Sparsely informed and researched, I set out to go see my brother in the Nederlands. I had been using this bike the full school year so I was endeared to the idea of taking it with me— I couldn’t possibly have known how nonsensical this choice was for long distance touring. Don’t get me wrong I managed to finish it out of stubbornness but the tips of my hands have been feeling numb for half a week now. It will eventually go away but the comfort is something you can’t just ignore when doing several weeks touring. Here’s the stats: I’m a 29 yo from Barcelona and freecamped 15 out of 25 nights. 1600km net without detours and times I took the wrong turn. I set out to officially close the trip with the famous pyramid of austerlitz built by the idle napoleonic troops, I just assumed it was done in adjacency to the battlefield but that’s in Czechia. I did visit Waterloo which is cool I guess. Anyways I did not feel like doing the green meridian route and since it was my first time and did not know what to expect as my benchmarks I aimed for light packing and canal coasting to reduce wear and tear. Still, I had to repair or replace my tubes 8 times. God bless those stickers. I only fell to the ground twice and it was car traffic erraticness which forced my handling mistake. Nothing major as the body heals astoundingly fast when your blood circulation is top notch. Speaking of urban shenanigans you will learn to fear the city glass bits but you must access the core of the towns in order to check for fresh markets and hot food. Best strawberries I’ve ever tasted in Moissac. Eat your heart out literally, try all the French cheeses and Reflets the France and stock on stoic points in waiting of the forthcoming rain for which you must account for. I advice a waterproof 3layer fit with actual mountain boots that lets you stomp high grass without paying no mind to it. For a tent I went with a tiny 1p decathlon beach sun/wind-shield since I was going for the bivouac strat and coupled with a makeshift door made of foil blanket you can endure any heavy rainstorm if you are well placed under a safe tree that won’t break upon you. Won’t be comfy and you will sleep little but feels cool in the morning. I gauge I’ve been rained on 20 or more times, 9 or so hard enough to place my quasi-tent somewhere or find me a camping. For peace of mind I used a 3liters camelback and for energy bread and yoghurt with ham or canned fish. Don’t hesitate to eat a full Pringles can if you want to break a sandwich streak. Another biketourer gifted me some electrolytes and I feel that’s a must also, ikc if overstated effects or placebo. I liked that girl and the map reflects that. We went separate ways.
It’s a formidable adventure, I recommend it. If your family worries too much about it just hook an airtag to shush them, it doesn’t really work good enough for my liking. For navigation I used google maps which is a no-no but couldn’t be arsed to be scammed 30 euro by some app (same goes for warmshowers). Planed from a physical map of France bike paths(last updated 2020). Water at https://owater.gogocarto.fr/annuaire#/carte/@50.27,4.18,10z?cat=all
For mood regulation you must trust yourself and keep calm. full price including well performing ortlieb underseat bag : 809 eur rounding up. Worth it for the joy it brings me to notice how deep up north stretches the langue d’òc continuum even if only in toponymy
by xyrymyry
1 Comment
2typos on title omfg