European intercity touring trips

beans

I have been struck with a wonderful holiday idea for 2008, a solo trip from Amsterdam to La Havre via Paris. Flying the bike there, ferry back. This is in preparation for a similar group ride in 2009.

Gear in brief:
- touring bike w/ panniers
- chain tool, links, keys, spokes, tubes, pump, spare cleats shall be in the toolbag
- light changes of clothing
- high-calorie foodstuffs
- 2-man tent or hostel it, unsure as yet...

Just looking for advice from people who have undertaken similar. I think my toolkit should be ample. 70 - 100k per day should be pleasant.

Thoughts?

Ghost Rider

70 - 100k should be very do-able but, if I were you, I'd hostel it. After a day's cycling, the last thing you're going to want is to have to put up a tent and then try sleeping in the bugger.

beans wrote: »

I have been struck with a wonderful holiday idea for 2008, a solo trip from Amsterdam to La Havre via Paris. Flying the bike there, ferry back. This is in preparation for a similar group ride in 2009.

Gear in brief:
- touring bike w/ panniers
- chain tool, links, keys, spokes, tubes, pump, spare cleats shall be in the toolbag
- light changes of clothing
- high-calorie foodstuffs
- 2-man tent or hostel it, unsure as yet...

Just looking for advice from people who have undertaken similar. I think my toolkit should be ample. 70 - 100k per day should be pleasant.

Thoughts?

hi

I've done this a few times, and it makes for a great holiday.
I wouldn't bother with the tent, too much hassle, and extra weight,
if you could afford it, I would stay in a b and b or 2 along the way.
Nothing worse than a long day, on the bike and then a bad night's sleep in a noisey hostel.

It makes it easier, with a mate or better again 2, somebody with some language skills if possible, if you don't have them yourself.

While 100km doesn't sound too difficult, after a week or so you'll be knackered, so why not put in a rest day, in an interesting spot.

the most important thing however, is planning the route, check the net for cycle routes, and see can you buy some decent maps.
the the map shop in the uk is good.

also, don't forget both the sun cream and the rain gear.

Enjoy!

Sean02

Sounds like a great trip. In my view you need Bike, Panniers, 2tubes small tube repair kit, pump and lock and chain (if your doing cities.) spokes, cleates and the likes are a waste of valuable space. The high calorie diet is more likely to make you sick than be of benefit. Lots of bread and cereal for breakfast ,light snacks during day and a good feed with a few beers for dinner. Lots of water and a little salt added in last drinks bottle will stop cramps. Hostels can be fantastic or a disaster and not much cheaper than a room. Why do you need a two man tent if your going solo are you keeping your options open!!!! Enjoy the trip.

Ghost Rider

Interesting. Any idea how that works?

Sean02 wrote: »

Lots of water and a little salt added in last drinks bottle will stop cramps.

wahlrab

don't worry too much about language skills as pretty much all the dutch speak english as do the belgians. I would highly reccommend cycling through Maastrict and Leuven, both beautiful towns.

Have all your maps prepared as I did a very big cycletour last year and i had to buy as i went, the maps that is, and this i soon found out was not a good idea, hostels is a good option but I highly reccommend couchsurfing if you're that sort of person, some people don't like the idea of it.

Know all the train stops too in case you get injured or hurt and need to take a train to somewhere.

start breaking in a nice brooks saddle if you don't already have one. 100k is easily doable, I always prefer to cycle in the morning so when i arrive in a town around mid day or two I have plenty of time to have a walk about. also some hostels don't open til 3pm in the afternoon so try and know what specifics each hostel has, also if it's high season and a popular town book ahead, by phone as you don't have to put down a deposit then, there's plenty of HI hostels across europe but as I said COUCHSURFING is the way to go

beans

Thanks for the replies

Maps - I'll make sure I have the route well planned, maps bought before I leave. Get some map-reading practice in at home too, maybe an aul mystery tour somewhere Midlandish to see how I fare orienteering-wise.

Hostels - the tent was a backup should no accomodation be available, but weight considerations... may just plan the accom in advance. The 2-man thing was for me and the bike! Hubba hubba

I have a Brooks on my hybrid, but on a road-bike it may not be suitable... if it's too wide (B17) I'll just use my Selle Italia which is fine. The bike won't be delivered until Feb or so, it'll be fine-tuning time then.

Anyone ever do tours here? The west counties always appealed to me.

edit - Couchsurfing? Do elaborate!

yep might be no harm to do a bit of touring here before you head off,
nice one I did a couple of years ago is the circuit of the beara peninsular,
train to Kilarney, and then Black Valley, Allihies, Glengarrif, Kenmare and Killarney,

cycled to Dingle from Dublin one time, taking in cork , Cape Clear, Beara, Ring of Kerry, and then back to dublin,lost about a stone in weight,

couch surfing is basically staying on somebody's couch somewhere, there is a website soemwhere with details.

wahlrab

Couchsurfing. It's not for everybody but it is in my opinion the best way to travel.

use your brooks on any bike, it'll be your best friend. wear a cycling cap under your helmet as it'll keep you warm in the mornings and provides a nice peak, listening to music is grand when you are on a lone cyclepath separated from any road but just be careful because you meet plenty of racers who you might not hear coming up behind you or in front and i find when i listen to music i am more likely to day dream and lose concentration which is obviously a no no

another thing is, do you have arm/leg warmers? i highly reccommend them! take up very little space and are your best friend on a cold day

beans

Couchsurfing is interesting, and I can see the benefits, but it's probably not what I would be looking for, at least not for this trip.

May pick up some warmers at the weekend, test em on Sunday. Now to go search for threads on transporting road bikes by plane... Steel-frame bike so a case would be overkill IMO... ah but the mechs... I don't know, is a case a good idea?

conor rowan

hey beans

1st thing, dont know if you can get ferries from le havre anymore,when we went to france we went through cherburg so you might have to modify your plan slightly.
2ndly with advice you get, take everything with a pinch of salt and find what works for you.

so from my experience.........

tents- stayed in tents across france germany austria and hungary, staying in a hostel or campsite evry 4 days or so to wash clothes and ourselves. what we found with the tents was while it added weight with the sleeping bags etc it offers you greater freedom as you decide where you want to stop as your not dependant on making it to a certain town to get to booked/look for accomadation for the night. something which has limited our progress with the cold now.camping wild can help keeps costs down and we found plenty of fields with trees /shrubs to hide behind. if your camping wild, you can prob afford to eat in rests/truck stops so you wont have to lug cooking equipment around with you

spares- if you bringing spokes youll more than likely need a chainwhip and cog spanner as more than likely spokes will happen on the rear wheel and youll need to remove the cassete to get access. also a leatherman us handy fot the pliers and a decent blade, also electrical tape and cable ties/rope (depending on your prefence).photocopy relevant pages of a maintenance manual-i hadnt a rashers about what to do with bikes before i left but with a refernce manual and experience im starting to get the hang of things

maps- we used an overall route map, collins road access for overall planning and then got local tourist office maps when we entered each region, they were much more detailled and somehad bike paths marked in., that andthere was a great feeling of satisfaction of binning/burning the small map after each few days.

diet- theres only one diet for touring, the little known "hands on" diet. just eat whatever you can get your hands on and the locals do, eg baguette and cheese lunches in france,kebabs in germany ........
carrying high calorie food is just more weight and unneccesary. think youll find conditions (surface,incline, weather) and daylight hrs will limit tyour progress more than any dietary def. if your feeling tired/hungry just stop in a village and get some snacks/lunch. also the more interaction with local people esp. in small rural areas the more rewarding your trip!

distance planning- 450km/week with 1 days rest for every 3 days cycling is pretty doable and still good progress! having some town/sight to aimfor for yourt rest days can be a good motivator. obv tailor your distance to take in the conditions as dont be too strict or else youll be down if you fail to meet th target for that day. day to day targets arent really that important so long as you make your weekly ones.

little things you mightnt think of
ipod- music is essntial to help you through that tough hr after lunch, just dont have it so loud as to drown out the road noise. also load some fav films/series onto it.its nice to zone out in hostel/tent and forget where you are for 90 mins.
point it book- tiny book of photos of evrything you might need. easy t take out and point to what you want if you do hit a language barrier
small route diagram- get a picture of europe, draw your route in in pen over it and laminate it and stick it in the top of a bag. makes it easier to explain to locals what youre about.wish id done this!!!
stretches- list of stretches spec to cycling and get usedto doing them. got these of a physio before i left
baby wipes! great for cleaning yourself,chain, pots if you bring them and emergency bog roll for when youve to make like a bear......

thats my 2 cent, like i said advice is subjective, what worked for me might not work fo others so best of luck and enjoy. having your own adventure is what its all about

conor
ps our site is acting up so we have a short blog and some photos on biketobeijing2008.bebo.com dunno if itll be any use as dont think the practical end of cycling is emphasised

beans

Thanks Conor, some golden nuggets in there for sure.

Now to get the Km into my legs, learn to eat on the bike, etc etc. I have Ed Pavelka's guide to long-distance cycling at home, it's a good book on the subject (although it has some ludicrously bad advice for women on their period)