Hello everyone!
I’m planning a bikepacking trip from the Allgäu (southern Germany) to Thessaloniki (Greece) this summer, crossing Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania along the way. I’ll start on August 1st and aim to arrive in Thessaloniki by October 1st — so about 61 days total.
Trip Overview
- Distance: ~2,340 km
- Elevation gain: ~40,000 m
- Duration: 01.08 – 01.10 (8.7 weeks)
- Rest/Chill days: ~2 per week
- Riding days: ~43–44 total (~5 per week)
Averages:
- Per week: ~270 km / ~4,600 m elevation
- Per riding day: ~54 km / ~920 m elevation
My plan is to roughly follow a route through the Balkans but re-plan each morning depending on how things feel. The trip is meant to be a balance between adventure and relaxed exploration.
Gear & Setup Highlights
- Bike + bags: Backloader, toploader, midloader, frontloader, and two forkloaders
- Camping: Tent (Nightcat), mini sleeping bag, isomat, small pillow
- Cooking: MT500 gas stove with 230 g cartridge, top mug, lightweight cookware, utensils
- Clothing: Mostly Merino gear + rain and wind protection, sandals and bike shoes
- Tools: Multitool, spare tubes, tire repair kit, brake pads, chain link, and basic maintenance stuff
- Hygiene & First Aid: Compact kit including sunscreen, mosquito spray, blister care, and basic meds
I also carry a Patagonia waterproof hippack for everything valuable or that I want on me (wallet, phone, passport, etc.).
Currently, the fully loaded bike (with 3x 0.75 L of water, no food) weighs 24 kg, and there’s still some space in the frame and top bags if needed.
Next Step
Tomorrow I’ll do a test ride (~55 km, 800 m elevation gain) to see how it feels.
Does the weight/setup seem reasonable for this distance and terrain?
Any advice or things you’d definitely change before starting such a trip?
Thanks a lot in advance for your feedback and ideas! 🚲🌍
by Woofinger
12 Comments
I hope you don’t miss that tidy german garage and have a lot of fun!
Wish you all the best!
Bosnian cyclist here! If you want any restaurant recommendations feel free to reach out 🙂
I think you’d get much better weight balance by putting on a light rack and just strapping the carrot or dryback on the rack. That kind of very high carrot at back will affect the handling especially on the downhills quite a bit.
Nice touch of matching your schlappen to the bike
Have fun! hard to give advice about gear without a full packing list, should you feel like it setup a lighterpack with placements and weights eg [https://lighterpack.com/r/bi6ieo](https://lighterpack.com/r/bi6ieo)
whats the sleeping bag and pad as your route could still get cold at elevation?
unsolicited notes: if you buy a durston tent pole it should fit in the frame bag. Snack pouches are cheap in decathlon and would give you more accessible room as that top tube bag looks quite small.
Can you give the name the bags on the bike ? I’m curious about the total capacity in liters.
Wieso willst du im heißesten Monat in die heiseste Gegend? Gottes Willen 😀 Pack genug Zeug gegen Hitze ein (sonnencreme mit hohem Faktor und/oder uv dichte Bein/Armlinge) und füll immer genug Wasser auf.
Ich wär ja Richtung norden geradelt aber oookaaay 🙂
Mach Süden lieber im Mai oder Oktober. Und versuch die Schlappen lieber mit irgendwas ans Unterrohr zu kriegen. Die hast du ja am unglücklichsten Platz was Gewicht angeht. Das könnte dir Probleme bereiten. Das Gewicht sollte so zentral wie möglich gehalten werden wenn es auch taugen und nicht nur Hipster aussehen soll.
Whats ghost model is that?
From my experiences with those saddlebags you have to stop after about 15 minuts and tighten the straps. And it will swing a lot, so expect that.
Also you’r bike will feel very sluggish. You just have to get used to the slower acceleration/braking, the slightly more effort to steer and when standing on the peddals it will also feel weird.
Same for after your trip when you ride with a bag without luggage.
Die Arschrakete würde ich mir nicht antun. Viel zu hoch, das beeinträchtigt das Fahrverhalten. Zudem bringt jeder Huckel das Teil zum Schwingen und damit Zug auf die Sattelstütze.
Besorg dir bitte einen Gepäckträger hinten. Und vernünftige lange Schutzbleche. Wenn du nach einem starken Regen durch nasses Gelände fährst, werden dein Arsch und deine Füße es dir danken.
Die 24 kg für Rad und Gepäck sind relativ gut, dafür das du mit Zelt und Co anstatt mit Kreditkarte unterwegs bist.
Für die Rückreise schau dir mal den Optima Express an. Ist ein Auto-Reisezug zwischen Edirne in der Türkei und Villach in Österreich. Ja, kostet ein wenig mehr als ein Flug. Aber nachdem Air Berlin es damals geschafft hat den Rahmen meines Fahrrad zu verbiegen, würde ich nie wieder mit einem guten Rad fliegen.
Oder willst du mit Fähre über Italien zurück?
Can have 40kg of lugage, weights 7kg ( biggest version) very stable , light rolling..
https://www.globeforyou.com/products/remorque-maina