I’ve done a fair share of bike tours before, including SEA and across Europe, but the Trans Dinarica is on another level!

We rode out from Switzerland and are making our way down to Greece, following the Trans Dinarica route (Slovenia to Albania) along the way. Right now we’re in Montenegro. The Balkans have just been an absolute highlight so far. Just incredible.

It’s a tough one though with tons of elevation and a lot of gravel, but so rewarding.

From here it’s on to Greece, then finally home.

Dropping a few photos below as impressions.

Today I have a 5 hour layover in Paris with my fully loaded touring bike. It isn't ideal but there wasn't really any other choice. I arrive around noon by train and then I have to wait for my Flixbus in the evening. Is there anything I can do, without my bike getting stolen? Do you have any tips? Can I maybe keep it somewhere safe and explore the city on foot?

Rookie mistake today.

Our route for the day was abridged quite a bit because we made a lot of progress the following day, and booked a place closer than initially planned.

Due to this we only had 30 miles to go to our next stop, and I just let Ride With GPS plot me a path that hugged the coastline. Paid zero attention to the elevation.

Holy shit there were 2 1500 ft plus climbs that were nearly vertical climbing from sea level to the highest vantage point for miles within very short periods. Once I had gone down one there was no choice but to go up the other.

My "easy" day suddenly became holding a steady 350 watts straight up a mountain so high that it took 20 minutes to descend from.

This is my little setup and this tour is one of the last really long rides me and my beloved Contoura FE-6 enjoyed together. We had quite a few "firsts" together:

- The first time I visited my parents by bike (about 74 km).
- The first time I did a two-day tour from Oldenburg to Osnabrück (about 130 km) with an overnight stay in a hotel halfway along the route.
- The first time I went touring with a tent, sleeping bag, and camping gear for three days.
- The first time I rode more than 100 km in a single day, two days in a row.

This weekend, I absolutely pushed us to new limits.

Day 1: Oldenburg --> Emden (135km)
Nice day, feeling well-rested, legs are fresh, motivation is high, and the weather is great.

Day 2: Emden --> Winschoten --> Coevorden (133km)
Headwind. All day long. Up to 40 km/h during the first four hours until noon. The wind eased slightly in the afternoon, but we still had to ride south and were facing a headwind the entire way. It was an incredibly exhausting mental challenge. I had never experienced such a demanding physical and mental battle on a bike before.

Day 3: Coevorden --> Oldenburg (143km)
Rain all night. Rain all day. We packed our camping gear, everything was wet, the tent, the clothing, shoes, everything wet. I know that happens, I see that a lot in YouTube videos etc. and now, I experienced it myself for the first time. We had about 40 minutes of sun around noon, that was it. Only rain, exhaustion and 140km to travel at the last day. It drained motivation, it drained energy. It was just the perfect last day. The finish.

We had two flats (not me, but my mate), one at day 1 and one at day 3 about 15 km before the finish. But in the end, it didn't really matter. We were in full survival mode by then and simply kept functioning. It was a wild experience.

Why this is one of the last tours with my beloved Contoura FE-6? I will keep my bike, no worries, the emotional value is just too high. But I'm currently building up a new "Sour Purple Pie" together with my trusted local bike shop, and I can't wait to use it for future bikepacking adventures. Going forward, I'd like to spend more time off the beaten path and gradually move more towards bikepacking. I don't think my future is in riding 150 km days on paved roads. I'd much rather ride 90 km through forests, gravel tracks, and remote areas. That's where I think my heart truly lies. But we'll see...

Hi all, I am new to bike touring. I have a somewhat limited budget, but I can probably spend more—but I only want to spend if it seems that I really need to. I have a bike but don’t think it’s going to work well for a trip. I’ll probably be getting a new one. I also have to get a sleeping bag, tent, etc. All the little items and how they actually work in the course of a long trip seem kind of unclear. The decisions seem to paralyze me...

Looking through all the videos and assorted lists of things to bring along, it just seems overwhelming. How do you all do it? My first trip will probably be through upstate NY.

Munich to France and back to Munich. Someone gave me a bike on my europe backpacking trip so I spent six weeks cycle touring. An unmatched feeling of freedom.

Hi all,

I'm cycling the Vélodyssée and will soon reach the Loire crossing between Saint-Brevin-les-Pins and Saint-Nazaire. From what I've read, the Pont de Saint-Nazaire is closed to bikes.

What's the best way across? Is there an official shuttle bus that takes bikes? A ferry? Or do you have to detour via Nantes?

Would love recent info – especially whether the shuttle still runs in late September (shoulder season).

Thanks!

Hi all, 

I’m wondering if it is possible to take a bike on the train from Peja to Pristina. Doing a bikepacking trip but would like to have more sightseeing and less cycling time in Kosovo. Happy to take a bus as well but just thinking a train with a bike might be a safer bet. Thanks!

Hi everyone, me and a friend are planning on doing our first bikepacking tour along the Veloscenie (Paris to Mont Saint Michel) in October and we wanted to include some camping. We want to know what are people's experiences wild camping along this route or in France in general? Thanks all

Hey everyone, I was looking for some advise for the next section of my world tour. I would love to have cycled the pamir highway but unfortunately it will be close to winter by the time I reach it and I am not prepared for the harsh conditions.

I’m trying to plan an alternative route that goes from Aktau > Beyneu > Nukus > Bukhara > Samarkand > through northern Tajikistan (alternatively I could go round to Tashkent > then back into Uzbekistan before reaching Osh. Something like the screenshot provided:

I tried to do some research into this sort of route but couldn’t find too much other than the roads might be a bit delapidated at parts, and I should bring plenty of water for long remote stretches. Does anyone have any good resources for a route similar to this? My biggest concern is that I’m stuck on roads that feel unsafe to be cycling on.

Just finished a ride thru central Vietnam from danang to Hanoi thru the Q1A main highway . Approximately 800km in 7 days .

Did mostly credit card bike packing and stayed in hotels for the trip. Packed very light , just 1 set of cycling clothes and 2 clothes for the trip.

Had two punctures . Was worried on the first few days of the trip as tropical storm narra was happening in north Vietnam and there was very strong crosswinds on day 3 and 4 of the trip. Thankfully weather cleared up .

Highlight of the trip was cycling up haivan pass with the saddle bag , scary down the descent but nothing happened thankfully .

Had my bike serviced in one of the cities before bringing it back to Singapore .

Quick report about my trip from Samarkand to Kashgar over the Pamir Highway. So far it has by far been the most challenging part of my tour around the world!

I have to admit that I did little to no research before starting this. I wasn’t really aware of the lack of facilities, road closures, no offline maps, no cooking equipment, and I didn’t have a (working) water filter. I could only carry 4L of water and rode on 40mm tires. Luckily I was with a friend who did have a water filter. Finally, I had major issues getting cash as I only had Mastercard with me, while nearly all ATM’s only accept Visa.

The Pamir mountains are absolutely stunning though! My favourite part was the descent to Qalai Khumb, the first town on the Afghan border. This is also where I got food poisoning, which left me in bed for nearly a week. Most of the locals were incredibly friendly and hospitable. Although, you do notice that the Pamir Highway is getting more tourists nowadays. Kids were constantly asking for money and would sometimes throw stones at me.

In Murghab I left the Pamir Highway and took the Qolma Pass border directly to China. After a few interrogations and two complete searches of my bags I was finally let in. On the route to Kashgar you ride by mountains of 7.000+m, really beautiful! Also loved the smooth tarmac and being able to eat proper food again. In Tajikistan I survived on bread and Oreo’s. I’m very excited to ride through China next!

For anyone considering doing the Pamir Highway, definitely do some research. Feel free to ask any questions if you have them!

Hi everyone,
In the end of September I will cycle from Belgium to Barcelona, and I have been wondering whether to get a front rack for my bike. Until now I always did shorter trips of max 2 weeks, and I had enough with two back paniers and a handlebar box. What are the pros and cons of adding a front rack (or a structure for front paniers). I think that it would be good to distribute weight to the front, but also seems unhandy to steer with extra weight. All tips welcome!

This is my "second" time crossing the country (the first was riding from Chicago to Seattle so not exactly crossing). I flew from Santa Barbara to Seattle, built the bike in the airport, slept at an airport motel for the night, rode up to Blaine the next day then came down the entire way to the Mexican border along mostly the Pacific Coast Highway.

Going to Blaine from Seattle took 1 day, so I was actually on the road for 16 days and did 1,823 miles (2,934 km), averaging about 114 miles (183 km) each day. The longest day was 163 miles (262 km) going from Blaine to Shelton, the longest ride was 253 miles (407 km) going from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border, and the shortest day was 32 miles (51 km). Over 100 miles (161 km) a day is an awkward pace as it really sucks all the fun out of touring and yet it's nothing that competitive (I spent more than 2x the fastest known time). The fun and chill pace is probably 3-5 hours of moving time a day but I had to do this due to time and budget constraints.

This trip didn't happen around the best time as during my first day Warmshowers went down (and went back up right when I started my final ride) and a timber fire caused Highway 1 to close around Big Sur, but I am still really happy that I accomplished it - type 2 fun as people call it.

I spent 7 nights at campgrounds, 6 nights at motels (including the night in SeaTac), 1 night at a friend's house and 1 night at home in Santa Barbara - I am not rich, I am just a graduate student who borderline cannot afford the city... I got chased by a dog once, got brushed by a pickup truck once, met numerous riders doing different parts of the PCH and one guy doing the Pan-American Highway. The itinerary that I took:

Day 0: SeaTac to Blaine, 133 mi/215 km, Birch Bay Campground

Day 1: Blaine to Shelton, 163 mi/262 km, motel

Day 2: Shelton to Astoria, 129 mi/208 km, Fort Stevens Campground

Day 3: Astoria to Newport, 130 mi/210 km, motel

Day 4: Newport to Coos Bay, 107 mi/173 km, Sunset Bay Campground

Day 5: Coos Bay to Crescent City, 134 mi/216 km, motel

Day 6: Crescent City to Eureka, 83 mi/134 km, motel

Day 7: Eureka to Leggett, 88 mi/142 km, Rock Creek Campground

Day 8: Leggett to Gualala, 106 mi/170 km, Gualala Point Campground

Day 9: Gualala to Creekside Loop Campground, 87 mi/140 km

Day 10: Creekside Loop Campground to San Francisco, 32 mi/52 km, hosted by friend

Day 11: San Francisco to Monterey, 121 mi/195 km, Veterans Memorial Park Campground

Day 12: Monterey to Paso Robles, 120 mi/193 km, motel. I did this ride on Aug. 23 and technically Highway 1 was open momentarily amid the burning fire from Aug. 22 to Aug. 27 but I missed it... probably wouldn't have been a good idea to go through anyway, this is not saying riding inland to Paso Robles was anything enjoyable...

Day 13: Paso Robles to Santa Barbara, 131 mi/212 km, home

Day 14 & 15: Santa Barbara to San Diego/Mexican border, 253 mi/407 km. I started this ride at around 5:30pm on Aug. 25, went through LA and Orange County at night and arrived at the border at around 2pm the next day, then I caught the 4pm Amtrak train back to Santa Barbara.

Regarding the gears that I used, I have a titanium bike with aerobars, a 7 liter backpack with a 2.5 liter reservoir, multiple frame bags, one-person tent and sleeping bag, two sets of kit, two 10,000 mah power banks, an electric pump (and a backup hand pump), among other things.

Feel free to ask me anything about the trip and feel free to connect with me if you also want to do long-distance stuff around California!

I typically rotate padded underwear with shorts over them when touring. I'm preparing for a.multi week tour and looking at some of the clothing I normally wear, I'm in the market for new shorts.

Looking for some good recommendations.

Like most of you, my default touring shoes have been sneakers. After a few thousand miles though, they were falling apart. I needed some new shoes, and figured I'd give clip in (AKA clipless but I'll call them clip-in here) pedals a go. So I headed to Decathlon and bought some cheap SPD "semi auto" (clip in on one side, flat on the other) pedals and shoes, total cost around $100. Note that I've been using SPD-SLs (road bike clip-ins) for years, so am no stranger to clicking in and out.

I've been trying both the clip-in and non-clip in pedal sides, sometimes one style with each pedal. Findings:

-I modestly prefer the stiffer sole of cycling shoes vs sneakers, feels more precise, less squishy on the down stroke. Just as I prefer clip-ins when road cycling.

-The clip-ins really win on hills, when I'm moving around and using different muscles trying to get a lot of power. Then my feet slip more without clipping in. On flats or downhills, when I'm just spinning, they don't make much difference.

-Downsides of course are not as quick to put your feet down (I've almost fallen once already when I tried to put down my foot but clipped in instead!), and not as comfortable off the bike, though you can still walk in them fine. Also you can get mud in the cleat.

I'll probably keep using the clip-ins until I have a really bad fall and throw them away in anger.

I have arrived in Paris with 2 bikes in boxes. I’m about to tear the boxes up before heading off on my tour but thought I’d ask here first in case someone needs them.

Rue Belgrand. 20th. Near Gambetta.

Disclaimer: my first time ever bikepacking. I’m planning a short cycle back to london, post-festival in belgium. Have maybe 3-4days to make the trip. Thinking to pace 80-100km/day. Am planning to begin my route from Brussels and head towards the coast- then to Calais. Ferry to dover - then to london.

Bikepacking gurus, please bestow upon me some wisdom regarding wild camping and dope spots, scenic routes to try etc, or just any nuances a newbie would miss out. Thank you!!