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We decided to do the Dutch NSCR from Hoek van Holland to Delfzijl in the Easter break just for fun. The North Sea Cycle website suggested it was only 320km, ``No problem'' we thought. However by the end of the third day we had passed that total and we still had some way to go. Fortunately we had good luck with the weather and managed to complete the tour. There was even time to drink coffee and eat lots of 'appelgebak' along the way.

The travelogue includes the story of each day's cycle, with pictures and trip statistics and a gallery. An Epilogue provides a summary of our long weekend and the NSCR in Holland. There is also extra report covering the remainder of the route, from Nieuweschans to Delfzijl, cycled on Bromptons one sunny day in September 2007.

The NSCR in the Netherlands is not only a good introduction to what the country has to offer as a cycling holiday destination, but also a great place to start your own North Sea Cycle Saga. We certainly enjoyed ourselves.

La bellissima escursione ciclistica si snoda lungo un percorso di 1000 chilometri attraverso Germania, Svezia e Danimarca. Rispetto alla tradizionale ciclabile che si sviluppa longitudinalmente lungo la verticale Berlino-Rostock-Copenhagen, questa variante permette di visitare anche l;affascinante penisola di Zingst, l'isola di Hiddensee, nota ai tedeschi per il suo fantastico patrimonio naturalistico, la penisola di Rugen ed infine la ventosa isoletta danese di Bornholm, paradiso dei ciclisti. Un traghetto per il sud della Svezia porta a raggiungere e conoscere le bellezze del breve tratto scandinavo. L'itinerario, si sviluppa in una ventina di giorni comprendendo anche un soggiorno a Berlino e nella mitica Copenhagen.

Welcome! We are Maria and Spiros, two slightly adventurous souls, who on January 12th, 2008 will begin a year long journey of a lifetime. The first part of our adventure will begin at the foot of the Pyramids in Giza, where we will embark on the 6th edition of the Tour D'Afrique. Starting in Cairo, Egypt and ending in Cape Town, South Africa, the Tour D'Afrique is a 12,000 km, 120 day cycling race/expedition across the exotic and intriguing African continent. More challenges and adventure are sure to follow as we then continue riding our bikes through Europe and Asia.

Our goal is to raise funds and awareness for WaterCan, a charity providing clean water and sanitation to impoverished communities, and Against Malaria which works to donate bed nets to fight Malaria, a devastating disease that kills over a million people a year.

In 2007 I and the tourmate of mine, Peter Riskó planned cycling in the Pyrenees. The tourist version of the RAID PYRENEEN seemed to be ideal for us. It is 790 kms long, has ca. 18000m heightdifference with 28 cols and we had 10 days for it. Before starting the Raid Pyreneen, we spent 4-5 days in the Pyrenees, in Andorra and visited such climbs as Port Cabus (2300 m), Port d'Envalira (2408 m) and enjoyed the Tour de France feeling. We had fantastic memories at Cirque Gavernie and then in the valley of Cirque Troumouse, where we saw waterfals, and small clouds coming up from the bottom of the valley not much before sunset. I enjoyed very much the legendary climbs of the Pyrenees as the hard (11% for 4 kms) Col du Marie Blanque, Col d'Aubisque, Col du Tourmalet... which we waited very much. With a little bit clouds around us the surroundings of the col was so fantastic which made the Col du Tourmalet one of the most memorable col for me through my 15 years bicycling.

The second half of the Raid went through lower mountains, but we had Col de Mente and Portet d'Aspet, Port de Pailheres as legends. It was a good feeling, that we cycled where famous bicycleracers climbed a few decades before us. Our last day was memorable again with the beautiful Col de Garavel, the mediterranean Col du Palomere with the sight for the sea and the last 20kms along the sea through a few tourist village.

This page describes the five week trip that my wife and I took across Greece in 2006. It was a wonderful journey with plenty of great food, drink, culture, and of course cycling. We did the trip completely unassisted and in fact we largely planned the trip on the fly. This was our first cycle tour, actually we had only just gotten into biking a few months before the trip so a lot of conditioning took place during the tour.

Enjoy the page and please feel free to contact me if you have questions.

A six-day circular tour around the island of Sardinia. 619km cycled, stopping over in Fertilia, Stintino, Oschiri, Cala Gonone, Lanusei, Macomer and final destination Alghero.

Copious amounts of strenuous uphill pedalling, plenty of long speedy descents and hairpins, amazing scenery along coasts and through many ridges and mountains. Wonderful welcomes and hospitality from the locals, and some quirky, but lovely, local culinary specialities.

Despite the need for extra effort, Sardinia is strongly recommended!

A short and rather hilly round-trip tour of Dorset, South Devon and Somerset, including portions of the spectacular Jurassic Coast.

We enjoyed our first tour of Norway in the fjords, so two years later we went back to see more. For many bicycle tourists Nordkapp, the northernmost road in Europe, is the final destination but because we had limited time we decided to start from Nordkapp and head south. We cycled through Lofoten, along the Coast Route, then through the fjords to finish at Skjernøy, close to the southernmost point of Norway.

This tour was from started in Tallinn and finished on the coast of Lithuania at Klaipeda. Much of the route was in the ``via Balticum''. Excellent cycling conditions and much to see, enjoy and experience. The Daily Log and Useful Links page includes photos and links. Route maps are included.

We are addicted. Our bike seats are still warm from our previous and first tour, three months of cycling from Stockholm to Rome, and already we are thinking of another tour. You would have thought we had enough, but no we don't want those seats to get cold. The only question was where?

Our first tour had been North to South so how about East to West. We had loved the two days that we had cycled along the Danube and wished we would have had more time following the river. Now we would make up for that.

We would start in Munich and follow the Isar River to the Danube. There we would join the super highway of bike touring, the Donauradweg, and follow it to Budapest. The return trip would be by train arriving back in Munich in time to enjoy Oktoberfest.

A trip report of a four week, 1,000 km cycling tour of Romania, complete with a villain, a mistress, and a hero.

Here are the day-by-day detailed route notes of the ten day, 248 mile, 398 kilometer ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Here are the day-by-day detailed route notes of the thirteen day ride from Bangkok to Phuket in Thailand.

On April 2007 I left for 3 weeks of cycling around Cuba.

Flying into and off La Havana, I decided to concentrate on the centre and western part of the island.

After a couple of days in the capital, I left for a loop in Central Cuba, touching both the Northern and Southern coasts and passing Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus and Santa Clara. I spent the last week riding in Pinar del Rio Province.

In May 2004, after having worked for 18 months in China, I decided to hit the road to fulfill my dream of a lifetime: to travel extensively in Asia and Oceania without the pressure of time and the necessity of airplane travel. My idea was to travel mostly overland and give myself enough time to get to know faraway countries and different cultures by living as close as possible to the local realities.

Having met Fred during my last months in China and finding his ``RTW by bicycle'' a very stimulating way of traveling, I planned my journey in such a way as to be able to join him in the Philippines and spend 6 months on the road with him. The experience was a success and when Fred took the road to Europe from India, I decided to continue traveling by bicycle on my own in South-East Asia and finally Australia.

Planète D. is our volunteering and filming world tour on the tandem bike. It's that simple.

We cycle.
We film, edit and share videos.
We volunteer for NGOs.

Descriptions of several short (1-3 days) bicycleroutes in the Netherlands.

A new cycle journey. I want to cycle from Vienna to Nice, a complete crossing of the Alps from east to west. Then I have to cycle a bit further to Avignon. The idea is to zigzag as much as possible to fit in as much exciting backroads and extraordinary landscapes as possible. Jeroen van Meijgaarden will join me the first two weeks. Then I will be on my own to complete the crossing of the Alps.

``Won't you get shot there?''
``Are there any roads out there?''
``Albania, isn't that in Africa?''

The reactions on my plan to cycle in Albania with my friends Willem Hoffmans, Marco Duiker and Marc Dirkx, make clear that there are a lot of prejudices about Albania. A lot is unknown about the country; there is no Lonely Planet Albania; Albania is largely ignored by tourists, businessmen and statesmen. Nobody knows if the prejudices so just to the country. Nobody seems to know what all those years of Ottoman regime, Italian regime and the complete isolation under Maoist communist regime of Enver Hoxha have done to the country. I want to know. The mysterious cloud that is still hanging over the mountain state, is reason enough to take a look...

The website includes maps and data on the route followed and photos of some of the people we met and the food we enjoyed, including Porto's famous speciality the Francesinha. This is the ideal food for cycle tourers.

This tour was from the north east corner of England to the west coast of Scotland and included a few day on the island of Arran. We travalled with full camping gear but becasue the rain stayed a several B&B's.

Several of the B&B were very memorable and are detailed in The Daily Log and Useful Links page.

Route maps are included - much the route followed the National Cycle Network.

For our two-week tour we choose the little corner of France tucked in between the Pyrenées Orientales and the Mediterranean: wine growing country, rich in history, near the Spanish border. Having just recovered from a knee injury in early summer, I can now put my knee to the test with hills and a loaded bike.

A shorter tour of Colorado on a race bike, including two days on a mountain bike. Visiting: Ophir Pass, Imogene Pass, Corkscrew Pass, Red Mountain Pass, Lizard Head Pass, Independence Pass, Cottonwood Pass, Loveland Pass, Mount Evans, the lovely Trail Ridge Road and more.

Cycling along Canal du Midi and Canal de Garonne from Mediterranean sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Nice pics and travelogue.

Trip to Marrakesh. From Marrakesh over the High Atlas to the desert and back. As it was my first real cycling experience on my own I decided to stay on the main roads. There were only 20 km offroad.

For people living in the South of England this is an easy tour to get to and makes a perfect first cyclecamping tour. No days over 40 miles, easy terrain and lots of history and beautiful countryside. Though done in 1997 nothing has changed. Especially for those terrified by some of the tours posted here:-)

Une jolie traversée des Alpes orientales entre l'Italie et l'Autriche, avec un petit crochet par la Slovénie et un passage par le parc national autrichien de Nockalm. En passant par des cols souvent raides, même si pas tous très élevés.

A nice tour crossing the eastern Alps between Italy and Austria, including a small part in Slovenia and the Austrian national park of Nockalm. Riding over passes, many of them steep even if not very high.

Eine schöne Überquerung der östlichen Alpen zwischen Italien und Österreich, mit einem kleinen Schlenker über Slowenien und die Fahrt durch den österreichischen Nockalm Nationalpark. Die Pässe auf dem Weg waren oft steil, auch wenn nicht besonders hoch.

Like last year the month August was cloudy and rainy, and the prospect for cycling in the Alps was not very promising. September did not seem to get better, until the weather broadcasts predicted some sunny days ahead.

7. Sept. 07 I fastened the panniers onto my bicycle and was ready to start the annual alpine cycle tour.

After 9 days I was back again, without seeing a drop of rain.

A six-day tour through the hills and plains of southern Spain. 544km cycled, stopping over in Antequera, Castro del Rio, Fuencaliente, Ciudad Real and Toledo.

This tour was a baptism of heat and hills through the olive groves north of Malaga, giving way to cooler weather, stunning landscapes and beautiful plains as we neared Madrid.

Il ciclismo è sofferenza. Il premio è la cima di una montagna o una città a 2000km da casa. Se questo premio vi sembra adeguato allora la domanda ``ma chi te lo fa fare ?'' ha già una risposta. Se non vi sembra abbastanza, semplicemente non potete capire chi pedala.

Cycling is suffering. The prize is the top of a mountain or a city 2000km far from home. If this prize seems you enough, then the question ``why do you do that ?'' already has an answer. If you don't find it enough, you just cannot understand cyclists.

La Francia è un paese solcato da canali navigabili e ogni canale possiede almeno un'alzaia o un sentiero di alaggio. Da queste considerazioni è nato il progetto di un viaggio lungo un canale di navigazione.

Abbiamo scelto una via d'acqua breve e facilmente raggiungibile dall'Italia, il canale dal Rodano a Sète, prolungamento del più famoso e lungo Canal du Midi che da Toulouse conduce sino al Mediterraneo. L'alzaia del canale dal Rodano a Sète è completamente sterrata, con fondo a tratti mal tenuto. A volte corre su una sponda, a volte sull'altra della via d'acqua: occorrono un po' di esperienza, di intuito e di fortuna per non imboccare sentieri che si perdano nella campagna.

In cambio si ha il privilegio di vedere la Provenza e la Camargue da un punto di vista privilegiato e sconosciuto ai più.

A world tour on a rather odd bicycle.

Sono rimasto stregato dalla bellezza della Terra durante le lunghe camminate effettuate nelle ``mie'' Alpi o i brevi sentieri percorsi tra le migliaia di cascate del parco di Plitvice in Croazia. Ho avuto la sensazione di poter rallentare lo scorrere del tempo nelle interminabili giornate in sella alla mia amata bicicletta, percorrendo le strade sterrate nel mezzo della pampa patagonica così come salendo e scendendo per le dolci colline toscane e siciliane. Ho anche imparato ad apprezzare la capacità, l'ingegno ed il genio artistico umani, visitando alcune splendide capitali europee, la vivace Rio de Janeiro, le caotiche San Paolo, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, la surreale Las Vegas e la inarrivabile New York.

Tutto questo cerco di raccontare nelle pagine del mio sito web.

At about 2000 m there is a turn off to a guesthouse from where I had a sight of the last 20 turns - like a rope twisted on a steep mountain wall with the top disappearing in snow mist.

My first tour without a firm objective. I knew I wanted to start from my front door and meet up with my family somewhere in the Ardèche. Barcelona seemed like a reasonable intermediate destination, but the rest was pretty much à la carte.

The resulting -less thorough than usual- planning was noticeable, as the route featured more major roads than I would normally prefer, and even turned around and bit me on the day two when I needed a train to complete the second half of the route.

However, there were still plenty of opportunities to bask in the quality of the French road network and many pleasant surprises, as towns I had given scant regard while planning the route turned out to be fantastic places to visit.

Another shorter than expected tour, this time in Switzerland, generally following Veloroute 2 (the Rhein Route) from Basel past Rheinfall, Bodensee, Liechtenstein and Chur to Andermatt via Oberalp pass, then over St Gotthard pass and onto the Italian border.

In what seems to be the theme of his years tours, events conspired to thwart the original plan of connecting July's tour (Copenhagen to Freiberg) with it's intended destination: Venice.

A freak, non-cycling related, knee injury on the third evening left me unable to bend my left leg; which meant the only way I was getting to Venice was by train.

Despite this (and the fact that it rained solidly for two and a half of the four days on the bike), it was still an enjoyable tour with some great sights and new personal achievements.

In theory this was second stage of a three part trip that was supposed to cover Europe from Nordkapp (the North Cape) to Sicily. The plan being to pick-up from where last year's trip left off in Copenhagen and head south to Freiberg in Germany and then onwards to Venice via the Alps.

The bike was damaged on the flight over, leaving me with a limited selection of gears and the tour happened to coincide with a heat wave the like of which no-one could recall. Most of the trip took place in temperatures close to or over 40 degrees celsius (104 fahrenheit)!

Things got worse at the half way point (just south of Frankfurt) when the loss of my mobile phone, money and credit cards forced me to abandon the trip a day later at Strasbourg. It was only a total stranger's act of kindness that allowed me to get that far.

Another Easter holiday four day, partially supported, mini-tour extending last year's London - Paris trip onto Geneva.

Once again the weather was still what you might expect in April, with the added bonus of snow and freezing rain in the Jura region, but at least last year's constant headwind had subsided into a mere crosswind.

The original plan was to cover Scandinavia from Nordkapp to Copenhagen with a long stretch along Sweden's east coast. However, safety concerns resulted in a hastily arranged detour along Finland's west coast.

My memory will be mainly of glorious sunshine and, another pleasant surprise, the wind blowing North to South for a good few days when I needed it (as evidenced by the grim determination on the faces of the cyclists heading the other way.)