First “credit card” overnighter: Zurich to Schaffhausen loop

I just came back from my first bikepacking trip ever!

On my first day, I went from Zurich to Stein am Rhein (Swiss regional route 45) and then to Schaffhausen (Swiss national route 2, EuroVelo 6). On the second day, I followed the Rhine until Eglisau (Swiss national route 2, EuroVelo 6), then headed back to Zurich (Swiss regional route 29). Here is the route on Komoot.

This trip was a bit improvised since my wife and kids were away for the weekend. I decided to use the gear I already had and not buy too much new stuff, since I don't know when I'll get the chance for another trip.

I used my phone for navigation (with a battery pack) and my Ortlieb Vario 26L backpack/pannier for my clothes and essentials. I only bought a small handlebar bag from Decathlon (this) to keep small items handy (like the battery pack, keys, wallet, etc.).

I also decided to skip buying camping gear for now and just found a cheap place to sleep (as cheap as it gets in Switzerland, at least!).

Overall, everything went great, despite a few learning experiences:

• My old battery pack died on the first day when my phone was at 30%. I stopped at two places to buy food/drinks and asked if I could charge my phone, but both said no. Their reason was that their outlets weren't certified and they didn't want the liability. In the end (thanks to AI!), I found out that Avec kiosks rent battery packs for 5 CHF a week, which completely saved my trip.
• I didn't pack any snacks. My plan was to ride to Stein am Rhein and have lunch there. Unfortunately, after two hours on the bike I was starving, running low on energy, and running on empty. A bakery saved the day, but having some bars or snacks on hand would have been much smarter.
• My Van Rysel GRVL AF 1×12 was set up very poorly by Decathlon. I only got it a few days before the trip, and the rear derailleur was completely off. I adjusted it as best I could (I'm no expert bike mechanic), but during the ride some gears were still noisy and the shifting wasn't smooth. Also, the front disc brake was rubbing occasionally. The saddle also feels umconfortable compared to the one of my eMTB. Probably I'll buy a new one.

Conclusion: I really loved the experience. I'm hoping to convince my wife to do some trips together (with the kids. She has an e-bike and can carry the trailer), or I'll just have to wait for my kids to grow up a bit and go with them!

Some background context:

I used to do single-day tours before having kids (~8 years ago), but then life got busy and I didn't have much time for cycling.

When I moved to Zurich, my father gifted me his e-MTB (a 2019 Giant Stance E+ 2 Power). That was amazing for pulling a trailer with my two kids up and down the Zurich hills and commuting to work every day.

Roughly a month ago, the e-MTB broke down with an electrical issue and wouldn't turn on. I kept riding it anyway and realized I could still commute on a normal bike (even on a 25kg, inefficient piece of metal!), which gave me the perfect excuse to justify a new bike to my wife. I decided on a gravel bike since I ride mostly on paved roads, but my soul belongs off-road and I prefer cycling away from traffic whenever I can.

Since I'd never owned a bike with drop bars, I didn't want to spend too much right away. Thanks to some great discounts, I snagged the Van Rysel GRVL AF 1×12 for around 1,000 CHF. Overall I really like the bike, but I definitely need to spend some time tuning and setting it up properly to suit my needs.