The Cycling Europe Podcast is back and for this first episode of 2024 we have a triple-whammy of cycling-themed chats and stories. The EuroVelo network is now 26 years old but it’s not resting on its laurels. Agathe Daudibon of the European Cyclists’ Federation is the person responsible for looking after the network and developing it further. She talked to the podcast about her background in cycle touring, her role at the ECF and how she sees the future of the pan-European network. Svetlana and Quentin, from Oxford, talk about their experiences of cycling along the coast in Croatia. And Seth provides something that he feels the podcast is missing; how bike tours can “turn into complete disasters”. His certainly have!
Hello and welcome to episode 77 of the cycling Europe podcast my name is Andrew Sykes and well it’s been a while it’s been a while since I published episode number 76 in fact it was back in November the beginning of November of 2023 so what’s that 3 months I apologize
And specifically I apologize to the people who you’re about to hear in this episode of the podcast but also to the people who listen to the podcast and the people who have contacted me saying what’s happened has it disappeared has it gone forever well no it hasn’t it is
Back with with episode 77 which is this one my excuses well I’ve got a few excuses I’ve not been very well over the winter months you can still probably hear a little bit nasle and I seem to have had that for a long long time and also I’ve been concentrating on
Finishing the book the book about the cycle that I did around Europe back in 2022 which should hopefully be published at some point in the next few months so those are my excuses but specifically these are the people I’d like to apologize to first of all agat dbom who
You’re about to hear she’s the Euro manager at the European cyclist Federation and I recorded the interview with her back in November of last year she’s talking about her role at the organization and the development of the euroo network I’d also like to apologize to spet Lana ananova who is currently at
The end of a bike ride in New Zealand along with her friend went in monaster uh they come from Oxford in England and they’re going to be talking in a monologue about cycling the Croatian coast and they sent me their monologue in December of last year and finally I’d
Like to apologize to Seth maltzman he’s the third contributor to this particular podcast and he’s from Philadelphia in America he’s a lawyer and he’s going to talk about how well his cycle tours across Europe well they’ve kind of ended in disaster um but more of him a bit
Later in the podcast but the first person on this episode of the podcast is agat do bom who is the Euro manager at the European cyclist Federation uh thank you incidentally and also apologies to these two um to Jessica casagrande and Ivan ratkovich of the European cyclist Federation who helped me arrange this
Particular interview so I should have added them to the earlier apologies she is as I said the euroa manager at the European cyclist Federation and I asked her to start by introducing Herself I’m aat I’m a EUR manager so responsible for uh the EUR team and the EUR work that the European cyclist Federation is doing um so maybe it’s good also to roduce briefly eurell it’s the European psycher root Network it’s a 25 years old project that started with some Pioneers in the
90s to connect all longdistance cycle routs throughout Europe today it’s a 17 Roots uh network uh which represent 92,000 kilometers of cycle route uh so of course it’s quite a big work to do to coordinate that network uh basically I’m in charge of the transnational coordination of of the network and we
Work together with multiple coordinators that are in charge of developing and implementing the network at a more local level but still we are in charge of the communication of the advocacy of all of work related to that um so that’s my work background and indeed I’m a cycling
Uh cyclist passionate cyclist I would say I I do enjoy uh going on cycling holidays myself and I I did some some trips longer and shorter ones uh so because I’m I have a full-time job I’m going only for two weeks or one week sometimes weakens uh those days but I
Did a one-year break in 2017 2018 and I traveled for 10 months uh doing 12,500 kilometers back then in in different areas yeah well I started in France because I’m France and I’ve cycled through Europe a bit uh to Patagonia at some point in Argentina and
Chile and I also cycled a bit in in Morocco for one months but actually most of it was in Europe also because during the trip itself being far away from our home in Patagonia cycling for long distances um I was with my partner and we realized that we wanted to use the
Time we had to actually discover uh Europe by bike so that’s why also we came back to Europe and it was a great experience to cycle using some EUR Roots but not only okay thank you so you’re from France whereabouts in France are you from I’m originally from Britany so
The West uh West part of France but before moving to Brussels to start working for ECF I was living in Leon on Euro 17 the r cyle route and from France I’m very I’m come from very close to the monelle which is EUR 4 La marim over
There very nice cyle route as well everything’s connected to youru of course you talked about what you’ve been doing in terms of cycling in recent years but have you always being a cyclist did you use a bike regularly when you were a child um I did some
Cycling at as a child but just for as a game and then when I was around 10 years old uh I moved with my family to a 20,000 inhabitant city which was a before I was living in a more rural area so I was about 10 uh living in a small
City with actually free free public transport at that time they were was of the first city doing free uh public transport but they were just a few bus lines and not connecting very well my home to where I was uh willing to go and um yeah I was an independent child and
So I got a bike quite uh during that time around 10 to go to school by bike and to go to my activities by bike so I was actually a cyclist at that period from uh 10 to 15 years old maybe and then I moved away from there I got my uh
Driving license and then I remember when I was around 18 years old I was driving to school because it was not convenient to take public transport so I lost my cycling uh habits for a while and then I did my Erasmus in Munich um in 2010 around 2010 and munic was presenting
Presenting itself as the had hop the cycl cycling capital city and there I got into cycling in Munich so that’s actually when I yeah it was a change and also I did I did my first cycling trip around those that period as well and going for the first
Time on a Cy Adventure I I was looking more for adventure than for the cycling part I just uh thought it was fun to go on a bike and I didn’t know what a Greenway was I didn’t know what a cycle route was so actually I was just
Following like highspeed routes on a map on it was really not the best thing to do uh and afterwards I realized that actually there were some cycling projects and that’s probably all that path that led me to the cycling work cycling cycle routs and cycle tourism
Business so how did you find living in Munich compared to living in uh Britany in terms of the the cycling infrastructure in terms of the attitude of people uh did you find it radically different um well I was living in Ren before which is a study studying
City um and but at that time cycling was not that well developed and yeah in Munich they were very easy cycling infrastructure it was very easy to get a bike as well and yeah I just I just started to use the bike even though uh the winter is quite cold also so the
Conditions are not ideal in the winter season but because it’s also a student uh City I don’t remember exactly why but it was just convenient to move around by bike so that’s what I did and it was the conditions were a bit better probably and also there was kind of a marketing
Strategy of the city of Munich to promote cycling to the the inhabitants so I think with my today’s perspective was quite interesting to have such a strategy quite positive so did you start working in the active travel sector immediately after having been in in Munich well I just finished my study in
European politics and I was interested in in European politics and mainly uh Regional um European politics so how Europe can support local development and when going through all the projects that were going on in Britany I realized that there was one interesting project so it was the England uh Channel France
Crossborder intera program I heard about this cycle West project that uh um the point of the project was to develop Euro one between cornw and Britany but also Euro 4 along the channel Coast in France and the continuity of this cyer root in Jersey and in South England so this
Project really got my attention because I did a cycling trip before uh going through the European projects in Britany and that’s how I started to get interested as a student I was looking for an internship I did apply to ECF at the time but didn’t got an internship
There and I continued I learned about yo and I applied to the National y coordination Center in France V terto and that’s where I started my career because I did an internship there and I stayed working 10 years uh with them developing Psy routs Euro and cycling
Tourism in France I spent a long time in in 2022 cycling around France and I think they’ve done a a fantastic job with the the named routs with the the ve the V fra The Branding I think they’ve done a really really good job and also with the infrastructure on things like
The viona I think it’s excellent do you think that things have changed radically in France since you were perhaps growing up in Britany oh definitely yeah and I I’ve seen well I’ve I’ve seen that mainly when working for V territoire I started in 2012 I left in 2022 2021
That’s very specific and it changed radically I mean it’s there has been covid in between of course but even before that the increase was huge so when I started in 2012 vitto was starting to work on a national platform to gather counting data from Auto atic
Counters on Psy Roots at that time they were a few in France but maybe around 100 or something and they celebrated the 10 years it started in 2013 this National Monitoring uh platform for counting data on Psy Roots started in 2013 they celebrated this year the 10th birthday of this platform and they
Compared the data so from a 100 counters taken into account in 2013 it grew to a thousand counters in France shared in that National platform and in terms of um of uh evolution of the traffic followed up by those uh counters it showed an increase of 75% 75% increase in numbers of bike
Counts recorded by those counters but the same counters that are still in the platform in 2023 and that were there already in 2013 one tiny example of many developments that happened in terms of infrastructure as you were saying in terms of services is also how to qualify uh services for psycher tourist along
Psycho routes but also parking facilities a lot of different solutions for cyclists for daily cyclist but also cycling tourists in terms of communication as well I guess you’ve been using France V tourism platform web platform to check the the different um cycle Roots existing in France to
Collect Jeep extracts or maybe to to get more information about the services you could meet on the road all of that together let led to it it was just a lot of developments that happened before Co and when covid happened everyone discovered that they had to change the
Their travel their tourism habits they had to consider traveling next door they had to maybe yeah just enjoying also being outside getting outdoor during their free time and fr touris were there just as an as a solution as a a very easy solution to to experience cycling
Tourism so it’s growing a lot in France but not only in Europe as well and Euro has been playing a big part of it so yeah I’m very proud to to work for Euro now and to supports the further development where cycling and cycling tourism are very high already but also
Support the development of cycling tourism and cycling in general in Albania for example we are working with Albanian country Partners or turkey we had the EUR and cycling tourism conference which is a professional conference in isir in October and it’s it’s really a pleasure to go in Turkey
In ismir to realize how quality are the cycling infrastructure Euro eight along the coast of isir it’s very great cycle route and how there is a potential to further develop uh cycling in general for all Europeans in the broadest sense that’s very inspiring I think do you
Develop all of the Euro roots in the same way or are there certain routs which you concentrate on because you know that there’s more people who are using those routs you know that perhaps there’s more support from the governments from the local organizations and are there certain
Roots that you know they exist but they’re kind of of lesser importance or alternatively do you have a uh an equal view of all of the Euro Roots well we are in charge of the transnational development of eurovelo so we are focusing on the whole network that’s our
First goal goal first mission and we are not the ones developing the r roots on the ground anyway we rely 100% on our national uh coordination centers they are key really to develop your on the ground so when we don’t have those networks we don’t have one contact
Responsible for Euro development in a country which doesn’t mean that nothing is happening on your it just means that there is no National coordination and it’s way harder for us to get knowledge to get information about what’s happening on the ground so our role is just to give visibility of all the
Efforts that local stakeholders are investing in eurovelo that’s really important to understand so where is it more difficult which areas of Europe which areas of the network is it more difficult to actually make those developments well the most challenging uh areas in Europe are um the Eastern Europe and southern Europe in I’m
Focusing here only on in terms of Ural Ro development because that’s if you don’t have a route if you don’t have a side I mean let’s be honest there’s not you know it doesn’t exist it doesn’t properly exist or you just have to go on the road and make your own trip yourself
You know you there’s there’s no quality uh apart from that being offered uh it’s those countries where euro is still a dream more than a reality even though in some areas it’s way it’s it’s already a reality actually uh so we do Lish every year a EUR root development status
Report uh which shows uh the the evolution of the development of of Euro on on this report we provide information on Euro development uh for each route and we also try to focus on the developments per country so you have a list already of where uh Euro is the
Most developed uh so the highest quality countries are uh Switzerland France and Belgium for the top top three um Estonia is also on the top four especially with very good uh Euro signage developed in the country and in the bottom of the list uh there’s of course um a lot of
European countries from the East uh for example Russia euro is going through Russia it’s a long-term project right it was it started in 25 uh when there was the hope of reunited our country to to put the Cold War on the side and to forget about all of that of course today
The the context has has changed a lot but we do we do hope that in 25 years we would be happy to have Russia on the map and there will be cycling tourism being developed in Russia as well we shouldn’t forget also that Russia has a very large
Population and if we want a global sustainability U um we need also to have russan cycling more and that’s a fact so indeed at the bottom of the list there’s um well it’s the countries where there is no Euro development today there are there is Russia in the list and Belarus
For example and uh Malta for example I’m just picking a few of them so there are some countries where 0% of Eur roots are developed at the moment but in some of them for example Romania there’s still 0% of developed sections of Eur in Romania but we have very positive
Contacts with the with the authorities in Romania we know there’s a lot of efforts invested to develop uh quality cyle boots especially the Euro 6 along the danu because the Dan is of course Crossing uh Romania making the border with Bulgaria for some kilometers um before the mouth so that that’s some
Examples the eurovilla network is is over 20 years old is it 25 years 25 yes 25 26 yeah this week’s there was a 26th birthday yes I saw I saw a tweet and some people signing something to presumably start the uh the whole initiative when it was created 26 years
Ago there were 12 13 roots and that has increased now to it’s difficult to say because you don’t use all the numbers 17 17 Roots yeah so do you envisage in the future that more Roots will be added and if that’s the case where will they be
Have you got any ideas as to where those new Roots might be in the future so indeed when the the network was launched there were 12 uh Euro Roots at that time and it was the the Pioneers drawing some lines on the map and those sometimes became reality since uh since then so
Today we have 17 roots and indeed there is a very specific process of adding new roots or extending existing routs because of course the the brands gain more and more recognition uh so the question we usually receive is why don’t I have a EUR route going through my city
And that’s a fair point H but the point of um the main goal of eurovelo as the European psych root network is to include European relevant psycho Roots so that’s we have a few criteria to uh to to explain what is a European relevant cycle rout because of course
It’s just it’s supposed to be the backbone of all psycher roots and it will never cover the the the the needs of all cyclists so in a country after taking into account your roots you should further develop cycle roots of national level to answer National needs
So to connect one city to the other at a national scale and then those should be developed at a regional and a more local level that’s how you build a proper cycling strategy and you answer the needs of all type of cyclists from the daily users to the leure to the tourists
That being said What are the the requirements of Euro so a Euro route should be at least a th000 kilometers long and should cover at least two countries and for those roots that want to join Euro we expect the highest quality standards possible because we aim also to achieve to complete the
Euroo network by 2013 today only 66% of the eurovelo network is ready to cycle uh which means that you can cycle on a route you can access the information about where to cycle and you may see your signage or national signage if we focus only on the ready to cycle
Sections with Euro signage it’s 37% of the network it’s already more than 30,000 kilometers so it’s not nothing but we are not yet to the 92,000 kilometers completed so yeah we expect high quality of psyo roots for new csyo roots to join the eurona network now to answer your question about where where
Do we see potential development well there has been a strategy adopted by yell in 2020 uh the euroo strategy 2030 to Define what’s what’s our goal what’s our overall and Joint strategy at the European level the main focus for now of euro is the quality of the network
Quality over quantity so we don’t want to cover all individual cities but we want to we are open to include more Roots especially the most the most relevant rout at the European level meaning that we strongly encourage those countries which uh capital cities are not crossed by a EUR route to consider
Building up an application together with neighboring countries and maybe suggest a new EUR to join the network so at the moment we have one candidate rule so we are considering we are working together with one candidate uh rule route it’s the Iberian cycle route maybe the future
Euro 16 this city would go would start in Lisbon then cross Portugal and Spain through Madrid which doesn’t have a EUR root at the moment and will end in pona where Euro 3 and Euro one are already Crossing so making a hub in the Iberian Peninsula so that’s one example we
Announced the official status of candidate route to the Future Eur 16 in September and we have three years maybe six years in front of us to work together with the Spanish and Portuguese Partners to make the root fulfill the requirements the quality requirements of a EUR rout so that it will really join
The network when the work will be done so that’s a long process it’s very demanding process also for the applicant fruits but also because we want them to take hero as a serious project and we want also to push the quality of the network up
We’ll be going back to my chat with agat in a few minutes but it’s interesting that she mentions the potential future euroa 16 there across the Iberian Peninsula so one to potentially add to the map in a few years time now we’re still sticking with the Euro veos we’re
Going to move and talk about Euro Veer 8 which runs from Greece all the way to the southern part of Spain into Andalucia we’re going to hear from Sana uova and her friend Quentin moncaster satana she describes herself as a Russian from Estonia and Quentin is from
Oxford he sounds like or rather he should be if he wants a new career then he should really get a job as a radio 4 announcer cuz he has a an amazing voice as you’re about to hear now they are currently at the very end of a cycle in
New Zealand I’ve just checked on their website and it looks as though in the last couple of days they’ve actually completed that cycle so I don’t know where they’re going next um I’m sure they’re going to continue somewhere else but last year they had the opportunity of cycling along the Croatian coast and
That was before they flew over to New Zealand and this is the story of how they got on so s Lana over to you hello we are Lana and queny from Oxford England we are friends and have been cycle touring together in UK and abroad for about 6 years now currently
We are in New Zealand in another adventure however this time now we would like to tell you about our trip to Croatia the winter of uh 2023 24 is meant to be the year of continuous summer and cycling adventure for us uh so we left our jobs packed our bikes and
Flew off to Croatia for a month of October to cyc from du brodnik in the South through some islands to Pula on the E Peninsula then the route would turn East uh to capital city of Zagreb from where we flew to New Zealand when we were preparing for the
Trip we saw a lot of videos on YouTube of cycling on gravel roads although is not our favorite terrain as we both much prefer smoke cruising on the TAC we mentally and physically prepared ourselves by visiting by fitting wider tires in our bikes Quentin’s bike is a
Doors’s Galaxy which has 3 to two tires uh 32 in tires and mine is a gravel bike Fuji with 42 in tires which I transformed into a Touring bike with both front and back paner racks um we arrived in Du brnik on the 1st of October um and assem all our
Bikes at the airport and then we were ready to go EUR 8 although conveniently passes the airport though um is very heavy with traffic as it only um is the only low road leading to to brodnik it is uh narrow and has a considerable section of elevation which no cycle Lane
Uh with no cycle Lane um our alternative plan was to do a loop cycle over the thear Alps I think uh Crossing into Bosnia and then descending down into dnik however this meant ascending around 14% or so uh Hills on the bikes that have just been assembled and therefore
Probably susceptible to all sorts of issues as a result as per advice of our dear friend and bike mechanic KIRO we decided to take more sensible option and take a taxi to the brck we were quoted around 100 euros by some taxi company once they heard that we wanted to
Transport two bicycles but as the destiny would have it a random taxi van driver arrived at the Cafe opposite the airport just as we walked up to it the driver proved to be very helpful man disembl back row seats for us and squeeze their bikes in in the end he
Only asked for half of their price um on the first day um we ended up soaking the sun on um Bel Beach and swimming in a very salty Mediterranean Sea in the evening we were pleasantly surprised by an orchestral concert uh which was playing on the main Square which
Celebrated the uh cre I win over de brnik Siege by the yugoslavs in 1991 we spent the first few days walking and exploring the city uh that rivaled venice’s dominance amongst other things we learned that the existing City walls were constructed mainly During the period of 13th Toth centuries and had uh
Four Strong fortres having spent few days relaxing and doing eion tourist stuff we were both eaching to go on our bikes but as but we had few issues to resolve my bicycle when loaded with Piers was shaking and I was worried that was due to overpacking although I did the only I
Did only pack the essential things for six months long trip and I found out later the instability in fact was caused by by new or lip rack pack Pier being placed across my two other paneers as per or lip’s design however the issue was solved by placing top rack lengthwise instead of sideways
Quentin’s bike however needed a new derailer altogether and whilst purchasing it he bumped into French cyclos who had not just a fully loaded bike but also a trailer with a laborador in it this acquaintance made me feel confident that my bike wobbling problem is definitely caused by wrong way distribution and not the
Amount U when we solved these issues we were ready to set off um but this didn’t really happen in the ordinary way me along the road but we had to take a boat out of De brodnik to avoid that same and only d Road which is as we’ve said
Before is the um euroo 8 deik is located on a narrow sliver of land squashed between dinaric Alps and the Sea and it’s m makes it impossible to build an alternative route the boat out of dnik uh to milet uh was our first out of many Ferry Crossings and we arrived in uh
National Park uh around the early evening and cycle to our accommodation in little F fishing Village called palache or Palace on the shore it was an idilic location to start the bike touring trip um it was a little village in the Inland Harbor with an inland
Harbor and a hill opposite side uh it was surrounded by a thick Pine Forest the reflection of which was visible in the water we took a dip in the Tranquil Sweet Sea upon rival um this fishing Village had a very quiet and relaxed feeling about it the
Local fishermen uh were coming in and out of the harbor um well past the Twilight time and then say sailing out into the open at Sunrise the following morning as we were cycling past the national information National Park Information Desk we were asked by the lady in AB Bo if we had
Tickets to enter which was a little surprising having been used to UK’s free national parks as we discovered later the entrance to all national parks in Croatia has a charge on our cycle trip through ctia we visited kirka national park with its stunning waterfalls and a paken national park with which includes
The largest mountain in the Croatian damic Alps called vbit it is also the paradise for rock climbers where they can be seen clambering up sheer Cliffs very impressive well cycling in uh creatia we passed a number of quiet roads and they had absolutely excellent surfaces we were often surrounded by Pines with very
Powerful scent uh which was getting stronger In the Heat of the day our route often went through the number of islands such as Cula um pag RAB Kirk and Crest it quickly became uh a norm to be cycling up several miles um Long Hill with steep gradients and then coming down with epic
Descents all in all we took about I think seven fairies to hop from Island to Island but the most memorable was crossing from pack to RAB where we really thought the little boat was we were on was going to cap size um the the waves were so high that they were
Actually coming into the hle we read that the cycling on pack could be um really challenging at times due to the strong Bora side wind which comes from the mountains but really we only experienced it on that um sea Crossing once we reached RAB Shore we uh made
Sure we celebrated our survival with u well the normal cake and coffee generally the very ticket purchasing process was quite straight forward forward the company yedra linia allows to book the ticket for passengers and the bike online and the most expensive one costs us 15 sorry Euros per
Person um on our tour we visited such stunning cities uh such as the brnik culus split trogir Shick zadar Pula Ravine raka and zagre um and we were traveling from south to North dire um the road connecting the estan Peninsula with Mainland um approaching Rea reminded us of the French Riviera full of
Old-fashioned chatau style houses and large hotels uh the next stretch from Rea to carach uh into the mainland we completed by train though and that’s was through rural Countryside which was very different from the Italian like Coast it definitely felt like Austria with its Alpine style houses and green mountains
At that point we were grateful that um that we had chosen the the slow train instead of overcoming these uh huge Alpine Contours uh we took the train to civat City uh located around an equal distance between the coast and the city uh of Zagreb which was a perfect place
To continue our cycle R trip uh it’s a final cycle ride towards the capital we were really looking forward to this stretch uh of root um until um uh we were chased by untethered dogs uh with the viciousness that we hadn’t encountered before and Lana even had to
Make a weapon just to uh use as a stick to scare them off we had our camping GE with us but we only camped for seven nights and that was jly to various factors but primarily the weather becoming cold overnight Sun getting at down sun setting at 6:00 p.m. and
Convenience to be close to the center when visiting a large city we did while Camp though One Night in the forest during a night of thunder and lightning and were’re pleasantly surprised to know that our tents didn’t leak and we were able to sleep through the through the
Storm it should be noted that most of the campground surfaces were quite Stony so something like a light mat and the air mattress is recommended in our experience the weather in October was gray for the first two weeks but then it cooled by a few degrees therefore we were have
Rather cycled from mid-september to Mid October um a highlight of a recycled touring trip I think um well we both think is is the food of course uh the cretian coast has Mediterranean Cuisine which offers Pizza Pasta Meat and Fish dises um however the England tends to
Have food similar to Eastern Europe with its stews and sort of heavy hearty meal meals using L and lots of black pepper paprika and garlic the most memorable food for us were the burcs which which were the pastry rolls they were delicious and they were either filled with meat or cottage cheese options
Creations love their bakeries and are frequently found on the side of the road we also learned that um there’s these Square Metal Frames which are often spotted along the road and front Gardens and they they are the hog roasting ovens which are a favorite National delicacy uh when it comes to the alcohol
Um you can’t really leave creation without trying Rocka in our case we were unexpectedly it near our last day actually to be honest um to be um which was a homemade ret by a hardware shop owner uh when we were trying to buy some items uh preparing the bikes for our for
Our next flight it was uh too impossible to refuse him uh especially as we G he’d given us put some bubble wrap for free all in all we really enjoyed our experience and proved that cycle touring in creti can be done on paved and quiet roads if you’re thinking of a similar
Journey in creation would like more detail on our trip trip you’re welcome to check on the route on Pol steps application you would like to get in touch with questions or anything else you’re welcome so to do so by emailing me on you for uniform hotel hotel alha November Oscar Victor Alpha Sierra
Gmail.com it is yanova s atgmailcom happy cycling everyone thank you and Quentin now just to clarify um the polar steps website you’ll find it if you go to PO steps.com Lanova and I’ll just spell that it’s l n a u h h a n o v a and that’s where
You’ll find information about all the cycling Journeys I have to say when they were talking about the Euro val8 it brought back memories of when I cycled the route back in 2013 and it was the second book that I wrote along the med my experiences were a mixture of
Very very good and also having food poisoning courtesy of a well I think courtesy of a very dodgy campsite on the island of PAG which is uh one of the islands that quinting mentioned anyway it’s a beautiful area I would certainly recommend it and it is actually one of
The roots that uh agat is about to mention in the second part of our chat and I asked her about the Euro conference that takes place annually um she just come back from the last one which took place in Turkey um so I asked her what the conference was all about
And what was the reason for having it in the first place well the point of the yo un cycling tourism conference it’s to to gather the leaders the stakeholders of cycling tourism in Europe and even abroad because it’s the biggest Conference of its type uh in the word so
We aim to to gather all the Specialists all the experts on psycle Roots development and cycling tourism and to gather them together so that we can share experiences share best practices in sessions uh so we we work on a program on a theme and this year’s theme was cycling A New Perspective on
Heritage so to demonstrate how cycling is a way to give access to natural and cultural heritage sites to be a part of the heritage of a country of a city sometimes so we were talking about The Branding and the marketing strategies that’s that’s another example so we do
That during three days with the networking opportunities of course and also presentations and we put people on bikes also so you have the chance during the conference to go on bike and to discover the Cy infrastructure of the hor so we did that on Euro 8 in eir this
Year the last Euro and cycling tourism conference happened in ismir and we were very happy to to gather the community there it’s a in indeed the point is to to gather all the all the ones working on developing longdistance cycle routs and cycling tourism from the public authorities public institutions to the
Private stakeholders the companies to The Advocates the one that try to push from the citizen point of view uh to develop further the projects and uh all the mixed public private stakeholders let’s say uh that also have a role also the press the media such as yourself
Maybe you will have the chance to attend the EUR conference in the future and yeah it’s very European oriented the point is not to be National focused but more broader with a broader View and to share uh knowledge yeah very good atmosphere very good feedback from the
Conference of 2020 23 and we are looking forward to next year 2024 in September we will meet in Denmark so it’s a different city in a different country hosting the conference every year and we hope that the event will grow uh that because it will means that there is more
And more interest on that topic and that we reach our goal of bringing people together bringing Specialists together and help further development further IDs further partnership to grow that’s that’s the point I would say of this conference it’s interesting that you said it was the biggest Conference of
Its type in the world and that it attracts a few people who come from perhaps outside Europe uh perhaps the the best known Network comparable Network to the euro network is the uh American Adventure cycling associations Network do you ever work with them and if you do what kind of things can you
Learn from them and what kind of things can they learn from the Euro Network well for this year’s um for this year’s conference we didn’t have representatives from the US neither from Canada as far as I know but there’s a lot of good practices to take from there of course indeed Adventure Cycling
Association is one of the oldest Association of its type and they also run the national cycer root Network in the US uh that’s a good example and we we are also checking their we site regularly to see what they are doing and probably they do the same we had
Partnerships we had joint activities in the past especially joint promotion activities and we’ve been in touch I mean we had joint events in the past even though I have to say that we are so busy that we sometimes struggle to find the time to properly connect with the
With the word of cycling uh tourism in general and that’s that’s a problem but yeah that’s a problem for me at least in Canada there’s a very good example also in Quebec well multiple good examples in Quebec laot ver the Green Road for example is a historical example of
Longdistance cyle routs and it has been developed by V Quebec for many years and we’ve seen also quite a recent developments in um was it in Ontario maybe but anyway we try to follow up on the different events happening on the same topic and we would be happy to have
American or Canadian or whatever from other continent representatives in in future EUR conference this year we had the Japanese uh Partners taking part in the Euro conference from the Japanese cycling tourism Association and we have um quite a lot of discussions with them because they would like to apply the
Euro knowledge in Japan and we were also lucky because the conference was happening in Turkey it enabled some Central Asian representatives to take part from Armenia from Georg for example if you were to choose one of the 17 euroo routes to cycle in its entirety uh
Which one would you choose and why well I wouldn’t choose I will like to cycle all of them um there’s some some of them I some sections I already cycled and I really enjoyed Euro 4 in France especially along the coast I do enjoy cycling along the sea as so along the
English Channel on your reel 4 in France or on the Atlantic coast for example in Ireland or in France as well but csyo roots are also really nice along rivers uh that I did for some sections along the duu for example in Serbia in Romania that’s really really interesting also
Because it’s quite far away from where I come from so it’s also very interesting uh so the danu cycle root is definitely one of the best uh it’s part of Euro 6 very well developed it continues also it’s the River cyle rout so it follows the danu but also the laa in France
Which is also very nice cyle route I would definitely be curious to cycle urovo 15 the ran cycle rout which is the only certified cycle route we have on the Euro Network and I never cycled it just maybe I followed a little bit the r in basil or in in Strasburg but never
Cycled it I I it could be on my bucket list for the for the next ones a less known Hidden Gem would be Euro 19 the M psycher rout in France Belgium the Netherlands I know very badly those regions I would be very happy to discover that this uh this route and
Yeah because I like the sea yo8 along the Mediterranean Coast I had the chance to to cycle a little bit of it uh in is for example in Turkey but that would definitely be on my list as well to Cycles the the Euro 8 and the more I
Cycle the more I like and enjoy cycling in mountains I I think it’s a very good uh mix it’s challenging of course but I the more I practice it the more I enjoy it as well to just go slowly uphills enjoy the landscape so I would definitely be in favor of cycling
Through uh the alss through the pnas even though it’s not accessible for all type of cyclists of course but that’s something I I do enjoy personally okay brilliant right well thank you for talking uh it’s been a fascinating chat and uh good look with the development of
The Euro Network in the future and making sure that by 20 is it 2030 the deadline yeah well the deadline it it will be just if we have the network complete then we could start do other things also so that’s hopefully just a start but uh that’s an ambitious goal
For sure okay well good luck and hopefully by 2030 uh we’ll have a completed Network all across Europe well yeah and thank you very much for your support and the the very nice um content you’ve been publishing on your website and that’s really that’s really useful
For us also to have some committed and expert people like you uh sharing knowledge and trying to to make it accessible for the for the broad public to cycle more so that’s very very useful thank you for the invitation and for for inviting me and if ever you come to
Brussels don’t hesitate to visit we would be happy to show you around the city EUR 5 in in Brussels or or even just um grab a coffee and and uh hearing a bit more about what you do okay thank you I’ll be there thank you very much have a nice
Day yeah thank you to agat for agreeing to uh have that chat with me way back in November yeah November of last year and again I apologize IAT that it’s taken me so long to pull my finger out get this podcast edited and actually upload it to
The internet if You’ got any questions about euroa the the best place to go is their website euro.com and you’ll find all the details about the roots and what have you over there now the podcast is not yet finished you’re going to be hearing from a chap called Seth maltzman in a few
Moments but he will be the final bit of the podcast so before we hear from him uh just um if you need to get in contact if you want to get in contact then you can do so by visiting cyclingeurope.org Conta and you’ll find all the contact
Details there if you’d like to support the podcast then you can do so by visiting cycling.org support and that’s always appreciated there are costs involved and it’s uh good that a few people out there do contribute on a occasional or even monthly basis to help make life a little
Bit easier when it comes to actually paying for everything and also if you like the podcast then please rate it on the platform that you’re listening on on if you hate the podcast then it’s amazing that you’ve made it this far in the podcast but uh if you hate it don’t
Bother giving it a review but if you love it then give it a rating and perhaps even a review and tell all your friends about it now we will be back soon with episode 78 okay I promise uh and it’s going to be an interview with somebody who cycled another French
Person actually who cycled all the way from France to South Korea in the summer of last year he’s actually a Scout and with a couple of friends he decided to cycle all the way to the Scout jambur so he will be episode 78 which should be available soon hopefully now Seth maltzman he
Contacted me at the end of last year he’s um he’s from Philadelphia uh in the United States he’s a 66 year old lawyer and I just reread his email a few minutes ago he said the following your podcast so wonderful but I thought I could add something you do not talk
About a lot specifically how bike trips can turn into total and complete disasters so here we go get ready to um well winse occasionally smile here is Seth’s tale of being a cyclist in Europe over the course of the last decade or so thank you for
Listening and I’ll see you in episode 78 over to you Seth my name is Seth maltzman I’m 66 years old and I live in Philadelphia Pennsylvania I started my bike touring life in 2016 when I agreed with a friend to cycle from Bordeaux along the canal
Dumi to the Mediterranean and then I was to proceed alone along the coast ultimately ending in Barcelona where I would meet my wife I’m an insulin dependent diabetic and I have sleep apnea and I need a cpat machine to sleep one of my peners was for my clothing and the second was for
All of my medical equipment neither one of us had cycle toured before and we intended to stay in hotels along the way I purchased a specialized diverge for the trip and my friend rented his bike in France I boxed my bike intending to dispose of the Box
In Bordeaux and find another bike box at the end of my journey we wanted to bike 50 to 60 km per day but on the first day we became hopelessly lost and we ended up doing well over 100 km over Hills and Valleys by the end of the third day I
Realized I had purchased the wrong bike seat as I had two Saddles sores each the size of a football it was as if someone had placed two Hot Irons on each cheek my friend carried on without me and I remained in carcassone for an additional 2 days I made it to narbone and
Proceeded alone to Barcelona I arrived in Jona and needed to purchase a new bike seat it was a Sunday night at dusk and I was driven by a cab to a bike shop approximately an hour from my hotel it was the only bike shop open late on a
Sunday I purchased a new seat and I hoped to find a taxi back as I began to walk a ferocious thunderstorm struck and I was caught outside with no cover I kept walking and I was not knowing where I was going I checked my phone for directions and I realized I left my
Phone in the cab I was lost and very wet I saw lights up ahead and with relief found an open General Store two elderly Korean women were behind the counter I asked if they could direct me to the closest train station they did not understand English and I did not speak
Korean I thought I could get my message across with body language so I thrust my arms up over my head and pulled up and down while making the sound chuga chuga choo choo at first they thought I was from another planet then suddenly one woman’s eyes got very large and pointed
To me to wait where I was I heard rustling in the back and she came out with a big smile on her face she seemed so pleased as she approached me and she thrust her hands forward and handed me a red Matchbox train I walked another hour back into town aimlessly
Walking and finally found my hotel miraculously the cab company was called and they returned my phone I learned that the Spanish were very friendly and warm people it was July and very hot but I had a pleasant ride from Jona to Barcelona at one point I made a mistake
And ran out of water in the catalonian Hills I was in a forested area on a one lane road when I saw on top of a hill what appeared to me to be a Fruit Stand I was quite nervous about running out of water but this opportunity put my mind
At ease as I reached the top of the hill I saw an elderly woman sitting next to the table she was waving at me and yelling Ola I thought how warm and friendly the Spanish people were and I imagined a sweet piece of fruit clenching my thirst as I approached on
My bike I did not see anything on the table but the woman greeted me very warmly I waved to her but carried on very disappointed and climbed another 30 minutes and saw a second woman middle-aged also sitting in a chair she also was waving at me and I was
Energized by the outgoing Spanish people so friendly she surely must have fruit once again I was disappointed and vowed never to be caught without liquids finally I descended from The Hills And as the road curved I saw a third woman very young sitting in the same lawn chair but only wearing a
Bikini she jumped out of her seat when she saw me come coming down the hill and while she was screaming Ola at me I finally awoke from my naive and realized that this was not the kind of fruit I had anticipated I had five wonderful days in
Barcelona with my wife on the first day we were walking along the beach and decided to take a bike taxi to see the sights and end up at a casino at the end of the prominade having never been to Barcelona before we thought that the 35e fee was acceptable as we approached each
Intersection the driver was calling out to his friends in Spanish look at these two idiots they paid me35 all the friends were screaming back at us to come ride with them yeah we were idiots but we were laughing and after all we were in beautiful Barcelona
When we entered the casino we were told we needed a passport to get in neither one of us had passports and we had to walk back to the hotel each day I stopped at two to three bike shops hoping to purchase a cardboard box no one claimed to have
Boxes they said all the new boxes got shipped back to the manufacturer it became a real concern and it wasn’t until the last day while at a flea market that I spied an enormous box way too wide and way too long but begged for it and the marketeer generously gave me his
Box we spent the rest of the day trying to find a cab big enough for the Box while also hunting down duct tape a marker and scissors my wife was so patient giving up a full day for me in the Heat and watching me struggle with anxiety and really bad karma I learned
Never to dispose of my box on future trips in the next 5 years I always confirmed with the hotel at the beginning of my trip that they would store my bike box for me so on my return I would have something to put my bike in
For the return flight in 2017 I planned a 5-day trip through the Netherlands my wife agreed to tour Amsterdam with me and she would fly home while I bike toured on the last day before she left I I put my bike together but for some reason my front wheel would not turn it
Was stiff as a rock I knew it had to be a problem in the stem and took it apart and for hours we tried to make it work no luck we decided we had to find a repair shop in Amsterdam because Amsterdam is bike Heaven I thought this
Would be an easy fix by a professional we stopped at five bike shops and not one was willing to work on a gravel Bike by the time I got to the fifth shop we must have exuded Bad Karma as mechanic said I don’t have the Mojo to deal with
You begging was my next approach but he sternly asked us to leave it was late afternoon and we were running out of time my last resort was to go to into a Mac Bike Shop which is a rental bike shop and I described the problem the mechanic told us to wait
Next door at a bar I ordered four ice teas and my wife had a Coke within 15 minutes the mechanic came over with a tour with a look of beer builderman on his face and said it was fixed and that will be €10 the following two years I biked
Through the Netherlands and Belgium always trying to follow World War II battlefields and historic sites I biked through the area of the Battle of the Bulge in operation Market Garden I was thrilled to see the foxholes outside of Bastone in 2020 I could not make the
Trip because of covid but in August 2021 I was determined to get my EUR biking touring fix getting the necessary paperwork from the French government was complicated and I was told I could not visit the Netherlands however I transited from Philadelphia through Amsterdam being told not to leave the airport and caught
A km flight to monilia where I intended to bike through provance I landed in monilia with my bike but none of my packs had arrived they were left on the tarmac in Pennsylvania after I landed in Millar I spent 36 hours biking in my long pants all over the city purchasing piers and
Bike clothing I’m a 2XL and not many French doors had anything remotely my size so I spent many hours riding in the sun all over molier trying to put my plans back together in my most frustrating Moment In the Heat of the second day of scaming I saw the 400 PM
Km flight I flew the day before Circle for a landing in mon piler as I was climbing climing a hill on my way to a decathlon I said to myself wouldn’t it be funny if my packs were on that plane I spent $700 that day in replacement
Equipment when I arrived back at my hotel I asked the clerk if by any chance my packs had arrived no was my answer I carried my purchases up to my room where on my bed I saw my two packs from the US I now had two of everything and four large
Paneers I traveled from mpil to ARL I was at the spot where Van go painted the rone I rode wonderful trails from AR to cavon to apt and onto aeno and Ne on my way to apt on a very nice dedicated bike trail surrounded by Roman ruins I
Decided it was time to put some music on and played my favorite 70s music on my speaker it was a long flat stretch and a couple was walking ahead of me they kept looking back at me and shaking their heads I expected the worst as I approached and they stepped aside and I
Politely said to them it’s Elvis huge smiles and a w from the couple reassured me there was a universal language while touring apt we met again and had a wonderful greeting and a long conversation provance was steeped in history and I was so pleased I made the
Trip I prefer to travel alone making my own plans stopping in the countryside when the feeling strikes me yes and Andrew there is nothing better than a bike the countryside cheese and bread my plan was to head south to the Spanish border stopping in norbon there’s a museum in the south of
Norbon to the people held in World War II camps at a location called reeval very close to the Spanish border I was at a train station in Port lauel when I realized my phone was stolen it was a major step back I had all my personal information and pass on
My phone and I was really beside myself I hoped that the iPhone protection was going to work and I was determined to contact my bank and credit card companies as soon as I could get a new phone in narbone I tried to buy a new phone only to be told by several phone
Stores that they can only sell me an internet phone with no data no international calling or texting by the way it’s not the end of the world to be freed from your phone but I still had anxiety over whether my banking information would be exposed to the the phone
Thieves the next day I learned that the Netherlands was accepting visitors from the US and I really wanted to travel to the northern part of the country and visit fand as I checked in at the Mopar airport with my bike box in hand I was distracted for a minute by the ticket
Agent examining my bike and left my wallet on the counter as I was told to wrap plastic around my packs at the time there were only two passengers in the terminal and two desk agents when I turned around my wallet was gone and had all of my money and credit cards and ID
Except for my passport and some cash which was in my pocket the police at the airport did not want to help me and told me to go back to the center of town and make a report my flight was leaving in an hour and that was not an option so I
Flew on to Amsterdam you realize that in order to report a credit card stolen you have to go through a two-step authentication process you have to have an internet connection and your phone to report anything stolen without my phone I could not report anything stolen to my bank or
My credit card companies I made one and only one smart decision in this trip and that was to make a photo copy of the front and back of all my credit cards ID and passport on oldfashioned paper and I had that with me this helped a great
Deal as I was able to get a phone in the Netherlands with a useful SIM card and I began calling the US from Holland but before I attempted to prevent the loss of my money and credit cards I stopped at a coffee shop in Amsterdam where I
Spent my last few Euros on something that would make me forget my misery finally in 2022 I made it to the North Sea and biked from Amsterdam to Shermana cou where the island is filled with World War II bunkers beautiful bike paths and wide sandy beaches with views
Keeping with my tradition of disasters I became sick with covid and spent the last three days of my trip in an in an Amsterdam Hotel I have to tell you Andrew that despite my many challenges I’m committed to return to Europe and continue with my bike touring but this
Time I will invest in an hermetically sealed recumbent Bike