Stages - Cycle Tour Europe of Europe - Map of 8,926.9 Km
July, 28
Left Milano 12:00. 32 - 33° C. To road to northern lakes. Went along Como lake. Nice mansions. Took old roads beside tunnels to avoid traffic. Many campsites. Tailwinds. Arrived campsite 8:00 PM.
91.1 KM.
July, 29
Left Dongo about 12:00. Went to bank, coffee and grocery store at the time. About 31° C. Mosquitoes in night at roulette. Flat along side of Como lake. At lunch, met an English cyclist named Leo who had just done the alps. He gave us a book. Cloudy and hot, no rain. Fairly heavy traffic. Saundra - Tirano. Spent night at Tirana in 1 star hotel. Features appear more Austrian. Fixed Patti’s chain (changed from 2nd into 1st) by moving wheel straight in dropouts.
79.9 KM.
July, 30
Left Tirana 9:30 AM. Uphill to outside Bormio at campsite. Had little cabins. Saw incredible mountain slide. Hot, but cooler once at higher elevation. Sometimes 10% uphill. Lots of traffic.
32.9 KM
July, 31
Started at 11:00. Up Stelvio pass. Small chainring on Michael’s bike loose screws. Stayed at albergo almost at top of pass. Hard, uphill ride. Walked a lot. Sunny, temperature a little cooler.
25.8 KM
August, 01
Left Albergo 10:00 AM. Got to top of pass at 12:00. Sunny. Stelvio pass more beautiful on north east side. Stayed at camping near Sluderno.
38 KM
August, 02
Left 10:30 AM from campsite near Sluderno. Climbed to top of Resia Pass - not very difficult. 1,500 m. Crossed into Austria, no problems with Austria customs. Beautiful lake - Lago di Resia. Then downhill to Reid, Austria. Very beautiful downhill section from Resia to Ried. Sunny weather. Saw German brass band in Reid.
56.2 KM
August, 03
Left Reid 11:00 AM. Followed side roads along river to Landeck for lunch. Then to Imst, uphill a bit. Weather looked like rain, so stopped at Nassereith, a camping place by a small stream. Had spaghetti and beer.
49.6 KM
August, 04
Left 11:00 AM up to Fernpass, 1,200 m. Started to rain so had lunch at top of pass. Terrible spaghetti! Then downhill to Ehrwald. Followed river to customs for Germany. Then followed bike path into Garmische. Then Oberau, Eschenlohe and camped in woods after unable to find zimmer.
77.6 KM
August, 05
Left wild camping 7 AM. Chocolat milk and sweet roll in Grissweil. Some bike paths, gentle to Munich for camping.
74.2 KM
August, 06
Day of rest in Munich. Good subway system from campsite (Thalkirchen) to downtown (Marien Platz). Saw olympic stadium.
August, 07
Left Munich 11:00 AM, followed bike trail along Isar river, 35 KM to Freising.
A little rough (not paved), gravel but good scenery and quiet.
Then to Landshut for camping - met 2 Bavarians guitar and harmonica at a little restaurant 100 m from campsite.
89.6 KM
August, 08
Left campsite at Landshut 11:00 AM. Hard time finding how to get out, no access roads. Then took highway 15 to Regensburg. Hot, 36° C. Stayed on edge of river with a very kind german family. Lots of small hills.
78.8 KM
August, 09
Left Bavarian family home at 11:00 AM. Had bavarian barbecue the night before, served us breakfast as well. Mother and son showed us the way to get started. Very hot day, drank lots of water. Followed Regen river, scenic. Walderbach - Roding - Cham. Stayed overnight in Cham. Has a central square like Spain. Had dinner at Pizzeria Sicily- 23 year old owner bragged about his Mercedes, Temperature about 35° C.
80.2 KM
August, 10
Left Cham 11:00. Bought new sicle lock. Not too hot (under 30° C). Crossed czeck border. Real difference - like passing through time warp. Poor services, run down buildings, roads. Prices cheap. Narrow roads, lots of trucks on red route. Stayed in camping near Pilsen.
103 KM
August, 11
Second day in Czeckoslovakia. Left Pilsen about 9:30. Bought yoghurt instead of milk. Took small roads, very winding and hilly. Went 30 KM in circle. Temperature cooler, low 20s. Roads in some places ver narrow. Road from Pilsen to Prague at bit dangerous in places, but after Zdice last 30 KM to Prague is great, no traffic on secondary road near freeway. Met some English truckers who were transporting relief food to Yugoslavia. Stayed at camping close to Prague centre.
109.1 KM
August, 12
Day of rest in Prague. Walked around town Saw Helmut Kohl. Good pedestrian stroll with lots of tourists up and down bridge. Tourist parts of city much more expensive. Hard party with other Italians at campsite late into night.
August, 13
Left Prague about 9:30. Spend a lot of time trying to get out of town. Once out of town it was fairly flat, a little pass to about 300 - 400 m, then downhill mostly to Telpice. Very windy at times. Followed flat plain with wheat fields. Road busy, narrow but not impossible. Lots of people selling potatoes, wine etc. on side of road.
114.8 KM
August, 14
Left 11:30 from Replace. Uphill a lot. Stopped at small country inn about 20 KM south of Dresden run by a guy named chef. A little rain, cold.
34.3 KM
August, 15
Left small Inn at 10:30 AM and rode into Dresden. Very rough roads due to cobble stones. Hard on bikes. Had difficulty finding zimmer, then just at dusk found a great room in Zebeltitz. Saw festival. Saw lots of Soviet military. Weather cooler.
92.9 KM
August, 16
Left 10:00 AM from zimmer in Zabeltitz. Fixed Michael's front wheel, fixed Patti's pedal. After 25 KM, stopped at a nice lake for 1 to 1.5 hours. Terrain flat, some pine forests-tree farms. Roads improving, cobblestone once you are in the centre of small towns. Got to Juterbog.
94.4 KM
August, 17
Day of rest in Juterbog. Cashed $500 in travellers cheques. Patti had swollen eye from mosquito bite. Found doctor in town. Got prescription, refused injection (probably cortisone). Rained for a few hours.
August, 18
Took highway 101 to Berlin. Basically a good, flat road, althogh cobblestones found in middle of every town. Road cut out at freeway so had to make detour.
90.6 KM
August, 19
Day of rest in Berlin. Walked around city, saw wall etc.
August, 20
Left Hotel Ibis about 11:00 AM. Passed outer wall. Flat road, very rough roads initially, some wind. Traffic generally light on yellow road. Interference on bike computer from radio station.
90 KM.
August, 21
Left camping near Zechlinerhutte about 12:00 noon. Roads not bad, but alot of wind. Blown off road at times by big trucks. Flat terrain, lots of pine tree farms. Cloud, a little colder. Saw lots of german cyclists. Lots of lakes, camping.
101.7 KM
August, 22
Left 11:10 AM. Flat. Some wind. Made it to Rostock then Warnemonde, very beautiful. Walked about 8 KM due to poor roads. Had wine at campsite with two east german medical students.
96.6 KM
August, 23
Left about 10:30 AM. Caught ferry for exact connection to Denmark. As soon s we boarded ferry, heavy rain began. Arrived in Denmark after 2 hours. Cold, drizzle and wind. Flat, excellent bike path system in Denmark. Camped at Vordingborg.
75 KM
August, 24
Left Vordingborg 11:10 AM. Tailwind to Copenhagen. Got a little bit lost trying to go around town. Stayed at camping in Skodsberg.
135.3 KM
August, 25
Left Skodsborg 09:15 AM. Rained most of the day. Road with american Tom from New York. Caught ferry at Helsingor to Helsingborg, Sweden. Arrived at 12:00 noon in Sweden. Then wen north. Found great cycle for the last 25 KM. Stayed at Halmstad.
134.5 KM
August, 26
Left Halmstad about 10:50. Followed cycle along the coast to just outside Kungsbacka where we lost cycle route. Weather about 20° C, a few showers, cloud, a little sun at the end.
151.7 KM
August, 27
Left camping at 12:00 noon. Lots of rain. Coast route for cycling after Gothenburg. Made it to Kungalv.
64.2 KM
August, 28
Left hotel at Kungalv at about 11:00 AM after dispute RE telephone bill. Found bike trail Skordcyclist or something. Beautiful scenery, a little showery to Fiskebackskil. A few small hills, otherwise flat. Over bridge.
108.8 KM.
August, 29
Left hotel in Fiskebackskil 9:50, had to wait till for ferry to Lysekil, then on road at 11:00 AM. Followed cyclosparet bike trail then regular roads to Tanumshede. Lots of rain, stopped at dumpy hotel. Terrain more or less flat, a few small hills.
79.5 KM
August, 30
Left Tanumshede 09:00 AM, caught ferry at Stromstad 12:00 for Sandefjord, Norway. Sunny in the morning. About 14 - 15° C. Pedalled S/W to Larvik.
57.3 KM
August, 31
Left Larvik 10:30 AM - Did banking, cut map. Had to zig zag along coast a lot. Cloudy with sunny periods. A few showers. Lots of small hills.
71.9 KM
September, 01
Woke up 08:30 . Left Rognstada Camping 09:15 AM. Followed side roads to ferry at Kragero, very beautiful, like BC although many small hills. Stayed at small room in hotel at Arendal.
115.4 KM
September, 02
Left hotel in Arendal about 10:00. Very small town, slept on army cot. Road narrow and lots of traffic. Weather a little chilly but warm in the sunshine. Hand nice hotel in Kristiansand.
72.6 KM
September, 03
Took ferry to Hirtshals, then training to Arhus, Denmark. Trains took bikes in luggage cars etc. no problem.
September, 04
Took train from Arhus - Hamburg. Then Hamburg - Amsterdam. 11 or 12 trains altogether because of bikes, very tedious.
September, 05
Left Amsterdam about 12:00 noon. Heavy rain to Haarlem. Then down to Dirunell an amisent park and campsite.
65.9 KM
September, 06
Left camping 10:00 AM, went via Rotterdam to Breda. Slightly windy. Brick bicycle paths difficult at times. Gouda cheese in windows. Sunny. Temperature about 15 - 16° C.
95.2 KM
September, 07
Left Breda at 12:00 noon, sunny at first then a little showery. Via Antwerp to Brussels. Flat until Brussels, then hills.
101.8 KM
September 08
Day of rest in Brussels.
September, 09
Left Brussels about 09:45 AM, took 1.5 to 2 hours just to leave the city. Then to Mons and on to Maubeuge, France. Wanted to take train but they would not accept bicycles at train station. Light hills, about 15 - 16° C. Some light showers.
88.9 KM
September, 10
Left 10:00 AM from Maubeuge. Sunny more or less, 14 - 15° C. On to Laon. Great 12th century cathedral at Laon Much less expensive in France. Not much room for bikes on the road.
99.2 KM
September, 11
Left 09:45 AM from Laon hill town. Followed country roads to Sezanne.
116.4 KM
September, 12
Left 11:15 AM from Sezanne. Went to train station at Nogent-sur-Seine and tried to catch training, Patti was so tired of the “boring roads”. Patti did not like no views, boring fields everywhere”. Stayed at camping at Sens. Wind.
85.7 KM
September, 13
Left camping at about 11:30 - 2 Americans. Sunny, small hills to Varzy via Auxerre.
118.2 KM
September, 14
Left camping at Vary 11:00 am, had big breakfast from bakery - meats, pastry. Small hills, sunshine via Nevers to Moulins. Navigating is France is easy without detailed map, just follow the “D” roads. Use sun, wind direction as aid. Compass would be a good idea. Patty: “big hills.”
112 KM
September 15
Left 10:00 from Moulins. Followed farm roads initially. Then Vichy, Puy-Guillaume and Clermont-Ferrand. Small, old mountains. Temperature about 22 - 24° C, sunny.
132.9
September, 16
Left Clermont-Ferrand 09:15 AM. Lot of zig zag in futile attempt to parallel Peage. Frustrating day, cloudy becoming sunny. More hilly but good and flat in valley bottom along river.
99.7 KM
September, 17
Followed hills of central massif inland to Grandieu at a lovely country hotel. Hot.
83.3 KM
September, 18
Left Grandieu at 9:00 AM on a beautiful fresh sunny morning. Followed flat plateau. Populated, pine forests. Then steep descent down to Mende. Then uphill to Florac, down and on to Alès.
157.6 KM
September, 19
Left Alès about 11:00 AM. Hot sunny day.
Montepelier, Sete.
107.3 KM
September, 20
Sete to Perpignan.
125.6 KM
September, 21
Entered Spain. Talked with Belgian old man.
85.1 KM
September, 22
Llanca - Palamos. Windy.
92.5 KM
September, 23
Palamos - Barcelona
115.1 KM
September 24
Day of rest, ferry to Mallorca 8 hours. Stayed in Palma.
September, 25
Palma - Santanyl
66.9 KM
September, 26
Sentinel - Can Picafort
82 KM
September, 27
Can Picafort - Platja Palma
Had trouble finding airport with bike - everything for autostrada. A little windy. Nice hotel - San Diego.
87.2 KM
September, 28
Stayed at beach at Palma
September, 29
Took ferry from Palma to Valencia
September, 30
Valencia - campsite at Denia. Sunny 28 - 32° C. Flat, palm trees. Dead dogs, lots of orange groves, some wheat. Easy wide road.
September, 31
Jenia - Cap de la Nao campsite to just outside Villajoyosa. Climbed to 300 m at first. Windy roads to Capo then fairly flat to Villajoyosa. 25 - 28° C. Sunny, very dry mountains. Cats. Dog pissed on our tent.
93.7 KM
October 01
Villajoyosa to motel just after Torrevieja. Mainly flat - a few hills at beginning. Sunny. Saw cotton plants. Dates, Figs. A little wind.
94.2 KM
October, 02
Left motel outside Torreveija about 11:00 AM. Flat, went for swim, hot, 28 - 30° C, then uphill 380 m to campsite just outside Mazarron. Dry, wind. Nice swim camping.
93.2 KM
October, 03
Left camping just outside of Mazaronne at about 10:00 AM. Sunday, everything closed. Had pudding and cakes for breakfast. Went up about 500 m through beautiful, dry roads inland. Little traffic. Stopped at hostel in Garrucha. Very windy, the worst we have had. Met Italians from Piacenza.
95.4 KM
October, 04
Left hostel at Garrucha about 09:30 AM.Then we went inland to Almeria. Initially had trouble being close to freeway. Sunny, a little cooler (25 deg. C or so). Very dry, arid landscape. Not a lot of population from Garucha to Almeria. Very windy, into headwind most of the day, made for difficult cycling. We were not impressed with Almeria.
103.4 KM
October, 05
Left Almeria about 11:00 AM. Uphill inland to Gador, left and up more or less continuously to Laujar de Andarax. Dry. Interesting - few cars, lemons, almonds, olives, oranges. Lots of horses and donkeys. Nice hostel.
69.2 KM
October, 06
Left 09:30 Laura de Andarax. Downhill for about 15 - 20 K to Ugijar, then mostly uphill to Trevelez. Oranges, limes, lemons give way to acorns, almonds, popular trees and pine forests. Very quiet road, beautiful panoramic vistas. Patti had flat tire. Slow going, but highly recommended. Stayed at hostel. British girls were cooking toast. Trevelez is the highest elevation town in all of Spain at 1476 m.
68.2 K
October, 07
Left hostal in Trevelez 8:30 or 9:00 AM, but they were not there until 10:00 AM. More or less downhill to Orgiva, lunch. Rained. Then to Motril via Lanjaron. Bannanas. Stayed at camping Almunecar. At little cold in the mountains, 12 - 14 deg. C. Warmer on coast.
89.5 K
October, 08
Left camping with wild birds at about 10:30. Up and down, some hills, 2 or 3 tunnels. Otherwise flat to Malaga and on to hostal in Torremolinas. After Malaga, very hard to stay on road because it is so busy, so we went to beach and "bushwhacked". Camping in Spain opens about 09:30 AM.
94.1 K
October, 10
Extremely difficult riding day from Torremolinos to camping just outside of Marbella. 3 flat tires due to glass that was discovered inside tire. Freeway "auto via" you can apparently ride there but extremely dangerous due to narrow margine on road. High traffic volume, high speed traffic. No other roads available, you have to stumble along, walk etc. on road margins and through towns. People with TV too loud.
39.5 K
October, 11
Left camping outside Marbella at 10:30 AM. Followed busy N road along coast to Gibraltar. Roads and traffic gradually improves. Crossed runway at Gibraltar airport.
89.7 K
October, 12
Left Gibraltar early AM, caught ferry to Tangers, Morocco. Met nice Italian guy who was looking after an old lady.
27.6 K
October, 13
Stayed overnight in Tangers, then took ferry back to Algeciras and stayed in a colonial type hotel.
October, 14
Algeciras to Tarifa, then Santa Maria. There were a few passes to Tarifa (350 m) then more or less flat to Santa Maria, camping, warm and sunny. Wide shoulders on road, a little rough in places. Had a flat tire. Met an american who said we were at the same Santa Maria that Columbus had departed from 500 years ago, since it was the 500th anniversary 1492 - 1992.
140.3 K
October, 15
Porto di Santa Maria to Seville. Mostly flat, a few small hills. Dry. Cotton farms and olives. Cooler, 15 - 17 degrees C. Some rain. Great architecture in Seville.
116.7 K
October, 16
Day of rest in Seville. Heavy rain in the morning. Orange trees in the streets.
October, 17
Left hotel about 10:30 AM. Talked to English couple just outside expo site. Cool, windy day. Flat terrain. Some wheat fields, orange groves.
101.3 K.
October, 18
Left 1 star hotel in Heulva at 09:00 AM. Rained heavily. More or less flat with tailwind to Faro, Portugal. Can't take bridge on main road, you must take ferry from Ayamante.
117.5 K
October, 19
Rained heavy at night in Faro. Flooding on roads. Let 11:00 AM. Hilly, 100 m to 200 m hills. Very unpopulated. Rain with showers. M had a flat tire from broken bead. Found rooms to stay at in bar at almodavor, remember to just ask if you need a room. Cork trees, eucalyptus, oranges and lemons at lower elevations. Very little traffic, poor roads.
Dist 76.3 K
October, 20
Left bar at Almodovar at 08:45 AM. Road was smooth and flat initially but became very rough with cobble stones in places. Not too much traffic, although more than in the south. Best and worst roads in Europe. Chilly in the morning but OK in the afternoon.
145.3 K
October, 21
Left Best Western Hotel in Evora at 09:30 AM. Saw some sights. Road flat, cork and nut trees, lots of hand held ploughs. Stayed at Romanesque hotel in Merida. Would highly recommend Evora. Some showers.
165.9 K
October, 22
Left Merida at 09:30 AM. Stopped at cycle shop for some spare patches, glue, tube, tire and oil. Friendly shopkeeper but no clue about cycle touring. Road was very good, wide margin and flat. New N-Roads under construction with nice side roads for cycles and farm trucks. Countryside was flat with some boulders, small hills. Computer dead.
117.8 K
October, 23
Left Jarceijo at 09:00 AM. Sunny, tailwind. Slight climb to 600 m then flat to Santa Ollala hotel with English speaking owner. M had flat tire. Quite scenic country at times. New highway being built that will have a nice side road running beside it.
149.3 K
October 24
Left roadside hotel Santa Ollala at about 09:30 AM. About 20 degrees C. Had lunch in sleepy Spanish town with old men watching and kids playing instruments in window. Flat, N road, margin in poor shape. Had difficult time navigating the periphery of Madrid. Stayed at 3 star hotel Alcala.
123.4 K
October, 25
Left 10:00 AM hotel at Alcala, talked with a nice waiter who was a pilot at breakfast. More or less flat, a few hundred metres of climbing, with some great Nevada type terrain. Stayed at pension in Arcos de Jalon. A little chilly at night.
137.7 K
October, 26
Left 09:00 AM from Pension Jalon. Fresh and cold in the morning, warm when sun came out. Some hills and spectacular scenery. Unpopulated, N road is OK.
146.4 K
October, 27
Left 09:30 AM Zaragoza. Sunny and warm day, about 19 - 20 degrees C, mostly flat, descended into and out of a few valleys. Tailwind, dry, desert like. Stayed at a little roadside hotel just outside Lleida. Lots of truck traffic.
138 K
October, 28
Left 09:50 AM from 1 star hotel Lleida after huge hassle RE Amex. Took C-1313 to Oliana - nice road, good margin, smooth. A few hills and climbs. More empty terrain - seems good for wild camping. Similar to rocky mountains in Canada.
108.3 K
October, 29
Left Oliana 09:30 AM. Went uphill a few hundred metres to a large dam and lake. Not overly strenuous cycling in valleys and along river to Puigcerda. Great views. Saw ultra-light gyrocopter operation. A little rain. Stayed in 3 star hotel on French-Spanish border. Fixed broken chain link by shortening chain.
90.4 K
October, 30
Left 09:30 from hotel in Puigcerda. Some uphill for a few hundred metres to 1,500 m pass. Then downhill in cold wind to Perpignon. Once in France, very narrow road shoulder. Great scenery through Pyrenies.
100.2 K
October 31
Left Ibis hotel in Perpignon at about 08:30 AM. Strong winds from the North East. More or less flat. Did some night riding. Patti fell. Stayed at Hotel Campanile in Balaruc.
143.4 K
November , 01
Left hotel Campanile in Balaruc 08:30 AN. Wet, rainy day. Everything got wet, water pooled in panders. Got dark early, maybe 6:30 PM. Got stopped by autostrada 5 K from destination. Staye at Campanile in Arles. French drivers give very little space. In France, shoulders on N roads are very narrow. Generally flat, wind growing country.
110.6 K
November, 02
Left 09:45 Am from Arles campanile. Flat, relatively easy riding to St. Maximin. Cloudy 10 - 15 degrees C. Double flat tire for M due to poor brake adjustment. Stayed in hotel in St. Maximin.
117.4 K
November, 03
Left St. Maximin 09:30 AM. Sunny, warmish fall day. Flat, shoulders not too bad. N-7 to Frejus, then nice coast road N98 to Cannes.
123.5 K
November, 04
Left 08:15 AM hotel in Cannes. Very scenic, great views to Imperia, Italy. Roads a little rough in Italy.
124.4 K
November, 05
Left Imperia at 09:00 AM. Followed coast along riviera. Several hills nice beaches, date palms, bananas. Climate still OK for sun tan on beach. Lots of cyclists. Climbed uphill from Genova to about 500 m, then downhill to Ovada.
138.9 K
November, 06
Left 07:30 AM from roadside hotel in Ovada. Foggy most of day, a little sun, flat then Milan.
142.3 K
102 days in total, 3 months and 8 days
13 days of rest or ferries-trains, average daily ride about 90 K per day
8,926.9 K in total