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| Europa Point Lighthouse (Gibraltar, built 1841) |
These long cycling journeys are like hitting yourself with hammers. A bunch of hammers. It can at times be mentally debilitating, at some point it may even become a question of survival (yes, I'm referring to french roads), and it's usually only pain. But it's also rewarding. These are the adventures that stick to your memory. For me, it was a ritual - doing something risky - telling the world that it will not beat me. Showing everyone that I can live with fear. I have too much of it, and this is a battle that needs to be won. Everyone chooses their own game. This one was mine.
The challenge
Last year, I cycled from the North Cape to Oslo, on a 11-day adventure. This put certain other ideas in my mind, regarding making this a Transcontinental project, covering Europe and also the Middle East. |
| Crazy-man's plan (Click map for interactive view) |
Crazy plans soon became investigations, and early route maps. Route maps became crazy lunch talk at work. Crazy lunch talk lead to a feasability study on such a long ride in a foreign country. Feasability study lead to ... well ... sometimes, I have this problem to distinguish between fantasy and reality. So the date was set, the plane ticket booked. Three weeks were allocated, and luckily, noone were asking critical questions.
The plan
The planning stage covered a 6-month period. Countless hours were used in Strava Route Builder, to find optimal routes. I soon discovered, that the Strava Route Builder was not enough, so routes were double-checked with the Google Maps route tool, in order to reduce elevation changes.Routes were also checked against the UNESCO database of World Heritage sites, and was also adjusted to include the countries and cities I wanted to visit. The Google Places of Interest feature was also useful in discovering local places worth visiting.
The date was set to the beginning of May, with the theory that it would not be too warm in southern Europe, and not too cold in Northern Europe. I prepared for anything up to 30 degrees Celsius (it's when my body stops working), and down to 0 degrees without rain. Anything else than that, and I might get stuck for days at the time.
A daily schedule was set with stages upward of 200 km (124 mi). In retrospect, this was too optimistic. A 20 km/h average speed with 8 hours of cycling every day is more realistic, so a 160km/day target should have been used.
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| Spreadsheet with all the stages, with alternative routes |
As always, what to bring was a concern. I had a medium-sized Apidura saddle bag, with 11 litres of capacity. It needed to fit all civilian clothes, all tools, food, shoes, and electronics - for any of the climate types that I could approach.
Planning is rewarding. As all complex plans, reaching even 50% success could be difficult. Even a single day of rain could ruin everything. A single ache could send me on the first plane home.
The waiting
It is great to have something to look forward to. It brings meaning to busy work-days. Having a date set, and a plan, was a source of hope and motivation. At times, my mind would drift during the day, thinking "what if I accomplish this? it'll be epic." Of course it had been done before, but having a personal adventure to look forward to is fantastic.Even if I were to fail, it would be a bold move. I just hoped failures wouldn't happen in the first week, which would have been an embarrassment. It could potentially be dangerous. The chance of having an accident could be as big as 25%. The Chance of any serious injury could be 1-2%, and the chance of serious bike trouble would be closer to 50%. As I am a software engineer, each identified risk was carefully assessed, in order to find issues I needed to be particularily aware of.
To the starting line
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| Bike in cardboard box, w/saddle bag |
It was a strange feeling locking my front door at home, travelling to the airport. The plane ride would take 4 hours, and I'd be going home by manual power. Legs were shaved, beard set at 4mm. Tired after work. Bag felt heavy. Did I pack too much stuff? Concerned - is this really the adventure I was looking for, or am I chasing wind?
From Malaga, I took a taxi to the bus station. The driver knew no english, and my spanish not good enough to have a conversation. I think I managed to explain my cycling plans to the taxi driver, though, and he reacted just like everyone else generally did: Thoughtfulness, e.g. "Oh! cool!", and then completely silent. I like to think it's because adventures give people inspiration - but it might also be they recognise an idiot when they see one.
From Malaga, I took the bus to Algeciras. It was a good feeling to have last of the transport risk of the day removed. I was fortunate enough to find a fellow english-speaker on the bus who could reassure me I was actually on the correct route. Now I just wish I was less concerned then, so I could have a real conversation.
I finally arrived at Algeciras. Bike was assembled - everything was according to plan so far. "Atleast 25% of all the operational risk is now out the door," I thought for myself. Still a bit nervous, though. Didn't know what would meet me. Dinner was skipped - I just went straight to bed. All preparations were done.
The suffering
For each day, I'll briefly mention the highlights. Use the Strava link on each day for map of the route, dates, and other data. See the Results chapter at the end for a tabular view of all the stages.Day 1: From Tarifa to Marbella (Spain, via United Kingdom) - Strava
The day started early with a good breakfast. The hotel had even noticed it was my birthday, and that was very kindly noted by them. My throwaway clothes that I used for travelling were binned. I was out the door at 08:30, and so it started. An adventure never starts with a fanfare - which every time is just so disappointing.
It was a warm morning, and the winds helped me the 20 kilometres down to Tarifa beach.
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| The beautiful landscape of Europe's southernmost point, Tarifa |
At Tarifa, I was surprised by strong winds from the sea, that blew quite a bit of sand onto me and my bike, which got stuck in the drivetrain. That could be a serious problem, and it took quite an effort to clean out. Luckily, a gas station with a car wash was found just 30 km later.
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| Continental Europe stops here, Isla de la Palomas, Tarifa |
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| One of the many docks along the route. |
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| An oil refinery were cleverly hidden behind a several-miles long wall of graffitti. |
While in the area, I decided to drop by Gibraltar. Gibraltar is part of the British Overseas Territories, and it was cool to even see a properly dressed british police officer walking in the street.
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| Gibraltar surprisingly had plenty of monkeys. They weren't as impressed by seeing me there, though. |
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| A view from the Rock of Gibraltar. The cannon is the Breakneck Battery. |
It felt good to get started. There were tough efforts today, but there were also new experiences, new places to see that I only previously have heard about. I didn't like all the risk posed by this long trip, and thought that I needed to identify them, and eliminate them one by one.
Some of the roads today turned out to be Autovia, which was a bit uncomfortable to ride on. It's not prohibited for bicycles (unless explicitly stated so), even though being a Highway type road, but there were little road shoulder, and they were definitively not bike friendly.
Day 2: To Calahonda - Strava
On day 2, the day started with all-too-much riding along the A7 Autovia. It was never dangerous, but together with the rain showers, it was really uncomfortable. Wet roads increases the noise level on busy roads. It also can be dangerous to ride on the painted lines, since they can be slippery in rain. Deep concentration while on the Autovia. Exhausting. |
| Some cities were quite bicyclist friendly. This is the outskirts of Marbella. |
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| Beach view to the Alboran Sea, between Marbella and Malaga. |
It's only day 2, but good to see more things going according to plan. Still worrying about all sorts of things. It's in my nature to worry a lot, but it helps to stay alive.
One thing that came to mind was the lack of routines. I decided to introduce certain check-lists to ensure everything was in order. E.g., the main assets checklist: Check pockets for passport, VISA card, mobile phone, gps, camera, and saddlebag being closed.
A saddlebag unpacking routine was also introduced, so I would know where things are. It's easy to do bad decisions when tired, so checklists were thought to prevent that.
I also decided to introduce a start-of-day routine, consisting of prayer while starting to roll, which I felt was necessary to (try to) stay humble, and be thankful for each and every success. I wholeheartedly felt that, if I were to reach the final goal, it would be not out of my own ability, but rather through the blessing of Him I put my faith in.
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| Three lighthouses in a row along the coast. Near El Morche. |
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| Los Girasoles. Charming place. |
Today's stage left me impressed by the varied and open nature. A concern is that I spend a lot of time on the bike, but not getting distance covered as quick as I want, mostly due to touristy and trafficy stops.
Day 3: To Carboneras - Strava
The day started with a nice tailwind, atleast the first half. I slept poorly, and skipped breakfast in order to get an extra early start. It was a really nice sunrise, but worrying a bit about my body not working well already after two days. I decided to limit all efforts to max HR 120, and watts to max 200W in order to prevent further problems.I was going a bit inland, which later was discovered to be not so exiting. The decision to mainly adhere to the coast seemed like a good one. Today's planned route also was found to contain a mountain-bike path, so there was an extra detour. Got lucky with the detour, though, and found some pretty amazing views.
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| Sunrise, the bonus of early-birds |
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| Some of the coastal roads had little traffic, and were in excellent condition |
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| Roundabout in La Gangosa Vistasol. |
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| Still in La Gangosa Vistaol, at the opposite end of the 4 km ridiculously beautiful parade street. |
Roundabouts in Spain is something different entirely. They seem to put them in high esteem, and appear to be spending the equivalent of the BNP of a small african nation on each one of them. It works, though. It helps to spread culture, to have distinguishing characteristics in the landscape, which inspires, and let's everyone around know that beauty and accomplishment are goals to be sought.
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| Inland view. Arid, deserted, but still vivid colors. |
Day 4: To Murcia - Strava
I slept at a dirt-cheap hotel in Carboneras. 20 euros for a room, no check-out before 9, and no breakfast. Managed to grab a couple of croissants, some nuts and a banana from the local store. Going low calorie didn't feel great, but it worked.There are experiences everywhere. Fun. Nice people to talk with, and not so lonely anymore.
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| A nearly dried-up river |
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| Road with lots of hairpins into the hills. Fun to ride. Just north of Carboneras. |
First half was wonderful tailwinds. Second half, was panic pedalling trying to outrun the rain-clouds that the tailwinds were throwing my way. I also had a fun experience trying to find a 13mm wrench for brake adjustments, and was educated by the locals that this is what they sell at Ferreterias.
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| Palm trees. They are so friendly. Those plastic things contain pesticides. |
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| A tired house in Totana. Charming and creepy at the same time. |
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| What better use of an old aircraft, Alhama del Murcia. |
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| Cathedral of Murcia. It feels like there's lots of history in these streets. |
Finding a hotel that kept acceptable standards today was difficult. Hotels were either dirt-cheap, or expensive luxury accomodations. I eventually found a four-star hotel at the upper end of my budget. Extra comfort, and a restaurant at the hotel, which was convenient in order to avoid going outside. Outside, it was beginning to pour down like crazy.
Day 5: To Valencia
This day was also in an arid climate. Roads are scacrer in this region. I've previously used service-roads that go along the highways, but the service roads of today's route turned out to be in a particular bad shape. Some roads that Strava suggested also seemed to not exist at all -- could be that the mountain-bikers have been at it again.I also had a bad experience on the N344 road. Unbeknowst to me, this road turned out to be a Autovia, but I only discovered that when exiting the road. That explained the honking and aggressive driving. I was thinking, it might be a good idea to look up any Internet resource on bike-friendly roads, instead of relying on Strava/Google tools in the future.
The inland terrain is also a bit boring. It was exiting for half a day, then it's just repetition.
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| A view from outside Abanilla. |
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| This is my rig! |
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| Churches, like roundabouts, consume slightly more of the Spanish taxpayer money than other things. (Canals) |
A bit of collapsing today, partially due to really uncomfortable headwinds, but also due to the harm done by many days of efforts. Perhaps doing a 10-hour stage isn't much help either. I knew it would be tough the following days.
Day 6: To Sant Carles de la Ràpita - Strava
Today's stage felt like it was not interesting at all. I had managed to get a sun-burn from the previous days, and seemed to begin taking bad decisions. I also managed to forget a water bottle at a stop. Tired. Feeling that I spend a lot of money for nothing. Exhausting routines that need to be executed every day. It had started to take its toll. It was suggested to me that it could be electrolyte balance being off and/or sunburn, after a few days with a lot of sun - probably the correct assessment. |
| Sign of self-awareness of the hoodlums |
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| Valencia. Typical city-scape. Very nice city. |
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| Met this group of friendly spaniards, who corteously invited me to join, and then sped away at 8.000 watts |
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| A fantastic bike path with lots of views from Benicasim. |
Day 7: To Barcelona - Strava
The first week is over! There were a bit of rains the last half of this day. The landscape changes continuously the further north it gets. Greener, the rivers are full of water, indicating it's certainly raining a lot somewhere inland. Due to weather conditions, I was forced to drop the main plan of going to Andorra, and instead go through the Pyrenees further east. This decision was cemented through a fork in the road at Tarragona. It was a bit disappointing to have to driop the Andorra plans, but I knew it would give a slightly better chance of success.Tarragona seems like a place with lots of history and views. It's a pity I have to drive through in express-tourist speed. This is a place I could easily go back to.
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| Warrior statue in Tarragona. |
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| La Torre de Los Escipiones, UNESCO world heritage site. Built on the Via Augusta before 100 AD |
The road into Castelldefels (before Barcelona) was particularily impressive. A lot of traffic, but in a good weather this must be perfect for cycling. I wish I had more time to take photos, but the queue of cars behind me was reaching half a kilometer, so I decided to push some watts instead.
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| The coastal road into Castelldefels/Barcelona. |
Day 8: To Figueres - Strava
It was forecast 2 cm of rain, but didn't see much of that. The day started with some sightseeing in Barcelona, and then continuing northwards through some nature reserves, and Girona. Initially I had planned to go as far as France today, but hey, when do these things go according to plan anyway. |
| La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. An incredible sight. What are they worshipping, God, or what's man-made? |
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| Park Natural del Montseny. A fantastic bicycle experience. No cars, no people, perfect road. |
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| "May death be to me a greater birth." I like YOLO too, but this one is better. |
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| Try visiting Girona, and not feeling sympathy for their fight for independence. Fantastic city. |
Some of the roads, in particular the GI555, was pretty awesome. Deep into the forest, very good road surface. Also, combined with Barcelona and Sagrada Maria, and the very charming Catalan city of Girona, made this perhaps the best day of the entire adventure. This region is stunning.
Day 9: To Sigean (France) - Strava
Day 9 would be a short day, but it wasn't planned that way. Today started with climbing over Col de Banyuls into France. As I entered France, I was greeted with heavy winds, which cost a lot of energy. I was also surprised by rain, extra chilly rains, which together with the winds made me take the decision to stop at the nearest opportunity.Fortunately, I hit jackpot with the hotel - small family-driven hotel with only me and another couple as guests. Loving the southern-france hospitality.
There seemed to have fallen quite a lot of snow in the Pyrenees overnight. I was glad to not having chosen to scale the Pyrenees into Andorra, since that would have involved a 2.408 metre high mountain pass, which probably would not be ice-free.
Since southern France was known to be pretty much flat, the headwinds were additionally annoying. It was disappointing not to reach today's goal, which would mean there could be trouble with the time schedule later on.
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| Snow in the Pyrenees. |
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| Beautiful landscape over Col de Banyuls. |
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| #metoo. |
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| France showing their latest of military technology. |
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| Very different landscape in this part of France. |
Day 10: To Nîmes - Strava
Today's forecast showed strong winds from the northwest. This involved some serious fighting against side-wind from the start. Combined with aggressive french drivers, this was uncomfortable.The coastal landscape was diverse, and I was particularily impressed by the old buildings in Nîmes, which caught me by surprise.
Since the plans that were previously set up involved an Andorra route, most of the day was improvisation, with the challenges that it brought. Continuously selecting which roads to follow was tiresome, especially while being tired and worrying about where to find food, water, and just minding the traffic.
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| Bike path. Where available, they were a certain way to find interesting views. |
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| It might look nice & calm, but this wind was trying to throw me in the sea. |
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| Exit of one of the channels going inland. |
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| The Maison Carrée, roman temple in Nìmes. |
Since the previous day's stage was cut short, the body was feeling quite alright, and apart from the strong winds, it felt like there finally were some excess in the legs. I had said goodbye to the Mediterranean, and feared the terrain up ahead would be more boring. An endless series of rolling hills, with no views. How could I have been so wrong.
Day 11: To Montélimar - Strava
The decision to drop Mount Ventoux was taken. Partially due to unstable weather patterns. Partially due to delays. At some level, I was glad I didn't need to try it. So, today would be even more route improvisation.I attempted to visit the Pont du Gard world heritage site, but a not so pleasant frenchman at the gate didn't like my bike, so it was dropped. I also had a run-in with an angry french farmer, who thought I shouldn't ride across his property. Didn't know if he was armed, so followed the direction he was pointing.
Anyway, following maps without proper planning can lead to certain surprises, and can cost some hours extra.
Strong headwinds. All in all, not a very pleasant day, with a bad mood after being rejected at Pont du Gard. I got the impression that people in this area are closed-off, or just plainly unpleasant, but it could just as well be my fatigue. Everyone has bad cycling days once in a while - this was obviously one of mine.
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| The river Le Gardon, at Collias. |
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| Forest. |
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| Google Maps claimed this was a bridge. |
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| Bridge over the Rhône, which exits in the Mediterranean. |
Day 12: To Aix-les-Bains - Strava
Another fantastic day. I did a very necessary stop in Valence to change cleats, before heading towards the Alps. The landscape became increasingly interesting the closer one gets to the Alps. I was thinking, that this region is more adapted to cyclists. More hills, more quiet roads, more views. Cleaner air. |
| The Château de Rochemaure at the hilltop. |
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| Ruins, and the Alps in the background |
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| Saint-Nazaire-en-Royans. A jaw-dropping view. |
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| Cognin-les-Gorges. I like this town. Lots of friendly people. |
While taking a break in a town along the route, a girl, maybe 10-12 years old walked by, greeting me (uninvited) with a bonjour. 10 minutes later, passing by the other direction, same procedure with an au revoir. Very kind and friendly gesture. When I responded -- the guttural R in the au revoir is a very difficult sound -- my cover as one of the local cyclists may have been blown.
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| The bike path along the L'Isere river was of the unforgettable kind. |
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| A picture can't convey beauty as it was. |
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| Aix-les-Bains. A little piece of heaven. |
The bike roads between Saint-Gervais and Voreppe were memorable. Chambery and Aix-les-Bains are also fantastic spots.
Day 12b: To Yvonand (Switzerland) - Strava
Today's hammer would be that of a sledge hammer. So tough. There were still headwinds, and lots of small hills throughout the day. I was thinking, that since everything takes more than planned, the main plan of riding through Denmark and Sweden probably needs to be adjusted. Using more than 3 weeks on this trip was out of the question.Switzerland was different, and nice. The people of Geneva were not so forthcoming, though, and I think I might not ever go back there. All so busy with their own stuff there they walk in their suits, not even looking at strangers. But the country? Enchanting.
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| A french town view |
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| A fountain in Geneva. |
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| The broken chair in Geneva, symbolising opposition towards land mines and cluster bombs. |
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| Postman Pat style village road. Lots to look at. |
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| Panzerwagens up to 18 metric tonnes, go left. The others to the right.What about me?? |
Day 14: To Bad Bellingen (Germany, via France) - Strava
It was pleasant to, for the first time on this trip, be able to speak german. The northern-swiss were completely different than those in the south - open and forthcoming.
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| Farm lands. Nice colors. |
After advice from a local cyclists I met at McDonald's, today's route
would also mostly be that of improvisation. Since my initially planned
route, according to him, sucked, the compass was set pointing straight
up the Grenchenberge mountain, a climb of 800 metres. 800 metres is
normally hardly a challenge, but given many days of cycling, and 3 kg of
luggage, it's usually out of the question.
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| Noone ever expects the swiss alp rains |
The climb up to Grenchenberge turned out to be rather cold, with 6 degrees celsius, hails and rain. I was already shivering of cold when starting the descent on the other side, but fortunately summer would greet me again down in the valley.
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| Grenchenberge. At 1300 metres above sea level. |
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| The valley down to Basel, between Court and Moutier. |
I have the habit of cleaning the bike thorougly after rains, due to the sand and dirt that gets stuck in the drivetrain, but today no manual car-washes was found. Bike maintenance was therefore done with sparkling water and sponges bought at a supermarket. Less than ideal, but adding tons of oil afterwards often do the trick.
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| The cathedral square of Basel |
The original goal for today was Freiburg am Breisgrau, but at this point I wasn't taking delays so seriously.
Day 15: To Phalsbourg (France) - Strava
Today's goal was Saarbrücken, but it was forecast so much rain that I did an earlier stop. Easy day, with flat terrain.The lunch break was taken at McDonald's again, in order to not learn anything about french cuisine. I seemed to misunderstand something at McDonald's, though, and ordered a children's menu. Embarrassing. I feel that the french are laughing of me. I retalliated by bon jour'ing as many frenchmen I could -- my pronounciation is so beyond embarrassing, that I think me and the french people now are even.
I was also overtaken by a french guy with a 1980-style race bike - all steel, and gears on the down-tube. Instinctively, I took his wheel. Ended up with having a longer conversation with him about everything between french culture, and school/work. Lots of nice frenchmen here, and they are strong in English, too.
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| The Harbour Master |
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| The Canal du Rhône au Rhin. It's so ludicruously long it's to laugh about. |
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| Some bird flexing its wings on the canal. |
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| European Union Parliament (atleast one of the two), Strasbourg |
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| Don't ask how I manged to travel 500m on this road before turning back. |
Most of the day was spent following the in-land channels. Fun to watch all the activity around them.
Day 16: To Ralingen (Germany, via Luxembourg) - Strava
Today's route was laid along channels again, and cement-block cycle paths. The first part of the day was rolling hills in the in-land, but once meeting the river Saar, there were nice dedicated bicycle paths along the river.Since this turned out to be the second day of Pentecost, there were few open shops, and a lot of other bicyclists out on the road. It was good not to be alone, but it was also tiresome to continously have to overtake other cyclists.
Once in Luxembourg, I discovered that the forecast had changed to "likely rains", and thunderclouds were amassing over me, so I decided to find the nearest and cheapest accomodation, which turned out to be across the Sauer river in Ralingen (Germany).
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| Der Ludwigskirche, Saarbrücken |
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| Trees look as if they are the home of Winnie the Pooh |
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| Der altes Rathaus, Saarbrücken |
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| The Saar valley was particularily picturesque. |
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| Luxemburg. Those clouds are out to catch me. Better go fast. Good roads. |
Day 17: To Aachen (Germany, via Luxembourg and Belgium) - Strava
After yesterday's successful rain-evasion, luck seemed to have run out. There were rains. Lots of rain, of the freezing-to-the-bone kind.After a very pleasant stay at the Gasthaus Ralinger Hof, I headed into the hilly Luxembourg again, ready for a proper adventure. Today's first goal was Troisvierges, and much of the day was used trying to figure out how to pronounce it. I was surprised by some very intense and cold rain showers early, and hid in the forest until they cleared. Once in Troisvierges, I located the train station, where the famous Vennbahn starts.
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| Citizens of Echternach out in numbers to wish me bon voyage |
Seem to have (by chance) stumbled upon the annual Dancing Procession of Echternach. It was a pity I didn't have time to stick around, because allegedly this day of the year in Echternach is on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. So way to go, happy now that you reached today's cycling goal? Meeeeeeeh.
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| Being chased by storm clouds on beautiful roads. |
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| Being caught by storm clouds. Not seeing beauty anywhere any longer. |
The Vennbahn promised a bike-friendly road to Aachen. 125 km, only nice gradients that are steam locomotive-friendly. What's a bit of rain, when biking pleasantly on paved roads through a forest?
Reality check: The Vennbahn claims to be flat, but it starts off with a 10% climb. The tarmac is nice, but segments of 10s of kilometres are just gravel roads, some of them really poor gravel roads. Road bike compatible? NO!! I would recommend other cyclists staying off the Vennbahn between Sant Vith and Huldange. Don't mess with belgian mud.
The bike was in a rather poor condition after this stage. Lots of mud everywhere, and gears are starting to malfunction. This seemed to be a critical situation that needed addressing the next day.
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| On the Vennbahn, entering Belgium, the home country of mud (striking similarities to Elbonia) |
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| Once there were trains here. Now I am here! |
Day 18: To Boxmeer (The Netherlands, via Belgium) - Strava
Lots of time spent on bike maintenance. The bike is not working properly, and high-pressure washers are rare at gas stations. A microfibre cloth and a bucket also works, but it's not as fast or efficient.First third of the day was rains. Not a lot of it, but in Belgium, rains means mud. Together with the northern wind, the stage was set for a challenging day. But it was never dull. Seeing new things all the time, it feels so worthwhile.
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| In the Netherlands, near Nijswiller |
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| The pigeons of Eindhoven are suckers for attention. |
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| A channel near Maasmechelen. Bike path is completely flat, and goes on for almost forever. |
What surprised me the most about the Netherlands, was firstly the number of cyclists. None of them had training clothes or sunglasses. But - there were almost exclusively old bikes, and noone were wearing helmets. I felt like such a douche in my lycra, helmet, oakleys, and €3000 road bike.
It was fun riding through Cauberg, the final-sprint hill as used in the Amstel Gold Race. Friendly people all around, but it's easy to miss hills, valleys, and fjords.
Since today's final goal was not reached, I was uncertain if I could reach the ferry leaving Kiel on Saturday. The Kiel exit was thought to be the easiest exit, since it goes directly to Oslo, but it was thought necessary due to mechanical problems.
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| All steel bike, boots, normal clothes, and most importantly - no helmet (Bocholt, northern Belgium) |
Day 19: To Haselünne (Germany) - Strava
This day also started with some light showers, but the mood improved quickly when a bike wash was found. Some short rain showers after that, too, but they were short enough to keep the mood up. |
| Funny sculpture of the Swan-Knight and Princess Beatrix. Kleve, NEL. |
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| Nice house in Ruurlo, the Netherlands. |
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| Windmill in Ruurlo. |
The drivers in Netherlands were also found to be patient and respectful. They deserve the nobel prize.
230 km remaining to Hamburg after today's stage. I was thinking there was a likelyhood for that being too much, and that the Kiel ferry could be a problem. If I were to reach Kiel by mid-day in 3 days, I needed to reach Hamburg the next day, and it seemed to be too much.
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| Haselünne. It's so red. |
Day 20: To Hamburg - Strava
This was supposed to be an easy day. It was flat, it was along good roads, there were few unknowns. The headwind had other plans though. Open terrain, nowhere to hide. It was a fight, will power vs. wind. And I won, and it was great.I really didn't need to reach Hamburg, but sometimes, goals need to be set. A checkpoint, a point of reference in where all things in the past are past, in contrast to that the future are determined by past mistakes. So this was the goal. This was the logical end of my journey. From here, I could choose any ending that I wanted.
No, today was a big fight, and my plans are still on track.
The Spain-to-Oslo project had four different potential endings, in order of preference:
1. Hamburg - Puttgarden DEU - Rødby DEN - Helsingborg SWE - Oslo NOR
2. Hamburg - Fredrikshavn DEN - Gothenburg SWE - Oslo NOR
3. Hamburg - Hirtshals DEN - Larvik NOR - Oslo
4. Hamburg - Kiel DEU - Oslo NOR
All of them involves a ferry, and all of them are valid ground-transport endings of an epic adventure. But the Kiel solution would be taken, and the final decision was taken only hours before reaching Hamburg. Bike was almost busted, I was well over the time-schedule.
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| From real events in 1929. Reminding people what happens when you don't pay your taxes. |
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| I discovered these houses in the outskirts of Bremen. Disney-like. |
 |
| Hamburg. At sundown. Totaler endsieg!! |
 |
| Crazy beautiful!! |
 |
| Lift-operated bicycle tunnel under the Elbe river. |
 |
| Charming city. |
I also stumbled upon a group of cyclists that were demonstrating for better bicyclist conditions in Hamburg. There had to be upwards of 1.000 bicyclists, it seemed the queue would never end. Fantastic fun to watch. See Critical Mass Hamburg. It was a pity I had to rush to find a place to stay for the night, so I didn't have time to join.
 |
| The job was done. Only a short transport stage left for tomorrow. |
Day 21: To Kiel - Strava
Since the receptionist at the hotel decided to be a total jackass, I skipped breakfast and started on an empty stomach. Time was of the essence today, I had to clear Hamburg early, in order to have time to deal with any unexpectancies. It was found unlikely that the Kiel ferry would be waiting for me to arrive at the port.It was a nice stage. The bike-lanes were in incredbly poor shape, worse than anything I'd seen before, but it didn't matter.
 |
| Kiel. I was busy pedalling today, therefore a mundane picture. |
 |
| Trains. I like the way they move, and the tracks make good lines, too. |
I rolled in to the Kiel port ("Norskehavna") with a full hour to spare, got to board the ferry before other vehicles, and suitably enough, the bike got chainsuck when climbing the ramps up the ferry. Embarrassing, but the other passengers don't know the hardships I've faced! Hah.
I met a group of other cyclists on the ferry that had been doing a bike-trip through Poland, Den Store Sykkelturen. It was cool to see they were using the same Apidura saddle bag as me, and road bikes. Good to meet like-minded people.
 |
| Sunset over Kattegat. |
Day 22: Oslo (Norway, via Kiel-Oslo ferry) - Strava
So, what are one supposed to feel at the end of a 3.700 kilometre adventure? I felt nothing - that scared me a bit. Being away is good. Working is also fine. Generally, it doesn't matter as long as one is doing something different once in a while.Oslo was particularily warm, upwards of 30 degrees. I had been lucky with the weather, it was never too hot through Europe, and the rain was not bad enough to have me stuck.
A strange feeling, though, as I rolled the few kilometres towards home: What now? What should be the next adventure to lay out on? A man needs adventures, hopes of adventures, even if it is something small. Even if it concerns things that are best done from the comfort of home.
 |
| The author, the bearded sufferer of pain, explorer of greater Europe (Picture from Stage 12, the beard was slightly longer on stage 22) |
Results
The following chapters detail the outcomes.Stages
The following stages were completed:| Stage (Link) |
From | To | Dist. (km) |
Time (hrs) |
Climb (m) |
Avg speed (km/h) |
Avg pwr (W) |
kCals | Avg HR (bpm) |
Avg temp (C) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tarifa | Marbella |
160
|
08.11
|
2256
|
19,5
|
152
|
4033
|
124
|
19
|
| 2 | Marbella | Calahonda |
166
|
06.59
|
1341
|
23,8
|
134
|
3209
|
111
|
20
|
| 3 | Calahonda | Carboneras |
179
|
08.00
|
1701
|
22,4
|
118
|
3041
|
101
|
21
|
| 4 | Carboneras | Murcia |
166
|
07.17
|
1089
|
22,8
|
113
|
2686
|
100
|
25
|
| 5 | Murcia | Valencia |
220
|
09.48
|
1689
|
22,4
|
128
|
4397
|
105
|
20
|
| 6 | Valencia | Sant Carles de la Ràpita |
181
|
07.08
|
796
|
25,4
|
118
|
2883
|
99
|
23
|
| 7 | Sant Carles de la Ràpita | Barcelona |
174
|
07.16
|
1201
|
23,9
|
124
|
3082
|
99
|
15
|
| 8 | Barcelona | Figueres |
166
|
07.25
|
1260
|
22,3
|
127
|
3136
|
96
|
12
|
| 9 | Figueres | Sigean |
118
|
05.57
|
1229
|
19,7
|
138
|
2855
|
100
|
10
|
| 10 | Sigean | Nîmes |
197
|
08.29
|
896
|
23,1
|
119
|
3369
|
102
|
18
|
| 11 | Nîmes | Montélimar |
147
|
07.11
|
1002
|
20,4
|
120
|
2948
|
97
|
21
|
| 12 | Montélimar | Aix-les-Bains |
210
|
09.09
|
1711
|
23
|
140
|
4498
|
105
|
16
|
| 12b | Aix-les-Bains | Yvonand |
178
|
08.44
|
1695
|
20,4
|
122
|
3511
|
98
|
18
|
| 14 | Yvonand | Bad Bellingen |
184
|
09.19
|
1776
|
19,8
|
129
|
3835
|
96
|
16
|
| 15 | Bad Bellingen | Phalsbourg |
173
|
07.46
|
583
|
22,2
|
120
|
3231
|
96
|
15
|
| 16 | Phalsbourg | Ralingen |
180
|
07.55
|
985
|
22,7
|
108
|
2855
|
97
|
21
|
| 17 | Ralingen | Aachen |
205
|
09.23
|
1896
|
21,8
|
133
|
4106
|
100
|
14
|
| 18 | Aachen | Boxmeer |
170
|
07.50
|
441
|
21,7
|
107
|
2861
|
94
|
18
|
| 19 | Boxmeer | Haselünne |
185
|
08.03
|
554
|
23
|
124
|
3624
|
97
|
18
|
| 20 | Haselünne | Hamburg |
241
|
10.52
|
968
|
22,2
|
120
|
4689
|
100
|
22
|
| 21 | Hamburg | Kiel |
98
|
04.13
|
361
|
23,2
|
112
|
1698
|
98
|
18
|
| 22 | Oslo | Oslo |
7
|
00.29
|
104
|
13,9
|
151
|
168
|
94
|
25
|
| SUM | 3705 | 167.36 | 25534 | 21,8 | 124 | 70715 | 100 | 18 |
(Click Stage links for Strava map for each stage)
Packing list
See previous ride (North Cape - Oslo).Photos
Approximately 2.500 photos were taken with my camera, which adds up to nearly 62 GB of data. Going through such amount of photos is time-consuming. In retrospect, using a more restrained approach to photographing could have been useful.I used ACDSee both for filtering out the less interesting photos, and later for fixing lighting. Pictures were stored in the Olympus RAW format, which made post-processing very flexible (although it takes a while to learn).
Risk profile
No traffic rules were violated, with perhaps the exception of the occasional one-way street signs, and perhaps one or two speed limits. I try to show respect of the traffic laws, hoping I'll earn some respect back. Cycling on the Autovia in Spain was questionable, although not prohibited.At one time, a poorly marked road-crossing nearly resulted in me being pancaked by a SUV. With the superior braking power of the Mavic Exalith rims, disaster was averted with 6 cm to go.
In some stages, fatigue and perhaps sunburn resulted in shorter attention span, dizziness, and bad decisions. Since I've experienced this before, it was easy to detect, and precautions were taken.
Damage to bike
Misalignment of brakes caused some problems the first days, but was fixed after finding the proper tools. The cleats underneath the cycling shoes also had above-average wear, and they had to be replaced after 10 days or so of riding. The Apidura Top-tube pack also suffered a broken zipper due to being mishandled by me, and needed replacement afterwards.The biggest problem was the drivetrain. The chain, which was already in bad shape when starting, seem to have stretched to maybe as much as 1.5%. This caused most gears to be dysfunctional at the end. It is recommended to start long trips with a brand new chain, and have awareness that the chain may need frequent replacements if riding with a dirty drivetrain.
 |
| Chain so stretched, that it climbs the backs of the cog teeth and falls off. |
Damage to finances
An early estimate show that the total trip had a cost of approx. 33.000 NOK (4.000 USD), with cost driven especially by:- 15.000 NOK to hotels
- 2.000 NOK to Kiel ferry
- 2.000 NOK to bike wearable parts replacement before & after
This is roughly based on bank account statements, and is based on accomodations in an outside-tourist-season period. A total of 12 vacations days were used.
Damage to body
My weight seemed to be approximately the same before/after, but with a bit more muscle mass. The expected weight loss also seem to be delayed 1-2 weeks. |
| 73.1 kg before, 74.0 kg after, as low as 71 two weeks after. |
Experiencing some lack of concentration at work, but that could just as well be due to summer temperatures, and/or pollen allergies.
 |
| Strava Fitness Advisor telling me I probably don't have ideal "form" just yet. |
Conclusions
From the main research question: Can it be done?The answer is: Yes.
Science completed.
Further work
It might be necessary to do a land-based cycling trip from Oslo to Kiel, in order to fully cover the entire Europe, and make this a truly transcontinental project. This might be scheduled for 2019 or for the autumn. RSVP!I also want to investigate the feasability of riding from the western USA (Astoria, OR?) to the east (e.g. Annapolis, MD). Dreams ...