've made contact. I keep hoping to see another journal from you! Have you made any plans to do another trip? We're thinking of France in September and following part of what the Anderson's have done down the Rhone.

Hello Grampies! I have been following you on your 'search for the meaning of life and have read many of your journals. Nice to make your acquaintance. Would love to make contact as I have many things I would be keen to exchange with you if you have the time. My email is carolyn@unklefranc.com

Hi, we are in Bad Gastein right now, checking Trish's blog to see what is next. We converted our Bike Fridays with LiGo batteries, which can go on planes. Bike Friday now offers these too. We think a year's storage of a bike in Europe is too costly!

Second half (I pushed the button too soon)
really interested in your trip in Pulugia and Andalucia - particularly the cycling in Andalucia as our son has a house there.
Like you we live near Auckland, in Pokeno, and really would like to be in touch our email is hitchen201@gmail.com
Good cycling
Tricia

Hi Carolyn
Thank you for your message Before ebikes we always took our bikes with us put them together at the luggage claim at the airport and rode off However now I am an electric bike that was no longer possible (NZ is the only country on the planet that does not accept professionally packed lithium batteries on planes!) Hiring was both expensive and inconvenient so we decided to buy bikes and store then. I fol lowed the instructions and discharged my battery to 80%- when we nervously returned to it about 10 months later it had not lost any charge and was in perfect condition. It all was very easy. However because we really thought that after my accident our riding days were over we gave away our bikes at the end of the 2019 trip.
I had my plaster off (after 8weeks in a wheelchair) last Thursday and my transplant is working perfectly though to be walking reasonably normally it is going to take quite a long time. Bouyed on with optimism we have started planning our next trip for about July this year starting in Gdansk.

Hi Tricia, I have just stumbled upon your journals. I have been a keen follower of the Andersons wonderful adventures. Having caught up to date with their entries, searched around in the journals and found a number of kiwi tourers including yourselves.
I was already so inspired by the Andersons and then to read your account of cycle touring in your eighties has filled me with optimism that perhaps we won't need to resign ourselves to a lazy boy chair and television at that point. Amazing! and with those injuries!
My husband & I (Aucklanders) completed a cycle tour of Puglia and Andalucia in October. We absolutely loved it and are now bitten by the same bug that everyone else on here seems to have.
I have been trying to figure out for ages how we can complete ongoing tours in Europe with e-bikes. Renting would be too costly. I loved the idea of the Andersons packing up their bike Friday's in a suitcase and heading off. There is a version of e-bike that Bike Friday does but after researching, discovered it's all but impossible to to carry bike batteries on an aircraft. Then I read your post about purchasing a bike over there and leaving in a storage facility for a year. It was a eureka moment. I was under the impression that a battery couldn't be stored for that long. So thank you! And I certainly hope your injuries heal well enough to enable another tour next year. You have to give the rest of us hope!

We live in hope Suzanne

You are amazing! All those km's with those injuries! Once you are healed there will be no stopping you. Looking forward to your new plans.

Oh, my gosh. It just hurts to imagine that, Tricia. You kiwis are tough!

It wasn’t easy Scott but I could still ride the Bike OK if I just put my heel on the pedal and I rode another 1000k but it was probably that that made the two ends of the tendon move apart

I am lucky that Simon is such skilled surgeon who delights in a challenge

Great news! Amazing that you were able to hobble around at all with a ruptured Achilles. I ruptured a quad tendon about a decade ago and it laid me flat completely. Good luck with rehab, and we’ll look forward to following along on your next journey.

A triumph of modern medicine!
Looking forward to your 2020 journal.

Mike

How we have enjoyed following along with you. I am wishing you smooth flights and free upgrades to first class on the way home. We are leaving soon for the Southern Hemisphere and our youngest son’s wedding. No bikes coming with us this time and we have laughed at our inability to plan a trip without them. We will manage somehow but it is a challenge! We are going to miss reading your blog and are hoping there are more bike tours in your future so we can continue to live vicariously through you. Congratulations on another wonderful tour.