Europe (local)

A short tour of some of Europe's flat bits...
1,029 km (639 miles) over 9 days from April 6, 2007 to April 14, 2007.

This was our third trip, I think, and this time we went to Ireland. A big warning to all travelling in the area: check the almanach for the rainy season. It may sound obvious but we didn't do our homework well and biked through a very rainy period which wasn't fun. Ireland is windy too so watch out and get in shape.

Ireland is absolutely beautiful and friendly and a lot of fun, it is also very green as everyone knows and I love green. Enjoy the pictures and stories.

This is our 6th yearly tour, taking us to Romania. It was shorter than usual but we got a few miles clocked. From Bucharest we headed north into the mountains, across, and down to the Hungarian towns of Transylvania. Then east toward Moldavia and back down to the Danube Delta.

We highly recommend this tour because the roads have gotten to be excellent in Romania, and in September the winds and weather are just perfect. We could wake up at 9 AM and still do 150km along the river. If you go - don't miss the special soup ``ciorba de perisioare'', it's delicious.

A one month cycle tour from Lund Sweden, to Switzerland via the Rhine and Moselle Rivers during the summer of 2005. Total distance 1600km together, plus 1000km solo back to Sweden. We left with a road map book of Europe, a guide book of the Rhine, but without a German phrasebook (we speak English and French). Some hiking in the Alps as a side trip.

Queste pagine raccolgono gli itinerari lungo l'Adda, il quarto fiume d'Italia, nel suo primo tratto, in Valtellina. La pista ciclabile dell'Adda, nel suo tratto in provincia di Sondrio, prende il nome di Sentiero Valtellina. Il percorso è ancora in fase di realizzazione, ma è stato commpletato quasi all'80% al mese di aprile 2007.

Pictures of my bicycle tours through the Alps.

Eine Radtour quer durch Süddeutschland über 667 Kilometer. Die Tagesetappen betragen zwischen 105 und 156 Kilometer. Die Tour beginnt und endet in München. Durch das oberbayerische Voralpenland geht es nach Füssen. Nach der Fahrt durch das Allgäu erreichen wir den Bodensee. Mit dem Rheinfall bei Schaffhausen ist der westlichste Punkt der Rundfahrt erreicht. Nur 30 Kilometer weiter nördlich fließt die Donau, der wir ostwärts bis kurz vor Ulm folgen. Ab Laupheim geht es schnurstracks nach Osten bis München.

Eine abwechslungsreiche Radtour durch das zentrale Südfrankreich über insgesamt 630 km, 7 Tagesetappen zwischen 64 und 120 Kilometer.

Eine reizvolle Radtour in 7 Etappen über insgesamt 829 km durch hügeliges Gelände, Tagesetappen zwischen 90 und 145 km. Die Etappenziele wurden nach Sehenswürdigkeiten und dem Angebot der örtlichen Gastronomie ausgewählt.

Mon voyage entre Venise et Rome, environ 900kms de bonheur en passant par Bologne, Florence, Sienne, Montepulciano... Un vrai bonheur! Avec des cartes, infos pratiques, tracks GPS...

My travel in Italy in 2005 from Venice to Rome, about 900kms of happiness and beautiful landscapes going through Bologne, Florence, Sienna, Montepulciano... A pure delight!! Maps, practical infos and GPS recordings included. In French but don't hesistate to ask for details...

During the summer of 2006, I traveled with only a bicycle from Lviv, Ukraine down to Napoli, Italy, then north to Calais, France. From Calais I ferried to Dover, then rode to London to complete the voyage. I visited eleven countries and saw a variety of landscapes and weather. I had encounters with many people and most of these were positive. I also used this experience to draw attention to a little orphanage in eastern Ukraine, the Makiivka HIV / AIDS orphanage.

Eine Radtour durch die französischen Pyrenäen in 8 Tagesetappen über 760 km. Das Gebirge, wo Majestix der Himmel auf den Kopf gefallen wäre. Die Wolkendecke hängt vor allem im westlichen Teil der Pyrenäen so tief, daß man Mühe hat die Straße zu sehen. Obwohl nicht so hoch wie die bekannten Alpenpässe, haben es die hiesigen ``Giftzwerge'' in sich.

A bike circle within 8 stages over 760 km through the French Pyrenees. The mountain range where the sky would have been fallen on Majestix' head. Expecially in the western part of the Pyrenees, the cloud cover is so low that it is difficult to see the road. Although not as high as the well known passes in the Alpes, the local ``spiteful little devils'' are tough ones.

A weeklong trip through Germany from Frankfurt Airport to Munich via the Romantic Road, and Dachau.

Another tour of the mighty Alps, which lasted 25 days. I cycled only 3615 km this time (around the same distance as the Tour de France) and climbed merely 150 different passes (some more than once) of which 103 were new to me. It added up to 79544m height metres.

Maratona-rides: Gran Fondo Marco Pantani & Maratona dles Dolomites.

Places: Aprica, Vivione, San Marco, Garda, Monte Pasubio, Asiago, Misurina, Vallarga, Cuneo, Casterino, Mont Authion, Molini di Triora, Sampeyre, Sestriere, Mont Cenis, l'Iseran, Aréches, Chamonix, Lac d'Emosson, Bretaye, Hahnenmoos, Gemmi, Grosse Scheidegg, Glaspass.

This was a credit card tour (stayed in hotels and ate at restaurants). The route was from Como, Italy to Trento and Cortino de Ampezzo, then into Austria and over the GrossGlockner. Return was via Innsbruck and St. Moritz to Como.

A mental and cycling experience in a not cycling friendly country. This is my one day 399km trip from Bucharest to the Black Sea. As a meditation to the cycling experience in a country where cyclists are ridiculised daily.

Through Eastern Europe, summer 2006

Summer 2006 we cycled Eastern Europe. We started in Bucharest Romania and went all the way to the Ukraine border into Hungary, Slovakia, Chzechoslovakia into Germany. On my windows webspace the route and the pictures tell the story. Enjoy!

This time we cycle from our front door in Munich, our goal is my sister's house in southern France, near Toulouse. We ride to Lake Constance and on through Switzerland, then in France we follow the Valley of the Rhone to the Mediterranean. From here we can ride on parts of the Canal du Midi to where my sister spends her summers in the little town of Durfort. After our visit we have enough time to continue on to the Atlantic. We started out as so-called credit-card cyclists and ended up buying a tent along the way and camping whenever we got the chance.

We had just finished cycling the South Island of New Zealand and instead of sitting back and relaxing on the flight home, we began planning our next trip, a month long self-supported cycling trip in France.

What better place to begin a trip to France then in Paris. From the 'City of Lights' we would dabble in a little art history by visiting Monet's gardens and then it would be off to the D-day beaches and a WWII history lesson. From 20th century history we would go back in time to the 11th century and visit Bayeaux and its famous tapestry. We would then check out life in a monastery, cycling across Normandy to Mt. St. Michel.

From Mt. St. Michel we would travel along the Brittany coast. At St. Malo we would leave the coast for the medieval city of Dinan and continue to the mouth of the Loire. We would then cycle through the land of chateaux and wineries ending our trip at Fontainebleau.

Our site includes lots of photos along with a daily log and an equipment list.

In the summer of 2006 I aimed to finish to succeed the Granfondo Campagnolo, the hardest bicyclemarathon in Italy in 2006. Before the Granfondo I and two friends of mine spent 3 days in the Dolomites, with those tours I bicycled onto 6 passes above 2000m there. The most wondeful climb was the very hard Tre Cime di Lavaredo (2350 m) from the Lake Misurina, with a beautiful panorama. An another memorable pass was the Staller Sattel (2052 m) on the austrian border: the last 5 km is very nice with panorama, calmness, forest, flowers, blue lake down and snow on the mountains. The Giau pass was a hard one, but ``only averagely nice''.

The Granfondo was one of my most memorable bicycle memory. I was the only one who finished it with a 13 kg+ 2,5 kg pack heavy touring bike. I could bicycle with the last 30-40 participant; I enjoyed the nature, countryside and the feeling; I stopped few times for photos. After arriving in time, as the speaker saw with how a bike I arrived into the finish, he called me next to him and after 2-3 sentences he spoke a few minutes about my performance. After it, the 50 people audience clapped for me and immediatelly I could hear the hungarian anthem from the loud-speakers. It was a surprise for me from the speaker, who found this performance very serious with a bike, I had.

After the last 2 years of my alpine bicycletours, in 2006 I went back to the Alps with the aim that after my tour maybe I would be the first hungarian people who bicycled up to all (74-75) of the asphalted alpine passes above 2000m. After 6 years of alone bicycling, this year I had two guys with me. In Italy and France we had nice, warm, sunny days with cycling a few hard cols, passes, like the 2612m high Passo Nivolet (I'm sure between the 3 best / most beautiful passes, where I had been), or the almost unknown Passo del Preit (2083 m), onto we bicycled in stormy weather with thunderstorms. The Fort Gondran (2347 m)was also very nice next to Briancon, I can suggest to visit it.

After Col du Lautaret, Alpe d'Huez, Col du Sabot, we arrived to Chamonix on a nice day, when at last we could see the snowfields of the Mont Blanc before sunset. Next day we got rain and cold as we cycled to Switzerland, and the bad weather remained for 3-4 days long. We had to postpone passes onto the next days, or climbed 1-2 of them partly in rain and arrived to the top in 4-8 degrees Celsius. The Sustenpass was the worst and coldest. The Passo Spluga (2117 m) was also a very beautiful pass, with a lot of hairpins, views and superb hairpin-row on a almost vertical wall, with short straight sections. Because the times went by too fast on that evening I decided to climb the famous Mortirolo (and the 2100m high Passo Val Bighera) in dark, in the night. It was wonderful: in a calm, dark forst in a warm air. I enjoyed very much the nature, air, and the views, because it was light, because I had fortune with the full Moon. I enjoyed the feeling so much, that I spent much time above. Our last pass was the Passo Goletto di Crocette (2070 m), onto we had 8-10% steep kilometers in or after raining for 2-3 hours. With a few passes postponed, we remained 4 passes to climb, that I did in September 2006.

Montenegro is beautiful. Montenegro is affordable. The personal train transport is also good in Montenegro (and you can carry bicycle). There are brilliant beaches, marvellous mountains and canyons, lovely lakes, old or cheer towns, a lot of cafes and restaruants with local specialities. So there are everything what we want. Even though we met only tree Russian bikers in this country.

In the summer of 2006 we cycled 62 days and 3700 kilometers through Europe. From Holland to Germany, the Alps, Italy, Corfu, Lefkada, Keffalonia, Greece and western Turkey to complete our journey in front of Istanbul's Blue Mosque. On our site you can find a lot of pictures, tips and travel stories (in Dutch, English will appear later).

In de zomer van 2006 fietsten we 3700 kilometer in 62 dagen door Europa. Van Nederland trokken we door Duitsland, de Alpen en Italië naar de Griekse eilanden Corfu, Lefkas en Keffalonia, over het Griekse vasteland naar Turkije om te eindigen voor de Blauwe Moskee in Istanbul. Veel plezier!

This journey I made in Sept.2005. From Bremgarten (AG) cycling in direction Graubünden,the eastern part of Switserland. I enjoyed one week cycling, climbing 7 passes.

The cycle tour in 2006 we decided to make within Norway. We had in fact never been to the coastal areas between Trondheim and Bodø before. A lot has been done to promote cycling along this coast line, and the choice was not too difficult to make. The coast of Helgeland, as this area is called, is not as well known as Lofoten, that lies farther to the north, but we had already cycled in Lofoten, so this time we went for Helgeland.

Why upstream the Elbe? Mostly, 80% to 90% there is west wind in Holland and North-Germany. Unfortunately the first few days it was the opposite. But of the 14 days only 2 were spoiled by rain, otherwise beautiful and in the beginning cloudless weather. At the same time there was a dreadful storm with flooding which caused enormous damage in the alpine area.

From Zürich (Switzerland) to Sicily (Italy). Through Lugano-Como-Bergamo-Verona-Vicenza-Padova-Ravenna-Rimini-Ancona to Pescara. After Pescara the river ``Sangro'' comes down out of the Abruzze mountains. I followed this river to get on the other side of Italy. Further through Napoli-Amalfi,down the coast of Calabry to Messina (Sicily) -Siracuse-Agrigento-Marsala-Trapani-to Palermo. (the capital of Sicily) Total kilometre 2731

Radtour von Rastatt nach Strassburg über die elsässische Weinstrasse weiter nach Colmar und schließlich nach Freiburg

I enjoyed a marvellous bike trip from Alicante (South Spain) back to Switzerland. Three high points I wanted to visit. First; the country of ``Don Quijote'' in Castilla y Mancha. Second; ``El Escorial'' west of Madrid. Third; ``the bridge over the river Tarn'' in South France, build of the English star architect Norman Forster. I avoided busy roads as much as possible and enjoyed the quiet side streets, especial along the Pyrenees.

The month August 2006 was one of the worst fore many years. Cold weather and much rain left little hope for a third bicycle tour this year. The weather forecasts of the first weekend in September promised however improvement. Sunday evening I packed my bags and Monday morning 10.15 a.m. I started cycling From Andermatt to Chur with a dertour.

Vom 20 Juli bis 08 August 2006 fuhren wir den Rhein entlang von der Quelle (Tomasee) bis zur Mündung in Katwijk aan zee. Dort trägt sie noch den Nahme ``Rijn'', im Gegensatz zu Hoek van Holland.

This is a description with lots of pictures of our August 2006 trip on tandem recumbent around Alsace with a few days in Bourgogne. We also did some traveling on the train, even with out very long bike. I also describe some of our planning work and how we built a box to take our 104-inch long bike on the airplanes from New York state to Mulhouse France. We camped part of the time and stayed in a great chambre d'hote (bed and breakfast) for several days.

Eine anspruchsvolle Radtour in 8 Tagesetappen über insgesamt 549 km durch das südliche Korsika, Tagesetappen zwischen 40 und 109 Kilometern.

A demanding bicycle tour over 8 days and 450 kilometers through southern Corsica. The daily stages were between 40 and 109 kilometers.

15 giorni per andare dal centro della selvaggia Norvegia alle isole Lofoten, lungo la mitica rv17 con le nostre mountain bike cariche all'estremo.

Un team per la prima volta formato da 6 persone, incontri e avventure tra traghetti e fiordi.

Photos and video of the more scenic and quiet backside ride up to Alpe d'Huez, Col de Sarenne, in the French Alps.

My girlfriend suggested we cycle from her brother's house to her mom's. Of course, her brother lived in Switzerland, and her mom in Austria, and there were a few mountains in between. I immediately jumped at the chance. Little did we realize that it would be the hottest summer in the Dolomites in 250 years. It was swelteringly hot, but we persevered, and had a great trip through some amazing scenery.

The canyon of the Tarn is one of the obvious highlights of the Cévennes National Park. Another landmark landscape phenomenon are the so called 'Causses'. Causses are the bleak and barren high limestone plateaus of the Cévennes National Park.

This site deals about a short but fascinating cycle trip that Willem Hoffmans and I undertook through the gorges, plateaus and volcano landscapes of the Massif Central. Cycling in the autumn means there are gew facilities but also few tourists, which gave us a whole new perspective of life in the French countryside.

After the long German winter, we are impatient to get started with the cycling season. Looking for a land of early spring sunshine and mild temperatures, we decide on Apulia, southern Italy, the heel of the boot.

Apulia is more than just sunshine. There are many small roads with little traffic, beautiful beaches and an excellent cuisine. Those interested in history and art won't be disappointed: with Palaeolithic finds, Greek vases, Romanesque churches, Norman fortresses and Baroque cities there is much to see.

We toured two weeks, 750 km and stayed in hotels or pensions.

A historical look at Alpe d'Huez plus written and photo reports from the Marmotte and Etape du Tour events. Both events finished at the top of Alpe d'Huez this past July.