Sometime in 2012 I was sitting on the 0728 Dunbar to Leeds train when I noted the train continued to Plymouth. Not being in the mood for working on the train my mind began to wander.

"Where could I go to from Plymouth?"

Google Maps soon showed that ferries went to northern Spain.

"Where could I go from Santander?"

"Athens by bike, and that would mean the prevailing wind would be on my back."

And hence 10+ years of thinking and planning started.

Covid lockdown and retirement allowed me extra time to focus on some of the detail.

It's now Feb 2023. The bike has been bought and decorated with various fixings and bags. Stuff for putting in the bags has been thought about, planned, researched and planned again. Some has been bought.

A route has been sketched out using Euro Velo 8 as a starter. (https://en.eurovelo.com/ev8)

80km per day, 5 days per week and 12 weeks. 4100km. It all fits together.

The countries I will visit are, in order:

Spain

France

Italy

Slovenia

Croatia

Bosnia and Herzegovenia

Croatia (again)

Montenegro

Albania

Greece

Then Brexit came along and threw a spanner into the spokes. UK citizens are now restricted to spending only 90 days in any 180 days in the Schengen zone.

Then there was a double whammy with Croatia joining Schengen on 1 January 2023.

Effectively this means the only bit of the route outside Schengen is from the southern end of Croatia to the point I will enter Greece.

So, why Ice Cream? I am an ice cream addict, especially when the weather is hot and I have done some exercise. I plan to sample ice creams, on a daily basis, along the route. I'll try to report on the quality as I go with the focus being on the three basic Ice Cream Groups:

Fruit & nut - Any ice cream made with fruit and/or fruit/nut derivatives

Beige - Any ice cream of the chocolate, caramel, butterscotch or toffee persuasion

Wrong - Those ice creams which are garish in either colour and/or flavour for example bubblegum!!

I will post some minor updates on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/6098340980193889) but my main blog will be recorded here on Crazy Guy.....

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My bike is a #shandcycles Stoater. Handmade in Livingston, Scotland Jimmy is a solid and fantastically built steel frame with GRX600 components. I've ridden him for a year before touring however I have not had to adjust the bike at all.