What if you had the courage to follow your dreams?
As a young woman, Terri Jockerst had a dream. She dreamt of new cultures, strange foods, a never-ending road unfurling ahead of her, and a bicycle to take her to freedom. She did not dream of cold showers, tyre punctures or being chased by slavering dogs. However, these are all part of life on the road and the freedom it promises.
Having reached her sixties, Terri decided to throw all caution to the winds, and set off on a long bike ride from the North Cape of Norway to Malta, a distance of some seven thousand kilometres. The ride took 193 days, spread over three trips in three years. During her travels, Terri came face to face with reindeer, researched Viking runestones, dealt with flat tyres, tackled nudist bathing, dined in the Alps with other intrepid female solo cyclists, was awed by the Byzantine art of Italy, and eventually reached the sun-drenched island of Malta.
The first question Terri was always asked was: ‘Are you alone?’ The second question, ‘Aren’t you afraid?’ came straight after. Terri admits to fear but learnt to overcome that fear by finding the inner strength to go on, regardless. As she has said to anyone who has asked, and many who haven’t: ‘If I can do it, you can too!’
Read this book, get inspired, and follow your dreams!
Jadual kandungan
Part 1 First We Headed North
- The Dream
- The Long Lead-up to Take-off
- Some Tricky Questions
- Just Me, My Bike, and Some Friendly Vikings
- Meeting More Vikings
- On the Hærvejen Road with a Puncture
- Across the Arctic Circle
- Loving the Lofoten Islands
- Being Spoilt on the Hurtigruten Ferry
- To the Cape!
Part 2 Then We Turned Around and Headed South Again
Map 1 – Scandinavia
- Of Ice, Snow and Reindeer
- Finland is Forests
- A Language of Ks
- Meeting the Friendly Finns
- Walking Through History
- Across the Åland Islands
- A Rocky Start to Sweden
- When Things Got Much Better
- Along the Göta Canal
- Two Women of Vadstena
- Back in the Land of the Vikings
- Denmark – Flat and Very, Very wet
Part 3 The Middle Bit
Map 2 Central Europe
- Copenhagen – A Cyclist’s Dream
- Island Hopping in Denmark
- Facing My Fears at Last!
- Two Schrebergarten
- Two Rebellions
- A Quick Lesson in Executing One’s Enemies
- Slowly Roasting in Czechia
- More Tyre Dramas!
- Alps on the Horizon!
- Four Solo Female Cyclists
- Freewheeling Down the Alps
- Across the Veneto Plain
- Meltdown in Ancona
- Calming Down Again
Part 4 La Dolce Vita
Map 3 Italy and Malta
- Starting Again With a Cycling Buddy
- Through the Olive Groves
- Dreaming of a Better Future
- Traditional Towns in Southern Italy
- Easter in Ostuni
- The Salento Plain
- Around Italy’s Instep
- Sicily – The Key to Everything
- Sightseeing in Luxury by Car
- Locked Out!
- Malta at Last!
- Luxuriating in Leisure
Part 5 The Big Picture
- Looking Back, and Forward