Europe (local)

On these pages we will show you the cycling pursuits of John and Daniel Gould (from Australia) and our friend Peter (from Japan).Our challenge will be to ride from London to Istanbul through 12 countries in 2 months while having a great time and seeing the sights. Peter should be there to Italy and then its just 2 unless anyone else wants to join us. For father and son John and Daniel the quest will also try to raise money for Odyssey House.

Wenn Ihnen in Norwegen jemand auf Ihre Frage nach Steigungen mit ``mostly flat'' antwortet, seien Sie gewarnt: flach hat in Norwegen eine andere Bedeutung als in den Elbmarschen. ``Meistens flach'' bedeutet in Norwegen: Steigungen unter Hundert Meter. Chris Heymans, einer der Organisatoren und Planer der North Sea Cycle Route, fuhr übrigens einige norwegische Strecken, auch solche mit ``stiff Uphills'', mit seinem Brompton-Faltrad (natürlich mit Gepäck). Es ist eben alles relativ. Relativ ist, europaweit gesehen, auch die Qualität der Radwanderwege. Eine in Deutschland unglaublich miese Qualität bedeutet im restlichen Europa das Gegenteil.

Sie sollten also, wenn Sie eine längere Strecke auf der North Sea Cycle Route fahren wollen, Ihre Vorstellungen von ``gut'' und ``schlecht'' in ``anders'' wechseln. Erfreuen Sie sich an dem ständigen Wechsel der Landschaften. Lernen Sie immer wieder interessante Menschen kennen und genießen Sie das Flair der Dörfer und Städte rund um die Nordsee. ``Jeder Tag ist wie Weihnachten, jeden Tag eine Überraschung''. Dieser Slogan passt am besten zur Northern Opening Tour durch Schleswig-Holstein, Dänemark, Schweden, Norwegen und Schottland.

Tabular data and altitude profiles of mountain passes all over Europe.

This has been a difficult trip, this touring in Ireland. Every day I've gone out on my bike, regardless of the weather. I've struggled against headwinds, winched up slopes that went on for miles. I've gotten wet a great deal, and gotten chilled quite a few times, only getting warm again by adding more layers and pedalling harder. I was really looking forward to this ferry ride back: a chance to relax and stay warm.

Three superb reports of cycling in Corfu, Rhodes and Kefalonia. Maps, and many beautiful pictures!

The bike-experience describes our experiences on our bicycle holidays. This way we want to promote short foreign bicycle holidays for the sporty biker. Using the routes, travel reports and practical information that you can find here, we lead you along the most beautiful places without losing sight of the relaxing aspect of a holiday.

You don't have to be an experienced road maniac and you don't even have to possess the necessary equipment to get to the finish of these trips, a sportive mind is sufficient. Bike-xp is constantly under development and over the next years we will expand our site with new discoveries.

A photo album of mountain passes in the Alps

Several cycling travel stories and detailed descriptions with profiles of 17 of the most beautiful climbs in 7 different European countries.

We wanted to do something off the beaten track. After having met in the US on a cycling trip, Steve and I had always planned to spend another cycling holiday together. Certainly not an organized one and Iceland was only one possible destination (where can you go to if you have only got two weeks?).

[...] we took the ferry to Rossaveal, which is at the southern coast of Connemara. Connemara is a mountain area with the well known Twelve Pins which are up to 2300 feet high. In spite of the mountains, cycling in this area is easy and a lot of fun. The roads are not very steep and usually between the mountains. Also, this area is sheltered from the wind by the mountains. Connemara is a must for all cyclists because of the beauty of the nature. If you use side roads you will encounter very quiet areas where you can cycle for miles and miles without crossing a town or village. [...] We set up our tent close to Lough Inagh where we found a beautiful spot with a little river that provided us with water for cooking and washing. Worthwile is also a little trip to Lough Fee, northeast of Lough Inagh. Connemara is also a highlight for photographers who should not forget to take plenty of filmrolls along.

Includes Rome-Venice, Amalfi Coast (including a video clip), Genoa-Pisa-Florence, Aosta Valley.

Everything you have ever heard about bicycling in Italy is true. The weather, terrain, roads, and cities are all perfectly suited for bike touring.

For those of you who're planning to go to Italy by bike and specifically to cross Lombardia region near Como's lake, you can't miss such a place: there are many types of reason that can get you to go there.

You know, this is an ascent that from both sides has the last part quite demanding although short: a good test to evaluate your ``grimpeur'' attitude. At the top look at right side of Como's Lake and at the two mountains named Grigne in front of you.

Even if you're not catholic, do enter the little church (free entrance) : it's also a cycling museum. It's up to you saying a prayer before starting the visit as a sign inside suggests. You'll find here the originals used by Bartali, Coppi, Merckx: looking at the Merckx one, see the gear he used ... There's also the bicycle Moser used in Mexico City in 1984 to improve hour record and last, sadly, the Fabio Casartelli's bicycle used in Tour 1995 (Fabio born not so far from here). Again there's a lot of original maillot (pink , yellow, rainbow) belonging to all time champions. Every year on december 24 there's a religious meeting celebrating great champions that are no more here in this world.

For three years ``Lombardia 's Tour'' has been choosen to be the last race of World Cup and even if its path has been changed, it always includes Ghisallo: take the opportunity to ride along a piece of one most popular Italian cyling races.

La Flaminia Minor, ancora oggi oggetto di studio, fu costruita dalle truppe del console romano Gaio Flaminio nel 187 a.C., due anni dopo la fondazione di Bologna avvenuta nel 189 a.C. Questa strada aveva il ruolo importante di unire le aree a nord dell'appennino con quelle a sud, partendo da Claterna (odierna Maggio, frazione di Ozzano) fino ad arrivare ad Arezzo.

Alberto has ``read all the books'' and writes beautifully (alas, in Italian). This travel story from the Alps in the North-East, West across the Alps, and then South to the Mediterranean on the coast of Tuscany, is a must.

A tour of the Alps - 2190 km and nearly 50km gain in 16 days.

Now accompanied by a biggish Photo Album.

Firenze - Siena - Montepulciano - Assisi - Gubbio - Urbino - Rimini. Km.: 550 - Giorni: 6 - Periodo: Maggio.

Rick and Monica's plans are stymied by awful weather at first. But they make up for this with a great tour of Tuscany, including San Gimignano, Pisa, and then Trentino and Lombardia. Very nicely illustrated.

San Gimignano is the most striking of the walled cities. It has a skyline of towers built centuries ago that has earned the nickname of ``the Manhattan of Italy''. The town can be seen for miles and miles away and is truly a ``not to be missed'' site. Our maps paid off as we cycled over the seldom used back roads throughout the Tuscan region. We passed hundreds of manicured vineyards. We rode by ancient castles, olive groves and fields ablaze with sunflowers. We enjoyed the hills, the scenic narrow roads and the warmth of the Italian sun. At last the weather had improved!

A small guide to getting out of Torino without being run over by too many cars.

A two days ride among great mountains. Green meadows and scattered masi (wooden small houses for the storage of hay) is the characteristic landscape of Comelico valley; the road continues along the Piave river (mild climb) up to Salafossa mines (closed) and a tunnel puts us on the climb to Sappada. This reach of road is excavated on the rocky side of the valley which here is a very narrow gorge and there is the impressive sight of the Orrido Acquatona in which the river Piave flows on the bottom of the gorge (here very deep and narrow).

Has a section for on road and off-road tours in Sardinia (Sardegna)

Extensive data about Patrick's extensive tours in the Alps from 1991 to 2005: includes reports, maps, diagrams... a must-see for the Alpine cyclist. Contains a list of passes in the Alps and the Jura, true stories about cycling, and some pictures.

After two successive summers spent cycling around the Alps and then the Pyrénées. I wanted to try somewhere different. I'd wanted to visit Norway for some time [...] As usual maps were studied, this process was more in-depth than normal since I had never been to Norway and didn't know where were the best places to visit. After much research and assessing the feasibility of several options, I decided to concentrate on the southern half of the country. This provided the opportunity to cycle over the high mountain plateau of the Hardangervidda, Norway's highest peaks in the Jotunheim and to navigate my way around Norway's most famous features - its coastal fjords.

We wanted to visit the classical destinations of the Russian Republic of Karelia... But not in the usual way with a river-cruise on a vessel... We did it by bike!

A nice report, with plenty of pictures, and extensive practical information.

Pour renouer avec le voyage itinérant à vélo, nous avions choisi une destination qui nous offrirait les meilleurs ingrédients selon nous : du relief et du dépaysement, et de la chaleur. Pour les premiers points, nous ne fûmes pas déçus, nous n'imaginions pas par contre devoir lutter contre le froid?et même la neige !

Les îles Canaries, au nombre de sept, forment un archipel au large des côtes marocaines. Nous visiterons les trois îles situées le plus à l'ouest : La Palma, la Gomera et Tenerife, la plus étendue, et sans conteste la plus connue et fréquentée (un peu trop d'ailleurs sur la côte?).

Ces îles sont d'origine volcanique, et offrent parmi les paysages les plus spectaculaires au monde.

iVoyage en bicyclette de Losone (Locarno) à Palerme via Bologne, Florence, Bolsena, Rome, Naples, Pompei, Paestum, Taormina, Cefalù.

L'idea di questo viaggio è da attribuire a Pietro Angeloni di Golino per degnamente festeggiare i suoi 50 anni. [...]
Il tempo è sempre stato molto clemente, senza pioggia, la temperatura sino in Calabria è stata piuttosto fresca ed il vento generalmente in nostro favore. La foschia e la parziale mancanza di sole ha un po' penalizzato la qualità delle fotografie (in particolare le vedute della Costiera Amalfitana) ma non si può avere tutto!
Man mano che si andava verso Sud il traffico diventava più caotico, il lato stradale meno pulito, i prezzi più abbordabili e la gente più calorosa.

L'idée de ce voyage est à attribuer à Pietro Angeloni de Golino qui désirait fêter dignement ses 50 ans. [...]
Le temps a toujours été clément, sans pluie. La température jusqu'en Calabre a été plutôt fraîche et le vent généralement en notre faveur. Le manque de soleil et une légère brume ont un peu pénalisé la qualité des photos (en particulier sur la côte Amalfitana), mais on ne peut pas tout avoir!
Plus nous nous dirigions au sud, plus le trafic devenait chaotique. Les bords de routes étaient moins propres, mais les prix plus abordables et les gens plus chaleureux. Cela se confirmait, on ne peut pas tout avoir!

An information site in various languages run by the Xunta de Galicia. Annoying Flash animations all over the place.

The suggested itinerary follows the spanish part of the ``Camino de Santiago'' from the Ibaneta Pass (Roncesvalles) on the frontier between France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. It's 850 kilometres wich cross the whole northern side of Spain, from Pyrenees as far as the Atlantic region. 8 stages will be provided. The itinerary goes over an ancient pilgrinage route connected with the Catholic tradition of the veneration to the apostle St. James (Santiago), evangelizer of Spain, whose grave would have been discovered by a hermit in 813 d.c. in a place showed by a star rain (campus stellae).

Many of the towns in the Normandie have unusually large cathedrals. Eu was no exception. The cathedral is built on a hill. There is a youth hostel built into the base of the hill under the cathedral. It was more expensive than average (FF 93) but definitely worth the price. The picture to the right shows the hallway leading to the rooms, each with a vaulted ceiling and its own bathroom. Recommended.

The travelogue of a cycling trip in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

A Fantastic Journey is the only real description of this ride, because that is exactly what it was. A journey into territory far away from the normal tourist routes. Where the only indication of the 21st century was the motor car. And where English is rarely been heard, let alone spoken.

Following our long cycle rides of the previous two years and because bad weather caused us to call a halt last year near Bayonne, we decided to continue our ride to Gibraltar. However we decided to change the route to take in more of the real Spain. It may not appear to some to be the best route. It certainly was not the quickest. It did however encompass many places we wanted to see. Some were Towns and Cities, some were geographic places such as Parque Naturals and Mountain Ranges. Our route took us through the following major cities and towns: San Sebastian; Vitoria; Burgos; Palencia; Toro; Salamanca; Bejar; Trujillo; Merida; Constantina; Seville; Arcos de la Frontera; Tarifa; Gibraltar.

From the cycling pages of Karl Brodowsky: see the German Version for plenty of interesting reports in German.

Many tour reports:

• 2005 - Von Den Haag nach Berlin - unterwegs auf dem Europaradweg R1
• 2005 - Quer durch den Thurgau nach Rohrschach
• 2005 - Flotte Fahrt zum Bodensee
• 2004 - Entlang der Flüsse Naab, Main, Tauber, Altmühl und Donau
• 2004 - Von Zürich aus nach Aigues-Mortes ans Mittelmeer
• 2004 - Mal eben um den Bodensee...
• 2003 - Bretagne...ausnahmsweise mal mit Auto und Ferienwohnung
• 2003 - Von Zürich nach Würzburg - Siebene auf einen Streich
• 2003 - Neckarttalradweg
• 2002 - Das Loiretal zum Atlantik
• 2002 - Through the Valley of the Loire to Brittany (english version)
• 2002 - Tour de Hessen
• 2002 - Spritztour ins Elsass
• 2001 - Von Zürich aus ins Loiretal
• 2001 - Von Lausanne nach Olten
• 2000 - Von Oberviechtach ins schweizerische Solothurn
• 1999 - Fränkische Schweiz, Aischgrund, Taubertal und Jagst
• 1999 - Von München nach Oberviechtach
• 1999 - Stein am Rhein und Bodensee
• 1998 - Bodensee und Hochrhein
• 1997 - Fulda- und Weserradweg
• 1997 - Von Zürich aus um den Bodensee und wieder zurück
• 1995 - Von München aus ins Markgräfler Land
• 1995 - Von Erlangen nach München
• 1994 - Rundfahrt Altmühltal und Donau
• 1994 - Donauradweg von Donaueschingen bis Regensburg

Ogni descrizione, parola, aggettivo sulla bellezza dell' itinerario sarebbe superflua, essendo questi paesaggi alpini i più fotografati al mondo; mi limiterò solamente a consigliarlo ad un cicloturista allenato!

Nicely illustrated. After picking up Yvonne, who's joining me on this trip, our first goal is to follow Landelijke Fietsroute (LF) 4. This is a sign posted bicycle route through the Middle of the Netherlands. The LF4 ends at the border and continues in Germany as Radweg 1 (R1). The R1 is a 275 km long sign posted route, starting at the Dutch border and ending in Hoxter on the Weser river (roughly between Hannover and Kassel).

Erst mitten durch die Walachei und dann ab in die Karpaten... Eine Radreise durch Transsilvanien und die Walachei (Rumänien).

Die Walachei liegt rund um Rumäniens Hauptstadt Bukarest und erstreckt sich bis zum südlichen Karpatenbogen.. Hinter diesem Karpatenbogen findet man dann eine große hügelige Hochebene nämlich Transsylvanien (zu deutsch: Siebenbürgen). Während die Walachei mit ihrer Hauptstadt Bukarest (früher war es Targoviste) eines der ältesten rumänischen Fürstentümer war, gehörte Transsylvanien lange zu Ungarn (auf Ungarisch : Erdely) und weist deshalb noch heute einen relativ hohen Anteil an ungarischer Bevölkerung auf.

In the last few years the popularity of cycling has increased in Hungary, so more and more people are choosing biking to spend their spare time. With the growing popularity of cycling the local governments can only limitedly satisfy the claims of bike road-building. Although the length of cycle-roads increase a little from year to year. These roads are sometimes real roads, not the edge of tracks or parts of pavements, but in other cases they are separated with a line from the tracks or pavements.

Pilis is ideally situated for either cyclists to see Budapest or the bikers who are curious about Esztergom (church!!) and the Danube bend. We can find here roads with good quality, but the asphalted forest roads (without any traffic) are also good. The ascents [...] are generally 4-8% steep.

Mátra is the highest mountain-range (on a small area) of Hungary, its top Kékesteõ is 1015m above sea level. With the normal and forest roads, the Matra is in any case a favourable mountain-range for those who search after roads in forests, and who like the ascents. Eger, Parádfürdõ, Szilvásvárad, and the castle of Sirok are things that are worth seeing or cycling there for. At the south foot of the Matra are grown grapes.

Jobst's 1960 tour started and ended in Tuscany. The Net was not in place yet, so the report had to wait...

Well, there's a first time for everybody, and Jobst too had to discover the Alps once. If you are looking for the inspiration to do it yourself, just go ahead and read this glorious report.

I had asked Mr Cinelli what the greatest road in the Alps was, to which he replied without hesitation, the Stelvio, but that I might not like it because it was unpaved. That especially caught my interest so here I was heading up the Valtellina at Tirano where the road to the foot of this great pass starts its climb.

I arrived in Bormio at 3:30 and decided to go to the top in beautiful afternoon sunshine. After a snack at the store I headed up the road that ran out of pavement at the city limit and became a coarse gravel and grey powdery road that, with a little rain, was pretty solid. I discovered that standing up easily caused wheel spin, so I pulled my straps tight and worked on a smooth stroke to keep traction.

Farther up the Braulio canyon the road went through several tunnels for avalanche and rockfall protection. These stone arch tunnels wind along the wall with ventilation holes near the floor that give a little light, and because they are not straight, I could only see where I was going from reflections from the wet floor. Everything was dripping and water rushed in drains under the walls. The amazing part is that these are one lane tunnels in which uphill traffic has the right of way, as is common here. Therefore, downhill drivers had to assess when to enter by watching what went in from below, something that is possible from the lay of the land.

I was discovering why Pirelli named their top racing car tire the Stelvio. This has a special meaning to people who know this road. At the end of the Braulio canyon the road goes up a wall in a series of traverses with tight hairpins to reach the upper Braulio Valley at Bocca di Braulio, that ends at a ridge over which the Umbrail pass from Switzerland joins the Stelvio, about three kilometers below the summit.