Stop Planning and Get Doing

So, the days are running out. Tuesday August 2nd 2011 is but five days away and I haven't really sorted out any maps yet. Umm. This has been at the top of my to do list for ages but buying aerospace grade aluminium cutlery or cycling specific sandals has always seemed more important up 'til now. The planning is coming to an end and the doing is starting. I therefore scoured the land and hunted down the finest mapping resources known to an English traveller. Namely: Hemel Hempstead tat market. Here I was able to barter with a man with a dodgy leg for his finest Europe Road Atlas. The princely sum of 50p changed hands and I am now the proud owner of a Michelin Atlas De Carreteras y Turistico 2004. Italys finest motoring publication. This almanac of blacktop, rivers and woods should see me through the first leg of the hunt for Thomas Stevens. As I'm aiming to stay as close as possible to roads or tracks that were around in 1885 the fact that this fine piece of cartography is seven years out of date might actually help me. I must at this point say hello to A.T.Oughton of Milton Keynes. The book has this name and address written on the inside cover so I might pop by when I'm en-route to Fenny Stratford and see if said person still lives there. I just can't resist joining the dots in situations like this.
The map has a scale of one square equals 65km with roughly three and half squares per page....until it reaches Budapest. It then changes to a 195km per square. I hope I remember that.