Neil Forsyth - Cycling in Europe

Hints and Tips forTouring Cyclists

Judith Forsyth, NeilForsyth

Copyright by Judith I.Forsyth. Neil Forsyth 2004/2014

Second edition withextensive alterations.

Published byBergstrasse Bike Books at Smashwords

This ebook is licensedfor your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold orgiven away to other people. If you would like to share this bookwith another person, please purchase an additional copy for eachrecipient. If youre reading this book and did not purchase it, orit was not purchased for your use only, then please return it toSmashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respectingthe hard work of these authors.

Please Note: Theauthors have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of theinformation in this book. Readers should note that cycle touring onpublic roads or cycle paths demands care and attention.

All photographs are byor of the authors.

This book is dedicatedto friends we have made over the years while cycling: Christel,Jochen, Francis, Judy, Arne, Margaret, Stan, Maxa, Tim, Petra,Thomas, Vivienne, John.

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Tableof Contents

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Introduction

We have been writingtouring cyclist guide books for about a decade and found that thegeneral hints and tips section of the books gradually crystallisedinto the same few chapters. When we started to convert our books toan electronic format we realised it would be fairer to put thesesections together and offer them for free, but this limits therange of resellers. Some of the larger chains do not handle freebooks except for a short period. We decided to charge the minimumamount possible, i.e. 99 US cents. Without these chapters our bookswill be slightly thinner and minus repeat information. So there youare, enjoy it and we hope that you learn something new or usefulwhen you read this modest pamphlet. The advice mostly covers thosecountries we have written our guides about: Germany, France, theNetherlands, Austria, Switzerland.

Our books have beenwritten for people who want to tour on a bicycle in Western Europe.We do not bother to cover everything so:

We do not really haveany advice on cycle camping or wild camping. We have camped in thepast, but once we retired we decided that wed had enough ofwalking through long wet grass in shorts to the bloc sanitaire inthe mornings and so are more interested in finding value for moneyaccommodation in buildings rather than under canvas. However ourbooks list official campsites on route.

It is difficult inWestern Europe to find areas where touring cyclists need to carryseveral days supply of food and water, so we dont discuss this.However it is an excellent idea if you are going to picnic en routeto buy the makings of lunch as you leave in the morning rather thanbuying these at lunchtime. In much of France and Germany the riseof supermarkets has lead to a decline in village shops and it canbe very difficult to find a bakery out in the sticks.

We do not try to cyclefar and fast each day. We are interested in quality, not biggernumbers on our speedometers. Our top limit is about 80 km each dayand some days we cycle less to look at the scenery, the odd chateauor Schlo or an old city. These days are often the most memorableones of our trips.

We have tried to lookat:

• The kind ofaccommodation you can expect in Western Europe.

• How and where we findaccommodation.

• Bike hire.

• Joining a cycleclub.

• Possible emergenciesand what you can do to avoid them.

• Packing.

• Route finding, publictransport and the rules of the road.

• What kind of weatheryou can expect where in spring, summer and autumn. Whether you getthis weather is another matter. In the same chapter we suggestcycling routes and regions in a number of countries.

• Some aspects of foodand drink in Europe.

We have put themajority of the links in an appendix, to make it easier to navigateusing small screen devices like mobile phones.

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Chapter1 Accommodation

If you book any hotelor B&B in advance and you intend to eat in the hotel or locallythen check that a restaurant is available. One quirk, especially inGermany, is the Ruhetag or rest day, where a hotel or restaurantcloses on one or two days in the week. Often on Ruhetag the hotelreception will be open for an hour or two in the early evening toadmit you, but the restaurant will be closed. If your chosenaccommodation is way out in the sticks, at a farm, for example youmight have to find yourself having to cycle several kilometresuphill to find a restaurant.

The problem thathoteliers have with touring cyclists is that they often wish tostop one night and then clear off. At the start of the bicyclerevolution, some hoteliers were very unwilling to accept theslightly higher servicing costs that ensued. Fortunately this ledto the growth of specialised websites that list cyclist-friendlyaccommodation, at least in the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg,Netherlands and Switzerland.

An accommodationwebsite that is of interest for cyclists planning to cycle in theCzech Republic and Slovakia: http://www.cyklistevitani.cz/.

The ADFC - the Germannational cycle club issues a searchable list of cyclist-friendlyaccommodation in Germany, known as Bett und Bike (www.bettundbike.de) in German andEnglish. Hotels, campsites and landladies/ladies agree to thefollowing conditions:

• Guests are welcome tostay for only one night.

• Bicycles are storedsecurely, sheltered from the weather. (This is normally the casebut take a lock with you and a plastic bag to put over yoursaddle.)

• It is possible to drywet clothing and gear.

• The most importanttools are available for simple bike repairs.

• In the case of moremajor breakdowns, the management knows the location of the nearestbike shop.

• Information on regionalbike trails and bus and train timetables are available.

• Breakfasts arehearty.

Bett und Bike has linksto Luxembourg and Lower Austria. This information is also availableas a paperback from the ADFC, but I am afraid our feeling is Whyschlepp?. If we are planning a trip in Germany the Bett und Bikewebsite is the first we use. There is an English language versionavailable. The ADFC recommends you search a town or village on theweb site to find accommodation rather than downloading a list ofall accommodation on the route. Use the German name not the Englishname for the towns, cities or rivers: Kln instead of Cologne,Donau for Danube or Mnchen for Munich, for example. We have foundthat the easiest way to use the Bett und Bike website is to findyour starting town, click on any accommodation and then on thelogos shown on the maps.

The LVI (LuxembourgCycling Club) has a websitelisting 60 bicyclist-friendly accommodation possibilities inLuxembourg.

For the Netherlands wewere pleased to find the Fietsers Welkom! websitepublished by Fietsplatform (Dutch cycling platform). This is anumbrella-organisation (public-private partnership, foundation)bringing together the Dutch tourism union ANWB, the Dutchcyclists club Fietsersbond, the Union of cycle-touring clubsNTFU and the national organisation for the cycling industry inthe Netherlands RAI. With the support of the national andregional authorities Fietsplatform is trying to improve thefacilities for recreational cycling/cycle tourism in theNetherlands.

Landlords/ladies agreeto the following conditions similar to Bett und Bike:

• Open from May /September, at least five days a week from 11:00.