From: mstenhou@crc.ac.uk (Mike Stenhouse x3293)
Subject: Route for Scotland to Australia Charity Ride
Followup-To: rec.bicycles.rides, soc.culture.celtic, poster
Keywords: Scotland, Australia, Route
Organization: MRC Human Genome Resource Centre
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 13:24:52 GMT



Several people have asked what our proposed route to Australia is
going to be.  So here it is for those of you who are interested!

As I see it there are 3 main parts to the trip:

1. UK to Turkey

This is the breaking-in period, getting fitter and no doubt honing
our survival skills to perfection. 

We'll pass through France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and
Bulgaria before reaching Ankara in Turkey from where we'll fly to
Karachi in Pakistan (we may have to fly from Istanbul actually).
I'm just wondering how much food we'll be able to find in deepest
Transylvania in the middle of winter: reports on food availability
in Romania are not too good at the best of times.

2. Pakistan to Australia

After riding north along the Indus river we'll cross into northern India
and make for Nepal to spend May, the hottest month there, perhaps doing
a spot of trecking.  We'll re-enter India, aim for Culcutta and somehow
get to Thailand, perhaps with stops in Bangladesh and Burma. 

From Thailand we'll pass through Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Bali and Timor
before reaching Darwin in NW Australia.  From Darwin we must somehow
reach Kangaroo Island, which lies just off the coast of southern
Australia, near Adelaide.  Getting through Australia alone may take 3 or
4 months since we hope to go snorkling off the Gt Barrier Reef and
such-like, although we're still not sure whether we wish to go down the
West coast, through the middle or cross over to the East coast and go
that way!  Choices, choices!

3. Darwin to Adelaide (and Kangaroo Island)

Lots of biking in red sandy areas.


Originally we had hoped to bike straight through Turkey and Iran,
entering Pakistan that way.  However, the Iranian government likes
British Subjects as much as they do Americans and like to keep a close
eye on them.  Hence it is only possible for us to obtain a 7-day transit
visa to cross Iran.  There is also the cost of hiring the compulsory
official Iranian escort and biking independently was met with a definite
"no" from the Embassy in London.  In the end the hassle didn't seem
worth it: we've decided to save valuable time and board the great iron
bird.  Perhaps another day... 

Two years ago, when we first started planning this trip, Yugoslavia and 
Afghanistan were also on our route!

Hope this is of some interest to you all.  I should be able to post a
quick report of the short tour we're doing round the UK and Ireland
before Christmas. 

For those of you in the UK, I'm hoping to have articles on our progress
published in the monthly magazine "MTB Monthly", so you may wish to dip
into that next year for updates. 


Mike Stenhouse

Computing Services Section,             Janet:       M.Stenhouse@UK.AC.CRC
MRC-CRC & Human Genome Mapping Centre,  Internet:    M.Stenhouse@CRC.AC.UK
Watford Rd, HARROW, Middx, HA1 3UJ, UK  EARN/Bitnet: M.Stenhouse%CRC@UKACRL
Tel 081-869 3293   Fax 081-423 1275     Usenet: ...!mcsun!ukc!mrccrc!M.Stenhouse
From: slo@otter.hpl.hp.com (Steve Loughran)
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 10:27:26 GMT
Subject: Re: Rating the Tour de France(TIOOYK) Climbs
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, UK.