Germany Sunday morning. Our alarm clock wakes us and we do our daily routine. After breakfast and loading the last stuff from the fridge, we close the door and ride…

Before the busy bicycle touring season starts we decide to take a few days off and ride through Spain. Weather forecast has been great for this region: sunny days, about…

Our short movie of a two week bicycle tour from Vienna to Innsbruck crossing Hungary, Slovenia, Italy and Austria, passing through Triglav National Park and the Dolomites.

Day one Temperature today is about zero degrees Celsius as we leave for the train to Roosendaal and the short ride to Barendrecht station almost convinces me to turn around…

The Avaghon X29 is our new bicycle for bicycle touring. A steel bike with Rohloff hub, Gates Belt drive and disc brakes. Check it out!

If you’d ask us what makes bicycle touring so great, our answer would be: freedom. Since we live in an overcrowded country, which can be oppressive, we constantly search for remote areas while bicycle touring. To really experience that happy shiver down our spines as we feel totally free surrounded by vast landscapes. Not another soul in sight. Does Italy have the answer to our desire?

“I’m sorry, but the City Night Line doesn’t stop in Utrecht Central Station tonight. You need to get to Arnhem quickly!”
“Say what?!?”

It sounded so much more convenient: an overnight train to Vienna, Austria and no hassle with packing our bicycles safely for a flight. But our short bicycle adventure near the Alps starts with quite some stress…

“So, what’s in the Achterhoek?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never been there. Maybe we should check it out.”
“Sure, why not?”

A two hour drive later we find ourselves in Aalten, a village in the East of the Netherlands. We park the van and ride to a local farmers campsite, where we put up the tent and have ourselves a snack.

A couple of weeks ago I gave an inspiring talk at Bike4travel about long distance cycling adventures. Topics concerned preparation and the trip itself. At some point during my talk someone asked me: “what was the most difficult part of your whole 27 month trip?” I didn’t have to think long…