#20: [06-Sep-19]

#18: [13-Mar-14]

#17: [08-Oct-11]

#15: [06-Sep-10]

#14: [16-Apr-10]

#13: [21-May-09]

#12: [13-Jan-09]

#11: [01-Dec-08]

#9: [08-Jun-08]

#8: [22-May-08]

#6: [19-Mar-05]

#5: [11-Jun-04]

#4: [09-Jun-04]

#3: [11-Oct-02]

#2: [26-Feb-02]

#1: [07-Jan-01]

#19: [03-Jan-20] (incomplete)

#16: [02-Aug-11] (incomplete)

#10: [13-Jul-08] (incomplete)

24-Jun-2006 -- After a good German breakfast with rye bread and Müsli (cereals) we started our trip from Newcastle upon Tyne as a bicycle tour. We followed the bike route 27 along the river Tyne on small county roads and foot paths. The urban area of Newcastle was soon behind us and we enjoyed the pleasant country scenery of the Tyne valley.

In the afternoon we approached the confluence. Excitement arose also for the confluence freshmen Britta and Jan-Dirk. But today another issue had higher priority than confluencing: Germany was playing Sweden in the football (soccer) world cup in the K.O. round. For us Germans this was an event not to be missed. But just when the game was about to start, we had reached the village Aydon in 2 km beeline from the confluence point. Now we urgently had to find a pub where we would watch the game.

Residents from Aydon let us know that unfortunately there wasn't any pub in the village or somewhere nearby. Although they were very sociable, an invitation to watch the game at their home was not spoken out. So we quickly went to the nearby town Corbridge and watched the game there. Germany won the game (2:0) and we were in a good mood despite the starting rain (and that wouldn't stop for our entire trip).

First, we visited the Corbridge Bridge (#8) which dates back to the year 1674 – a seven spanned bridge which is thought to be built on Roman foundations. Then we rode our bikes all the way up from the Tyne valley to the confluence point. I let Jan-Dirk and Britta do the final navigational approach to the confluence, which turned out to be in the middle of a recently harvested grass field. Britta enjoyed the seriousness which I showed while documenting the confluence area.

Now both major goals for this day were achieved (world cup and CP): time to treat ourselves in a fine Italian Restaurant in nearby Hexham. We had quite a wet and chilly night in the tent on a meadow. The next day, we abandoned our bike trip (still raining) an took a train back to Newcastle.

CP visit details:

• Time at the CP: 19:31 p.m.
• Riding time to get to the CP: 5 hours
• Riding distance: 55 km from Newcastle
• Distance of bike parking: 0 m
• Distance to the road: 250 m
• Topography: one a slight slope, hilly area
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 0.12 m
• Position accuracy at the CP: 6 m
• GPS height: 141 m
• Vegetation: harvested grass field, some clover plants in-between.
• Weather: rainy, 14° C (felt temperature)
• Description of the CP: In Northern England. Squeezed between Hadrian's Wall and the River Tyne in an agricultural area. Right in the centre of a huge field, small mixed tree forests at the edges.
• Given Name: The World Cup 2006 Confluence