Thorn Cycles Forum

Community => Non-Thorn Related => Topic started by: navrig on April 09, 2023, 12:04:34 pm

Title: On my way
Post by: navrig on April 09, 2023, 12:04:34 pm
I have finally started my first big tour having only done one small tour.

This forum has been very helpful answering all my questions.  So I thought I'd share my blog here.  It may help someone get to sleep 🤣

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3d2&doc_id=24869&v=56
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: Moronic on April 10, 2023, 04:41:29 am
Hey Navrig that's not going to put anybody to sleep.

It's a great account of an inexperienced bike tourer attempting a fantastic trip through fantastic places. And you're taking the time and energy to update it daily, so that everything we read there is fresh.

I've bookmarked your blog and will be following keenly. And may the wind be always at your back (I know you've planned it that way)!

Title: Re: On my way
Post by: PH on April 10, 2023, 11:19:29 am
Following with interest.  Have a great adventure.
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: Matt2matt2002 on April 10, 2023, 04:28:43 pm
What a great ride. I've been to various parts of your route so know it will be a wonderful ride.
I've tagged you in Crazyguy.
Can you give me a link to your Facebook page?

Many thanks

Matt
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: John Saxby on April 10, 2023, 06:28:49 pm
Great stuff, navrig!

Ice cream'll get you there.  See below some high-end carbs from late August 2021, triple scoop of lavender and lemon from Balderson Cheese Factory (a *very* high-end dairy, deliberately kept secret by us locals) on the edge of the Lanark Highlands.  This rescued me from a hot and muggy day, and saw me through the final 25 hilly kms to my campsite for the night.

Cheers,  John
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: Danneaux on April 10, 2023, 08:00:42 pm
Quote

This rescued me from a hot and muggy day, and saw me through the final 25 hilly kms to my campsite for the night.
Um..."Wow!".

Looks sooo good, John.

Best, Dan.
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: navrig on April 10, 2023, 08:40:23 pm
What a great ride. I've been to various parts of your route so know it will be a wonderful ride.
I've tagged you in Crazyguy.
Can you give me a link to your Facebook page?

Many thanks

Matt

This is valid for a day apparently

https://fb.me/g/p_qKQpXvgye1GXzDZR/G3QCIy2B?ref=share

I'll be asked to approve which I will do for anyone?
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: Matt2matt2002 on April 10, 2023, 09:13:12 pm
What a great ride. I've been to various parts of your route so know it will be a wonderful ride.
I've tagged you in Crazyguy.
Can you give me a link to your Facebook page?

Many thanks

Matt

This is valid for a day apparently

https://fb.me/g/p_qKQpXvgye1GXzDZR/G3QCIy2B?ref=share

I'll be asked to approve which I will do for anyone?

Humm.. didn't appear to work I'm afraid.

As my youngest grand-daughter said yesterday:
Ice-cream is the answer. Who cares what the question is?

Matt
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: navrig on April 11, 2023, 03:04:35 am
Try again

https://fb.me/g/p_qKQpXvgye1GXzDZR/NHvc9vdk?ref=share
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: Matt2matt2002 on April 11, 2023, 11:44:48 pm
Is it me?
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: navrig on April 12, 2023, 02:54:27 pm
Is it me?

Maybe try friending me and then I can invite you directly.

https://www.facebook.com/andy.w.girvan

There is less on my FB Group other than incidental posts with some but not all of the same photos.
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: Pavel on April 22, 2023, 09:06:39 pm
What a great ride. I've been to various parts of your route so know it will be a wonderful ride.
I've tagged you in Crazyguy.
Can you give me a link to your Facebook page?

Many thanks

Matt
I've been on CrazyGuyOnABike for a long time but have not posted a thing there yet.  How does one tag people so that one can keep track of the people one finds interesting?
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: Matt2matt2002 on April 22, 2023, 09:27:47 pm
Re crazy guy; I'm no expert but you can bookmark journal's to keep track of a tour. You're not notified when the journal is updated. But if you log into the journal you can see updates.
Re individuals, again, there are no automatic notifications .

A great source for bike tours.
If you hit on the map tag, every ride logged on the site pops up, worldwide. Amazing to see them all. And they can be downloaded free.

Best
Matt
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: Pavel on April 22, 2023, 11:41:25 pm
Thanks Matt. 12 years on the site with sporadic visits, and I've still not put a single thing up.  I'll aim to fix that this or next years as I have vague bicycle plans fermenting in my brain again after a long while.
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: navrig on July 10, 2023, 01:40:03 pm
I am now home after 3163km of cross Europe touring.  This was my 2nd tour after a 4 day coast to coast in Scotland last year.

The advice i obtained on this forum was invaluable so thanks to anyone who helped.

My original route & plan should have resulted in about 4100km of cycling however i ended up using trains/ferries/buses to avoid some dodgy weather.

From Nice - Turin I took the train via Ventimiglia and Cuneo.  The EuroVelo website was advising train between Nice and Cuneo because of a landslide on the "official" route and when I woke up in Cuneo the ongoing rain was almost biblical so I continued to Turin by bus & train.

When I got to Padua the heavens opened as I hit that huge rainstorm which caused massive flooding in northern Italy.  My plan had been to head north and east around the Italian coast to Trieste and through Slovenia but when I arrived in Venice the forecast was for several days of horrific rain.  I jumped on a ferry to Porec (Croatia) with the idea of then riding north into Slovenia and then south towards Zagorje where I would start island hopping down the Dalmatian coast. The forecast in Porec was for a storm coming from the south heading further north.  So I just headed south to Pula before starting the island hopping.

Eventually I found myself in Vlores just as the heat was ramping up meaning a mountain crossing in 30+ degrees of heat.  So i jumped on a bus which joined my route, again, at Patras from where I cycled into Athens before flying home.

What a great experience!
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: flocsy on July 10, 2023, 09:54:43 pm
Sounds like a a dream came true!
Would you mind sharing some budget numbers? How much did it roughly cost? Or some weekly average in different countries? What type of accommodation did you end up using mostly?
Title: Re: On my way
Post by: PH on July 12, 2023, 09:35:55 pm
I am now home after 3163km of cross Europe touring.  This was my 2nd tour after a 4 day coast to coast in Scotland last year.
What an amazing first proper tour after just a local shakedown!  Learning curve?  Anything you wished you'd known?  Anything you were concerned about before and realised you needn't be?  I always find it's a lot easier doing it, than thinking about it, though I have far more time for the latter.