Ruth:  We are both surprised that there are still so few foreign tourists in Romania and Bulgaria, especially if you venture a kilometre from the tourist spots. Perhaps the tourists are all on the Black Sea, one of the areas we have not yet explored.... Read More

Gordon:  We spent three days cycling from Velingrad to Sofia.  The first day was a pleasant surprise, with a 20 km descent through an attractive canyon.  We were accompanied by a small river and a narrow gauge railway that passed through innumerable tunnels beside the... Read More

Gordon:  After a little internet research I am able to pose the rhetorical question: in what way can I be distinguished from George Patton, Carrie Fisher, Teddy Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge, Paul Klee, the Shah of Iran, and Leon Trotsky?  While clearly they are all... Read More

Gordon:  This morning we climbed 300 metres above Dospat and then spent most of the remainder of the day on an undulating plateau at around 1500 metres.  It was quite reminiscent of Canada, with a mature conifer forest, a number of lakes, and no towns... Read More

Ruth: We have spent the last three nights in towns within about 10 kms of each other, but each is located up a different valley and hidden behind deep gorges. The road up the Buinovo Gorge,  that we have been exploring for the past two... Read More

Gordon:  Ruth thinks that today’s blog should be titled “The Best Ride Ever” because neither of us can recall a more beautiful single day of cycling.  Perhaps it’s just the recency effect.We only covered 40 kms, descending 300 vertical metres, and then climbing 500.  The... Read More