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Changing Gear: A Bike Ride from Britain to Bulgaria
Changing Gear is about love, loss and adventure.
In the summer of 2006 Allan and Eileen cycled from Britain to Bulgaria. He was a fit 52 year old with a new Dawes Galaxy bike and she was an overweight 54 year old with a dodgy knee and an old Trek. They set off with only a hazy idea of the route and not much money.
Three years earlier, on the 8th August 2003, their son Matt had died unexpectedly while on holiday. Things were never the same after Matt’s death. Allan and Eileen had tried living normally and found they couldn’t do it. So they looked for alternative ways of being, one of which was to cycle from Britain to Bulgaria.
‘As we got on our bikes I experienced an intense sense of freedom. A fraying of the cord of sadness. I felt light and irresponsible. With few possessions to worry about and a sense of space stretching ahead, anything seemed possible…’
In the summer of 2006 Allan and Eileen cycled from Britain to Bulgaria. He was a fit 52 year old with a new Dawes Galaxy bike and she was an overweight 54 year old with a dodgy knee and an old Trek. They set off with only a hazy idea of the route and not much money.
Three years earlier, on the 8th August 2003, their son Matt had died unexpectedly while on holiday. Things were never the same after Matt’s death. Allan and Eileen had tried living normally and found they couldn’t do it. So they looked for alternative ways of being, one of which was to cycle from Britain to Bulgaria.
‘As we got on our bikes I experienced an intense sense of freedom. A fraying of the cord of sadness. I felt light and irresponsible. With few possessions to worry about and a sense of space stretching ahead, anything seemed possible…’
- GenresTravelNonfiction
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 9, 2012
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 5, 2014
finished 7/5/14
Three years after the death of their son, Eileen and her husband Allan are still grieving and are having a difficult time dealing with living day to day in the home and life that continually reminds them of their loss. They decide to give up that life and their home in England and take a bike trek to a second home they have in Bulgaria. Along the way they deal with their grief, meet new people, see new places, and experience the ups and downs of traveling by the seat of their pants. While Allan was pretty fit and into biking, Eileen was not a big biker before the trip and had a bad knee as well.
As travelogues go, I found the book to be enjoyable but sometimes wished for more minutiae. I believe the book was self published and not well edited as there are quite a few typos (this happens repeatedly with the name of their daughter Trish who readers will also know as Trich due to the typos.)
Three years after the death of their son, Eileen and her husband Allan are still grieving and are having a difficult time dealing with living day to day in the home and life that continually reminds them of their loss. They decide to give up that life and their home in England and take a bike trek to a second home they have in Bulgaria. Along the way they deal with their grief, meet new people, see new places, and experience the ups and downs of traveling by the seat of their pants. While Allan was pretty fit and into biking, Eileen was not a big biker before the trip and had a bad knee as well.
As travelogues go, I found the book to be enjoyable but sometimes wished for more minutiae. I believe the book was self published and not well edited as there are quite a few typos (this happens repeatedly with the name of their daughter Trish who readers will also know as Trich due to the typos.)
June 28, 2012
An interesting read. A middle aged couple decided to cycle to the house they'd bought in Bulgaria to help their grieving for the much loved son who'd died previously. Share the ups and downs of the journey.
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February 25, 2016kindle travel stories
May 13, 2013
Really enjoyed this. Touching and sad in places,but inspirational
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September 25, 2015The writing style is a little different, this was written more like a journal than a traditional story. I liked the book, the principle characters, and their adventures
July 11, 2012
A unique story, and pretty well written for something adapted from a blog.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews