i’ll be posting photos of our bike trip on a rough one-per-day basis (if time allows).

first up: teams A and B set off for spain on their bikes on july 12th.

teams A (mom&dad) and B (anton&markus) all packed up and ready to start

we shared exactly 69 meters of the route, and then turned in opposite directions at the next intersection.
mom and dad (team A) made for the brenner pass, which would lead them into italy, while anton and i went east, heading for the arlberg pass and switzerland.
great things were afoot. :)

 

 

whenever somebody is stung by a bee or wasp, i remember there’s a rule of thumb about a good way of instantly diminishing the effects of the poison. however, i never recollect the vital part…

from a chemical standpoint, most types of insect poison are acids, which means you can (at least partly) neutralize them with bases.
one of the exceptions to this is the family of wasps: their poison’s are bases, which can thus be countervailed with an acid.

 
so, the next time you witness an insect bite (and i’m crossing my fingers it won’t be you who’s getting stung), you might want to try one of these household remedies:

• bee bite (also works with ants, mosquitoes etc.): acids – diluted vinegar, diluted lemon juice, even orange juice or carbonated soft drinks.
• wasp bite: bases – diluted soda, baking powder, …

on a side note: the poison in most jellyfish nematocysts is also acidic. if you were stung but didn’t bring ammonia to the beach, your last resort would be urine (a relatively neutral buffer solution). the book i got all this information from says “if you think that’s too gross, you’ve never felt the pain of a real jellyfish sting.”
 

source (in german): Wawra E., Dolznig H, Müllner E. (2003): Chemie verstehen. Facultas Verlags- und Buchhandels AG, p. 164

• looks like i'm back… #
• after such a long time of going solely by bike, driving a car is about the most annoying, obnoxious of all everyday-activities. #
• medical afflictions of the cartoon world – http://bit.ly/18GTfY #
• RT @serafinowicz: The main ingredient of toothpaste is teeth. #
• RT @Randazzoj: I have some pretty strong feelings about stuff! #
• in spain, cows say "boe" instead of "moo", and "ga ga" instead of "quack". #
• not that cows say "quack" a lot… #
• This maybe premature, but I'd just like to wish everyone a good tomorrow afternoon. (RT @serafinowicz) #
• RT @hellycake: Tried out a new sleeping position last night. The '66' #
• RT @qikipedia How many circles do you see? http://tinyurl.com/qi0137 #
• 7 most disgusting insect delicacies on earth (2 of which i got to tast last year): http://tinyurl.com/m8cuwt …and 5 to go :) #
• RT @faildogs AH! MY EYE! MY EYE! #fail http://bit.ly/DZ4NH #
• field day. waiting for shadows to go away so i can finally start the measurements. #
• http://twitpic.com/gy99h – the level of humidity is so high that even the dragonflies are covered in dewdrops #
• RT @thinkgeek "Today in Geek History: In 1966, Star Trek first airs on NBC." #
• [more...]

• my list of traditions which should be abolished immediately just received an extra entry. http://twitpic.com/evz5z #

• dammit, last 4 txt tweets didn't make it through. here they come… #
• 09-07-31 20:40 115 km, now in sagunto ES. if all goes well (=better than today), we'll reach denia tomorrow evening. hungry. #
• 09-08-01 17:37 anton's tire just exploded. only 46 km to our final destination. big fat hole in outer tube. looking for sports shop … #
• … in the middle of nowhere. #
• 09-08-01 21:55 we made it! just arrived at our vacation home. 2202 km, 134 hours and roughly 52000 calories burned. hungry. #
• 09-08-02 20:00 celebrating our bike trip(s) with paella mixta & paella valenciana. crema catalana for dessert. niccccce! #
• here in spain, everything seems to be just a wee bit smaller… http://twitpic.com/d0spl #
• just out of curiosity: if you've been following our bike trip updates, please drop me a note (wherever you're reading this). #

• yesterday, at the spanish border. http://twitpic.com/bsuez #
• the occasional feeling that i'm actually flying beside my bike tells me that i'm still not eating enough calories. or is it the endorphines? #
• today our minuscule tents are set up in santa susanna ES. 101 km, mostly headwind. we even have a table & chairs here! 40 km to barcelona. #
• saludos desde sitges. 105 km. with the hot noons, we're trying to shift our active time to mornings (not working) and evenings (better). #
• made halt west of miami platja ES (miami beach). still w/ team A. spanish roads just magically turn into highways w/ no alternative route. #
• after another 100 km we're camping in peniscola ES tonight (wavy line above the N. still: name fail!). noons get hotter and hotter. #
• with so much tire repair experience (3 more flat tires today), we can basically fix a flat tire 2 mins before there's a hole in the tube. #

• today's lunch break in a walnut plantation near saint-marcellin FR. now enjoying cold sprite and free wifi at macdo http://twitpic.com/azxsg #
• testing gps service. we're here now: #
• current gps info: N 45*02.287, E 05*03.335 #
• anton's attempt at a 'we're eating tarte des fruits' self portrait. http://twitpic.com/azyv5 #
• btw, team A passed through monaco a few hours ago. #
• arrived in saulce FR at 8pm today, after a 150 km journey. also, we hit the 1000 km mark in the afternoon. celebrating w/ gummibears. #
• seems like i've finally managed to dig out the dusty little cardboard box labelled 'vocabulaire francais' from the far back of my mind. oui! #
• the only constant in life is change. the only constant today was headwind. strong headwind. 75 km, now in orange, FR. #
• more headwind today, so strong that we had to get off the bike a few times. still, completed 75 km to arles FR. #
• team A went an incredible 149 km to salon-de-provence FR today. no campground there, so an old lady lets them stay in her garden. #
• going to meet up with team A tomorrow near montpellier FR. they must have been cheating. ;) #
• arles, france. old town center. http://twitpic.com/b8sv2 #
• 'und wir fahrn auch über wasser wenn da brücken sind. hey der typ hat ne meise aber rückenwind.' scenic detour to st-maries-de-la-mer. n … #
• dinner w/ team A, just south of montpellier. they did 250km in 2 days to meet up! it's only been 12 days, but so many stories to tell. #
• teams A & B this morning, ready to start. http://twitpic.com/bfj2t #
• parted w/ team A around noon. now in valras-plage FR (108 km). team A (they enjoy extensive lunch-breaks) now in vias (93 km). #
• today's title in our journal: flat tire and torn wire. just changed a bike tire and improvised (quite well) on anton's gear switch mechanism #
• got as far as st cyprien FR. that's 125 km, albeit our emergency repair stop. team A in bompas FR. last phase starts tomorrow. #
• buenas tardes de figueres ES! crossed the spanish border with team A at 4 pm today (more tire problems), now preparing pasta for 4. #