Gibraltar - Leonberg cycle trip - 2023

Already during the preparations for the cycle tour to Gibraltar last year, it became clear that I would not be able to complete the entire journey from Leonberg to Gibraltar and back via Portugal in one trip. I would have had to take a few weeks of non-paid time off, which I didn't want to do. So I split up my cycle trip. Last year from my hometown to Gibraltar. This summer I intend to continue the tour exactly where I finished it last summer: At Algeciras railway station.

I also decided to start my journey late in the summer. I usually start my cycle trips between the Pentecost holidays and the summer holidays. During this time, it tends to be already very hot in southern Europe. So this year I didn't want to start until the summer school holidays. So I had to be patient for quite a long time before I could finally set off on my next tour.

You can find out what I experienced on this cycle trip in the following chapters and even more details in my diary.

Have fun to read!

Cycling tour to Gibraltar - 2022

There is a lot of work to be done before I close the house door behind me and know that I won't be unlocking it for the next few weeks. Even if, over the years, a certain routine has been established in the preparations. The cycle trip to Gibraltar and onwards via Portugal will be my longest journey. So long, in fact, that it soon became clear during the planning phase that I wouldn't be able to cycle the tour in one trip, but would have to split it into two episodes.

There has also been an important change in my equipment. Bobby, my faithful companion, will not be with me on this tour. I have used the small, slim bicycle trailer to transport my luggage on all my long bike tours so far. I decided not to take my camping equipment with me on this tour. I had already realized on the trip to Athens that it is not so easy to find a campsite in the south that is both suitable for camping and somehow close to my route. As I now need less space for my equipment, I bought saddlebags for my bike and converted an old luggage rack to fit.

But why build my own luggage rack? There was simply nothing suitable to buy. At the beginning of 2022, as the coronavirus gradually disappeared from the daily news, another "crisis" hit the world: supply chain difficulties. There was simply no suitable luggage rack for my bike. With a certain amount of craftsmanship and a few special bike parts (which were fortunately available to buy), I was able to build a robust luggage rack for my bike.

I have summarized once again how far I got with this construction and what experiences, adventures and impressions I was able to make on the way from Leonberg to Gibraltar, enhanced with pictures and published here for you to read.

I hope you enjoy reading it.

Cycling trip to Athens - 2021

The Second Corona Summer. Unfortunately, Europe is still in the grip of the virus. Working from home and contact restrictions are now an integral part of everyday life. I've already had my first vaccination and just a few days before I start my cycle trip to Athens, the second vaccination is due. Without this second vaccination, it would be impossible to start. There would be no chance of getting past the borders. Europe in summer 2021: many borders are open, but without a vaccination there is no passing through.

I want to start two days after the second vaccination. Germany has now been knocked out of the European Football Championship by England and the weather is matching the mood in Germany: Cool and rainy.

My journey will take me through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece. In the 36 days I'm on the road, I'll cover a total of 3700 kilometers. I have not evaluated how many meters of altitude I have climbed. It was certainly quite a lot of meters in altitude.

I have summarized my experiences, encounters and impressions in the following chapters with text and pictures. If you want to read more about my cycle trip, then take a look at the diary. It tells you how many kilometers I cycled each day, what the weather was like, what experiences and impressions I had along the way and what moved me.

Tour of France - 2020

The year 2020 was dominated by the Corona pandemic.

After the massive contact restrictions and even curfews were imposed in the past winter, I cancelled the plan for a big bike tour this summer in early 2020. After all, where could I go when all borders in Europe are closed? What would be the benefit of a trip abroad if all campsites, accommodations and restaurants are closed there? Spain in particular and other countries in southwestern Europe have been hit extremely hard by the pandemic. The reports of the meanwhile countless number of dead, for whom often only storage in refrigerated truck trailers was possible, made me shiver. My destination would have been Gibraltar in the very south of Spain. When a new Corona wave was announced during Easter, I buried my travel plans with a heavy heart. There would probably be a vacation at home this year, where I would spend a lot of time taking care of my mother.

Little by little, Pentecost was getting closer. The end of the Pentecost vacation would have been the time for my bike trip to Gibraltar. With Pentecost came better weather, higher temperatures and slowly declining Corona case numbers. The first countries opened their borders. Among them France. Spain was still in the grip of the Corona virus. This would not change quickly. But wouldn't France be an interesting alternative? I wanted to cycle the Eurovelo 6 to the Atlantic coast anyway. That would mean that I would have crossed Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea by bicycle. The Eurovelo 6 is something like an open job for me. There is still something to do. So I decided to do a bike tour this summer - to our neighbors in France. Full of energy I take up the preparations for the trip again. There was still enough to do. I also wanted to make the preparations better than on the last trip. At that time on the trip through Ireland the planning was already quite poor.

 

What I have seen and experienced on this trip you will read in the following chapters.

I hope that this travelogue will give you some interesting impressions of the country and its people.

Have fun while reading!

Ireland - Scotland Tour 2019

On June 24, 2019, I set out on another big bike tour. I always wanted to visit Ireland and Scotland. And what better way to do that than by bike?

The preparations for the Ireland - Scotland tour have been a bit bumpy however. I simply started the planning of the details somewhat too late. There was plenty to do in the office, but it was mainly due to the increasing amount of time I have to spend after work taking care of my mother. As a result, one or the other topic unfortunately fell by the wayside because I had to care of my mother. Well, a day simply lasts 24 hours. Anyway, I was also a bit naive with the idea that I could do the trip across France to Roscoff, where the ferry will take me to Ireland, by bike as well. These are only a few hundred kilometers. Well, that's true as so far. But when I had a closer look on how many kilometers it would be in Ireland and Scotland it quickly became clear that I can't do both. Either Ireland and Scotland in its entirety without cycling across France, or just a part of Ireland and Scotland, but including a tour across France. Obviously, France will have to wait. I want to spend as much time as possible in Ireland and Scotland. So I will travel by train across France. Preferably with the TGV. That was the plan....

Well I quickly came to the conclusion that bicycles are not allowed to be taken on the TGV. Sure, there are regional trains, but I wanted to get to the ferry as soon as possible. Therefore, I decided that my bike will become a piece of luggage. The trailer will be a second piece of luggage. In this case I could not find any restrictions. All right, now I made a plan and I just needed to book the tickets for the train and the ferry. That was no big deal. So the trip to Ireland was finally booked and I could concentrate on the remaining preparations.

I downloaded the GPX track from the internet (www.biroto.eu). Next I had to download electronic maps and install them on the Garmin GPS device. Thanks to USB1 this is very slow, but it works. Nevertheless, it just takes a long time until I have all the maps available. Additionally, I do the same work for the smartphone. This way I have a backup in case the GPS device breaks down. I once had a problem when I was travelling in Hungary. For this reason, a backup is really important to me.

After finally the luggage was packed in the Bobby bag, I was ready to go. Two friends offered to help me with transporting the packed bike and the Bobby. I accepted it gladly and it was very nice. From Stuttgart I was then on the move without support. However that was okay. In the end, the Stuttgart station is not that big.

As it continues is described in the following chapters.

Furthermore there is the complete diary in the German version of the travelogue, which I wrote during the days. For all those who would like to know more, click on the headline in the German version. 

Cycling tour to the Black Sea 2014

In the summer of 2014 I took a trip by bike to the Black Sea.

On the following pages I recorded my experiences and impressions during the journey in a diary. This I have published according to stages and days sorted here. If it is too much to read every single day, you can also take a look at the summaries of the individual stages. These are not written in such detail. The division of the stages depends largely on the countries through which I came. However, it is also due to a certain clarity in the browser.

Departure in Leonberg was on Sunday, July 27, 2014

Back in Leonberg I was on Wednesday, August 27, 2014

In total, I have traveled over 3500 km by bicycle. I have taken many very interesting impressions of the trip. It was very important to me to get to know the countries in South-Eastern Europe. Because frankly, I have not had much to do with most countries (except for Bosnia-Herzegovina). It was very exciting to get to know the country and the people. Although I can say that the Donauradweg is really only interesting behind Budapest. Until then, however, it was anything but boring. I had something to nibble on the Cyrillic script in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, I could not start with the letters. But even this was not a problem that was not insuperable. Impressive was the "Iron Gate". The landscape is truly indescribable beautiful. I can only say that really every kilometer on the way there was worthwhile. The compensation for the effort was already very impressive.

Nice to see was the Donaudelta. After such a long journey really a highlight. From Tulcea (the last big city on the Donaudelta) to the mouth of the Black Sea, it is still 30 to 40 kilometers. These can only be done by ship. With speed boats you can go without problems there. However, I decided more or less voluntarily for a comfortable boat trip through the Delta, which I have not regretted. The bath in the Black Sea near Constanta was then the conclusion of my cycling trip. The next day, I had fixed my way home and looked at different possibilities. With the Coach in one and a half days back to Leonberg, or by train. The bus runs in 2014 (according to timetable) around midnight. The bicycle ride is possible depending on the capacity of the bus. What I just did not really like was the possibility not to be taken along and at any time after midnight in Constanta to stand and search for an overnight stay, only to try again the next day. For this reason, I decided to return by train. That worked without problems. One reads all sorts of different things about the transport of bicycles on the train. There is also talk of bribery. I think I had caught a very good-natured conductor, who would never have been corruptible. He tolerated the matter and had both bicycle and I stayed overnight in the train until Budapest .

The last kilometers from Stuttgart to Leonberg I have driven by bike. I was positively surprised how well I got up with trailer in the forest the slope to the Westbahnhof. Probably a matter of the training ...

If you want to read and see more, the next chapters are recommended.

Iceland-Roundtrip 2012

The idea to explore Iceland by bicycle is perhaps quite unusual. Many people are deterred by weather or climate. But it is not so bad (well, not always ...)

After my trip to the North Cape I was already familiar with the climate in Northern Europe. So I did not necessarily care about the climate in Iceland. I just wanted to visit this country in the north. The idea I had during a hike in New Zealand. Shortly before, I had visited a few hot springs and sulphate fields in New Zealand and then I quickly came to the conclusion that Iceland also has many such hot springs, which is certainly very interesting. This is definitely worth a trip.

Because I like to ride with the bike anyway, it was for me, of course, no question to undertake this trip also by bike. The journey however already took place by plane. Back then it went by ferry. My travel agency here in Leonberg helped me with the booking of the flight and the ferry really first class. Of course, you can do everything on the Internet today, but the bottom line is rarely cheaper. And in addition, they are professionals who take a lot of work off in preparation. So why not use this service?

All in all, I've been on the road for almost four weeks. I spent three weeks in Iceland. The rest of the days are partly in Denmark and also in Germany. As mentioned, I took the plane to get there. For the return journey then the ferry from Iceland to Denmark. The ferry has arrived in the north of Denmark, so I drove a few days through Denmark to get to Flensburg. From there I went home by train.

A total of 2145 kilometers have been collected on the tour. How many heights were there, I can not say, but there were some.

I like to think about this trip. In addition, I have learned on this trip what a "storm bottom over Iceland" actually means, if the weather report here in Germany so incidentally mentioned.

Have fun reading the summary!

Cycling trip to the North Cape 2010

A travelogue about my cycle tour from Gothenburg to Nordkapp.

Departure by train in Leonberg was on Friday, July 02, 2010

Back in Leonberg I was on Sunday, August 01, 2010

In sum, I drove almost 2800 km by bicycle.

The thought of driving to the North Cape by bike once had really left me really free since a motorhome tour with a few good friends in 2005. Even then we wanted to go very far north. The time and a kilometer limit of the motorhome had however made a dash through the bill. So for me the visit to the Nordkapp was almost an open account.

At the end of February 2010 I decided to go on the tour. It is not always easy to get four weeks of vacation. But ultimately, I could convince my boss. Finally, I am the rest of the year then again all the time in the office.

For a long time I thought about how to transport my luggage. My old bike ("Scotty") was a fully and it was very difficult to attach luggage bags. I decided after a long research for a small one-wheel trailer. The acquisition of B.O.B. Ibex was really a very good investment. In the meantime, there are numerous replicas, which are in part considerably cheaper. But nothing is as good as the Bobby!

Now it was about the clarification of the date. Because colleagues and family have the right of way in the planning of the summer holidays, I decided to be back home BEFORE the summer holidays (with a small overlap, I also succeeded quite well).

On the structure of the report:

The breakdown of the journey into parts 1 to 5 is only owed for the sake of clarity. For each part, there is a brief summary of the most important events. I have recreated these summaries. I wrote the events of the day stages during the trip every evening in my diary.

Have fun while reading.

Another note: The North Cape (Nordkapplatået) is a slate plateau (Cape) on the Norwegian island of Magerøya, which rises steeply from the Arctic Sea and is located in the area of the municipality named Nordkapp. It lies at 71 ° 10 '16 "north latitude, about 2100 kilometers from the North Pole and 514 kilometers north of the Polarkreises.

Source: Wikipedia

Apuseni National Park - Romania - 2018

On business my way led me again and again to Romania to the city of Cluj. My Romanian colleagues told me a lot about their beautiful home country and showed me some nice places near Cluj. This was a very nice opportunity to get to know the country and its people a little bit better. On my bicycle trip to the Black Sea in 2015 I could get to know Romania along the Danube. So my interest was finally awakened to visit one of the many national parks there. Because I was already familiar with the area around Cluj, it was obvious to visit the Apuseni National Park in the Apuseni Mountains near Cluj. A colleague had told me a lot about this beautiful area in which he grew up and thus awakened my wanderlust. I was also able to awaken this wanderlust in Pascal, my longtime hiking friend. With him I was able to experience numerous beautiful and extensive hikes. For me, he is as much a part of hiking as shoes, rucksack, sleeping bag and mattress -- in short, it's not possible without him!

So on August 19th we went on a 10-day hiking tour together.

We started in Bologa at the northern end of the national park. From there we went through the most beautiful areas of the Apuseni National Park with its many caves and extensive forests. Our final destination was Garda de Sus at the southern end. From there we took the bus to the city of Turda and visited the salt works of Turda. I have never seen such a big man-made building before. The city church of Leonberg would fit there completely. Probably even the cathedral of Ulm. In the past, the workers chiseled everything out of the mountain by hand to extract salt. On September 1st we are back in Cluj. We still have two days to see the city before our flight to Frankfurt starts.

I hope you enjoy reading the travelogue and the pictures.

New Zealand - Round trip 2011

What caused me to do the trip to New Zealand, I can not say so very precisely today. But it was certainly the desire to visit this gem at the other end of the world and to get to know more. For one still comes there at half-tolerable prices. I do not know how airfare will develop in the future.

This roundtrip in New Zealand I did with my fellow student Daniel. That was a really good idea. I had told at a study meeting that I would travel to New Zealand in November and Daniel had simply asked me if we should get there together. So it has then also fit. He took a lot of things from me to prepare. The walks we have picked out together. Sure, we could have stayed there for several months and still had found hiking trails that would have been interesting. But we had to limit ourselves. There was a long discussion about the Milford Sound. This is the Touri Highlight par excellence. But just there it is very much overflowed. On top of that, you have to book months, if not even years in advance, on almost all known trails to get a place in the cabins. This has already deterred us a little.

In hindsight I have to say that we have made a lot of wonderful walks. Whether the Milford Sound would have been so much better, of course I can not say. It is definitely worth to walk the lesser known trails.

New Zealand is already a very special country. It is somehow already like "Europe in small". Nature offers all facets, from sea to mountains, in relatively small space. This makes it so special. Especially the warmth of the people there. Everywhere the people greeted kindly. The small talk along the hiking trails was first something that was completely foreign to me. But more and more I've won these short stops for a little chat. At home, I miss this openness very much. One goes in Auckland: "No problem, I must go in the same direction. Just come along! But tell me where do you come from ...? "

Traveling by bus is no problem at all. Even though Daniel and I were surprised at the strange system of "hour quotas". Why not calculate by kilometers? The buses were almost always very punctual. Even the shuttles that take you to the backmost corner of the New Zealand bush are reliable. Everything here in New Zealand really "very British" ...

A very sad experience was the massive destruction in Christchurch by the earthquake that had occurred there just a few months before our arrival. But Kiwi-style does not leave you with such a thing. I wish the kiwis to be spared from further severe earthquakes and that they will in no case lose their optimism (one of the essential traits of kiwis!).

A return flight without a stopover in Australia I would not do anymore. The flight time from New Zealand to Germany is just too long. In addition, Australia is definitely worth a trip. Better take a few days more holidays or shorten the time in New Zealand!

Oh yes: arrive in Germany on a Sunday evening and go to work on Mondays: Not a good idea ...

P.S. My special thanks go to my colleague Daniel, for providing the pictures for this report!

Traumpfad Munich - Venice - 2009

When Pascal and I in the spring of 2009 told our friends and acquaintances that we want to walk from Munich to Venice, we reaped the most from only misunderstandings and head shaking. These are probably the standard reactions of German couch tomatoes when it comes to such projects. There is nothing wrong with such a hike at all.

Blood licked Pascal and I in 2008, when we could put a long-cherished wish into action: The Westweg to wander. This is the path that starts almost in front of our door in Pforzheim and goes over the beautiful heights of the Black Forest to Basel. After this hike, Pascal and I agreed that definitely a bigger hike would have to follow. And as so often, great ideas usually come after one or two beers. In the winter we have both matured this idea and decided in spring to move from Munich to Venice.

The hiking guide of Ludwig Graßler was a great reading to dream of long hikes on the sofa from the great hike across the Alps. The spring we have consistently used to improve our equipment. With the ALDI Matomat Discounter sleeping bag and the Interrail backpack, we have not had any good experiences on the Western route. In order to test our new equipment, we have undertaken some "test hikes" on the Swabian Alb and around Lake Constance. So we gained experience and increased our fitness accordingly.

So we were well prepared for our first crossing of the Alps on foot.

What we have experienced on the road is described in the following chapters. As usual in other reports, the trip is divided into sections, which are additionally deepened by the diary entries.

Have fun while reading!