That's me, John Niven. On the 28th June 2012 I didn't agree to cycle from the UK to Marrakesh.
This is Ross. On the above date he suggested we both go and live in London the following summer, to get used to not being students any more. Over the next 10 minutes the idea changed from living in London to Madrid, China, Germany and finally to cycling to Africa.
I suppose you could say that good things happen in unexpected ways. Eric Newby began his short walk in the Hindu Kush on receipt of a telegram from a friend, leaving his job in the London fashion industry to travel overland to Afghanistan in the 1920s. Walter Bonatti began mountaineering when a stranger found himself without someone to hold his rope. Harry Potter found out he was a wizard from a half-giant bursting into his holiday cottege.
I suggested cycling to Africa thinking that Ross would tell me I was being stupid and to get a grip. However I underestimated how much he wanted to be Peter Pan and never grow up. I nearly choked on my smugness when he agreed. Even worse, he sounded positively enthusiastic about the idea! After a couple of days, we both agreed to go for it. After setting up and publishing our first blog post there's no backing out!
The aim of the trip is to see something of the world, and remind ourselves that life does go on after leaving education! The general idea is to cross the channel from Dover, head through France and cross the Pyrenees into Spain. A stop in Barcelona would be nice, before heading on to Gibraltar to cross the Mediterranean Sea at its narrowest point. From landfall in North Africa we will head for Marrakesh. After that, who knows?
Click to see a Google Map trace of the route. This gives a very rough idea of the route, we are currently refining it.
The trip will be funded entirely by ourselves, but we will be setting up a JustGiving page in aid of Alzheimer Scotland. We'll post the link when it's sorted.
A bit about us;
John Niven is 22 and from Strabane in Northern Ireland. He is at the University of Cumbria on the final year of the Outdoor Studies (Environment) course, and lives in Ambleside, Cumbria. Travelling around rock climbing, cycling and running is what he does in his spare time. He does not have a girlfriend.
Ross is 21 and lives in Liverpool, studying Outdoor Education and Environmental Education at Liverpool John Moores University. He has a girlfriend but cannot brush his hair. However, he does enjoy wearing a gilet, driving fast boats, and organising 'things'.
We will be keeping this blog updated with our planning/organising progress and with news on the trip itself.
