Planning a bike trip? (page 8 of 37)

I just stumbled upon this forum I didn’t know about. It’s like a big breath of fresh air this morning (with birds going wild outside as the soundtrack to celebrate the sunrise and their loves).

Since last year, I’ve been preparing a somewhat special Alpine crossing from Salzburg to Nice. My route covers all the mountain passes (103 in total) over 1,900m, and I’ve given myself 15 days to cover these 5,000km.

I’ve checked out a few forums, and it’s kind of funny to see that it doesn’t quite fit in—it’s neither a race, nor cycle touring, nor an adventure trip in the traditional sense, since there’s still an extreme performance aspect to it.

I’ll have my luggage with me—clothes, my camera, and food—on a 6.5kg bike with 4kg of gear plus water.

Preparing for this is super niche; it’s a sort of balance on the edge of breaking point. An experience I’m really excited about, even if it could still go wrong. I’ve already gotten a taste of the thrill.

I’m working on a little book about this experience while waiting for the day I can finally set off like you all with my wife and without any time constraints...

See you around. Jean-Luc

Wow! 5,000 km of mountain passes in 15 days? Hats off!

Still, my bike alone weighs around 12/13 kg, my trailer adds another 4/5 kg, and my luggage maybe 15 to 20 kg! So I’m also setting off to do 5,000 km, like you, but... entirely on flat terrain... and over 2 months ;)

Good luck and all the best with your journey—it’s really amazing!

Safe travels! !

Hi

It's funny how traveling with just 4 kg of luggage makes you weigh everything. You cut off straps that are too long and probably won’t be used. You build your own luggage rack because the commercial ones weigh a ton. You pick ultra-tech clothes that cost an arm and a leg...

And since you’ll be spending 15 to 17 hours on your bike, you tweak the ergonomics. You study your daily movements, how you pedal in the right gear... etc. The goal is to try not to suffer too much...

All that for a little bit of happiness—but what happiness!

Have a great day. Jean-Luc

I gave myself 15 days to cover 5,000 km.

That’s over 300 km a day if I’m calculating right? I say: impossible! Even the Tour de France aliens wouldn’t last a week at that pace. And that’s on mountain stages, no less. Even if you pull it off, I honestly wonder where you’d find any enjoyment in it?

I’ll have my luggage with my clothes, my camera, and my food with me, but on a 6.5 kg bike with 4 kg of gear plus drinks.

With my 11 kg bike and 10–13 kg of luggage, I already get looks like I’m some kind of extremist here. Unless you’re doing credit-card touring, I don’t see how you’d get under 7 kg (including pannier weight).

Nine years ago, I covered 9,300 km of mountain terrain in a month under some pretty unusual conditions—all documented in a book published to benefit my association. The money later went toward organizing mountain-biking expeditions for people with leg amputations (prosthetics are my job). It’s not impossible, just very specific. Nothing like the tour—I averaged 20 kph for 15 hours a day.

To each their own. Personally, beyond 150 km, I feel like I'm working...

A 6.5 kg bike—that’s a carbon road bike, right? How do you set it up if you don’t mind me asking?

I’m lucky enough to work with carbon fiber: I made a carbon-Kevlar "box" molded to the top tube with a 2L capacity, extended laterally by two carbon struts on either side of the seat tube. At the end of these struts, I’ve bolted the nylon tensioner for the frame of my 20L ultra-light backpack. All I have to do is clip it on. The whole setup weighs exactly 676g empty.

I also have two carbon bottle cages and two one-liter water bottles.

In all that, I pack my Windstopper jacket (220g), my Gore-Tex Packlite 2.5-layer shell (217g), my Oldo top and bottom (225g—it’s both for cold weather and my pajamas), a spare pair of underwear and socks (not weighed), a spare jersey and bib shorts (280g), silk gloves, silk socks, waterproof overshoes, a camera (220g), a phone (65g), my essential ID, some cash, my Mastercard, food and drinks, my roadbook, laminated road map excerpts, and little plastic bags for salt and sugar I snag from hotels... I’m definitely forgetting a bunch of stuff...

You know, I have a blast with all this, and I love those endless rides that let me explore several regions in a single day. Plus, it’s a discipline of excellence—it forces you to stay sharp throughout the whole prep process.

I love my two half-pints of beer in the evening....

No tent or sleeping bag?

hotel. To average 337 km a day with 7,850 m of daily elevation gain, you still need a minimum of comfort and not to slip into the absurd.

...unless someone invites me over in the evening... it’s happened before...

Hi there,

I’ve got the book on my shelf and I’ve read it, of course 😉. It’d be great if you could post a photo of your carbon bike case—I’m thinking of trying out these kinds of long-distance rides over a few days, but I’m having trouble picturing what it looks like. Any issues with thigh discomfort?

Thanks

Yeah, I was worried about that, but I tested it today for the first time (112 km with 2,100 m of elevation gain), and it seems perfect. Maybe it could annoy me when climbing out of the saddle if I have to tackle a whole pass like that (it happens with a sore butt). I might make a "pleat" like in sewing on a shirt, about twenty-five centimeters from the head tube, but I'm not sure.

I'm not great at taking photos for the internet. I'll put one in my travel journal... if all goes well...

Oh, and also if things go badly, for that matter!

Hey everyone,

Looks like our friend Chelala has gained some followers lately!!!!

a 6.5 kg bike

Just a reminder, for safety reasons, Tour de France riders aren’t allowed to race with a bike weighing less than 6.8 kg.

Don’t take us for fools!

To give you an idea, here are the times for Milan–San Remo (one of the flattest races of the year, along with Paris-Roubaix... and even here, there’s no cobblestone): Oscar Freire took the win ahead of Boonen and Petacchi. Winner’s time: 6h57’28”; average speed: 42.829 km/h. Distance: 298 km.

You’d really better not take us for fools!

But hey, since you’re not out there chasing sponsors... I’ll let it slide 😛

Cheers, buddy!

Enzo

Just a reminder, for safety reasons, Tour de France riders can't use a bike weighing less than 6.8kg.

That UCI rule you mentioned has been widely criticized for being absurd.

Anyway, I don’t see the connection?

1 - Carbon frames aren’t banned for the general public as far as I know?

2 - The Tour de France is a race, isn’t it? It’s not about riding at 20 km/h all day while sightseeing. You also haven’t shown that riding 300 km at 20 km/h for 15 hours is impossible.

300 km a day for 30 days—even Tour de France riders don’t do that, and they’re doping, so excuse my skepticism. I hope you at least had a tailwind! I can guarantee one thing: you’d never have pulled that off here in Quebec with all the constraints. What kind of luggage did you have?

What the hell is it with you guys always comparing this to the Tour de France? Ben Johnson couldn’t have run the way he did for 20 kilometers either, and he was doping, whereas I’m guessing a 20K walk at your pace doesn’t bother you much.

And I’m not plugging anything, but if you wanna know how it went, buy my book. Sorry, but after nearly ten years of people throwing the same crap at me about this, I’m kinda over it. I came to this site looking for a little fresh perspective, but that seems like a bust. Still love chatting, though.

300 km a day for 30 days—even Tour de France riders don’t do that, and they’re doped up. So excuse me for doubting, I hope you at least had a tailwind. I can guarantee one thing: here in Quebec, you’d never have been able to pull that off—too many constraints. What kind of luggage did you have?

Not so sure it’s that impossible (well, not for me, anyway...). Pro riders dope to beat each other and average 45 km/h, not to cover 300 km a day at 20 km/h. They rarely spend more than 6 hours in the saddle, and the average stage barely lasts 4 hours for the winner, with the last rider finishing just 15 minutes later. Their effort is way more intense than ours but much shorter. They’re sprinters compared to bike travelers, who are more like marathon runners (even if the analogy stops there since pros cover more daily kilometers than the average bike traveler). jlclemencon is an "ultramarathoner" who swaps a bike traveler’s luggage for a pro rider’s hotel stays.

I think if you took any pro rider and told them to "just ride at 20 or 25 km/h," they could easily handle 30 stages of 300 km. In the last Tour de France, the last-place finisher (not a climber) on the "Bourg St Maurice - Morzine" stage (4 Category 1 climbs and 1 Category 2) averaged... 30 km/h over 169 km. 300 km at 20 km/h would’ve been well within their reach, and if jl is a climber, I don’t think it’s unrealistic.

As for luggage, I assume he only carried the bare essentials for repairs and staying warm if the weather turned bad—just a well-funded credit card to really rest in a comfy bed.

The only real issue, though, is the day after the last stage—it must be a serious withdrawal because at that point, it’s not travel anymore; it’s more like an addiction 😉

That said, personally, I prefer stages of 100 to 140 km with a total rolling weight of 150 kg, stopping at campgrounds, trail inns, youth hostels (unfairly overlooked), and making lots of connections. But hey, to each their own!

I came to this site looking for a bit of fresh air, but that seems to have backfired. I do enjoy chatting, though.

As I was saying, as a true BUL fan, I already come off as an extremist here...

So expect to be scrutinized like a UFO in the middle of a cornfield... 😛

It's more about arguing than sharing at this point.

Good evening. I’m open to private messages—and more if we click.

good evening....

the Chemin de fer de la Mure to Lanterne Rouge



Fanatic!!!

I have this sneaking feeling the post is going off track! Could we get back to the real topic of the thread, which is simply sharing the bike trip everyone’s currently planning? That’s what really interests forum members who start dreaming about future destinations. Happy planning, everyone! Best,