Bicycle Touring and Bikepacking

Title picture taken on the way from Buis-les-Barronies towards Montbrun-les-Bains. Mont Ventoux seems to be everywhere, then again i cycled around it quite a lot ;)

Originally i wanted to do two weeks in Cyprus, but when i was checking in my bike at the airport, they did not allow me to bring it just bubble wrapped. That was such a bummer, i had done this a few times before without problem. It sucked and i could not reschedule the flight for it to make sense because the flights to Cyprus were so few.

So i sat at home depressed for a couple days, then drove my car to Valence, France and rode from there to the Luberon and back. The Drôme provençale and the Mont Ventoux Area are really gorgeus. Luberon i did not enjoy as much, still very nice, i rode the ridge road of the petit Luberon and thought i may have panoramas to both sides, but it was mostly forest, but a cedar forest, not something i have seen before i think.

On the descend from Col de la Chaudière towards Bourdeaux

First time touring without a kickstand, it was less anoying than i thought it would be, i think i'll continue doing that too. Also brought my camera again this time, that's what i had the feedbag for, fits pretty good. But i think i'll skip that again and bring just the phone, although i much prefer taking photos through a viewfinder. In this post i am using only photos taken with my phone, haha.

Gorges de la Nesque - had ridden those five years ago already but it's not like it was boring to do again :)

I also got some wider tires, 47mm so my fenders fit no more. Great upgrade in comfort though coming from40 mm. I guess i'll keep fenders off for touring, love the tires (Continental Contact Urban 47-622), and although they are basically slick, it did not feel any less grippy on gravel, did a couple good gravel climbs and downhills. No long time test yet, i got only about 600 km on them.

Testing my new tires on gravel at Col des Arles

Klick for route

This is how it looks in 99% of Czech Republic.

It changes to terrain signs painted on trees sometimes but it is also standard. I found 2 other signs for cyclists, some cross border route that decided to make their own on both sides. And still most cross border routes use cz standard signage.

So how it looks where you live? Am I just too spoiled by standards for hiking and cycling signage?

So ~14 days ago I begun my trip in Brno to Mikulov, join EV13, ride for a week and then return to Slavonice where I was cooking on summer camp for kids.

So on and off (with previous trips) I rode on EV13 from Bratislava to Vyšší Brod.

Tldr: It is amazing route, with little traffic, under appreciated, history, nature and every kind of surface you can imagine.

First few impressions/general feelings:

• Austrian side is pretty much empty and dead, Austrians in these border regions go on the bike ride to Czech Republic for beer...
• It is interesting to cross border few times per day, see differences in each country.
• It is really under used I met 3 people who rode this route.
• You never know what is ahead - sparsely populated region, nice roads, bad roads...
• Plan your trip that museums and stuff that you would like to visit are open. I didn't do that and I didn't visit anything.
• don't trust EV planner on their website, I am apparently insane so can average ~100km/day so 7,5 day trip took me about 6 days.

Austrian part Expect nice asphalt or smooth gravel roads. No traffic for most parts. But nothing in a case of pubs, coffee places, restaurants or stuff like that, just few stores here and there.

Czech part Expect everything, nice roads, more traffic, totally broken asphalt roads, forest roads, trails, panel roads... but nothing that needs full suspension, 35+ mm tires with reasonable tread is enough. Pubs and other places here and there where you can get lunch for about 10€.

Notable places to visit

• Bunker in Šatov (I posted a pic there ~week ago)
• Valtice - castle and nice park
• Znojmo - castle and there are few brewerys
• Čížov - museum of Iron Curtain and visitor center of NP Podyjí
• Slavonice
• Gmünd
• Nové Hrady
• Cetviny There are more but I didn't choose optimal time so most places were closed (like bicycle museum in Retz)

Routing/signage This part of route I took has really good signage from Bratislava to Gmünd, you really don't need any computer or GPS tracker with maps. From Gmünd to Cetviny look up local routes, on cz side they are well signed and are in a process of putting EV stickers on them. On Austrian side the route doesn't look entirely finished so get GPX ready in your navigation, I found 2 EV signs on 20 km section.

And few stories along the way

• I met a guy who emigrated in 80's from CZ to A, he bitched about how Austrians can't brew a beer...
• I rode from Slavonice to border with some German guy (Joseph) and we chatted about how this route has bad surface and of course about Czech bunkers, in Slavonice there is museum of light bunkers I translated for him info sign about their construction.
• In Novohradské Hory I met totally wet French family, chatted a bit and they asked where they can find some food (restaurant or shop). When I told this to my friend he just said that he was there few months ago and had a beer in both open pubs there lol.

Last thing I want to say is that in Slavonice there is a guy who makes clocks from LP's. You can visit his shop there and he makes custom orders, so I want something like this but not on tt bike: https://www.dmznamky.cz/Hodiny-Kolo-zavodnik-d1070.htm If someone is interested I will order more of these and ship them in EU if you are interested (first one for free), we can finalize the design together.

Also I will add pics in comments when I get to it.

How it looks inside:

I just bought few postcards so first correct guess can decide where I will send it (I don't have stamps yet).

~50 km away another (same type) bike for comparison

And small earlier type (~1936)

So after the Pyrenees i kept cris crossing around France, bit of Cevennes, Provence, Verdon, Haute Alpes, back to Provence, Vercors, Chartreuse, Jura then to Freibug to take a train home. Title picture is taken on the Montagne de Lure, Mont Ventoux' little brother close to Sisteron.

Gorge du Tarn in the Cevennes. I was getting sick here again

Riding out of Gorges du Verdon to Castellane

On the descend of the Col de la Sinne, looking onto the village Ilonse

This is not some gravel track but the still closed Col d'Allos on my way back south after riding Bonette. Nobody around but two roadies.

Riding the prealpes, from Digne-les-Bains to Sisteron via St Geniez, very nice.

Vercors mountains look awesome, picture taken close to Die

Riding out of Vercors down to Grenoble

After Grenoble i rode through Chartreuse mountain range then down to the Lac du Bourget towards Jura

Second to last day, in french Jura, after that i rode to Freiburg to take a train home

Route of France section Part 1, Perpignan - Barême and Part 2, Barême - Freiburg

So few weeks ago my friend told me that he and 2 of his friends are planning trip to Slovenia. I was interested because I could get week off and ride with them.

Then I learned more about the trip, these guys didn't know what are they doing- first they planned to go there and back in a week ~170 km / day (I told them that it isn't possible), then they planned to take some trains along the route (they didn't checked if they take bikes...). Then I just told them that they are doing it for the first time so don't complicate it - start from home and see where you can go and adjust the route on the road.

So we started from Brno with plan to get to Břeclav, join EV13 and ride south to Hungary border and then go west to Graz.

At the start I saw for the first time all our bikes - my bike on which I have ~6000km, my friend with borrowed older mountain bike properly maintained, one pretty new mountain bike but small 26' wheels (the guy is taller than me) without rack so he had backpack, short guy with 29' new mountain bike and guy who "planned" this trip on really old road bike with flat bars (standard frame from 80's that was made in all sorts of bikes).

They didn't have some gear and reserve inner tubes... so first stop was local decathlon.

I planned the route for the first day so we had all possible terrain, good thing I did that because the old 80's bike got bent back wheel, I was like ok fortunately I have tool for centering wheels on my multitool but unfortunately I never done it. I was able to get it to not touch the frame (yes it was that bad) but discovered that the bike was in worse shape than I anticipated - bent rear V brake, totally cooked drive train, bad wheels...

So for the second time we scratch route and wanted to go to Bratislava. We started the second day on Austrian side of EV 13 and we intended to take ferry half way to Slovakian side of Morava river. Unfortunately because high winds and higher levels of water ferry didn't operate.

Scratched route again, we ended up on campsite in Petronell-Carnuntum. But before we get there we had to center the wheel again. At the time I was little bit pissed and I didn't wanted to ride somewhere where isn't train connection so he can get home if the bike falls apart. We agreed to go to Vienna and see where to go from there.

At the campsite there was French family with 4 kids bike touring. I chatted with them and they started in France 2 months ago and will probably end in Budapest.

On the third day everything was without a hiccup, we got to Vienna, pitched tents and got to look around there. The guy with 29' mountain bike which was too big for him went home because of back pain (surprise!). And I snatched this pick of the camp area (it is bad but you can clearly see that nearly every tent has bike next to it).

Some of us wanted to go home early so from week trip it became 4 day trip. We get on EV 9 back to Břeclav.

I took some photos for eco minded people:

And some for the the petrol heads:

5 km before Břeclav I fell, I will be all right but I will have to find somewhere these condoms to repair my leavers.

All in all I would categorize this trip as a experience, not bad. I was able to test some gear, new bags that I bought because I have borrowed ones and my friend needed them back, that it is possible to use alcohol stove...

Hey! Newbie to the touring world here. I have a Kona Rove DL 2021 frame, and looking at getting a front rack set up organised. After some research, the Tubus Duo and Tubus Tara look like excellent, light reliable choices which run nice and low on the bike.

My understanding is that the Duo requires "lowrider eyelets on the inside and outside", whilst the Tubus does not. However, I must admit my understanding of eyelet terminology is not up-to-scratch, and as such I'm not actually sure whether my bike would support it. I also haven't been able to find any good learning resource for understanding this specific case of eyelet requirements in my usual sources online.

If I had to trust my limited knowledge, I would say no, and that I would need an additional eyelet running parallel to the one I have at the moment. But I'm hoping to get conclusive advice from others!

Cheers!

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Won't be getting any higher, at least not on this trip. On the Cime de la Bonette.

Riding mountains gives me a crazy high, the combination of exercise and the views that come up. There are places where you can get similar views "for free", without the work, but for me the feeling does not really compare.

In the background Erg Chebbi, the highest and largest sand dunes of Morocco, N. Africa: the dunes spread over an area of near 200 km2 (28 x 7 km) and are 150 meters high
#touring #cycletouring #cycling #wanderer #exploring #bicycle #bicycletouring @bicycle_touring #adventurecycling #cyclinglife #cyclingnomads #traveldiaries #biketouringforever #pedalpower #travelstories #travelbybike #bikewander #bikelife #biketouring #fromwhereiride #worldbycyclingù #worldbybike #pedaljourneys #humanpoweredadventures #neverstopexploring #biketocamp #worldbycycling

This "sauna" weather isn't the best for bikepacking, I had to take breaks pretty often. There is cherry season so you always find "reason" to stop for some "snack".

cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/17281060

Hello,

I have an ELEMNT BOLT V2 GPS BICYCLE COMPUTER. Now I'm planning a longer bike tour with breaks. The bike computer stays on. Can you turn off the bolt to save power and then reactivate it to continue recording?

Best regards

This post may be used as resource for others so try to structure it somehow. Share whatever you think will be useful- links, local knowledge, interesting places, routes, maps...

This is a bit of an older link, don't think he updated in a while. I still have a look at it every once in a while.

Ultralight with little money, taken to the extreme (bubble wrap sleeping pad anyone?). I think he has some really good ideas and interesting thoughts, also like his humor.

Last year in Portugal #touring #cycletouring #cycling #wanderer #exploring #bicycle #bicycletouring #bicycling @bicycle_touring #adventurecycling #cyclinglife #cyclingnomads #traveldiaries #biketouringforever #pedalpower #travelstories #travelbybike #bikewander #bikelife #biketouring #fromwhereiride #worldbycyclingù #worldbybike #pedaljourneys #humanpoweredadventures #neverstopexploring #biketocamp #worldbycycling

Crossing High Atlas Mountains, Morocco, N. Africa. #touring #cycletouring #cycling #wanderer #exploring #bicycle #bicycletouring @bicycle_touring #adventurecycling #cyclinglife #cyclingnomads #traveldiaries #biketouringforever #pedalpower #travelstories #travelbybike #bikewander #bikelife #biketouring #fromwhereiride #worldbycyclingù #worldbybike #pedaljourneys #humanpoweredadventures #neverstopexploring #biketocamp #worldbycycling

This topic is meant to be a low threshold possibility for all kinds of discussion. It is not meant to keep anybody from creating a new topic, the idea is that it may enable some discussion that would otherwise not happen at all.

overlooking silicon valley from the west with just a water bottle (hiked half the way, it was a trail too sketchy for these tyres)

Oh my gody guys and girls. I am beyond hyped right now, two days into riding the Pyrenees west to east.

I started my pyrenees route yesterday from St. Jean de Luz on the atlantic coast. I thought road cycling was popular in spain, but here in this french town - and i'm trying to be accurate here - i saw about a hundred roadies riding out into the mountains this morning. Crazy.

It is a beautiful sunny saturday, i feel like it's the first really warm day while i am cycling on this trip, it's 25° - which was basically the temperature i expected all along. The route for the day would take me over two smaller passes, but starting from sea level it's still a lot to climb. First pass is the Puerto de Oxtondo, it's not very spectacular and has some traffic, totally forgot about motorbikers. On the way to the pass i cross into spain, the downhill is sweet and at some point i turn east to climb up the Izpegiko or Col d'Ispeguy, a border pass after which i'll be back on the french side of the basque country. That one is much nicer, hardly any traffic. A guy touring with a cargo bike comes zipping down as i climb up, waving happily. On top of the pass is a bar, i have a drink, then sit on the grass to eat a banana and some cookies and enjoy the view. There's horses around and one cute baby horse comes up to me, i pet it a bit and it keeps demanding more. It starts to nibble on my tshirt. I try to hush it away, it's been hanging around for a while. Then it starts to nibble on my forkbag. Eventually it lets go of my stuff and licks the cylinders of a motorbike. Horses i guess.

About to descend the Izpegiko

Downhill is gorgeous and i roll into St Jean Pied de Port, a major starting town for the camino crowd. I check in on the municipal campsite, whole bunch of cycle tourers there (hikers too), i assume most of them are doing the camino too. I go into town to eat at a bar and befriend an american guy, we decide to share a table, he was also waiting for a free table. He is going to start walking the camino the next day.

Back in my tent i plan my route for the next day, as i have already went off the track i had originally planned.

I start right in time to when the carrefour supermarket opens, i buy food for 2 and a half days because it seems like i won't pass anything really. Turns out i just had the food type poi's disabled in my navigation app.

It is going to be 17° and cloudy today, but the wind isn't cold so it feels kinda good. I'll be heading into the Irati forest. As i'm riding towards my first climb there's a sign that says col d'iraty 17 km at 5.7 %. That sounds alright. My plan is to ride only about two thirds of it, then go onto what looks like a hiking track, then do a little river crossing onto a mountainbike route. A sign comes up 17.5 km to the col, next 500m will average 11%. I guess that'll only make the rest a bit milder. But it turns out the whole climb isn't very even and i started a climb that will average almost 10% for the next 9km. If i had had a look at the grades yesterday evening, i'm sure i'd have found a different route. The climb is really moody and cloudy, but i still enjoy it, there's a whole lot of vultures dipping in and out of the clouds, which looks amazing, very calm climb too, just a few roadies and a couple RVs.

Climbing up the Burdinkurutxetako

The climb has some kind of pre-pass, it goes by the snappy name "Burdinkurutxetako", it is basically where the steep section ends and i will turn onto the hiking track. It is super beautiful forest, i ride along the creek. There comes a section that looked like hike-a-bike, but i am able to "ride" down, walking speed and one foot on the ground kinda. Then i am at the river crossing. I gues this is the first actual river crossing i did. Water is above knee high in parts. There are diagonal rocky furrows in parts that look super sketchy, all the rocks are covored with algae too. I find a spot with hardly any furrows, do a test walk to the other side. It's pretty damn slippery and the current kinda strong. I decide to carry over bags and bike seperately. I bring two bags at once, i think having one hand free could be helpful. Last i bring over the bike, which is way easier.

About to cross. There is a big toad hidden in this picture, i guess it's really hard to find, whoever finds it will get an upvote

I don't know if the it was the right call to cross the river 7 times (incl. test walk) or if i should have just gone with the complete bike. Maybe the current would have been worse with the bags, but it felt really stable with the bike as an extra post. While i'm fooling around with my crap by the river, the sun comes out. On the other side of the river is a picnic table and i eat some waffles and try to let my sandals dry. River crossing was also a border crossing, i am back on the spanish side now.

Then i get onto the mtb track, which is really a gravel road. It gets cloudy again, and i ride a climb way into the clouds, then a real fun downhill out of the clouds, then climb back into the clouds again. On top of the climb is a hikers bar, open on the weekend. I drink a coke on the terrasse, which should have a fantastic view but it's all in the clouds. The plan is to go like some 20km more, but fiddling around with my phone i see that there's a refugio just 2km further up a road. It is a bit early, but the sun breaks through the clouds again, i can see into the mountains and think that would be real sweet. The clouds move real fast, i get a view for 20 seconds and then it's all just fog again. And then a view again. I order two beers at the bar, one of them to go, some crisps and another bottle of water. The bar closes at 6, i ride up up to the refugio and get a glimpse of really great views and i start to get super fucking high on my trip. Cycle touring is the best.

The refugio is again a bit shoddy, but i place a chair outside of it, sheltered from the wind and eat some crisps, drink the other beer, watch birds of preyg, enjoy the view and start writing a post for lemmy.

Chilling at the refugio

At 8 o'clock i am covered in clouds, the wind picks up and it gets cold, but in the refugio it's warm, someone has made a fire here today, the warmth comes from the fireplace. I cook some pasta, then some tea, have a look outside but it's still all clouds.

I am sending this the day after, there was no connection in the refugio. Morning was still all clouds, but i descended out of them already. On the descend i remembered what i wanted to buy last week at Decathlon in Pamplona: Gloves.