liverprint

Hi all....

Just stumbled upon this site and thought Id ask a question or two.

Ive had a spontaneous urge to Cycle from the top of Europe to the Bottom, From Tromso to Malaga which is about 5000km. Im fit(ish) through playing football but im not currently an avid cylist of any description!! I plan on doing this next Summer giving me 15months to train. Id ideally want to do this over 6 weeks meaning id have to cycle 120km a day for 42 days.

AM I BEING REALISTIC?

10 Wheels

Welcome to BF.
Moving your post to touring.

10 Wheels

120 km or 75 miles a day is Ok by me.

liverprint

even for a complete novice? how much then do you think I could potentially do comfortably per day??

spinnaker

This is not going to be one of those threads where we give advice then be admonished by the OP is it?

If 10 Wheels has done his math right (and I suspect he has) then 120km a day as a bit on the outer edge of the comfort zone for the beginning tourist and certainly for me and I have been touring for 6 years now.

But you have to remember you will be riding over all types of terrain in all kinds of weather. If you want to do this strictly as a challenge then I say go ahead and try it. Worse case you don't make it and you take the train back.

But if you want to do this as a tour then I would say it is way to ambitious. Europe is wonderful place with lots to see. You will want to slow down take your time and absorb all of the fascinating culture along the way.

spinnaker

60 miles or 100Km a day is about my comfort limit. I like to take at least one day break once a week.

But before you embark on your long journey take a weekend load up your bike and go somewhere. It will be surprising what you will learn in a couple of days. ANd you will get a feel for how long you can travel in a day.

liverprint

I suppose ill have to buy a bike first, I occasionally do half an hour on one in the Gym but thats about it

NoReg

I don't know that route, if it crosses mountains, or follows windy coasts (or flat inlands) you can find yourself with much reduced mileages. Same is true with cities, route finding challenges (thing of the past?), or depressing routes. If this is a regular bike route then read up on Crazy Guy on a bike and see what people are managing.

Touring isn't a big deal, but there are a lot of ways of running into a wall. Comfort on the bike, camping, being away from home, etc... So it is more difficult to set yourself a big task away from home than to do something more incremental. People want some kind of transformational experience, just so long as it is in the right direction. I think back to a guy we had here who talked sincerely about a world tour, starting in europe. He finally got there and it seemed as if he barely made it a few days. Couldn't even complete the country tour he was on. So some realism about whether it is something that you expect to enjoy doing, and normally complete the stuff you take on, helps.

NoReg

"even for a complete novice? how much then do you think I could potentially do comfortably per day??"

Depends on your natural ability. I was radically out of shape when I got back into cycling in my late forties. I just hit the road and by the end of the 3rd or 4th day was up to 90 miles. I have pretty messed up legs. I don't bother training at all. I used to cycle so at least I have some exposure, and I know very well how to set up the bike, how to ride, comfortable in traffic etc... But physically I was a wreck. Cycling is unique in being the single most efficient means of translating muscular strength into movement, short of being a Salmon. So you can ramp up a lot faster than you can in sports that can more easily lead to injuries. Getting a good position on the bike is key though.

bradtx

liverprint, You have 15 months with several opportunities to determine if you're able to make the trip, which sounds like fun. Since you don't yet have a bike my suggestion is to get a used touring frame as soon as possible, not only to start riding, but also to learn some basic maintenance and purchase a couple of bike specific tools. A used touring bike makes sense for two reasons; should you find you aren't really interested in cycling you won't take a big hit, if any at all when selling it off. The second reason is touring frames tend to be well taken care of.

Brad

Caretaker

The only real way to find out if you're realistic is to try.

Remember reading a journal of a guy who did this trip. Sorry cant remember where or how long it took him. Only can remember he was super-fit. Think he did it in days rather than weeks.

You should start by planning your training. Lots of cycling. Then plan your trip, route, whether it might be better going South to North due to prevailing winds etc.

Caretaker

Here's what I was thinking of.

https://www.lonebiker.dk/EHjem/nordkap.HTM

North Cape to Gibraltar in 19 days. He's in the Guinness Book of Records.

Try doing it in 18 days. Now that would be ambitious.

staehpj1

Definitely possible, but 100 km per day may be more enjoyable. It depends on the route and the rider.

FWIW, my two companions on the TA (4244 miles in 73 days) started out with only a few weeks of training that amounted to a hand full of weekend rides of 33 miles or less. So basically almost no training. They did fine, but we only averaged about 100 km per day or just slightly less (that includes any rest days or half days). The key in their case was to take it easy in the beginning and build the mileage as they went.

Personally I find an open ended schedule much more pleasant. Deadlines suck.

QueueCT

I don't really think this is about having the physical conditioning to accomplish the task. A reasonably fit person with a 15 month timeframe would be able to ride 120 km per day for a number of days barring injuries, etc. To me this is more of a mental challenge. I don't know if I could force myself to get on the bike every single morning day in and day out for 42 days without rest days, etc.

mev

+1

I don't see this far outside the normal range, if this is what one focuses on doing and one is fairly fit. There are long hours of summer daylight to help. However, I'd build up to it from mental conditioning as well as physical. Anticipate one might spend some long days in the saddle, might encounter adverse weather or a mechanical issue or two that bumps up the average remaining daily distance as well.

Part of that mental conditioning for me would to be prepared with some previous shorter trips with similar cases of pushing yourself.

Distances on my first cross USA trip in six weeks fully loaded are at bottom of following link: https://www.mvermeulen.com/bicycle.crossusa Total ride of ~5700km in similar time frame including some rest days. However, I was younger then so would be tougher to do now and I spent some longer days in the saddle. It was the mental set up to keep pushing myself that was more of an issue than physical.

MichaelW

Norwegian cycle touring can be quite tough. In the north, the distances between shops and villages can be considerable and you will be doing wild camping. There are excellent roads but if they get fast or busy or go through tunnels you may have to take unsurfaced tracks over mountains. This is all within the capability of any fit cyclist BUT I wouldnt advise starting in Northern Norway to learn your trade as a cycle tourist.
Southern Norway, below Bergen is much easier territory and regularly ridden by German pensioners, families with kids and dogs etc.
I found that journeying North, I became fitter as the landscape became tougher. Riders journeying south hit the big mountains before they were properly fit.
The weather in coastal Norway can be variable, a bit like Scotland.
You will have to factor in some rest days.

You need to become a reasonable bike mechanic, capable of replacing a spoke, regreasing hubs and mending a chain.
You need to acquire some sensible outdoor skills, lightweight-camping, navigation, basic self first aid.
The physical side is mainly about conditioning your body to being on the bike for 8hrs a day, knowing how hard you can push yourself, when to stop riding and when to rest.

The good thing about your proposed route is that if you do run out of time you can easily get home at any time. I rode North from the UK but I started late and ran out of summer just before Bergen.

irwin7638

100-130 km per day is typical for me @ 22km per hour. Any faster or longer and it starts being work rather than holiday.

Marc

liverprint

I finally bought a bike

zoltani

OK

you should know better than to say you bought a new bike on a bike forum and not post a picture!

Yan 

120km a day would be too much for me. You need a rest day every five or six days, so you'll actually be riding 145km a day on riding days. Your schedule being as tight as it is, every time you take an extra day off, you'll have to ride an extra 25km for the next six days to make it up. You could potentially end up riding 160km days for a significant portion of the trip in order to finish on time. Sounds like a drag to me.

LeeG

how old are you?

fietsbob

the climbing to get thru Norway ., up and down will tire you
such that you will miss milage goals.
flatter Denmark German north sea coast and NL will be different,
particularly if you get a favorable following wind, off the Sea..

chasm54

Then start riding it instead of asking us to speculate on your behalf. Once you are comfortable on it for a few hours at a time, do some trial tours - weekends at first, then longer if you can take a few days off work. You're in Liverpool, so North Wales isn't far away. Snowdonia will soon tell you how many miles you can handle on a tough day, as well as giving you plenty of opportunity to improve your fitness.

The tour you are proposing is practicable for someone who is fit and determined. Whether it would be enjoyable is more open to question, as taking on a schedule as demanding as that will make it more of a test of endurance than a tour. I could do it, I'm used to long tours and fairly high mileages. I probably wouldn't do it, though. I'd give myself eight weeks instead of six, and have a good time.

javal

Couldnt agree more. you need to be an accomplished "survivor" to enjoy this kind of trip. It is recommendable you got some prior skills in some of the expected areas. Biking skills should be essential.

liverprint

Wow.

A few things...


chasm54... going to do a few 30-40 mile trips around lancashire ways and then move into north wales for the climbs. going to start pushing up towards 60-70 miles over the next 6 weeks and 100 miles (above target daily trip) before christmas. Then move onto doing consecutive days. Ive got my own business so time off isnt a problem so long as im not busy!

Zoltani..The bike ive bought is nothing special, just a Pete Matthews Road Bike (Not a touiring frame as I just want to get used to being on a bike first). It would probably get laughed at so no photos!

Yan.. The mileages I stated account for rest days, but i take your point

LeeG Im 27.

fietsbob - Im not going to see much of norway, looking at goin down the east swedish coast which looks quite flat (on a map anyway)