Stratton Cycle Shed

Bicycle repair and service

Cycling Eurovelo 6, August 15

IMAG3309 IMAG3314 IMAG3317 IMAG3322 IMAG3326 IMAG3330 IMAG3335 IMAG3342 IMAG3347 IMAG3358 IMAG3359 IMAG3406 IMAG3407Cycling Eurovelo 6 along the Danube August 2015

We caught the European Bike express coach from Waltham Abbey and headed to Dover. There were 4 of us Neil, Paul, Terry and Richard, average age 56,( that’s only chronologically) and we fancied a bit of touring in Europe. Some delays on the ferry, but soon we were en route to Dijon where we hit route 6 and headed East.

 

We got to Dijon early on Sunday morning. Lovely cycling along quiet French minor roads. It was a bit rainy for our first few nights camping, but good food along with plenty of French beer and wine made up for it. Eurovelo6 is a long distance path that (http://www.eurovelo.com/en/eurovelos/eurovelo-6) traverses Europe, from the French Atlantic coast to the Black sea. We only had a couple of weeks, so were only doing a section.

 

We started most days at about 8 am and cycled all day stopping off for food en route. We camped each night where ever we found a campsite at about tea time. We usually ate out, but did cook occasionally, when we found a good place to shop.

 

The route often followed canal and rivers and was mainly off road, why can’t we do this in UK? Lots of other cyclists around, and many e bikes. Quite disconcerting to be overtaken by a large Fraulein in a tweed skirt going up hill at 15 mph!, maybe e bikes are the answer?

 

At one stage we had to choose to go down into Switzerland, or head east and do a bit of self-navigating. We ended up cycling up some steep mountain bike trails in the Black Forest, very interesting, but quite tough on fully laden touring bikes. Eventually we hit the Danube and the cycling became easier. We often did 80 or 90 miles a day.

 

After a week Paul and Terry headed south to Munich and took the train back to UK. Neil and Richard continued into Austria and on to Vienna. Vienna was very hot. We stayed with Neil’s daughter in Vienna and did a bit of sightseeing.

 

The last day saw us head along the Danube into Slovakia and take the plane to Stansted. A long hot day with a bit of confusion getting to the airport. We took soft cycle bags and dissembled the bikes in the bus station and took a bus to the airport. We did about 1500 miles over the two weeks and had a lot of fun. The European bike express, (http://bike-express.co.uk/), is well worth thinking about, as a cheap efficient and bike friendly way to get into Europe and back. The Danube cycle path is an excellent traffic free way to cross Europe and see a few interesting things on the way.

 

Paul wants to do the Eastern part later on, and visit his fathers origins. We only had 1 puncture, and no real problems apart from a broken rear rack. We were fairly heavily laden. For one of us it was the first time cycle camping. I don’t think we put him off!

Updated: December 7, 2015 — 12:48 pm

The Author

admin

7 Comments

Add a Comment
  1. You’ve got interesting posts here. Your blog can go viral, you need some initial traffic only.
    How to get initial traffic?? Search google for: Ferdeck’s tricks

  2. After research a number of of the blog posts in your web site now, and I really like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark web site checklist and will likely be checking back soon. Pls try my website online as well and let me know what you think. http://perfectslots2016.ru

  3. Great information source.
    Would you be willing to share some tips about how you found the maps and where to sleep?
    I’m considering my first tour in August 2018 on EV 1 in Norway and I don’t know where to begin with the planning especially the sleeping and eating parts!

    Any advice you can give would be most welcome at this stage!

    1. Hi
      I bought the maps online, the eurovelo 6 route has guides for different parts. I travelled via european bike express which an excellent way to get into europe. We camped, and didn’t book sites, but had a look at where we might end up at the end of the day, and checked to see if there was a campsite near. We ate wherever we could, usually small restaurants in the evening. During the day we bought food as we travelled. We also had a stove and made out own breakfasts, and when we where out in the countryside we shopped and then cooked.
      Perhaps it might be a good idea to do a short tour in UK to check out what its all about? When travelling on my own I often use hostels as then I don’t need to carry so much gear, and they usually can feed you too.

      I’ve just returned from a 3 week tour of Tasmania, camping with some hostels. Hope this is helpful.
      Neil

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stratton Cycle Shed © 2021