Around your 40s you’re “supposed to” buy a car, invest in a bar or do something else drastic. Well, I bought a bike. But really only to replace my 15-year-old bike that still had a sticker of my first startup on it. Read on to find out how I flew that bike across Europe and then cycled it back to my home. If you’re interested in doing a low-risk bike journey that you don’t have to train for ages for, but are still open to stretching yourself, having a good old adventure, well, I’ll do my best to explain every step I took.
The Idea
I have a lot of ideas that pop into my head and many of those don’t survive even the slightest bit of research.
- “Walk across Europe, wouldn’t that be cool.” Turns out walking 8h a day that still takes 1.5 months at best.
- “Europe has a great bike network, how about cycling every mile of it?” That’s 90 000 km total, so two round trips around the earth
- “Never did Interrail, wouldn’t backpacking and staying in Hostels be fun?” With an ageing back possibly the stupidest idea of all.
But the common theme is, if you want an adventure, you should go have an adventure. Ask questions later😁
The Plan
I started with a constraint to give me something to work with: I would dedicate about two weeks to this adventure, plus/minus a few days.
From there I started searching what is a reasonable distance to cover in two weeks. I didn’t want to cycle the whole route, leaving time for exploring places a bit (foreshadowing), but rather have a daily bike ride for a few hours and move from one country to the other by rail or ship. And on the way visit friends and family, so those gave me some points I wanted to get to.
An early idea was “8 countries in 8 days”, which meant visiting Ireland, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Austria. That gave me a basic structure but 8 days was cutting it close in terms of exploring time, possible delays (cough Deutsche Bahn cough) and possible rest time.
I’ll cover the final plan in detail below, but basically I started by searching for recommended cycle routes around these fixed points, then researching rail and ship times and trying to come up with a rough draft of a journey. We then also added a couple’s trip to Amsterdam, splitting the trip into two nice big parts (ended up being 3, more on that later). The more detailed I got the more I started planning each bike ride in bikemap.net checking elevation, bike distance (the app has a great feature to ensure you’re not on dangerous roads, but the times often increase quite a bit over a basic Google Maps search).
Early on I thought buying my new bike in Dublin would save the hassle of getting it there, but being able to prepare the bike, get used to it a bit and all those things made me decide to buy a used bike here and fly it over with Ryanair in a bike bag.
After a few days of planning I had a route that I thought was a good fit.
🌐 You can view the route on bikemap. It contains the actual ridden tracks minus a few smaller ones that weren’t tracked.
The Training
While I had a more intense cycling phase a few years back that culminated in cycling the Danube cycle path from Upper Austria to Vienna (which coincidentally led to some of the ball bearings splitting in half about halfway and having to limp home on a train). But those times were long gone, so even with a rough estimate of 3–4 hours’ bike riding per day, I needed to prepare a bit.
My routine at the time was 5/6 days of basic cardio per week and I was still trying to get those 10K steps by walking to the office every day. First thing I did was grab one of the trainers at the gym, explained the goal (about 4–6 weeks out at that time), and came up with a simple strength workout plan. Obviously the first two times were torture, but that settled in nicely almost up to the day I left with the other days going towards my regular cardio.
| Exercise | Equipment | Set | Weight (kg) | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warm-Up | Spin Cycle | 1 | 10min red/green switching every minute | 1 | - |
| Leg Extension | Machine | 1 | 90 | 20 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 90 | 20 | 2:00 | ||
| Leg Press | Machine | 1 | 165 | 20 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 165 | 20 | 2:00 | ||
| Lat Pulldown | Cable | 1 | 90 | 12 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 90 | 11 | 2:00 | ||
| Seated Row | Cable | 1 | 70 | 20 | 1:00 |
| 2 | 70 | 10 | 2:00 |
(Note that you shouldn’t copy that 1:1 since it might both be too little or too much for you.)
Looking back the weight training was definitely good, but I think the 10 min HIIT on the spin cycle may have had the higher impact.
I increased my bike time, moving to cycling into the office instead of walking, and added some light tours with one 2 h just before I went. I think I could have done more in this department, but it was all a bit last-minute.
The Bike
Bikes are expensive and becoming a luxury good more and more. I didn’t know how much cycling I was going to do after the trip, so wasn’t prepared to drop thousands on a new bike. Researched online to find Canyon bikes and as it so happened there was an older Canyon Pathlite (4 I believe) on a second-hand marketplace that I acquired for 600 EUR. Sent that to a full service (200 EUR) and then kitted it out with some missing pieces (lights, phone holder, repair kit, spare tube etc. — about 100 EUR).
I still had my pannier bags from my last trip and I was considering replacing the smaller one since I remembered it being a hassle to carry, but I thought I would just take it to Dublin and if I needed to replace it during the trip I could simply march into any Decathlon and get a new one (turns out I did that after but not during the trip).
Because the bike bag required dismantling the bike further than I had ever done myself, I spent a few hours figuring it all out, purchasing a missing wrench (for the pedals) and becoming comfortable with taking it all apart for the bag and reassembling it again when I arrived.
It’s funny to me that I got to my 40s without ever having to do that, but also as with any new skill unlocked it’s great to have the knowledge now.
The Preparation
Once the route had been decided I needed to check each train I was planning on taking as to whether I needed a bike reservation or ticket or if I could just hop on with Interrail.
A 15-day Interrail pass (for adults) comes out to 476 EUR, which isn’t cheap but certainly cheaper than booking each trip individually, especially when you consider that you are often booking last minute depending on your plans and those are the most expensive tickets. I wish there was a way to book the bike add-on from within the app like you can do for seat reservations, but alas every country and every operator in that country feels like they have a different system and rules.
The UK train system turned out to be the most difficult, requiring a phone call in every case where you needed a bike reservation with long wait times. Once someone answered and we got over the “our computers are very slow today” which every operator had, they did provide the bike reservation at no cost on top of the Interrail ticket.
The remaining countries all had options to purchase online and sometimes I also just opted for the slower trains where bike spots were distributed first come first served.
Booking the flight was simple even including the bike and while I arrived with extra time before departure, it wasn’t necessary. Once packed you just pass it over to the large luggage counter.
Day 0 - Flight from Vienna to Dublin
My flight was scheduled for the evening, so I had all day to pack up the bike and head to the airport. I planned to be there about 3 h before departure just in case something unforeseen were to happen.
I disassembled the bike like I had practised and stored everything in the bike. I had already purchased some bubble wrap to add and last minute I decided to add a large piece of cardboard over the top as an extra measure.
One pannier bag (mostly with the mechanical tools) went in the bag and the second pannier went with me together with a small day backpack which was mostly empty.
In the spirit of the challenge I decided I would take the bike on the train (the S-Bahn) to the airport. The bike weighed 13.4 kg, the pannier was maybe another 10 kg, so with the padding let’s say 25 kg. This is comparable to a very full bag you fly on holiday, but in this case I was carrying an unruly large item on one shoulder, with another 10 kg bag on the other side and while in the end it all went ok, it was certainly an unexpectedly strenuous start to the trip and my shoulder definitely complained for a few days.
Arriving at the airport I wheeled the 2 m wide bike through the narrow Ryanair check-in path, got it labelled and shown where the large item drop-off was. After handing it over, a quick X-ray scan and my bike was off into the depths of the airport.
Very smooth process and my extra time was then spent having some food and work, since I didn’t know how much laptop time I would have the next morning.
The flight was a standard Ryanair experience and a little before the scheduled time we arrived in Dublin. I expected my bike to have to be picked up at the large luggage counter, so I headed to a Ryanair desk where, while friendly, two ladies directed me to a door that had nothing to do with luggage or bikes and it was only thanks to spotting my bike bag out the corner of my eye on the normal luggage carousel that I realized they just drop it there.
The doors in security were tight, so I had to put my bike upright to get it through, which is not the way the bag is supposed to be held, so highly unstable, but I quickly turned it over again on the other side.
Now it was time to re-assemble my bike and proceed to my airport hotel for the night. I had thought I would have to do this outside on the pavement, but after a brief look around I found a quiet-ish spot next to a restaurant and just started going at it, hoping no one would mind.
Took about 30 minutes and no one approached me, so when I was finished I threw the packaging in the bin but the large piece of cardboard was too large to fit, so then I approached a police officer (the only official in the area I could ask) who I asked where I could dispose of such a large item. Startled at first, but then acknowledging he appreciated I didn’t just leave it in the airport (did I mention I love the Irish friendliness) he proceeded to take it off me and said he would take care of it.
My airport hotel was the wonderful Premier Inn Dublin Airport about 20 minutes on bike from the airport. Biking out of an unfamiliar airport was a bit stressful but soon I was on my way. Had a fox encounter (it was dusk), unfortunately too shy to have his (or her) photo taken, but we had a nice chat and then parted ways.
Day 0 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
Day 1 - Dublin Shore and Ferry to the UK
After a light breakfast I set off from the hotel towards the coast. Specifically Howth, a small peninsula just north east of Dublin, that I had visited before on a hike. The goal was to get as close to the lighthouse as I could, but I remembered the last part (the hike) was off limits to bikes, but I couldn’t wait to breathe some sea breeze. The weather did not disappoint and soon the coastal road gave way to the views of Baldoyle Bay.
A random highland (or lowland?) cow near a residential area. I kept my distance…
Arriving in Howth concluded the first ride of the trip and I can’t convey how happy seeing the ocean makes me, but just look at this view.
Day 1 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
After some nourishing banana bread and a wonderful tea at Tram Coffee & Wine overlooking the bay it was time set off back into the city centre. The plan was to pick up an audio adapter for the Insta360 I was filming with (turns out I didn’t use it once), explore a bit and also visit Decathlon if I needed to get anything. I didn’t want to carry all my stuff around the city so I headed for Connolly station bike storage and assumed they would also have luggage storage. Unfortunately there is construction going on at the station and the bike storage (or any parking at all) wasn’t available but the signs were still up leading me to waste an hour trying to figure out where it may be. I did learn a first valuable lesson here. If you’re navigating a station with a bike, you’re dependent on the elevators, so you have to plan a lot of extra time. Anyway after too much time had passed I looked up other bike parking (turned out to be “just” an underground garage) and left my luggage in storage for an hour.
Day 1 - Ride 2 Tracks: GPX | KML
I didn’t get to explore Dublin as much as I wanted, since the store where I was picking up my gadget was about 20 min walk each way and I really only had an hour total left until I needed to set off for the ferry, but I did get to briefly enjoy some street music which I have a fondness for.
Time was running out and I decided to carve out a little extra time to get one item for Decathlon that was top of my list: a rain cover, just in case. I was prepared for pretty much every other scenario. Multiple layers in case of colder temperatures, but if it really rained a lot I would be soaked and that’s not a good combination on a bike ride where you’re also battling the winds. Thankfully Decathlon was on the way back, I ran in, found the first rain cover they had, tried it and purchased it. In and out in less than 10 minutes, but now the race was on. The ferry would not wait for me and missing it would have had major knock on effects.
I completely forgot to track this ride, but honestly looking back I’m sure I must have missed a more obvious (or easier) route to bike to the port. In the end I took the same paths the trucks took to the port and while it was safe because there were almost none, I didn’t want to have to ride those roads with more traffic. So if you follow in my path, check the current state of the construction around the port to see if there’s a path that goes around the roads. (There were two other cyclists just ahead of me that I thought were going to a different ferry, since they turned left just before the passenger terminal and seemed to go somewhere else, but then turned up a few minutes after me — and just in time. We were all cutting it a bit close.)
And this was the Stena Estrid which would take me across to the UK. I was really looking forward to both boat trips on this journey. Ever since I had taken one a few years ago I was looking forward to doing it again. To get on board with a bike you drop off your bike with the luggage after checking in at the terminal, then join the passenger bus that takes you to the ship. Once in the hull you climb the stairs to the passenger decks, but I just caught a glimpse of my bike making it on board too.
The last time I had been on board (sailing the other way) I only had a light bag so I was roaming the ship, exploring every nook. This time around the panniers were just heavy enough that carrying them around the ship wasn’t feasible for long, so half the journey was spent catching up on work with a little snack and drink, but then I couldn’t resist going to the outer deck and taking in the Irish Sea.
Side note: for a good couple of years I’ve been travelling with a carabiner and it is one of the most versatile useful things to have with you just to clip on extra items from neck pillows to shoes while walking along the beach. On this trip it was the chosen spot for the helmet most of the time that it wasn’t on my head.
The whole journey takes about four hours, but soon you can spot the coastline of Holyhead UK.
Arriving in the UK, I waited for my bike before passing through immigration with it. A first for me! Going through a formal setting with a bike seemed weird, but I was through in less than a minute and now it was time to find my bed for the night.
Day 1 - Ride 3 Tracks: GPX | KML
My legs held up and it didn’t take long to check in to my cosy little overnight stay. But I was basically on the coast and there was still sunlight. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go for a walk.
It was low tide, so the beach stretched for miles.
I also came across my first sheep. For some reason my last memory of Wales was the immediate appearance of sheep when you cross from England to Wales. I don’t know why, but sheep always feel judgemental, but that’s a “me” problem.
And when the sun finally set I headed home to get some rest for the next day …
Day 2. Wales to London
With an early start to allow for enough buffer and breaks I set off across Wales to Bangor. The ride took me through the Welsh countryside, past an RAF base, lots more sheep and other wildlife. It was wonderfully calm riding this part of the UK but the country roads were also lined with 2+ metre-high hedges which hindered my view across the land. Still nice, but does get a bit monotone after a while. But thankfully there were lots of parts without these hedges too.
I did have my first (and only) slight accident on the trip due to a misjudgement of weight on the back. I was standing at a light post just to catch my breath and I usually like to play this game where I put my arm out to reach for the pole and catch it just in time before I tip over. Of course my muscle memory was adapted to not having 20 kg strapped on to the back so I didn’t catch the pole in time, toppled over to the right and banged my knees. Could have been worse, I only had bruising for a few days, but it was just the right amount of accident to be a bit more cautious with this bike setup. (Also thankfully only the sheep were witnesses to my little faux pas.)
Halfway I took my first break of the day. My host had kindly left some snacks which were quickly consumed before heading off again with a very light drizzle all the way to …
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch! Yes, that’s not a typo and most likely you’ve heard of this town. Completely unplanned I realized I was cycling through it. But only once I had passed it, so I didn’t get a photo with the town sign. But I did visit the local supermarket for some sandwiches.
Then across the Menai bridge and the last little bit to Bangor station. Arriving with an hour to spare I bought a pasty at the station cafe, but this isn’t really pasty territory (it’s called Oggie here which I later found out) but it was nourishment for what was to come …
Day 2 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
The train arrived on time. It was a local one, but I still needed a bike reservation which I had, but I feel not every cyclist was quite as prepared. Not that anyone ever checked or even could have checked, because this was an hour long train ride pressed firmly against the door. I felt like there were more people getting on board at every station. Thankfully everyone got off at Chester - I don’t know if I would have gotten to my bike and my bike back through the crowds if I had had to get off any earlier. But it made sense since most trains to other parts of the country departed like mine from Chester. The positive side is I got to watch the coast rush by all the way.
The Avanti West Coast down to Woking was a much more pleasant experience. The bike racks are clearly marked and a reservation is mandatory. They even called out across the PA that the owner of a “green” bike should make themselves known because otherwise the bike would be offboarded. I guess someone hadn’t had a reservation. The ride down to the city was uneventful and we arrived in London Euston on time. I would be staying in Woking overnight and decided to leave the bike in London and pick it up the next day.
Day 2 - Ride 2 Tracks: GPX | KML
Cycling from Euston to Waterloo was very easy. I didn’t quite know what to expect cycling in a major city like London, but turns out the cycle paths are not only well maintained, they’re safe — often separated from the road with special barriers — and it was very easy to navigate. Mind you it was the weekend so traffic was probably at a minimum (and congestion charge has reduced traffic a lot) but I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was.
Online I found Spokesafe bike storage as a recommendation and there was a location close to Waterloo where my train to Woking left from. Everything worked through a simple app and you get a decent sized bike box. The wooden + aluminium door was solid but also bent slightly at the edge (and on most of the other spaces in that location). It looked like someone had put a crowbar to it in the past. But it did close securely and so with a bit of an uneasy feeling I left my bike and one of the panniers (with nothing of worth but the bike tools which were heavy) in it overnight and boarded my train to Woking. My childhood home in the middle of the green belt.
Day 3. London to Overnight Ferry to Holland
Had a wonderful catch-up with my dad and then headed back into town. London showed itself from its sunnier side as I strolled through the city.
But I had a mission again. This time I needed to pick up a bunny for a special someone who had just come into this world and I was scheduled to meet for the first time a bit later on the trip.
With the bunny acquired I got a ping on my phone. I had installed an AirTag in my bike to keep track of it and while I was across town it suddenly showed a new location which was not the bike locker. Now I knew this was just as likely a false location, but with the memory of the slightly damaged door of course my mind was thinking it might also be someone is stealing it. So off to Waterloo I went wondering if my trip was over sooner rather than later. Also what was I going to do once I arrived at the supposed location? Steal back my bike? Confront the thief? Call the police. All of the above maybe?
Thankfully it turned out to be a false reading which I attributed to this long tunnel close to the locker. I assume the tag was picked up by a phone just as it entered the tunnel, then when they came out at the other end the location was so broad that it put it quite far away from the tunnel exit and so it looked like it was quite a bit further away than it should have been. But all was well in the end.
It was time for lunch anyway so I had a (woefully overpriced but decently tasting) Pad Thai just opposite of the locker and then set off to Liverpool Street station where my train to the east coast left. Every time I take trains in London I’m astonished by the fact that depending on which compass direction you are going, you most likely will be leaving from a different station. In turn it seems they decided to build the airports in a similar fashion, despite not being necessary at all — who knows.
Day 3 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
The East Anglia train up to Manningtree was similar to the previous day’s trip except shorter but well rested and nourished it was time to cycle from Manningtree to the international ferry port in Harwich to catch the overnight ship to Holland.
Unfortunately you can’t cycle through Wrabness Nature Reserve which is right in the middle, but instead you have to make a slight detour. But this part of the UK is also wonderfully British. Quaint you might even say. Country roads, this time without the hedges I had seen in Wales, but this also meant side winds were stronger.
Day 3 - Ride 2 Tracks: GPX | KML
Just before Harwich there is a large rest area (aka truck stop) and I decided to have some fun and went to the Burger King drive-in with my bike. After waiting a while and assuming they weren’t going to serve me on the bike, a young gentleman popped out the side door and excused himself that the sensor wouldn’t pick up my bike unfortunately but I could just head along to the window to order. One plant-based Whopper please and a short while later I was on my way. He also gave me my drink in a bottle instead of a cup (which to be fair I hadn’t even thought about) and I cycled the last little bit to the ferry port.
I had assumed boarding was going to be similar as to the day before — same company and all — but turns out here you board with the vehicles. There was what I will call the “biker gang” on this crossing — in truth it was a moped touring group — which caused a bit of delay, but anything with two wheels was assigned the first lane and then it was off to the little rest area to have my burger. Didn’t take long though, mind you it was 2 hours pre departure at this time, and they started letting the 2-wheelers ride across the port to the ship. No bus this time, you ride up the embarkation bridges (quite steep mind you) into the ship’s belly.
There was an almost disaster when one of the pannier bags of a bike in front of me suddenly fell off into my path as I was trying to get up the bridge and avoiding the bike gang. Thankfully my brakes worked and the hardest thing was really getting the bike moving again on such an ascent angle. I met up with the cyclist the next day as we were going through immigration at the other end and he apologized — but it reminded me to also always double-check the bags are secured top AND bottom on the bike.
I soon found my cabin for the night, got settled in and since I had 2 hours to go still for our 11PM departure and no bags to carry this time I fully explored the ship.
It was dark by this time of course, so not much to see on the outside deck, but the inside looked cosy (I was one of the first so there was no one really around). Since this was an overnight crossing I assume most people had a drink before going to bed and the area probably gets a bit more action on the return leg during the day.
With a light snack and a lot of water I returned to my cabin and prepared to go to bed. I had assumed that just before departure there would be an announcement and security briefing on the audio system, so I didn’t attempt to fall asleep quickly, but they did also mention that everyone was going to get woken up an hour (and again half an hour) before scheduled arrival time. So no sleeping in for anyone even if you didn’t want breakfast …
Day 4. Hook of Holland to Amsterdam
Exactly on time the cabins were awakened by a soft melody and announcement that we would be arriving on time. After a quick shower I rushed to the breakfast area but ended up not having my buffet in part due to the long lines and a suspicion I could probably get a better breakfast on my ride up the coast. Soon enough two-wheelers were asked to return to their bikes and prepare for disembarkation. Unfortunately despite having been told not to start engines, the bike gang promptly decided to do the opposite, dousing the whole deck in toxic fumes for 15 minutes or so.
Off the ship it was time to get in line (with the other vehicles again) to cross the border and go through immigration. Again due to the numerous bikers which had gone to the front of queue this took longer than expected and the cars behind us were probably also not amused that there were an additional 10-15 cyclists ahead of them, but the time was passed with some friendly chats figuring out where my cycle colleagues were all headed too (a mix of small adventures to Amsterdam and longer adventures to the Alps, without taking trains like I did mind you).
Then it was off to what I suspected might be one of my favourite rides of the trip: Up the west coast of Holland to Amsterdam (and I was right). First it was up to The Hague, crossing through sand dunes on excellent bike paths. Despite being Monday morning, there were quite a few cyclists on the path which was to be expected for the country known for biking.
Being a nature reserve of sorts they did warn you about wild roosters 😉, but forgot to mention the — in my opinion much more dangerous — bulls that also call the territory their own.
After the dunes and reserves you saw the first sprinkling of beach towns before arriving at The Hague. What surprised me most about this famous town is that it is literally a beach town. I expected something much more like Strasbourg, bureaucratic government buildings and all, but no, it really has a real ocean vibe to it.
After passing through town (or city I guess) I headed into Meijendel nature preserve.
Day 4 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
Right at the start there was a wonderful little cyclist stop where I enjoyed a hearty breakfast. It looks like eggs on toast in a way, but it was so much more - a wonderful welcome to Amsterdam. Filled up my water bottle and then headed into the park again all the way up to …
Day 4 - Ride 2 Tracks: GPX | KML
… Zandvoort. Originally this was the end of the ride for today. It had taken 4–5 hours to get here already, but I decided I could have a longer break here and then just continue riding into the city centre to the hotel where I was meeting up with my SO Lana. I might regret it, it was going to be the longest ride of the trip so far and exceeding my original maximum of 5 h. But since I had a few days’ rest in Amsterdam ahead of me I thought why not. And the weather was holding up as well.
And so I had my final break at the Kayuca Beach Bar in Zandvoort, with a hearty burger to give me the energy for the rest of the ride. It was inland from now on, so I soaked up the waves and ocean breeze, the kitesurfers reminded me of past nomad trips and soon it was time to say goodbye to the water and get to pedalling again.
Not going to lie the last leg was tough. Not only were my legs not used to this much pedalling and getting tired, but as much as the Netherlands is known for its cycling, it’s a very special form of cycling. I guess when you grow up cycling from a young age you may be used to the chaos and just ignoring of any form of rules, but my brain had to go into overtime to handle not only the physical challenge but also the mental challenge of navigating the bike paths towards the city centre. There seems to be a specific black e-bike that the youth are riding and as that age range is prone to be, they are a bit careless. Thankfully apart from one screeching halt after a very small kid on the track decided to full stop on the path in front of me, everything was fine. And it is true that there are bike paths everywhere. I always felt safe from the cars — from the other cyclists is a different matter.
Day 4 - Ride 3 Tracks: GPX | KML
But eventually I did arrive at the hotel, managed to shower despite quite a pit of muscle pain by now and meet up in town for dinner with Lana to start our little couple’s trip. Three days of rest followed before I set off on Day 5 of the cycle trip.
Day 5. Holland to Belgium
I’m a big fan of cheese (honestly who isn’t except lactose intolerant people) and especially of Gouda. So naturally there was no way around going to visit the town where the cheese originated from. This day was a full-on headwind all the way west. It was one of the few westward routes for this exact reason. There is a much higher likelihood of wind blowing east from the North Sea. First I visited the beauties responsible for cheese, cycled along canals, fields and beautiful little Dutch towns.
As I cycled along I suddenly saw this contraption. Turns out it’s designed for you to just throw your trash while cycling. Not against it per se, but is this really such a big issue in Holland? I would have preferred more toilets en route instead.
After grueling 4 hours into the wind (the route should have taken 2-2.5h max) I arrived in Gouda. My time buffer was used up by the wind so I had only a brief moment in the Gouda museum gift shop, obviously bought some Gouda in Gouda (and crackers) and then headed to the station. I made sure to have at least a handful of Gouda cubes before we left Gouda station just to be able to say I had Gouda in Gouda.
Gouda was a beautiful little town and I certainly want to go back, not only to visit the museum for real but also to explore.
This theme was going to continue for the rest of the trip unfortunately. Too little time for exploring the surroundings, an unfortunate repeating theme on this trip.
Day 5 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
From Gouda my train took me to Utrecht where I did plan a short layover but which turned out to also be way too short. It has a famous bike parking which I conveniently used to store my bike. Luggage was left in the station and off I went to explore.
Utrecht is a beautiful mix of classic medieval town and new city centre. Due to time constraint I had to choose one and chose the old town. Also because I remembered the Museum Speelklok was there (shout-out to any Wintergatan or Marble Machine fans out there) but it was closed by the time I got there.
One Stroopwafel later it was already time to catch my train to Maastricht. But alas it wasn’t to be. I got on a train, just not the right one. Thankfully some Dutchies helped me fix my mistake and after a quick hop back to Utrecht I then boarded a train to Maastricht. Thankfully these trains did not require bike reservations (just a ticket) and so my mistake wasn’t so bad. On the train I decided to get out at Sittard which seemed closer to my accommodation for the night located in Maasmechelen, Belgium. This short ride took me over the border. Well … actually this ferry took me over the border. It was dark at this time and I had no idea there was a ferry on my route. I hadn’t checked the routes in that much detail. Thankfully the ferry runs until 11 PM, is free for bicycles and shuffles back and forth constantly.
With that I arrived in Belgium and with one slight detour due to putting in the town instead of the exact address I got to my hotel. A fellow guest helped me locate the bike room and I quickly fell asleep.
Day 5 - Ride 2 Tracks: GPX | KML
Day 6. Belgium to Luxembourg
My stay was just outside of Maasmechelen, the entry point to the national park Hoge Kempen. Unfortunately due to some construction work the ride to Maasmechelen Village took quite a detour which I didn’t track here since I hope you will find a more direct route.
But then I also realized that Maasmechelen Village is actually an outlet centre and not actually the village, which I realized I could have noticed sooner since other villages weren’t described on Belgian maps as “Village”. Anyway at least there was a nice Café to have a solid breakfast.
Then I set off through the national park. It was a beautiful sunny day and the park was gorgeous. They had just recently opened this foot/cycle bridge across the lake. The whole area to the east consists of old soil heaps from coal mining operations, but apart from some old mining equipment now used as a backdrop for the visitor centres and water park, you would not know.
Across the lake you can see a Center Parcs which I did not know existed outside of the UK. Basically glamping before that was a common term. Expensive as far as I’ve been told, but a “close to nature” family experience.
The journey continued through the national parks and on to the Tuibrug Godscheide. Used to be known as one of Belgium’s “great useless works” it was renovated in 2022 and apart from the two-way cycle track even has an ecopassage linking the De Maten and Demervallei national parks.
But soon I arrived in Hasselt and drove past the canal which despite being way inland has lots of boats that can take the Albert Canal all the way to Antwerpen and out to the sea.
One thing to mention here is Hasselt train station. One of the few that had escalators capable of carrying bikes which made my transit times a lot shorter than waiting for the elevator. An architectural style I fully support for all passenger types because even with luggage it makes your journey much more comfortable.
Day 6 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
On this part of the trip my left knee started acting up the first time. I stopped at a Lidl for food but managed to get a cooling sleeve which I promptly bought to see if it could do some magic overnight.
My original plan was to get to Luxembourg and cycle another 2 h roughly to Dudelange where I had booked a unique overnight stay on a pond (conveniently called the floater. But I didn’t want to aggravate my knee any further so I decided I was going to take the train from Luxembourg to Dudelange which reduced the ride to 5 minutes and hopefully give it some time to cool and recover.
But as soon as I started researching I soon remembered why I had made the decision to cycle that part in the first case. There was major construction going on south of Luxembourg which meant all trains south were not running. My only option for what should have been a 30 min train ride, was an hour west, then an hour back east again and a third train down to my final stop. First two trains weren’t a problem but the third was 30 min delayed for what would have only been a 20 min bike ride anyway. It was already closing in on 11 PM at this time and I had the busiest day coming up (without realizing at this point how busy and stressful it was going to be) so I decided to hop on the bike and torture my knee a bit more to get there.
Photo source: Booking.com - Floater Dudelange
Day 7. Luxembourg to Germany via France
It was dark when I arrived at a cabin on the pond in the middle of a tourist centre and museum. Of course at this point no one was around but the place had large floor-to-ceiling windows with no way to close curtains and I wonder what it feels like to be stared at in your living room by tourists. But it was a great little wooden eco stay.
As I set off I had no idea this day was going to be the most adventurous of my trip. As with all segments I had preplanned my route in Bikemap and set off on my planned route like every morning. I had chosen Dudelange because it was just on the border of Belgium to France and meant I could do a 3 hour trip down to Metz which let me follow the Mosel from Thionville down.
The first goal was to cross the border. There was a motorway crossing but my route showed a forest track just along side of it that took me right over. Lucky me. Well almost … it ended like this:
As you can see from the track below there might have once upon a time been a track through this forest. As I got off the bike just before turning into the forest I could see remnants of a previous path so I decided to plough on. It started getting more and more overgrown and pushing a fully loaded bike through this was quite demanding. Unfortunately instead of turning back immediately I kept going for about 15 minutes until I encountered a small stream. It was marked on the tour but it also said you can cross it, but standing in overgrowth I decided to call it and turned around. Good thing too, since some branches had opened my backpack and I had lost some items (which I did recover on the way back).
Just because one way I had tried to follow very faint signs of a path, the way back wasn’t actually that easy and I definitely went wrong twice. But I did manage to find the road again not before I suddenly heard a loud hiss and my tyre went flat. I later learned I hadn’t punctured anything but rather ripped off the valve cleanly with a large branch.
I pushed until I reached a paved road and then got to fixing it. Having never taken off a tyre it was quite an experience but thanks to some Youtube videos I managed to get it off and the new one back on (even if it wasn’t 100% perfect which I later saw while riding). New skill unlocked and challenger defeated.
Day 7 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
The only downside was the whole adventure had cost me 1–2 hours (including the long trek through the forest). So I had to change plans and instead of riding Thionville to Metz I took a train. This was a bummer for me because I really wanted to ride down the Mosel, but that would have to wait for another day. At least I got to see it just before crossing the bridge to the station.
Day 7 - Ride 2 Tracks: GPX | KML
For reference this was the originally planned ride which I would recommend if you follow in my footsteps:
Day 7 - Extra Planned Route 2b Tracks: GPX | KML
This extra train brought my train count for the day to 5. It was already going to be a long train day to the east of Germany and one more thankfully didn’t change that much. But I was crossing into Deutsche Bahn territory known for unavoidable delays and using 3 of their trains was just pushing luck. I had for this exact reason not booked my hotel yet for the night, because there was a high chance of being stuck somewhere in Mannheim or Stuttgart without ever reaching Nürnberg. It’s really surprising a country like Germany can’t get its act together with their rail network. And no, it’s not a coincidence, it’s a multi decade long downhill trend. If you take 3 trains in Germany it’s almost certain you’ll have at least one missed connection.
Train itinerary: Thionville -> Metz -> Saarbrücken -> Mannheim -> Stuttgart -> Nürnberg (3/5 delayed, guess which ones, last one had to be rebooked)
Also the image of a “modern” railway isn’t helped that the luggage storage only accepts coins and requires exact coins. (It says that it costs either 3 or 5 EUR but I’m fairly certain I remember paying 4.50 EUR which makes it extra annoying, but I can’t 100% say my memory isn’t tainted.)
I’ve ranted enough about DB and while I missed my original last train, the staff were nice enough to rebook my bike onto the new train without any issues (ICE, which the last two were, have only certain bike spots and require a reservation well in advance usually — I’ve tried again recently and they are often completely booked out).
The delays did give me some extra time in Saarbrücken. First I rode to a nearby bike shop to get a spare bike tyre just in case I had another accident. After that I decided to treat myself to Pizza Hut. It remains my favourite pizza chain of all and unfortunately they don’t have any restaurants in Austria anymore. Say what you want about pineapple on pizza or Pizza Hut, I will enjoy it every single time.
The rest of the day was just a lot of trains through Germany. I did pass through Stuttgart which was an interesting experience. You may have heard of Stuttgart 21, probably DB’s most well-known project disaster and not even close to being finished despite the ‘21 moniker. But putting that aside they had to find a way to keep the trains running for the decade or so that construction was going to take and they decided to shorten each track and insert a convenience store or restaurant right at the end of the track.
I love this concept. Traditionally you have to go into a main hall to grab food, drinks or anything and then return to the tracks if you’re transiting. This concept lets you leave one track, grab something and get right on the next track for your departure. I wonder if I’m alone here?
It was here where I also booked my hotel in Nürnberg, since it was clear I was going to reach my (new) last train and the worst that could happen was another delay before I arrive. Of course that happened but the hotel was just a stone’s fall from the station and eventually my day ended in a comfy bed.
Day 8 & 9. Munich Pit Stop
The next morning I took a train to visit my mum and then cycled a bit to catch the train to Munich. My knee was still not in the best shape and my front tyre was ever so slightly off. It was safe to ride based on online research, but I wasn’t able to pull the outer tyre completely straight so I decided to alter my plan a bit and do a pit stop in Munich.
Day 8 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
This also gave me time to do my laundry. Thankfully I found a bike shop in Munich: Flashfix which had a next-day service appointment available and decided to stay two nights, coincidentally close to where I lived when I studied at TU Munich. The next day I had planned to visit my brother’s family which instead of cycling there I decided to do by train which also gave the knee some recovery time. All in all it was the right decision even if it meant pushing some further visits out by a day.
Talking about laundry you may be wondering how I did that in general. So I had packed for 4/5 days of clean clothes. I did laundry in Amsterdam and then had planned to use my friend’s washing machine a day later, but since I was stuck in Munich anyway it got moved up. From my digital nomad days I’ve gotten very used to using laundries and they’re available in most major (and even some smaller) cities. Worst case I also had some travel detergent which I could have used to clean a batch in a hotel sink.
Day 10. Munich to Salzkammergut
Two days later I set off in direction Austria. Because of the route changes this was mostly done by train with just a short bike ride at the end. This is where I encountered the second Bikemap issue of the trip. It decided to navigate me up a path with steep stairs at the end. I’m grateful it avoids roads, but pulling the heavy bike up the stairs with a drop on one side wasn’t the most fun experience.
Day 10 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
Day 11. Salzkammergut to Linz
The next day I set off on the same path I had taken a few years ago when I wanted to ride from my first home in Austria to my current one, Vienna, along the Danube bicycle path. Last time I got about 1/3 of the way there until I managed to crush the ball bearings in my (old) bike and limped back to the closest train station to head back home.
Was this time around going to be without any issues? Murphy strikes again and on the ride up to Linz I got news of a family emergency which required going home immediately. Being an hour away from the next train station and it had conveniently just started to rain, I pushed the pedals hard and rode to Linz to jump on the train.
Day 11 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
Day 11. Linz to Ybbs
4 weeks later in “real” time (with everyone safe and sound again back home) and about 5-10 degrees colder I decided to finish the trip as planned. I wasn’t going to let this particular path become my nemesis 😂. For the last leg I had almost packed the same things minus some tech gear and plus some longer warmer clothing.
Starting at Linz Domplatz I crossed the bridge over the Danube to the northern side and started on the path. A lot of the path is right next to the river, well maintained, but now and again you have to divert slightly but get to see beautiful little spots where the estuaries flow into the Danube.
Being a river you can see a lot of smaller and larger castles sprinkled on the side showing it’s past as a defensive position.
I made it past the point where I had to abandon last time and cycled on east all the way to Ybbs.
Day 12 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
Day 13. Ybbs to Krems
The weather was supposed to be grey for one day and then two days of sunshine, but as weather forecasts do this changed to three cloud covered days, a bit colder than expected, with some sunshine popping through now and again. No reason to not make the best of it.
On this day I passed through the Wachau - a beautiful part of Austria anytime of the year. Lot’s of medieval little towns dotted around the river, wine and fruit fields (the region is famous for it’s apricots)
The whole segment from Linz to Vienna felt 100% safe. There’s either a dedicated bike path or a quiet town road. The worst that I experienced was a bit of a shake from a cobblestone road. The sun popping out every now and again was a bonus but I’d love to give the same track a go in summer with better weather.
All along the Danube bike path there are cycle stops and accommodation so I basically set out every day and roughly at 2 PM I booked the hotel for the night and had no problems. Not sure if I would do that in high season though.
Day 13 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
Day 14. Krems to Vienna
The last day had arrived. The final stretch back home on Roman tracks, flood plains that have been secured since the last big floods here and before long I could see some familiar sights of Klosterneuburg. From here on the territory became very familiar as I have cycled here a lot in the opposite direction.
Late afternoon I arrived home, very tired but safe and sound. Happy to have completed the plan, maybe not as originally intended and with some changes but I got from Dublin to Vienna using my bike half the time and train the other half(-ish).
Day 14 - Ride 1 Tracks: GPX | KML
Soooo, was it worth it?
Heck yes. Do it again? Anytime. It was a real adventure. For me at least. Probably others look at this and think that looks easy. And yes, I didn’t plan for a cut-throat high-risk adventure, I planned for a midlife cycle. A stretch goal for me — I wasn’t cycling multiple hours a day — I had never done Interrail (with or without a bike) — but I fulfilled my main goal: have fun. I sincerely hope I can do more of these and since I’ve been back I’ve been trying to even cycle in colder temperatures for 3–4 h stretches around Vienna. And you know what, still demanding, but just ever so slightly easier than before. Maybe I can keep it up and do a handful over winter to keep in the habit? I already kitted myself out with some cold biking gear, so as long as the sun says hello now and again I might be able to overcome the “inner swine dog”. My bikemap log should have the evidence if I do:
My biggest regret is my lack of time to explore. I did plan buffers everywhere I thought I might need it and unfortunately a lot of time with breaks, injuries or just unforeseen things happening I often had to use up that buffer. Meaning plans I had to explore were often cut short.
Some lessons learned
- Don’t blindly follow suggested routes, if it looks like a mistake and feels like a mistake, it might just be a mistake.
- At 42 you can and should still do adventures.
- Have multiple backups if you’re travelling with Deutsche Bahn.
Appendix: Packing
Although my bags were a reasonable weight, there’s always the question what did I bring that I didn’t need to.
Bike Tools
First off in terms of bicycle maintenance and tools I would not change much:
- Decathlon Multitool 100: solid all-rounder, only thing missing is the tyre levers. I had a secondary multitool set that was a bit flimsy but had those levers, I would swap that for a pack of Decathlon tyre levers.
- Pedal wrench which is not on the multitool
- Spare tyre and tyre fixing set
- Gear oil
- Electric bike pump and manual pump (the electric one is loud but saves a lot of time, but I don’t 100% trust it and I have a really light manual pump as backup)
I had two small bike pouches. One under the seat for the multitool and my lights. And another was used for carrying the battery pack for the phone toward the front. But I had a small pouch with my battery pack that just wrapped around the phone mount, so I only really need one.
Bike Gear
Nothing surprising really, but some items I was really impressed by are:
-
Alpensattel Comfort: Game changer for me. I had no rear pain at all during this trip.
-
Bollé · Adapt MIPS MTB-Helmet: Comfortable and the best safety you can buy. I especially liked the ear cutouts where on my old helmet they kept getting squashed.
-
Bikemap.net: Dedicated app for planning and tracking bike routes. On 2 occasions it led me down bad trails (once when my tyre broke and once it sent me up steep stairs with my fully laden bike) but otherwise I like you can decide if you want slower streets and bike paths or faster paths that lead you on roads with more cars.
Gear additions
All in all my body survived quite well. My left knee had some issues but that’s a pre-existing one and was fairly easily solved with a cool pack which is now part of my cycling setup. Posture while cycling is definitely an issue. I try to keep a straight back, but I slouch too easily. I don’t think there’s gear for that, but my hands ached quite a bit after about 2 hours and even though I have a sort of hand rest and gloves it wasn’t enough. I think I might try gloves with more padding and also adding horns to my bike to give them a different position to rest on.
Clothing
I had planned for 4 days without washing and late-summer weather (keep in mind you’re wearing one set usually, so only carrying the rest in the bags):
- 4 t-shirts, socks and underwear
- 2 sport shorts
- 1 long shirt (Technical merino from Fusion, highly recommend also for general use)
- 1 sweater
- 1 pair of new balance trainers/sneakers
I never needed both the long shirt and sweater together, but this way I had one to swap just in case or for washing days.
This alone would be sufficient for the trip but I did add another everyday short and everyday T-shirt so I had something nicer to swap into for visiting friends and family.
I purchased one rain cover in Dublin which I only needed on the last day to Linz where it rained, but it was good to have just in case. It makes a big difference.
Note: for the third part of the trip Linz to Vienna which I did early October with much colder temperatures I added a lot more layers and Under Armour tights under the shorts, but that was a different trip essentially.
Technical gear
As a founder I can’t really be offline completely, so I always have a laptop with me to do support and some maintenance work. But even without that I would be travelling with some gear so these are some recommendations:
- Anker 321 Power Bank (PowerCore 5K), 5200 mAh External Battery because tracking on the phone and maps drains it fairly quickly.
- Lamicall Mobile Phone Holder Bicycle Mobile Phone Holder. Tried many, this is the best mix of easy to handle and safe even when riding rough terrain.
- MOMAX 100W GaN Travel Adapter Worldwide - generally a perfect travel adapter with all the necessary plugs, pass through for a plug if you need it but also built-in USB-C and USB-A. My only wish is they make a model with 4x USB-C since I’ve standardized on that almost exclusively.
Which also brings me to my general tip: Most devices are already USB-C but if you still have a pesky USB-A device, have a look if you can’t get a USB-C version of the cable or at least a USB-A to USB-C adapter so you can reduce your cables.
Things I regret taking
- A large Anker battery pack (20000 mAh) which I thought I might need for working on the train. Turns out Wi‑Fi may not work, but plugs were almost always no problem. (I did have a third smaller battery pack which may not strictly be necessary but because I was quite dependent on the phone I did want that with me but it was for emergencies only and very small.)
- I had both a GoPro and an Insta360 with me. Turns out I needed just one and the 360 mounted to the front bar with a little extension gave some really nice video footage of the ride.
Things I regret not taking
Honestly the only thing I missed was an additional Traveller’s notebook journal since I filled mine up with memories way too fast and you can’t easily get this brand on the road.
I did forget my Fitbit charger and Thunderbolt charger for the AirPods which Lana kindly brought along midway to Amsterdam, but even there I was able to charge the AirPods wirelessly on my additional battery pack.