London  Netherlands  Belgium & Luxembourg  Rhine & Mossel  Switzerland  France  Munich, Salzburg, Innsbruck  Denmark & England 

Hi All,

Thanks for taking a look at the final edition of Handlebar Highlights 2001 with coverage of Denmark & England .

Denmark & Copenhagen 

Copenhagen, a very interesting city, I enjoyed my short visit it was however cold and rainy. I did however brave the elements and go on a canal cruise of the city as well as walk around much of the standard tourist area. Copenhagen was still beautiful which if you applied earlier lesson learned then you can surmise that I felt Copenhagen was indeed a truly beautiful city. The rainy and cold weather did allow me to develop a very important observation. If you want to understand how much inclement weather an area has you can research meteorological data or you can visit them during a cold rain. If the local population conducts business as usual with all the appropriate gear even for outdoor exercise than the area has a ton of rain. If things seem to come to a halt and the local population does not know what to do i.e. Phoenix, AZ then the climate in general is dry. Since I am a sun worshiper at heart I know that I could not live in Copenhagen, but it was a great place to visit. It is not to say that I don't enjoy a good rain, but it should be a nice thunderstorm that rolls through the area showing how incredible nature is not a 4-7 day rain that tests the resolve of most ducks.

News or Lack there of 

During a majority of my time in Europe I chose to isolate myself from most news in an effort to spend time with myself and the pursuit of the enjoyment of Europe. My goal was easily accomplished since a majority of the countries I visited for over 2 months had very limited English news. With my goal accomplished I was ready to head back to the English speaking world on a ferry from Denmark to England. I arrived at around 3:45PM on September 11th and within 5 minutes of landing I was informed by the customs official that a tragedy had occurred to the World Trade Center Towers. With a 6 hour time difference the events of Sept. 11th were just unfolding in the US, but by the time I arrived in London the evening edition of the paper had full coverage of the event that will forever change America and the World. I must say the experience to view the events through an international perspective will always be with me. What a welcome back to news!!

Bath & a Hiker Hostel

Bath was my destination once I arrived in England. With the delay from the boat and the train connections that I had to navigate including a bike trip across Central London my arrival into Bath was late evening. I therefore was not picky about my accommodations, and found a listing for a hostel at the train station that was only 2 blocks away. The hostel was also on the direct dial phone line at the train station so I could check availability. I did not stay in many hostels during my trip (hard to deal with the bike and you never know what you are getting), this one though proved to be just what I needed. The place was a dive, but it had character and characters were staying there. I managed to join in on a game of Canadian President, played like American President (also called Asshole) except there is no mandatory drinking involved. The game was entertaining, but not near as much as the people. I assume only the diehard trekkers had not already returned to school so the group was unique. A couple Canadians, a couple Americans, one from Australia, and one from New Zeeland.   All and all the game entertained me, and the hostel was unique i.e. I stayed in the Country Western room in the bunk bed called John Wayne need I say more.

Farleigh Hungerford Castle 

A taste of ancestry and a great story to boot. One of the highlights of the trip for me was to visit Hungerford Castle in England. I had heard that the castle was mostly ruins, but it was still family and so I was anxious to see what it was all about. The visit to Hungerford Castle was definitely worth it for me, yes the castle is mostly ruins, but the documented history and the stories of it's rise and fall were more than enough to make up for the lack of physical structure. Disseminating all of the lore here would be to time consuming, but I will give you a small glimpse at some of the highlights. Sir Thomas Hungerford first Speaker of the House purchased the manor house and land in 1370 and began fortifications without a Royal License after obtaining permission he and later his son Walter also Speaker of the House of Commons did most of the fortifications to Farliegh Hungerford. The castle then passed to Robert who was a rough and unlucky soldier he was involved in some warfare and was captured held in a France for 7 years then executed in 1464. His eldest son Thomas was executed in 1469 and the castle passed out of Hungerford hands. In 1486 Walter Hungerford was knighted there and he recovered the castle. Upon Walter's death it passed into his son Edward's hands. Edwards second wife was Agnes, and upon Edwards death she was arrested for killing her first husband in the castle which she used the kitchen furnace to dispose of the body. The castle was then passed on to Edwards son Walter who married three times and the last of his wives claims to have been imprisoned for three or four years in on of the towers. Walter was however executed for other acts. Okay you get the picture. The story continues and has many interesting facets to it, the last Hungerford to reside at the castle fell out of favor for a Whig tendency and was also a spendthrift wasting 80,000 pounds of capital and 14,000 pounds a year eventually selling the castle in 1686.

Salisbury & Stonehenge 

My trip to Salisbury was unplanned, but then when it is raining at your intended destination and there is no hotel rooms available you take the train to the nearest available city with a potential for more hotel rooms. As fate, blind luck, chance, divine force, would have it I arrived at Salisbury with no rain and an awesome hotel across the street from the train station with a nice older lady at the front desk to welcome me with the last single room. Just encase you find yourself visiting Salisbury in the near future it is the Clovely Hotel. The Clovely Hotel is a nice mix of new amenities/accommodations yet retaining some old English charm. After a wonderful nights sleep and a full English breakfast (eggs, saut�ed tomatoes/mushrooms, baked beans, sausage and toast) I visited Stonehenge which was a nice bike ride from Salisbury passing Old Sarum (a hill fort from the Iron Age) and then through a wonderful river valley full of English charm. What can I say about Stonehenge that the sight itself does not say. What I can say is that I find it amazing that a culture driven enough to erect such a site would not be advanced enough to pass on it's significance if by no other means than through folk lore. I loved the visit and the sight is amazing regardless of it's purpose.

Military Training Area 

The bike ride from Stonehenge into the town of Hungerford took me through lots of Rural England, and also allowed me to pass through a military training area. I must say biking along through a military training area after the Sept. 11th events and seeing a tank crossing sign makes you look both ways. I was not fortunate enough to see a tank, but there was plenty of activity including fighter jets, and mock troop maneuvers.

Hungerford 

Hungerford - Probable origination - Danish "hunger" and "ford" - ford being a low boggy area where the land is not easily cultivated and therefore the inhabitants suffer from hunger. Hungerford is a small community with a few hotels and a nice little downtown area. The highlight is navigatable cannels that connects a couple nearby towns. The cannels have the Sunday drivers putzing up and down them along with a tour boat operation. Alias though the tour is not however on the top 10 most jhit sites so it only runs on Saturdays, and Wednesdays which did not allow me to take in this exciting adventure. I did however have a great picnic along the cannel banks on a beautiful day with a couple English Pasties.

I hope you enjoyed the last edition of Handlebar Highlights.

Cheers,
DUKE

Date	From	To	Miles
9/3	Innsbruck Hike
9/4	Innsbruck Camp	Banhoff Night Train	5.23
9/5	Banhoff Vienna	Camp Vienna	6.2
9/6	Vienna Camp	Banhoff Vienna	6.25
9/7	Copenhagen Station	Copenhagen Camp	5.56
9/8-9	Rainy Tour Days
9/10	Copenhagen Camp	Hotel a block from station	9.03
9/11	Ferry in Erlach to Rail in Harwich	Liverpool Station to London Paddinton to Batch	7.18
9/12	Bath to Hungerford Castle	to Westbury train to Salisbury	32.02
9/13	Salisbury to Stonehenge	Stonehenge to Hungerford	38.00
9/14	Rest Day	Day of Mourning for Sept 11
9/15	Hungerford	Hambledon	60.00
9/16	Hambledon	Lingfield	44.35
9/17-18	Prep to leave and tour
9/19	Lingfield	Horley	8.71
	The Trip	Total	1663.47

Comments or for letters to the editor email me at duke@systemscoach.com