Bicycled Europe - 2011

[Trail Magic]

If I can give any general help about camping/travel in Europe, I'm here. I spent 4.5 months bicycling Europe and another 1.5 traveling with my wife on EuroRail. If that qualifies me on knowing something. . . . ping me.

[nearlywild]

Re: Bicycled Europe - 2011

Do you have any pictures of how you set up your trike? I'm interested in what all you carried with you. Also, what is a realistic per day cost to do something like this?

[Trail Magic]

Re: Bicycled Europe - 2011

Yes, I do have pictures of our trikes on the road when we did the Gulf States. I will locate them and figure out how to get them to you.


As in Europe, here in the states I pack the trike as if I was backpacking, and I'm a minimalist. On one side of the coin, a decent trike can carry 66 pounds, but I travel with about 22 pounds. It is my view that whatever I carry over what I need I have to peddle uphill and/or peddle harder on a day to day basis – and I chose not to do that. So, what was in my pack for the 2.5 months we peddled from Houston, Tx to Florida, then up to N.C.?


2 pair of zip off pant/shorts. They were the same color, and I only took one pair of shorts, 2 pr of legs.
2 synthetic, fast drying tee shirts
2 pair synthetic underwear (Black)
2 pair light weight bicycle socks
1 pair ankle high socks (for dressing up)
1 long sleeve synthetic safari shirt (wore in the cool mornings and also out to dinner as a dress shirt)
1 pair bike shoes
1 pair Croks – they are light weight, indestructible, and can be worn either in camp or dressed up.
1 baseball cap
1 Cotton pajama bottom
1 tee shirt for lounging at hotels, peoples homes, or for after shower.
1 set rain gear – breathable, windproof, black in color
1 bandana – used as wash cloth, dish washing, etc.
1 very thin wool sweater
1 pair light weight synthetic base layer
1 pair wind proof gloves. I don't care about waterproof. You don't get cold from the rain/water, you get cold if there is air going over your skin. So, I want wind proof gloves.
1 light weight balaclava


Yes, there were two of us, but this is what I carried for me, yet the stove (for example) served us both.


1 Collapsible bowl and cup (can be gotten at any decent backpacking supply store – REI, Campmor.
1 Spork
1 corkscrew/church key
1 really small cheese grater – shredded fresh veggies cook much faster than sliced or hole = use less fuel. Shredded cheese goes nice on whatever is cooked.
1 backpacking stove, fuel bottle
1 metal 3 sided cooking grease screen (can be bought in Dollar Store). Wind break around cooking pan and stove.
1 Leatherman tool – heavy, but absolutely indispensable
1 bag w/bike repair and maintenance stuff in it.
1 tire pump
1 extra tire and tube
1 cooking pot/lid and pot holder (when we eat in camp, we K.I.S.S.).
1-2 alternate ways to start a fire (I have a box of waterproof matches, cotton balls with Vaseline and saw dust, and a magnesium/flint starter


1 two person tent (if I'm by myself) or 3 person tent (if it is Susan and me). We both agree that if I/we are stuck in a storm for 2-3 days, and are stuck inside the tent, we want room to maneuver inside the tent
1 thirty degree sleeping bag, mattress
1 twin flat sheet – on warm nights, when sleeping outdoors, I'm warm enough with the sheet over me.
1 high powered led headlamp – not only for in camp, but if I have to peddle at night I want to see to the right and left of me. A lamp on the front of the trike is useless in that case.
1 GPS w/either US maps in in, or in Europe, European maps. The Garmin is real good at showing hotels and campgrounds in areas you are in.
1 cell phone charger
1 portable dvd player. I have a 500 gig port hard drive w/about 10 movies on it. An option to reading.
1 NOOK reader – I do read and less space is taken up with an e-reader than carrying a book.
1 Netbook computer – I am in communication with several people via email, FB, and I do a travel blog when I'm peddling. I am really handicapped when I try to communicate using the NOOK.
1 twelve foot long extension cord w/several plugs on it – In campgrounds, the power jack is not convenient to plug in my stuff to charge it, or the weather turns. This way I can run the cord into my tent, protect my stuff, and charge things.


This is one of those “off the top of my head” list of stuff. So far, I have had no problem stopping day to day at grocery stores and picking up fresh food, or stuff to fill in. I always carry a can of sardines and a can of soup – just in case I run out of food.


So, if it is cold outside, I can put on the base layer, the zip on shorts w/leggings, and rain pants – my bottom half is dry and warm. For the top half, I have the base layer, a tee shirt, the safari jacket, the wool sweater, and the rain jacket to put on. When peddling, I generate enough heat that I am plenty warm. If I'm cold in that situation, I shouldn't be on the road. If I'm that cold in camp, I have the sleeping bag to bundle up in. On the other hand, if I am that cold in the tent, I should be in a hotel instead.
The issue I found triking the US, which is absolutely not an issue in Europe, is the true scarcity of places to camp, or set up a tent. We were really disappointed that in the 2 months we were actually peddling, only 8 nights did we stay in campgrounds. We would have gorilla camped, but most of the south is swamp land that we found. We found Motel 6 to be the cheapest hotels to stay in. Discounting the Motel 6 stays, which were probably 3-4 times a week, we were paying under $60 a night for lodging, and most of those came with continental breakfast.


If you are considering bike touring, recumbents are really, really comfortable. The rider is sitting, like in a chair, not an a triangular thingy the crack of your but fits onto. There is no saddle sore issues, you don't have your shoulders getting tired from resting down on the handle bars, and more importantly, you are sitting in a position where your head is seeing the scenery, instead of you being bent over with your head naturally looking at the road.


I think I will go ahead and post this. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. My email is chucka911@gmail.com


Chuck

[Trail Magic]

Re: Bicycled Europe - 2011

One way to save on accommodations if an organization on the net www.warmshowers.org. I belong to this group, as well as www.Couchsurfers.org. They are both great, but warmshowers is more geared to bicycle tourists. The vast majority of the people who open their homes w/warmshowers offer a meal, shower, place to store your bike, room to set up a tent (if they have the land) and laundry. I have used this site in my travels in the states and in Europe. I have several Facebook friends who I stayed with in Europe through warmshowers.org. Couchsurers.org is also good, but these people are more focused on making sure they are good hosts and you are expected to be a good guest. Warmshowers hosts are more aware that you are probably tired, stinky, and may have repairs to do to your equipment - they are more laid back.

[nearlywild]

Re: Bicycled Europe - 2011

Thank you. My husband retires from the army in 4 years and this is something that I would love to do when he gets out. I've stayed in hostels before and I love the idea of couch surfing. My husband won't let me sign up for it until our son is a little older. What are some of the disadvantages of triking? My original plan was to backpack but I like the idea of riding instead.

[Trail Magic]

Re: Bicycled Europe - 2011

Wow, congrats for you and your husband's new life, with him retiring. Please, thank him for me for serving.


The are two disadvantages to touring w/trikes. The first is that you are slower touring with a trike. On a bicycle, you can stand up and peddle, using your weight to give more force on the peddle, therefore giving you more speed. This becomes important (if speed is important to the person peddling) when going up a grade. That is truly the only issue with trikes. To compensate for that, you buy a trike with at least 24 gears. When you hit a grade, you gear down, which will cause you to slow down as you go up the grade. The second is you can carry a total of 4 panniers of “stuff” on a bike (a set of panniers on either side of each wheel) where with the trike you only have two panniers (but you have lots of room on top of the panniers – over the wheel – to store stuff)


You won't cover the distances in a day which you will have the option to cover on a bike. It is possible to cover 60-80 miles a day touring on a bicycle. On a trike, you will be covering between 30-50 a day. Why? For one, the tires are smaller, so you are traveling less distance per peddle cycle. The other is, as mentioned above, hills. On our southern trip, Susan and I had no problem doing 40 miles a day. We had a couple of days when we did 50 miles. But, what you have to do is look at your goal. If your goal is to put on milage, you don't want a bike. If your goal is to enjoy the scenery, interact with the people you meet, have great aerobic exercise and not have soreness at the end of your day, recumbents are the way to go.


Personally, I don't care what a person rides to tour/travel/exercise with; just do whatever it takes to get out there and see the world at a slower pace and get the exercise. I will say that if you ride a traditional two wheel touring bike, you are sitting in a position which causes you to look at the road instead of looking ahead of you at the view/s, you will be prone to saddle sore issues (and will need to wear clothing w/gel inserts to protect from saddle sores), and because drivers are used to seeing bicycles, they don't give you the respect/safety you want and need on the road. Here is the explanation.


On a recumbent, people are not used to seeing these kind of bikes on the road. So, when they see one ahead of them, they automatically slow down a bit so their brain can figure out what these ugly things are. With that in mind, when they pass they pass giving a wider berth to you. Now, when you are on a trike, you really look weird – trust me on that – and drivers really, really give a wide birth when passing. That is exactly what I want, as a margin of safety when I am on the road. If you didn't notice, I have two flag poles on my trike, as does Susan, with as much visual cues as I can put on there so cars/trucks behind me can see me – and wonder “what the **** is that on the road”. For my own safety, I want them to feel that. They are not going to feel that if I'm touring on a bicycle, they are going to feel it (but not as much) if I'm riding a recumbent bicycle, but they are sure going to feel it (and they truly do feel it) when they see this recumbent trike in front of them with two flag poles loaded with weird stuff on them.


Again, the things that stand out for me with trikes are:

1. I am sitting in a natural position, not straining my back or neck, and seeing the road ahead of me.
2. I have something which is unusual on the road, causing cars behind me to truly take notice of me, pay attention to me, and treat me with kid gloves when they pass me – something that is truly not given or respected when touring on a bicycle.
3. Because of their unusual-ness, it is amazing how many locals will see the trike as a conversation starter. Those conversation starters have lead me to being told of great out of the way places to eat, I have had people invite me to stay/camp on their property, I have been given local home cooked meals – they break down all sorts of barriers and you become instant friends instead of just “bike tourists”.
4. On a trike, when you come to a stop, you don't have to worry about getting your feet out of the clips so you don't fall down. You come to a stop on a trike, and just sit there, enjoying the view or doing what you want to do without dealing with falling over.
5. With a trike, you don't have to worry about having a seat to sit on: If you stop for a bite to eat, and there are no seats, you have one on your trike to sit on. In Europe, I rode a train which had a car for bikes. The riders had to stand because there were no seats on the train. I sat on the seat on the trike!

Again, don't hesitate to ask questions..........


Chuck

[Trail Magic]

Re: Bicycled Europe - 2011

I actually have a Bob Carrier, which is a small one wheel trailer which attaches to the rear wheel of a bike or tadpole trike. A tadpole trike is a trike with two wheels in front of the rider and the drive wheel behind the rider. I have never used it, as we don't carry that much gear, but have "tested" it with a load an will carry lots of stuff if needed.

There are easy ways to feel "safe" with CouchSurfing.org. If you want details on how it works, I'd be happy to go over that with you, too. I've used it a lot, we have had guests stay with us a lot, we have met lots of wonderful people through the site. I had a couple 4 days ago stay here with me.

[Trail Magic]

Re: Bicycled Europe - 2011

I also take about a 6' length of Duct tape, fold about the first 10" sticky side onto next 10" sticky side, then role the whole length around that. I wind up with a very flat "roll" of duct tape. Having it flat like that saves lots of space as I can slide it between two things if I need it. Also, if I never use more duct tape than I need. If I need a finger splint, for example: I may rip off a three inch section of tape, but it is only 1/2" wide. I can get approximately 3-4 strips this way out of that 3" long piece. Also, to save weight in my back pack, I wrap 2 about 1/2" thick strips of duct tape on my walking sticks. I have about 2' of duct tape total per walking stick, and don't carry that weight on/in my backpack. I'll also wrap about 1/16" around my water bottle, two sections, so that my pack isn't taken up with the tape.