Europe (local)

Abbiamo visto o piú spesso immaginato tra le nuvole i maggiori massicci alpini. Abbiamo visto nascere l'Oglio, l'Adda, l'Inn, il Reno, la Reuss, l'Aare, il Rodano, il Ticino. Non un solo giorno è mancata la pioggia, non un solo giorno è mancato il sole. Dal passamontagna al costume da bagno, niente è rimasto inutilizzato. Va da sè che, se anche il racconto fosse riuscito noioso, il giro non lo è stato. I km sono stati 1130 km, circa 28500 metri di salita, per una pendenza media del 5 per cento. Sedici valichi: Ampola, Giogo di Bala - Croce Dominii, Gavia, Alpisella, Forcola di Livigno, Bernina, Albula, Oberalp, Susten, Grimsel, Furka, Gottardo, Nufenen, Folungo, Bocchetta di Sessera, Colma. Sei cime: San Matteo m 3678, Piz Blaisun 3210 metri, Gross Muttenhorn m 3099, monte Zeda 2156 metri, Rocciamelone 3538 metri, Lera 3358 metri. Le cime piú belle: Zeda e Rocciamelone. I tratti di percorso da non perdere assolutamente: la traversata dal lago d'Idro a Croce Dominii; il Passo Susten; la panoramica sopra il Lago Maggiore.

When my wife, Jeannie, and I first bicycled Tuscany in 1995, we found the combination of the culture, the history, the food & wine, and most importantly the friendliness of the people made us eager to return. So, for our 25th wedding anniversary we made our plans to return to Italy for a month.

As we have cycled through many beautiful, interesting, curious, and friendly places, we have often remarked that someday we would like to visit a place and stay long enough to feel more of a pulse of the life than we might if we were only there for a day or two. This trip to Italy we wanted ``to be'' in Italy - essere in italia. We wanted to stay in one place for at least two weeks, to learn the bus schedule, to have to remember when the bakery was open, to learn to enjoy the differences in the pace of life and not just pass through as tourists.

Warum Karelien? Warum nicht! Ich wollte schon immer einmal mit dem Fahrrad durch Nordrussland fahren, seitdem ich dort einmal mit dem Zug durchgefahren war und aus dem Zugfenster heraus die endlosen Wälder bewunderte. Dann las ich während meiner Arbeitszeit, beim Drucken der ``Frei atmen'' um genau zu sein, die Anzeige von Markus Müller, der Leute zu einer Radtour durch Karelien suchte und ich rief an.

Unreliable server, you'll have to dig for the story.

The natives of Kola Peninsula are kindhearted and eager to help, but there is one strange thing about them. Each time you try to ask someone about the road he puts a strange smile on, makes wide gestures and mutters something about off-road vehicles and ice roads. Sometimes our questions brought sweet memories to life: ``Yes, it was in the year before granny died, 1973 it was, and we drove 150 km to the very end of this road in a lorry in no more than a week. And don't listen to the neighbor, he just got to the middle the year before last.'' Inspired by these descriptions we took one of the ground roads north. It started from simply bad quality and later turned out somewhat between ``absolutely impossible to ride'' and ``possible to ride if you Really want it''.

I had a wonderful time, everywhere I went the people were friendly, the drivers reasonably considerate, and the touring spectacular. Why the Extremadura? The Extremadura is a very interesting part of Spain for any American because the people in Extremadura have had such a profound impact on the history and development of America. It turns out that the two most famous (or infamous) conquistadors, Pizzaro and Cortez, both hail from the Extremadura. Many other Extremadurans joined them in the conquest of central and south America by the Spanish. Why? During the early 1500's, the Extramadura was a relatively undeveloped part of Spain, filled with minor nobility and controlled by absentee landlords. There were few prospects for a second or third son growing up in this region, and it was a tough neighborhood. The region had long been a contested area in the wars between the Moors and the Spaniards, it was dotted with walled towns, and inhabited by enduring people accustomed to hardship and violence. The opportunity for wealth and fame in the Americas was a magnet for aggressive young men who had few prospects for inheritance and were well trained to fight for what they wanted. Very many of them did achieve wealth and fame, very few of them died peacefully in their bed. They were prepared to live and die by the sword and their wits, most did so.

A cycle report on a family cycle tour on the island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea. The report gives information on landscape and history of this Swedish island, which a Norwegian family toured by bike summer 99. You can also read how two bicycles were lost on the railway in Scandinavia.

An excellent report, with lots of practical information. Even if you don't know French, look at it for the beautiful pictures.

Visto dal lato atletico puo' sembrare una cosa non eccezionale attraversare l'Italia da sud a nord in bicicletta, basta seguire la costa essere ben allenati avere bici da corsa ultraleggere un buono staff al seguito (ammiraglia massaggiatori meccanici) e un buon albergo con tutti i comfort per rilassarsi tra una tappa e l'altra! Purtroppo noi non avevamo nulla di tutto cio'; noi non eravamo per niente allenati a pedalare, semmai allenati a portare vassoi, con alle spalle una stagioone turistica appena conclusa che certo non ci aveva lasciato in ottima forma. Non volevamo assolutamente costeggiare il mare ma assaporare le salite che tanto facevano sudare i nostri beniamini al ``giro''. Al posto delle bici da corsa ultraleggere avevamo i nostri ``normali'' rampichini ancora piu' appesantiti da piu' di 35kg. di bagagli e atrezzi. Dormivamo nella prima pensione che trovavamo all'imbrunire, eravamo addirittura dotati di sacco a pelo. I massaggi ci avrebbero fatto molto comodo ma ancor di piu' ci mancava l'ammiraglia per borracce viveri e bagagli. Un sogno sarebbe stato poi un meccanico che ci avesse riparato le forature, visto che abbiamo bucato in tutto 29 volte!

Taking three weeks off to tour England by tandem was the trip of a lifetime. Great riding, good weather, and lots of help from friends along the way made a truly memorable experience for us. We planned relatively short mileage days and allowed several days off the bike for some typical ``tourist'' days.

The riding in England was superb. The route we planned took us to some of the most scenic and pastoral settings imaginable. Except for London, riding in cities, towns, and villages posed no problems for a tandem. Using England's trains for covering long distances was relatively easy, but required some planning ahead to be sure space was available.

A nice job, with particularly good pictures.

A solo, 21 days, 1300 km (800 miles) tour starting from Toulouse and ending in Marseille, going through the Canal de la Garonne, Quercy and Périgord (a very good place to start a bicycle tour in France), the prehistoric sites in the Dordogne and Vézère Valleys, the Aveyron uplands, the Canal du Midi, a string of medieval cities from Carcassonne to Arles, and the Mediterranean Coast.

An excellent and complete guide! If you like to ride on good pavement but away from car traffic, the towpaths of Belgium offer some of the best cycling in the world. You can ride across the country from north to south or east to west with only occasional concerns about cars or trucks. Much of the way is through pleasant farmland or nature preserve, with the loudest noise bird songs or the engine of a barge. The network totals a little over 2,000 km (1,200 miles), of which more than 1,600 km provide fine riding for any kind of bicycle.

The purpose of this guide is to describe the entire network from a cyclist's perspective. Included are all waterways in Belgium, and logical extensions into France and the Netherlands, which are or were within the last few centuries navigable and where it is physically possible to ride along or reasonably close to the water. Also included are a few connecting rail trails.

A tour through Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria by Bill Venners, from Autumn Leaf Cafe - an anthology of ideas and adventures.

From September 7th through October 8th, 1998, I rode my bicycle through the towns, forests, fields, hills and mountains of Europe. I was accompanied by my friend Matt, with whom I'd taken two previous bike trips.

This web site is a travelogue of my European bike tour. [...]

Table of Contents - Annotated links to all the pages; The Travelogue - Stories, data, and pictures from the trip; The Numbers - A table of bicycle and push-up data; The Not-Anal-Retentive Packing List - What to take (and where to put it).

This is a log of a tour of northern Italy that I took with my wife Carol and two other couples (Jim & Mary Holmes and Brooke & Rosie Keneford) in September 1998. We had a rocky start due to problems transporting our bikes and a little rain but, all in all, it was a very enjoyable trip. As always, we stay in hotels or B&B's, we eat at least one meal a day in a restaurant and we carry everything we need on our bikes. We are all now ``late middle-aged''. (That's quite a euphemism. We're all around 60 years old!) Your mileage may vary!

Total luggage weight was about 15 kilos, of course I had no sleeping or cooking gear. My beloved mount is an early 80' racing Vicini with Columbus SL steel frame and Dura Ace. Gearing is limited to 52/39 up front and a six speed rear cassette ranging from 13 to 23. Blindly overestimating my level of fitness I didn't even bother adding a 25 cog. At the time I thought that England was mostly flat...

The whole trip lasted for 918 kms which I covered with average speed of 17.7 km/h climbing 20,310 meters vertically. I used my touring steel bike with triple chain ring (52/42/30) and 7 speed rear block (12-23). I had two bags - one on the handlebars for maps, camera and some food and expandable Trek bag on the rear rack containing all my clothes, toiletry, and spares.

The 7-week adventure had consisted of a solo cycle tour, which started in Chamonix and finished in Lyon visiting the Alpine regions of Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France.

The well-written, well-illustrated report of a grand tour of the Alps. The 7-week adventure had consisted of a solo cycle tour, which started in Chamonix and finished in Lyon visiting the Alpine regions of Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France. This article covers my journey of almost 2200miles.

Having cycled and mountain biked around my native Peak District for many years, I decided the time had come to venture further afield and to try my hand at cycle touring. I had both backpacked and cycled on many occasions, but never had I combined the two together. Graduating from university gave me a sufficient opportunity, since I had a lengthy vacation to fill and the commencement of work later in the year would inhibit such a trip in the future. Preparations were made, panniers purchased and on the 1st August 1998, I found myself heading for Chamonix.

A beautifully illustrated report. The whole trip lasted for 918 kms which I covered with average speed of 17.7 km/h climbing 20,310 meters vertically. I used my touring steel bike with triple chain ring (52/42/30) and 7 speed rear block (12-23). I had two bags - one on the handlebars for maps, camera and some food and expandable Trek bag on the rear rack containing all my clothes, toiletry, and spares.

Nicely illustrated. An Italian Version is also available. (Replace '%5C' in picture URLs with '/'.)

A long and wide bend on the left takes you into the last 10 kms. quite demanding both beacuse you already are on the climb from 17 km. and because during last 10 Km the average slope is > 7% and there are two flat stretches... After an harpin on the right you meet a tunnel (slope > 11%) that bicycles avoid on the right with a nice route (100 mt. are on pave') coasting some gorge that free climbers use for their training. You see the dam of first lake and you know you'll have to go up there: a set of bends help you on gaining altitude and finally you coast the lake at your right with its peculiar colour. Use the stretch along the lake to rest and don't be deceived by the the fact that you clearly see the [Grimsel]pass not so far.

In August 1998 I've made a cycling tour through the Swiss Alps. To start, my friend Rübe (Turnip) also known as Percus and I rode from Freiburg in Germany to Lugano, which is nearly Italy. From there I continued to Geneva (nearly France), where I caught up with my sister who lives there. Finally I went North to ride in the Jura mountains.

Im August 1998 habe ich eine Radtour durch die Schweizer Alpen gemacht. Mein Freund Rübe auch Percus genannt und ich sind von Freiburg im Breisgau bis nach Lugano (fast schon Italien) gefahren. Von da an bin ich dann alleine nach Genf weitergefahren, wo ich meine dort lebende Schwester besucht habe. Zum Abschluß bin ich dann nordwärts in den Jura gefahren.

A five-week tour of Scandinavia, starting in Oslo and ending in Stockholm. Excellent practical information (the summary data table, which includes graphical weather information, is just great). Gorgeous photos (including the canonical midnight sun, but plenty of other spectacular views), and a very good story make this report an instant classic.

I had been impressed by the magnificent scenery of northern Norway when, during an inter-railing trip 3 years ago, we had taken the train to Narvik, far beyond the Arctic circle, and then the bus on a long and winding journey down the coast to Bod?. I think it was at that time that I first became aware of the Lofoten Islands - as I researched the places we were to visit in Norway, I could not help but notice references to these magnificent islands, which we were not to visit!

They stayed in the back of my mind for some time, but after my successful Hebridean cycling tour last summer the idea of doing a similar thing in the Lofoten islands slowly grew. Having always been a firm believer in the ancient Chinese proverb about it being better to travel hopefully than to arrive, and hence never go somewhere quickly if I can spend a few days doing it instead, it seemed an ideal opportunity to wend my leisurely way up the Norwegian coast on the Hurtigrute coastal steamer. So come early July, I packed my panniers once more and caught a flight to Oslo, from where I travelled on by train overnight to Trondheim on the coast...

Middle of June 1998, we [...] started the trip we had dreamed of for a long time: by bicycle from top to bottom through Europe. A view on the map shows that this journey covers 36 degrees of latitude and in total has a length of 7200 km. The trip started in Norway and from there led us through Denmark, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and finally to Gibraltar. Not the shortest route, but also an exploration of the better parts of Europe. This on-line trip-report was built up while cycling.

26 days from 26-6 to 21-7-1998 - Distance 4830 km. - Average speed 21,3 km.t.

[We] visited Corsica for 2 weeks in June 1998. We'd booked a week at each of two gîtes, and spent our final night at a hotel at Calvi. The first gîte was between St. Florent and Oletta, and gave us access to Cap Corse and the Conca d'Oro, both of which are pleasant, as are the two towns mentioned.

The second gîte was in the village of Casanova somewhat to the south of Corte, giving access to the Castagniccia and the gorges of the central mountains. This gîte no longer seems to appear in the brochures. But it is a wonderful region for cycling. The Castagniccia is made up of beautiful forested hills with ancient villages on each spur, topped by elegant campaniles. It's hard riding on idyllic lanes; paradise for the fit cyclist.

We would coast down to Corte and take long rides in the hills, stopping for delicious lunches. We'd return to Corte and fill our panniers with wine, mineral water, milk ... all the necessities of life. But it was 250 vertical metres back to Casanova, a ride which we did every day for a week. We felt that final climb.

An excellent report, with nice pictures, useful information, and a good story

From Minko Oh's cycling site.

Includes Impressions and Suggestions for Bodensee Bike Tourists. A very good story, illustrated with very nice pictures. Provides also useful information, among which is a link to the Bodensee Web Site.

An account of a cycle tour of Tuscany and Umbria in May 1998. A day by day blow of the places we visited, how we got there (and how we didn't), pretty stuff like pictures we took, and some possibly useful stuff like packing lists etc.

After an official visit to Dubna, about 120 km north of Moscow, I had the pleasure to spend two days with friends on a dacha in a little village about 150 km east. [...] I set out for the unknown east. At that stage my plans were as follows: take the main road to Nishny Novgorod and then muddle yourself through in a big semi circle via Vologda and Petrozavodsk to Finland; fly out then from Helsinki. This would have been a distance of about 3000 km, ambitious enough for 18 days of cycling in the West. What I had not taken into account were the typical Russian difficulties.

A short bicycle trip from one world to another (plus train travel 36 hours from Nikel to St. Petersburg, and a bike trip in the streets of St. Petersburg).

Also see Igor Romanenko's Comments.

The[se pictures are] accompanied by descriptions which give a general idea of what it's like to bicycle in Austria along the Danube River, and into the voralps (the fore-alps). For anyone considering such a ride (the Danube River Trail makes for an easy self-supported tour), I hope these pictures inspire you to follow through with your plan. For those who have been there, I hope it brings back memories. Enjoy.

From Glenn and Sheila Ord's Home Page: On the Road to Nowhere - Nowhere is the Place. With an emphasis on budget travelling - Our experiences and advice for cycling in Europe. This guide is entirely based on our 7 ½ months (12,000 km) in 1998 across (and back) Europe: staying almost entirely in campgrounds (185 tent nights). This was supplemented by our time in Italy (April-May 1999).

We took the old road that hangs in a notch carved high above the Aar in the slot below. As we climbed above the upper Grimsel reservoir of the Haslital Power Company, the Finsteraarhorn (4275m), the source of the Unteraar and Oberaar rivers, came into view to the west.

After a light breakfast under a partial overcast, we headed up the wide concrete Gotthard highway that starts climbing in town. Here, above tree line, only scrub brush, grass, wildflowers, and alpenrosen, an azalea prevalent throughout the Alps, decorate the landscape. The alpenrose, among the many wildflowers, adds a lovely bouquet of pink and red with its dark green leaves, as do the striking deep blue gentians, pale blue forget-me-nots, and many varieties of daisies and dandelions.

The idea of cycling in Europe had hit me in England in June: I was cycling from my home in Oxford up to Yorkshire and persistently got lashed by wind and near freezing rain, a thought quickly formed in my mind: time to head south and do a proper cycle trip - to the sun.

From Santiago I headed west to Cabo Finisterre, and Galician equivalent of Englands Lands End, jutting out into the Atlantic, pointing to the American continent. One local I asked directions from said to me; 'Finisterre really is the end of the civilized world', and looked out west towards America. It was a longish days cycling, 140km, and into a head wind, but nice and warm, about 27 degrees.

My name is Louis Tousignant, a Canadian in his mid-fifties, living in Nova Scotia, on the Atlantic shore. I am always on the look out for riding partners, as I plan one major trip every year, up till now in Europe, but New Zealand and South East Asia are in the wings. All my recent trips have included the following parameters: 100 km/day (give or take 20%) on average; hotels, B&B's or pensions, no camping; most meals in restaurants; start in one country, exit in another, to maximize coverage; 5 to 6 week duration (participation in one leg of the trip is of course possible for those who can't spare the time). [...]

This was my first major trip without time constraints. My last touring experience dated back to the mid-80's. In this context, I did not plan properly, beyond defining the broad outline of the itinerary: Denmark, shortest possible time in Germany therefore Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Northern Italy to Rome. I had no maps for long stretches of the trip, except for France and Italy (Michelin 1:200,000 or 400,000), and no computer on my bike. For a variety of business reasons, I had not trained to any significant degree before the trip, in fact I was green. Finally, I wrote sketchy notes as I went along and here I am, writing a trip report 4 years after the fact...

Touring Italia 1998 started in Linköping (about 200 km south of Stockholm). We then went to the most southern point of Sweden (Smygehuk), before taking a ferry to Rostock in former East Germany. After a short visit to Leipzig we continued through the Chech Republic before reaching Munich. Thereafter we passed the Alps via Brennerpass, Passo Costalunga (Karerpass) and Passo Rolle at 1984 slm. In Italy we passed Venice, Bologna, Florence, Pisa and Siena before reaching Rome after some 3 100 kilometres.

Es ist schon faszinierend einen kleinen Rucksack zu packen, das Fahrrad aus dem Keller zu holen und sich darauf setzen mit der Zielsetzung Gibraltar zu erreichen. Vor allem, wenn der Startort Zürich heisst und 2800 Kilometer Asphalt in allen möglichen Modifikationen dazwischen liegen. So geschehen anfangs August wo wir uns in Balterswil im Thurgau zum Prolog - so heisst heutzutage der letzte Materialtest - trafen. Der ging über 50 km nach Zürich, bei Wunderwetter das pure Vergnügen, und das Material war perfekt. Also etwas Carbo laden, letzte Details besprechen, die leichte Aufregung spüren und dem nächsten Morgen entgegenfiebern.