Europe (local)

One year after our first bike trip on frozen bays along the Swedish archipelago, we started a retry more northward in the region of Höga Kusten (High Coast). But unfortunately this time we had permanently cloudy and foggy weather with temperatures around zero degree. The ice was mostly broken or not safe enough, so we cycled mainly on roads, but also in that way we had some interesting impressions from the coastline and the back country.

This bicycle tour in Andalucia was a mix of cycling along the sea on the Costa del Sol and visiting few panoramic mountains (Mirador Cabra Montes, Haza de Lino, etc.) and cycling on the mountains of Sierra Nevada and Sierra de los Filabres. Bwtween Nerja and Castell de Fero the coast is wonderful with romantic bays. On the most memorable day we cycled up to Pico Veleta (3394 m) which can be reached on the highest finishing paved road and offers wonderful panorama. Above 2500 m we had very heavy wind gale. Once it lifted my touring partner's bike as he was walking next to it (he felt too dangerous to cycle there). Standng at the peak we could see Granada and the landscape around it , the coast, the Alpujarras and thanks to the wind we could see Gibraltar and a little bit Africa too. Another interesting memory was to cycle though the semi-desert of Tabernas and meet and look deers by sunset at the ridge of the Sierra de los Filabres.

This was a trip from Bilbao in Spain to Perpignan in France over the Pyrenees. We went over the Pass of Roncesvalles and the Aubisque. We also saw a couple of caves.

This is a bike tour from Lyon to Nice through the Alps. The biggest col was the Cime de la Bonnette; but we also went up the Alpe d'Huez for fun.

Il lettore può leggere la versione in Italiano del viaggio in Islanda pubblicatop in altra parte in Inglese.

"Evocare l'Islanda è musica per le orecchie di un ciclo-viaggiatore. E che musica! Melodia per un paesaggio aperto e di pura libertà".

Paris to Nice: my longest, and in many ways most challenging, solo tour ever. I planned my route inspired by the famous Race to the Sun, and followed various segments of that parcours. But I added detours, making my ride longer and more beautiful, higher and challenging. Detours to climb Mont Ventoux from the west in Malaucene, then turn back to the northeast into the Alps to Barcelonnette, to climb Cime de la Bonette, the highest paved road in the French Alps. The route over Col de la Cayolle, one of the most beautiful climbs I have ever ridden, led me to Nice. Of course, I planned for time to visit museums, Roman ruins, medieval churches and vineyards along the way. It is, after all, France where I was touring.

Wind, rain, mud and rubble, Iceland is known to bring man and material to its limits.

There was only one problem ... my girl friend! There are two things that should not meet under any circumstances: Her and Iceland (and certainly not with a bicycle). In order to save our relationship, I finally was holding a bye in my hand and was allowed to leave.

In addition, there is a picture gallery.

A beautiful autumn bike ride through the Alsace and the Black Forest. In Alsace, I cycled on the Route des Crétes and back via the Black Forest High Street. The weather was fine and I had only a few hours of rain.

We did it again...: as nearly every year, we did the fall bicycle tour Passau (Germany) to Vienna (Austria). This time our Group has been complete. Raimund, vulgo the Chefe has joined us. He came with the train to Passau. We have carried one of our bicycles to Passau. After many complaints, he accepted this bicycle.

Our faith have been not so good this day, as Heide was in charge to carry Raimund's bicycle to Passau. Unfortunately she left it at Wels were we changed the train. The bicycle has been leaning for hours unwatched at the platform. At Passau: a big surprise: of course - no bicycle for Raimund. Telephone companies made a good business. Our first attempt to contact the German trains station officer was "we have no contact to the Austrian railroad company - everything is automated"... . Finally Heide found a guy at the ticketing counter who has private contact with a guy at Wels, were the bicycle actually was. Success! his guy checked, and the bicycle was still there. Unbelievable in this times we life. Heide went back with one of the next trains to Wels, picked up the bike and followed us to our accommodation.

Our tour continued smoothly the next days in extreme good weather condition. We have modified our tour a little in order to check for "new" accommodations. Enjoy the taken pictures and the report. Good luck to our followers.

This is the tour report for my 2014 Tour of the Alps. Hina Naseer and Arturo Crespo joined me for the trip, which took us through Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Lichtenstein. The trip was 1687.12 km (1048 miles) and 32969. 6m (108168 feet) of climb in 22 riding days, of which we had 3 days interrupted by weather and 1 day interrupted by a crash. We had 1 flat tire and1 mechanical due to a derailleur cable coming loose. My bike got lost in transit on the way to Zurich costing us a full day and a half of riding.

A supported tour of the alps through France, then a self-supported ride through Italy and Austria with a run into Germany to avoid rain.

A fantastic tour, starting in Annecy, taking in the Col de Roselend, Col d'Iseran, Croix de Fer and Col Madeleine, then back to Geneva. The page gives details of the route, hotels and restaurants. I was pretty unfortunate with the weather in July 2014, even encountering snow on the Col d'Iseran. I will return, hoping for better luck next time.

The little city of Stadtschleining is located in the Southern area in the state of Burgenland.

The event committee organizes each and every year a bicycle event. Mostly 3 tours are offered. As we are in a situation of a lack of training, My spouse Heide and me have decided to participate on the most easy event which has been the "family tour". Distance 60 kilometers, total height 700 meters.

Enjoy the pictures and the self explaining report. Good luck to our followers!

This post is about my 13 day cycling midsweden in June. The theme of this trip is how Sweden's prosperity grew with the forest, ore and hydropower. To and from Östersund, I saw all the time evidence and examples of how the idea of specialization has driven development. In the north were the mines are and raw materials produced, timber and ore. A little further south it was evidence of processed ore in blast furnaces in northern Bergslagen. In southern Bergslagen ore used to make steel. Round Lake Mälaren grew up manufactories which used steel to make products. In Stockholm there where capital.

Thus runs all capital flows to Stockholm from north to south, and this, I saw very clearly on my tour through Sweden. So it may be the theme of this trip

A short, five-day credit card tour through western Estonia from 5-9 July, 2014 staying at hostels and other reasonably-priced lodging mostly found at booking.com. It includes the cities of Tallinn, Paldiski, Haapsalu, Kuressaare, Muhu and Pärnu.

It seems to be modern today, to organize very classic bike tours... The "In velo veritas" tour" is one of them. http://www.inveloveritas.at/

As it wasn't so far from our place were we life, we decided to go. A wonderful day and a lot of people with good mood. This is what Organization said:

quote: Gefahren wird mit klassischen Rennrädern bis Baujahr 1987. Voraussetzung sind Riemenpedale und Rahmenschaltung. Offen Züge sind erwünscht! Nicht zugelassen sind Klick-Pedale und Brems-Schalthebel-Kombinationen. Zu den Rädern passendes Outfit wird geschätzt. unquote

Our Mercian tandem bike has been accepted. Because, there was a sort of dress code: the bike should have classic outfit (shifter on the frame, as in old days, pedals with straps..., etc.) We participated on the short tour - just easy 70 kilometers Enjoy the pictures and the report. Good luck to our followers.

We took the chance to visit our German bike friends to visit them. Whitsunday is a busy time in Germany. A lot of bikers are on the way... . It seems Hamburg is somehow competing with Copenhagen.

We found so many bike groups. Some of them heading for the same destination.

We had sunshine by nature and in our hearts. It was simply fun.

The arrival at the "llmenau Radweg" is somehow special. To eat and drink at the end of the tour, in a historic town of Lueneburg was our award for the tour.

Dr. No rides an electric bike, and he rides hard. Always stressing me by speed. "If I would know, you are behind me, I would have been riding much more slower..." (A joker or what?)...

Enjoy the pictures and the report. Good luck to our followers!

Si tratta di un anello che può essere percorso in entrambi i sensi di marcia e che permette di esplorare tutto il territorio transitando all'interno dei centri dei 5 capoluoghi comunali. Il percorso di circa 65 Km, in provincia di Verona

Racconto di viaggio in bicicletta in Armenia. Parte finale. Pewrcorso e incontri tra gli altopiani. Visione del monte Ararat e del monastero di Khor Virap.

Tale of cycling trip in Armenia. The end. Trip and meetings between the highlands. View of Mount Ararat and Monastery Khor Virap.

Ecopista do Dão - Cycling in central Portugal along an abandoned railway line, 49 km.

The first part of this path runs along the banks of the river Dão. Every bend in the river is followed by a bend in the Ecopista, with stannic views.

Later on, the Ecopista leaves the river, but the landscape remains very beautiful, with views of mountains and valleys covered with oaks, cork oaks and chestnut trees, but also some vineyards, cultivated land and small villages.

This is the first of a series of free-to-all day-ride routes I have produced for people visiting central Brittany. 60km long and of moderate difficulty it makes a lovely day out.

Norway 2014
The Shirt project wheels along! The next stage in the Journey is announced! On June 14 I shall set out from Kirkenes on the Russian border. This is probably the toughest challenge to date as we are not talking the flatlands of the Netherlands or the East of England. No, I shall face the mountains and valleys of the west coast of Norway. The backbone of the journey will be a visit to all the clubs in the top three divisions of Norwegian football. The journey will take me from down from Kirkenes to Bodø (the most northerly of the Tippeligaen clubs to Trondheim (RBK), Molde, Aalesund, Sogndal, Brann, Haugesund, Stavanger on to Kristiansand, Skien and then 1000 km loop inland before finishing with the clubs in the Oslo area. A journey of some 5000 km. Hopefully, I will finish at City Hall, Oslo in one piece on or before the 31st August. This trip is NOT for the faint-hearted!

Why Norway?
In the 1840s, Ivar Aasen from Ørsta, Sunnmøre travelled the length and breadth of Norway to collate the dialects and language usage of the country. He wanted to hear and annotate the language so that he could create a standarised pan-Norwegian language. This he realised was very different from the "official" Danish language spoken at that time.

Yes, I will also travel the length and breadth of Norway to find out what Norway is REALLY like in the early 21st century. This may or not be very different from the "official" view.

This is a description of a cycling holiday in France following one of the Coast to Coast routes (C2C) and which was undertaken using an android app called memory-map and viewranger. As much of a review of the equipment and software as the ride itself.

I achieved this journey in August 2013, by myself, with the aim of living new thrilling experiences. It also allowed me to train at cycling in order to prepare future long distance triathlons (IronMan, Embrunman, ...).

A wise man told me one day "You can't see all the wonderful things that exists on this vast planet in one lifetime but you can decide anytime to rest for a few moments and appreciate the present moment." I am listening at his advice, I am not trying to cycle the faster I can (whenever I am travelling); what purpose, I would be the only witness. I take my time, I stop whenever I see something that intrigates me. In the end, we've all always been explorers, aren't we? About my route, I had the choice of either starting with the North and finish at the South, or the opposite. After having compared the flight prices and established my approximate itinerary, I decided to start with Porto (North) and to finish at Faro (South). Halfway, I've let my bike at Lisbon and I went to relax for 2 days at Madeira, island of Portugal.

Recorregut de 9 dies per l'Alto Adige i el Trentino.

In September 2013 I led a group of cyclists on a camping tour form Tours to Mont Ventoux. We were carrying full camping gear, and what follows is a description of the day we climbed the Ventoux and how we all managed to cheat by camping half way up. I'd like to encourage any touring cyclist to give it a go;-)

Da Basilea a Bruxelles in bicicletta

diario di una ciclista selvatica.

Un racconto vivace che mette a dura prova sia le doti documentaristiche sia quelle tecniche della protagonista ospite di un sito di grande qualità.

Tandem and solo bicycle tour with three, later four participants from Oslo in Norway to Mora in Sweden and then all over the Scandinavian mountains to the Norwegian fjord coast.

I always dreamed of bicycling through Europe and climbing as many of the famous climbs of the Tour de France and Giro Italia as possible. My tour ended up being for almost 10 weeks, 3020 miles/4860 kilometers, and I pedaled through 10 countries. I loved the entire tour but 2 aspects stand out: 1)France stands out for my favorite cycling, for the amazing secondary road system and because I got to climb, the Tourmalet, Aubisque, Peyresourde, Aspin, Mont Ventoux, Alpe D'Huez, Lauteret; and 2) I visited the home villages of three of my grandparents in Slovenia and Croatia. Crossing Italy I opted for the Italian Riviera and Tuscany, but later wished I had pedaled across the Lakes Region and the Dolomites. And because of factors out of my control I had to cut my trip short so I skipped my plans of zig zagging across Switzerland. Enjoy my journal and the pictures.

Itinerario con partenza da Verona e ritorno a Verona con bici proprie e treno. Seconda parte con attraversamento Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava.

Il programma era ambizioso: partire da Verona in bici e in 10 giorni transitare per 5 stati e 3 capitali europee. Con un po' di fantasia e l'aiuto dei treni, l'abbiamo realizzato.

Le nostre tappe in bici:
10\08: Trieste - Capo d'Istria: km 36;
11\08: Maribor - Lenti: Km 98;
12\08: Lenti - lago Balaton: km 90;
13\08: Balaton - Syofok: Km 67;
14\08: Budapest
15\08: Budapest
16\08: Komaron- Gyor Km 52;
17\08: Gyor - Bratislava: Km 84;
18\08: Bratislava - Vienna: Km 76;
Spostamenti vari: Km 26.

This trans alp cycling trip is our 5th in Europe and it is not too much different from the others except being twice as long.We are an older couple who doesn't mind a little bit of hard mountain touring with all of our gear and being sort of self sufficient as this is what we do when on long trips in Canada, canoeing, backpacking, cycle touring, when there are few facilities. All of our stays were in campsites except at the end and 98% of our meals were prepared or cooked. We usually do not rely on buses or trains and except for 150km, we carried all our gear.This was a 3800KM, 36,000m, 60 day trip that was even more spectacular than our other journeys.

The Alps are so grand and the infrastructure so good that cycle touring around and over the mountains is a lot of fun. Hope that readers can get a lot of good information from this trip report as we have received so much advice from the Trento Bike Pages in the past.

Dave and Pat Pearce

Sorvolo Verona ma che bella città! Il castello, l'Arena, la piazza con il mercato. Però non capisco, le strade sono strette, più di quelle delle colline e dei monti, ma circolano tanti SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle). La maggior parte dei guidatori non ha proprio nulla di sportivo, non ha rispetto per ciclisti né per pedoni, pretende sempre di sorpassare, strombazza e s'impazientisce. Ed io ero convinto che a Verona usassero soltanto le Giuliette dell'Alfa Romeo con i cuoricini attaccati al parafango posteriore!

Overflight Verona ... but what a beautiful city! The castle, the Arena, the square with the market. But I do not understand, the roads are narrow, more than those of the hills and mountains, but many circulating SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle). Most of the drivers has nothing of sports, has no respect for cyclists nor pedestrians, always wants to overtake, trumpets and s'impazientisce. And I was convinced that they used only in Verona Juliets Alfa Romeo with hearts attached to the rear fender!

Continua il viaggio di Bea accompagnata dal gabbiano Aaron.

Bea, testa dura, insiste a cercare le rarissime fontane in ferro per dissetarsi. La loro apertura a becco rispondono con un triste "sdeng" o molto spesso hanno acqua non potabile.

Leggi tutto...

Un viaje precioso por algunos de los carriles bici mas agradables de Europa

Aaron, il gabbiano di Folkestone, è un viaggiatore molto curioso. Passa il tempo, appollaiato su un palo o in volo, ad osservare gli esseri umani al punto di riuscire a leggerne i pensieri. "Una donna italiana con la nostra chiave inglese in mano" si chiese, "che cerca di assemblare una bicicletta bianca, rossa e blu, qui all'aeroporto, voglio proprio vedere cosa combina". Segue....

I´m biking all the Mediterranean countries over a period of nine months. I spend about one month in each country. I have used the train or bus to help move the show down the road. I´m currently in Albania. I´m mostly camping, though hostels and hotels are always great too.

A full account of a 10 day cycle tour through the highlands of Iceland completed late August 2013. This was a self supported tour of three friends, two of whom had never done a cycle tour before. Our route started in Hvolsvollur, passed through Landmannalaugar, up F26 past the Nyidalur hut and on to Laugafell finishing in Akureyri.

I've included lots of pictures and descriptions of road conditions as well as a detailed account of our gear and food. Enjoy!

The day before has been the Sella Ronda Bike Day, at South Tirol. And, as I have been in this area for this, I extended my tour to the following passes: Valparolo, Falzarego, Fedaia, Pordoij and Campolongo. Fedaia pass is close to the Marmolada massive. Start and finish has been at Corvara, a city in the middle of the Sella massive. This is more a picture page, as a tour description... Enjoy the pictures of my tour! Good luck to my followers!