Bike to the Sea – and Back | 4-Day Bikepacking

4 days from the Austrian Alps to Italy’s Adriatic Sea — gravel, big climbs, coastal finish.
Most of the gear is relatively low budget from Decathlon.

Part 2 of this Trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsUSVDOvwtk

I want to ride my bike all the way to the ocean. Driving up and down like crazy and then back. Eat, sleep, ride, repeat. That’s nice. First, of course, I have to pack these things onto this bike. Usually I’m not much of a biker and I also never rode such long distances, but I hope I’m up for the challenge. I’m pretty much exactly 2 hours on the way now. I try to always hydrate and I also eat some stuff, our bars and like dried fruit and stuff like this. So, hello hello hello. They have electric bikes. Yeah. Anyway, let’s keep going. I think I’m approaching the border between Austria and Italy. Making some progress hopping over the border. So, that’s the border. It’s extremely unspectacular, which is nice. Now we are in Bella Italia. [Music] [Music] The break felt good. I feel like a new person for now at least. Let’s see how long it lasts. Well, the entrance into a tunnel. Oh, there’s a car coming. [Applause] Yeah, I was a little worried because I don’t have any lights, but I think it’s bright enough here. They should be able to see me. I’m breathing heavily because it’s getting steeper. This is now the steepest part for today. It’s steep, but the good part is [Music] It’s actually not that steep, but I’m still in the first gear. So, that tells you everything about my bicycle muscles. Next country is Slovenia. And that’s the crossing in the background. Don’t you see the mountains already? Again, not very spectacular. One police car there and that’s officially Slovenia now. [Music] Descent. Very nice mountains. Woohoo. [Music] Really nice descent. Now I’m in a little town in Slovenia which I don’t know how to pronounce, so I won’t even try. Look for a supermarket. Go buy some dinner and breakfast. So we came from the mountains there. That was the awesome descent. And now we continue this way and then finally this direction. And that’s where we I will look for a a spot to sleep. Standing on a bridge and just looking at some people in the river, enjoying the water, enjoying their freaking life. Finally, we have some gravel, which is good because I got this so-called gravel bike, but I was riding all day long on asphalt. So, at the end, I got the right bike then. Nice. I’m actually searching for a suitable spot. It’s very very open. I want to stay hidden. So yeah, it’s not bad. I will take this spot. Go get the bicycle. First thing I need is a seat. I should have brought some slippers in order to save the weight, but I think it would have been a good idea. Next step, cooking the tent I will just build when it’s getting tired. It’s wild camping stealth mode 101. At the moment with all those different bags, it’s a little bit complicated for me because I don’t remember where I put what. So, I have to open all the bags and I need all the bags. And I’m used to have one big bag, the backpack, and there I have my system. But I think once you do that a little bit more often, you will also create your own system here with this thing. So, it’s just you get used to it. But for right now, yeah, I’m not used to it. I never thought there is such a thing as too much cheese, but this is too much cheese. [Music] Today this was 90 kilometers, so not even 100. And it was pretty good. I felt good enough. My legs are good. The only weak point is really my my butt, my rear. Yeah, I’m not used to it to to sit so long, but for now it’s okay. So, we’ll see. It’s October now, so it gets dark very quickly, but that’s fine. I’m tired. This was a good start into this trip. I’m really curious on how I will feel tomorrow. We’ll see. Good night. Good morning. I slept pretty good. It is quite wet obviously next to the river, but it’s also fall season, so you can see the the mist and everything in the air. Also, the tent is super wet inside and outside, but it’s all good. I make some coffee. I have a little croissant and I’m waking up slowly. I just wanted to mention that in a river bed, it’s all it can be very very dangerous to sleep in. Some rivers they have like gates and they open them periodically and then lots of water can pass and if you are on one of those rivers that can be very dangerous. Also, if it’s raining somewhere in the mountains, doesn’t have to be close to you, but it can be far away raining somewhere in the mountains, then it can be also dangerous because lots of water can can come your way. And the third thing is after the winter, in spring when the snow melts, of course, the rivers carry much more water. All those things, please keep this in mind if you ever want to uh camp close to the river. It can be very dangerous. Thank you. It felt like an eternity to get ready here with the bike, but I did it. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Let’s go. Day two. [Music] Today is a little bit longer, but there’s less elevation, so should be fine. I think I will ride for 8 hours and then the destination will be the ocean. And I have the sun directly in my face. Where are my sunglasses? That’s where I also noticed that my system is not very well very good yet because I took off the sweater and now I have to undo the whole thing because I don’t want to put too much stuff in my backpack. The backpack should be as light as possible. So yeah, still working on it. A little downhill section in the fog. Woo! That will wake me up. It’s typical fog weather. Now, right now, I don’t mind so much, but uh when I’m at home and I wake up in the morning and there’s fog, I don’t like that at all. The real reason why I’m here is not the food. It’s this It’s a really nice area here. I mean, look at the color of this river. Unreal. I’m not really good in riding handsree. Got to practice a little. Right now I’m on a beautiful bicycle lane next to the river. The river is just beautiful. It’s a really enjoyable experience. Oh, I have so much weight on the front that I have to be really careful to not roll over. Got to move my butt backwards. Oops. Wow. It’s a really nice area here. I think I went the wrong path somewhere because that doesn’t seem suitable for road bikes or gravel bikes. Well, I just checked. I’m definitely on the wrong path. I’m on some kind of mountain bike trail. My road would be on the other side of the river. So, I have to follow this for a couple of kilometers and then I can go back to the to the normal route. But as long as it’s like this, it’s totally fine. I back to the normal path. It was quite a detour right now. It goes up and down and all the while I’m pedaling. That’s all it is, folks. That’s all it is. Before I continue through the next city, I will take out my tent and dry it. [Music] I chose a good place right next to bees and hornets and everything. It’s like um how do you call that? Beekeeping hut. So yeah, that’s interesting. But they’re calm. So all good. I’m pretty much exactly 6 hours on the way now or 6 and 1/2 with breaks. So far everything is good, but I can tell. Yeah, it’s a little it’s getting a little bit more demanding especially with the heat. But so far so good. The tent will dry a little bit more, but in 5 minutes I think I will be ready to go again. I was already in the middle of the city in the supermarket to get some water and stuff. Then I realized I lost my microphone. Change gears. And now I’m going back in the hope that I find it there where I put up the tent. And then I hope it is there. Ding ding ding. I lost this damn thing now already the sixth time or something. I have to think about a different strategy for this one. Great that I found it. I’m happy. Right now I’m riding through the city and it’s not my favorite part, but we got to cross the cities also. Luckily, it’s a small one in a different city, bigger city. I think I would get a heart attack, but this one seems good. I’m really thankful for navigation. All kinds of navigation. Doesn’t matter which one. It makes my life so much easier, especially through cities. And this one seems to be a bigger city than I first thought. What’s that? Is that a Oh, that’s a crossing. Border crossing. That’s interesting. Yeah, I guess I can just cross here. Okay, now I’m in Italy. I was not even aware that there’s a border crossing. I’m just following the blue line here on the navigation. Last shopping for dinner. We get closer, but it’s not close enough yet. [Applause] I was at this at the beach right now, but it’s a really long path down and lots of stairs and I’m here with the bike, so it’s too far. So, I have to think about a different plan. I really tried everything to find a freaking spot to put my tent, but there’s a cliff on this side. There’s no place to put the bicycle and it’s also very busy as you can tell by the traffic. The gizz is I I got a room and even that was difficult. Well, that’s a good news. I have a room even though I didn’t want it, but I wanted to wild camp directly on the beach, but that’s what it is now. So I have to ride 30 minutes in this direction, which of course tomorrow I have to go the other direction. At least now I have accommodation. That feels good. It feels better than like wishy-washy not knowing where to put the tent. It’s just too busy here. Too much civilization. And also I should have planned a plan B, but I guess my plan B was to take a room. So plan B in action. Feels good to to make a decision, you know, because sometimes you’re kind of like caught in this indecision. Boy, I’m tired. I’m so happy when I’m in my bed right now. I’m so hungry. It’s unbelievable. And I ate so much. 7 minutes. Seven freaking minutes. You can do it, bro. Now there’s a tunnel and I have no lights. What the heck? Freaking beginner. I was also sweating so much. I think I I lost all my electrolytes. Oh my god. Holy Now I’m here where I never wanted to be. On the walking path with thousands of people, but it’s beautiful. [Music] Reception is just busy right now. Chewing down a snack. Wow. Just in time. And now [Music]