Cycling through almost every country in Europe.

trickeyja

I have recently been having seminars about preparing for university and gap year plans. This has got me thinking about planning something for a gap year.

I've had the crazy thought of doing a large sponsored cycle ride around Europe, to raise money for a worthy cause (possibly a stroke research charity since my Grandmother has had a major stroke). This is just an idea at this stage, but I thought I may as well post on here to see if anyone can offer advice and tell me whether it is plausible or not.

I have made a very quick linear route which comes to about 8,500 miles and goes to just about every country except Iceland and the Vatican City. However I think it would be more like 11,000 miles in actuality. Is this a distance which is achievable in around 5 months? I think I would aim for around 80 miles per cycling day, taking one or two rest days per week. Of course this would involve a lot of planning. I have done many rides >100 miles in a day, quite a few over 120 and one 175 mile ride last Saturday, and also a short solo tour (450mi) to Pembrokeshire and back last month. Would you consider doing this kind of thing as a solo ride or do you think it is definitely worth finding a friend to go with?

The other thing I have no idea about is sponsorship. If I am raising money for charity, do I have to fund the trip myself, or would I be able to fund it with part of the money raised in sponsorship/ would a charity put the necessary money forward provided I raised more than they are initially giving? (I'm saying this because I don't know if I could afford to fund it myself at the moment).

Finally, do you think it would be worthwhile for me to pursue this idea and do you have any advice to offer?

Thanks for your time

psmiffy

Yes its plausible dont do too much planning just get the kit together, draw a line on the map, check that itsnot too outragous and go

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/psmiffyontour2009

trickeyja

Thanks for the feedback!

Yes I think that's the thing - I don't want to "overplan" for the trip - I certainly don't want to arrange all accommodation etc beforehand. The doubts I have are about water and food supplies. Are there frequent pubs and shops throughout, that would provide this? Also, how do you go about finding accommodation en-route?

Are you being sponsored for your trip? If so, how much did you raise and how did you go about it?

I'll keep your site on a bookmark - best of luck.

psmiffy

no no sposorship

water and food -shops are the same everywhere - perhaps nrthern norway can be a bit tricky - I nearly alwayscook at the end of day - eastern europe, well they are part of EEC now so there must be civilisation as we know it - I think tescosarestarting to gain a hold

xilios

I think over 60 miles a day is pushing it a bit, are you planning on doing any camping, because this would add to the weight you would need to carry.
Doing a trip like this is like once in a lifetime tour, do you want to just want to ride through every country just for the sake of saying you've been there or do you want to stop and see something?
I have heard that camping in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria is rare so are supermarkets so you need to do some research into that, check out www.crazyguyonabike.com and read some journals.
If you want speed do it alone, I think anyone else would probalby slow you down unless you're perfectly matched.
I can't help you with a sponsored tour we havn't tryed one.

trickeyja

I definitely would like to see all these countries, not just cycle through them. Also to do something that few people have done, and that would be a real challenge which is worth being sponsored for. From my last tour I found about 75 miles was a comfortable distance. I'm not planning on camping, but would try to find inexpensive accommodation if possible.

I agree with you that Eastern Europe I think would be the difficult bit! I looked in my atlas earlier and it seems there is civilisation there - quite regular towns and villages throughout, which would hopefully have a shop/pub.

Then there is the language barrier: [/img]

onewallfree

As long as you are near civilisation, you are near somewhere you can buy food. I believe only up in the Ukraine and towards Russia will you potentially find hundreds of miles of nothing.

http://soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/ma ... popden.jpg

trickeyja

Thanks for your help. It is reassuring to know that there should be food within reach of most places.

I've got a couple of questions - is it possible to cycle on "E" roads in Europe or is this inadvisable/illegal?

Also, do you think I would be able to get by finding a hostel/guesthouse in every place I stop for the night - or would it be wise to bring a tent "just in case" or for those nights where available accommodation is way above budget?

Special K

E roads are the major cross-European thoroughfares - they are generally busy, though it depends which country and lcoation you aer in.

For example I have cycled E roads in greece and there was not much traffic, and it was a small road.

However, as they tend to be used by trucks I would avoid and try and plan for other roads, and make sure you have maps that cover smaller roads. At most you should be using 1:500,00 scale maps - anything else and it's hard for anything other than the main roads to be on there.

if you buy maps you can always post them home or even sell on your journey.

xilios

I've ridden on an E road in Luxemburg (on my way to Athens in 2005) and after I saw other cyclists on it without any problem. Greece in no problem.
In France any dual carriegeway is off limits to cyclists (we got a police escort off of one :oops:
In Spain it seems to be OK as long as the speed limit is 100kph or lower.
Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland you don't need to, there are cycling paths everyware.
I would imagine in eastern Europe it would be a real bad idea.
As a rule of thumb we stay away from any dual carriegeway, you shouldn't have to ride on one, it is really dangerous and you cannot possibly enjoy the ride.
Getting back to the food question I didn't mean there aren't ANY supermarkets in eastern European countries, just that there are further appart
Also you need to check out the shop opening hours in the countries you plan to visit, for example in Belgium some shops (including bakeries) are open on Sunday but closed on Monday.
cheers

trickeyja

I have a rough route here, along with some comments:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jtrickey/3674266977/


I imagine I will end up changing some of the route as I go, for example if there's a more scenic route or place worth visiting, or if the cities should be avoided.

EDIT: Thanks for the info RE E roads, I will try to avoid them as much as possible!

leeinlancs

Your distance each day to cover is not too bad
Although we have some mountains -as a whole much of Europe is very flat - itis possible on these days you also want to cover much more ground.
Your first part of trip - Netherlands Germany and Copenhagen - all very flat
Norway Sweden hilly (or mountainous) - your route through Finland is very flat
The Baltic States - i have been Estonia - extremely flat
Latvia i think is flat
Lithuania maybe a few hills - or maybe reasnably flat

Other countries in East Europe a mixture - i i believe there are the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia and they are very beautiful.
I think through much of East Europe there will always be grocery stores where you can get good good In Croatia on Coast i had Salami, Cheese and Tomatoe picnic every morning.
I dont want to give you too much info on your route - but i see question mark for ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn - this is a great entrance t Tallinn and you see the old town coming in on the ferry - the Baltic Sea is predonminantly freshwater and freezes in Winter - but Icebreaker goes out every day and there mus be 2 dozen ferries a day take route in Summer with several companies.
If you went this way you go Tallinn to Tartu afterwards and from Tartu this is where you could skirt Southeastwards into Russia and back around a huge lake
With the Baltic states being very flat although beautiful Capital Cities etc scenery not very exciting sort of trees trees mroe trees and grass accricultural land and trees- i would prefer to follow the Batic Coast - so very beautiful.
And West of Estonia is very welll developed and in Summer town of Parnu and many people go to the islands of Sareema and Hiiuma.
As for accomodation homestays are also a good option
I have stayed in homestay in Copenhagen (through tourist office) and in Estonia (Tartu) through a friend)

leeinlancs

Just be aware that if wild camping in many places in central and eastern europe there are Wild Bear and Wolves
So learn what what you need to etc and hang ll food up outside of tent etc
Bears have an extremely sensitive sense of smell .

Something else of note - i travel frequently to Eastern Europe and only a year or two ago i became aware of something you can get from a Tick -Tick Borne Encephalitis or something
It is i think contracing it very rare - althought the ticks themselves extremey common
I believe there is now some vaccination for this

trickeyja

lee in lancs - thank you so much for this info. Sorry I am late in replying. I was in Austria last week - it has only made me more keen to get off on a European bike tour!

Those are great considerations, you have really made me think. It is great to hear from someone who has experience of these countries. I know the first part of my route is pretty flat, and I have been quite conservative with the distances travelled. I imagine I would end up travelling 130mi or more on some of the flat days, but then on the Alpine days it may be more like 60.

I do need to think about the route more. I want to make the route as enjoyable as possible, but at the same time visit as many of the countries as I can. Since the capitals are often the centres of the countries' culture it seemed like a good mission to aim for them. However I like your idea of including as much coast as possible. The Baltic coast seems like a good consideration - I could loop to St Petersburg then through Tallinn and round the coast, a shorter leg across inland Europe towards Chisinau then along the Black Sea coast.

I have no idea about homestays. How would I go about organising these? Do you think I would be able to get by without a tent?