Spoke Yokes: cycling around the world

5000km of cycling completed, with over 1,000km of Turkish Black Sea coast still to go, and Spoke Yokes are headed to Ankara to sort visas, but not before running the gauntlet of the willy fish.

A dose of Turkish delight as Mark and Ellie cross the Bosporus, and a major milestone as they enter Asia Minor. Wild dogs and cups tea abound. 

Dodging massages in a thermal pool and a visit to an eerie abandoned theme park during their one week journey through Bulgaria sees Ellie and Mark reach the border with Turkey. The major milestone this week is reaching the Black Sea, which they find out is both salty and cold.

Bear-related big surprises in the Carpathian Mountains see Ellie and Mark hurriedly packing down their tent in the dark, and making a mad dash down a mountain road at dusk.   

In this episode the joy of the bumpy highways of Hungary and the mountains of Romania is tempered by the disappointment of the Irish pub abroad.

The Spokes Yokes leave Vienna for Bratislava's Bike Kitchen, experiencing their first hangover of the trip. There are some soggy days in Slovakia, before arriving in Budapest in time for a very important holiday, and a musical farewell to The Danube. 

Over 2,000km into their attempt to cycle around the world, Mark and Ellie bid a fond farewell to Germany, experience a travesty on the crisps front, and extend a fine how-do-you-do to the cakes of Vienna. They also share a story that never made it into their newsletter. 

A low ebb as Mark and Ellie wrestle their bikes while shin deep in mud on a Romanian mountainside. Their mood is lifted as they rejoin the Danube, and celebrate a significant day in their own inimitable style. 

During the fourth week of their round the world cycle, Ellie and Mark enjoy snowdrops and snowflakes on the German section of the Danube cycle way. There's no sign of them waning after a month on the road, although Mark needsmto call in a sick day.

Week three of their attempt to cycle around the world sees Mark and Ellie visit the city of Strasbourg for a little longer than planned. They journey through the Black Forest, spin around Lake Constance where a serious mechanical failure has unexpected results. This episode contains crisps. Lot and lots of crisps.       

In the very first week of their attempt to cycle around the world, Ellie and Mark tackle the frozen roads of Normandy and The Seine Valley in Northern France. A naysayer spurs them on, but some punctures and a little winter weather slows them down.

It's week 2 of Mark and Ellie's round-the-world cycle and they hit the 1,000km cycled milestone. They have a Valentine's night to remember, reach Strasbourg and the end of their  time in France, and suffer incredibly cold toeses.