If you could tour a country

The spirit of Grav-lo-cross. No but seriously, cyclocross and gravel go here!

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Kastrup
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 12:00 pm
Location: Aarhus, Denmark

by Kastrup

I think i have made a decision as far as the location goes. I'll probably take a train from Aarhus to either Basel or Munich and go from there. Would like to end up down and around Stelvio as i have always wanted to climb that.

I now have to consider if i go with a lighter setup and stay at hostels/hotels or equip myself with a tent, sleeping bag and such. Leaning towards the hostel/hotel option as i think that will be slightly cheaper and enable me to focus more on riding during the day. I just keep wondering whether or not i can just rely on finding a place to stay when the day ends or if i'll have to book in advance.

Any tips regarding my dilemma?

/Emil
"Stay cool and try to survive" A. Klier to the other members of the Garmin classics squad the night before P-R.

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mattr
Posts: 4671
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:43 pm
Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

Take a bivvy bag and sleeping bag.
If the weather's good you can eat somewhere and then doss down nearly anywhere. If the weather's bad, find a hostel.
Or just use hostels if you want to a) wash kit or b) leave your kit somewhere while you do a specific climb/route one day. Most hostels will let you do things like that.
Just need to get a biggish saddle bag and/or a bar bag. Either revelate design, alpkit or something from one of the big manufacturers would do nicely. Could probably sell it on afterwards to recoup some of your costs.

We bought a load of kit to do mtb bivvying this summer (revelate designs saddle bags, dry bags and handle bar frames, bivvy bags and a tarp plus a new camp stove) but it turns out we should have bought kids clothes, diapers, stroller and a couple of cots!

It all packs down far smaller than you'd expect!
If you need any links etc send me a pm. I did masses of research before I bought. Even tho it was eventually wasted :noidea:

User avatar
Kastrup
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 12:00 pm
Location: Aarhus, Denmark

by Kastrup

I'll probably go with a front or rear rack and a set of bags to match. Great idea with a bivvy bag as it enables me to sleep outside whenever i feel like it. Does anyone know the rules on staying outside dedicated camping spots around europe?

/Emil
"Stay cool and try to survive" A. Klier to the other members of the Garmin classics squad the night before P-R.

mattr
Posts: 4671
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:43 pm
Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

You'd have to check country by country. I know some have total bans in some areas, but the police turn a blind eye. Other areas will enforce it rigorously.

The "usual" caveats apply, if you are in the middle of nowhere, keeping yourself to yourself, they'll usually be fine about it, if you doss down in the local equivalent of the tivoli gardens, and get drunk/obnoxious, you'll get busted!

Oh, some campsites have a corner for bivvying as well, might be a search to find them tho (last I saw it was only 5€ a night). Could take a tarp instead/as well, can then use your bike to form the frame of the "tent". (There are plenty of other pictures around)
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RussellS
Posts: 916
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:31 am

by RussellS

Kastrup wrote:I think i have made a decision as far as the location goes. I'll probably take a train from Aarhus to either Basel or Munich and go from there. Would like to end up down and around Stelvio as i have always wanted to climb that.

I now have to consider if i go with a lighter setup and stay at hostels/hotels or equip myself with a tent, sleeping bag and such. I just keep wondering whether or not i can just rely on finding a place to stay when the day ends or if i'll have to book in advance.



21 years ago when I rode around Europe, hostels were everywhere. But there may be limits on age. They are designed for youth, under 21 or so. Some may not accept old folks. You can get a guide to all the hostels from the hostel association. In the US its American Youth Hostel. They had the Europe book. But in northern Italy and Austria and Germany, there were also lots of pensiones. Cheap motels/rooms to stay in. Every town I came to had one of them. No need to book anything in advance.

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