Catching up with old friends (Italy - Germany)
The route: Milan, Italy - Munich, Germany via France, Switzerland and Austria
The length: 1300 kilometres
The ups: 17000m
Riding days: 12
Start date: 13th June 2024
After spending 3 weeks with Toby, riding through the Balkans, trip report here, it was time to take on the next challenge of the journey and take on Central Europe.
To begin this blog, I’d like to take it back a few years, to help explain why this route made sense to me and how it all came about. One of my favorite things about life is connecting with people. Networking and relationship-building with people has always been something that I’ve prioritised in life and put a fair amount of effort into maintaining over the years.
Over the last few years at school, a bunch of my friends did exchange programmes to Germany and Austria, which meant for me I was able to meet their exchange students when they’d come back to New Zealand and I’ve kept in touch with a few of them ever since. I also had the pleasure of meeting Louise from Switzerland who spent a couple of weeks with our family through a music link, and we really bonded over that short period and was one of those people that I knew I’d see again.
Fast forward to early 2024, a good friend Dave and I went for a Packrafting trip up the Copland Valley on the West Coast. A great trip, as to be expected, however the cherry on top was we met a German gentleman at Architect Creek Hut. This gentleman was Mike. We spent the evening chatting over freeze dried meals and discussing his trip through New Zealand. He was doing the usual backpacker thing, but on another level. The guy spent almost everynight in a hut and was doing some big days. Mike showed a lot of interest as to what Dave and I were doing with our inflatable packrafts and thought we were crazy heading down the river the next day.
Above: Big Mike on our last day in Munich together. German beers outside of Parliament House.
I told him I was planning on doing a bike packing trip through Europe over the coming Kiwi winter, and was planning to finish in Germany. He made the comment ‘Oh you should come and stay with me, I live in Munich! It’s so common these days to make comments like that, and not mean them like ‘Oh, we’ll have to catch up again soon’ as a way to finish a conversation, but with Mike I could tell he really meant it.
Dave and I spent that night getting bitten to pieces in the hut by mosquitos, and paddled out down the river the next day, to then get bitten to pieces in the car park.. A great West Coast adventure! We said the night before to Mike that if we see him at the carpark, we’d give him a ride to Wānaka. And there he was, a big smile as he saw us walking our boats into the car park.
He said he was going to Brewster that night so we dropped him off there via the Haast supermarket so he could restock food and he was away laughing! We exchanged numbers, and ended up catching up for a beer in Wānaka a couple of days later. From then on, he ended up staying with my parents in Lower Hutt for a few days, helping out in the garden and even going tramping with my Dad. It was fair to say he was in the inner circle now, and it looked like my trip was finishing in Munich! Mike will feature again later…
Toby had kindly done most of the planning for the Balkan trip, so I was on my own here, and got stuck into rough route planning and chatting with people. I caught up with another Wanaka bikepacker, Olly, who had done a similar central Europe trip last year and gave me some good advice and insights into routes, useful apps, and raved about warm showers. He also told me not to take a towel and just run a microfibre 30cm x 30cm dish cloth, which turned out to be a great shout! He also shared the bike-packing wisdom of ‘if in doubt, leave it out’. That was just what I needed to hear. I was going lightweight!
With that side of the planning done, I’d booked my return flight out of Munich which gave me 3 weeks to ride from Venice, where I’d finish with Toby, through to Munich via Italy, France, Switzerland, and Austria. Jobs a gooden’!
Doing the Balkans with Toby first was a great way for me to do it, seeing how Toby operates on a bike packing trip helped a lot for a young grasshopper such as myself to then take on the next part of the trip solo. Toby flew to England to see his family, and I jumped on a train from Venice to Milan, where I’d begin the next phase of my trip. The other thing Olly said to me was, ‘just use the public transport to skip all the flat stuff’. Which aligned well to why I was doing this trip. I wasn't in Europe to ride for days on end next to farmland and cornfields into headwinds, I was there for mountains, quiet roads, and seeing friends along the way. So that I did.
Photo above: Architect Creek Hut - West Coast NZ where I met Big Mike.
Stepping off the train in Milan with my bike was what I imagined when Kiwis say ‘It’s like Kings Cross Station!’ To me that always just meant, ‘bloody hectic’. I couldn't wait to get out of there and get onto my bike. Milan was a beautiful city, and cool to see by bike, however, my mood changed quickly from ‘this is nice’ to ‘get me out of this bloody city’. I was ready for quiet back roads again after the busyness of Venice and Milan. I’m really not cut out for the big-city life, the stress levels don’t cope too well.
Milan train station.. get me outta here!
Italian lakeside riding, heading for Switzerland!
I was aiming to bash out a good stint as the weather was coming in the next day and I was aiming to get over the Simplon Pass into Switzerland. I got all the way to Domodossola and set up camp on dusk by the river. It was a lovely ride next to the lakes at the foothills of the Alps, and I was riding strong off of pure elation and joy to be getting into the mountains.
Since my return, a lot of people ask me, in some way or another, ‘how did your arse hold up?’ and to that I say, ‘mostly pretty good, apart from this one time’... this was that one time.
Throughout the trip I’d been so good at keeping clean and washing my chamois shorts everyday and drying the other one on the bike and rotating, like any well versed bikepacker would. Despite me camping next to a river, I just couldn't be bothered getting wet right before bed and it was getting dark. So I didn’t swim, and I didn’t have a clean chamois for the next day. Surely once would be okay? It was not. Potentially the lowest moment of the trip was me 20 kms into the ride up the valley the next day, riding in the rain, and barely being able to sit on my seat that felt like it was on fire, having to duck into the local Mcdonald's bathroom to sort things out. I’ll leave it at that for this description. Long story short, always wash. Just do it.
Heading up the Simplon Pass in the driving range with snow forecast for the tops... no thanks!
The rest of that day was rather unpleasant, I was heading up the Simplon Pass in the driving rain and then saw there was a snow warning for the afternoon. The Simplon Pass is a 2000m pass that takes you into Switzerland. I decided to bail when I found you could take a train through the hill and save my legs and arse and get through to a small mountain town ‘Sion’ in Switzerland where I’d take a much-needed rest day at Louise's grandparents house before the next big stint of riding with Louise… I’m glad I rested! When I was riding into Sion I went to the first Pharmacy I saw and asked for some antibiotic cream.. The four Swiss ladies who worked there looked me up and down in my riding gear and smiled. They knew exactly where that cream was going. The Swiss were lovely, these ladies chatted to me for a good 15 minutes giving me the rundown of what I should do in town, and reminding me that the first Swiss game of the Euros was getting screened on the big screen that I watched the following day. Switzerland was off to a great start!
That day I had almost the full day inside at Louise’s grandparents house, who were away at the time. I really needed that time to recover and have some time off the saddle. That evening, Louise caught the train from her home town in Geneva to Sion where we met that evening before we set off into France the next day. Seeing Louise after 7 years was a wild feeling. I always knew we’d cross paths again, but not in this small town of Sion, gearing up to go on a mission through the hills!?
Sion was a beautiful small town to lay low for a couple of nights. Old castles, big mountains, and supermarkets stocked with cheese!
When Louise and I were last spending time together in New Zealand, we spent a bit of time running together. She’s an incredible runner, and now has taken that passion into riding her road bike. She had a lightweight canyon road bike with a single saddle bag with a tiny bit of gear in it to stay a couple nights in the guest houses we had booked. Her entire set up weighed less than my steel bike with no gear on it… I was in for some punishment on the hills!
The photo to the left, I found printed at her house a few days later when we finished our ride. This was a photo of when Louise was in New Zealand and we took her tramping in the Aoraki National Park. This trip was with my Dad, Cousin and my Uncle. Louise told me that since meeting my Uncle Gary who is a Doctor, she was then inspired to become a Doctor herself, and now at the time or writing, she has just graduated six years of medical school! Life has its ways.
We caught up on the years gone by till late in the evening, then decided we should probably get some sleep if we wanted to whack out some big days on the bike. So I bagged up the pesto pasta that I’d made for lunch the next day, and before we knew it, we were riding along beautiful Swiss cycleways down the Rhōne Valley, on our way to Chamonix, France.
It was so refreshing getting into Switzerland, I’d heard about the amazing cycle way network, but it was even better than I expected. Being able to take a break from constantly checking my navigation apps was a welcomed change, and just following the sign-posted cycle routes.
Louise enjoying my sun warmed Pesto Pasta... against all odds!
Once we got to Martigny, we smashed our sun warmed pesto pasta and put our heads down and chugged up the Fort De Le Forclaz pass. A big pass with some sweeping views down the Valley we’d just come down. I could tell Louise was keen to push up the climbs and had only one gear, I said to her, ‘I’ll meet you at the top, just do your thing’. That was the last I saw of her until half an hour later at the top of the 1500m pass, she’s an absolute machine. Getting up and over the pass was a delight, and my first intro into getting regularly dropped by pro cyclist teams in their Swiss or French kits. Till this point I’d felt pretty good about my climbing speed, until I started comparing myself with road riders with bikes one-third of the weight, and legs twice the size… ah well, I identified as a bike packer not a road cyclist now.
This climb was one of the best climbs of the trip. On debrief with Louise, she said the most common thing I’d say was ‘Wow Louise!’ around most corners. I’d simply never seen anything like it. I’ve surrounded myself with mountains and big terrain growing up, but it’s just different when you’re riding a bike along a perfectly paved road, and there are 4000m peaks rising above you that you need to crain your next to see the tops. I was mind-blown. Hence the ‘Wow Louise!’ was used in abundance.
We rode through Chamonix and stopped for Ice Cream, Louise was a huge Ice Cream fan turns out. A couple a day was standard procedure. Not too dissimilar from my earlier adventure companion Toby.
Chamonix was one of those places that I’d heard about but I never thought I’d actually go there. It seemed like a Wānaka town on steroids without the Lake. People walking around town in climbing gear, heaps of runners and cyclists, it felt just like home.
Riding into Chamonix surrounded by 4000m peaks. Unreal!
We continued down the valley to our accommodation, to find we had one last punchy 200m climb to get up to it. Which was met with resentment from both of us after our 130km day with over 2000m of climbing.. We had a lovely evening reflecting on our first day on the bikes together, and having a proper catch-up of years gone by, and hearing about Louise's studies as she approaches the end of her medical degree.
The next day we had two options. 1) Ride down the valley, mostly flat, 80km into Geneva. 2) Ride deeper into France, 125kms with 2000m of climbing, and get to see the famous French town, Annecy. We chose option 2, despite how our legs were feeling. Riding into Annecy, 40kms I was starting to crack. We had a stiff headwind coming up the Valley and my two bags mounted on my forks acted like sails in the wrong direction, barely holding 20 kph. Just as I could feel my mind going into negative spirals, a group of 60-70 yr olds came through in a Peloton of 20 strong pensioners, all in bright red kit, ready to tow us along! They seemed okay with having us tuck in behind, apart from one lady who clearly took it upon herself to enforce every cycling rule ever upon any passer-by, and make sure they heard about it. Louise and I knew not to cross her! Our pace changed from 20kph to 30kph all the way to Lake Annecy where we stopped for lunch and a swim. Thank God for that Peloton! I was well and truly cracked.
The Peloton that would drag my sorry self to Annecy!
In recent years, I’ve developed a reputation for executing terrible backflips. I’ve got shocking form, but a gutsy approach to trying, and trying, and trying. I posted a video of me doing one off a wharf in Croatia on Strava which got a fair bit of attention, so I decided to keep posting my terrible back splat, arm flailing backflips to keep the followers of Strava engaged. So Lake Annecy, you were getting it too!
These were some of the best moments with Louise, sitting on the grass by the lake, eating lunch, and talking smack. Just wonderful if you ask me. I felt so lucky to be traveling through this part of the world with someone from the area, who shared the same approach to traveling as I did. I never initially planned on going to France, so spending two days in its Northern reaches was a real bonus.
Another 70 odd kilometers and we were riding into the old town of Geneva. I had already decided this was my favourite big city so far. Cycle lanes galore, friendly drivers, happy people, and beautiful lakefront views with big mountains all around. Looked familiar.
We celebrated finishing two big days of back to back riding on the bikes by buying real fruit ice cream at astounding swiss prices.. and dipping our toes in the very cold lake. I’d decided by that point that Switzerland was the closest country to home, and had so much going for it. I felt so at comfortable there, having Louise as a guide, and staying with her family, meeting her university friends, it’s those little things that instantly build a stronger connection to the place, rather than just passing through and camping on the side of the road, out of sight of passing drivers (it happened a fair few times..)
I stayed with Louise’s family in their town apartment for a couple of nights, they were so kind and hospitable. I really enjoyed being able to get to know them and learn more about Switzerland. I’m normally not someone to prattle on about the ‘state of the economy’ and other adult topics like that, but Switzerland really fascinated me, and I’d continue to quiz the locals throughout my time there.
The cost of living was insanely high. Rent, food, health care, all blew me away, but equally so did the average salaries. For a Swiss local, living and working in Switzerland, it was all relative. Working at a supermarket, you can life a good life, own a home and go on holidays. Equally if the Swiss were to travel overseas, they would also do very well with their conversion rate. However if I were to move from New Zealand to Switzerland, that would be a rude awakening.
Finally some real beer! Switzerland was really ticking all the boxes.
Geneva was a real highlight for me, it’s definitely somewhere I’d like to go back to. I’m so grateful to Louises’s family for hosting me, and especially the home cooked Cheese Fondue we had on the last night. Outstanding!
Being in Geneva at this time, whilst reading the news back home about people complaining about the cycleway infrastructure going in, and the new government cutting resource for future activite transport projects was interesting. Seeing Geneva living 10 years ahead of us was such a clear example of having to have the cycle network in place first, for people to then actually use it. It takes time to develop that culture.
I'd tell any non active transport believer to take a visit to Geneva and tell me its a waste of money... Everyone is on their bikes. All ages, shapes and sizes. Smiles on faces, and drivers respecting cyclist priority.
Even if you remove the climate benefits, it's clear as day how positive the social and community well being benefits are when you see it in person.
It was tricky to leave the next day, I was so close binning the rest of the trip and staying in Geneva for the next 2 weeks, but since Louise had to be at University during the day, I made the less impulsive decision to go with plan A and keep moving. I jumped on the train in Geneva and made my way up on a scenic train ride to Lucerne.
I accidentally just strolled onto the first class carriage of the train and parked my bike up next to the bike sign in the carriage. I didn’t know why people were looking at me funny until I had to go to the toilet and realised the back carriages weren’t quite as nice as the one I was in.. turns out there are classes for trains! I left my bike in its rightful first class bike park spot, and took myself to the back of the train where the common folk sat who welcomed another one of their own.
Getting off the train in Lucerne, I parked up for lunch outside the local university, and as per usual, was approached and asked about my bike and my trip. Three swiss lads were in their first year of study who all were saying how much they wanted to leave Switzerland and move to New Zealand! I reminded them they haven’t got it too bad here either…
My legs felt great heading for the Andermatt Pass. Lakeside riding, heading into a beautiful gentle valley that would take me up to some of the high points of the trip. I got ‘Komooted’ which is where my navigation app ‘Komoot’ would take me to a route that was not made for a bike, in this case a steep descending bush walking track back down to the lake. At this point I was too far in to not do a bit of ‘hike a bike’, so got on with it and got down to lake level. At that point I was very ready for a lake dip and a wash before I got back on the bike and headed up the valley.
Since I started late that day I decided to ride until dusk and get some good distance in, as it started getting dark, the rain set in, and my sheltered camp spots options were running thin. To top it off, my front brake pads just ‘fell out’ yep.. So I had to replace those quickly before continuing on. Just on dusk, I came across this train bridge that was in the perfect out of sight position to set up my bivy out of the rain for the night. This felt like a real win at the time, despite not getting much sleep with the sound of trains passing over all night. The river next to me was raging too, so the sound of that didn’t help the sleep either. It's amazing as to what looks like good camping when it's raining and getting dark...
The next morning I got up early to charge up the Andermatt Pass, which was one of the most incredible sections of the ride. Classic European road quality, sweeping switchbacks and incredible views. I was dodging incoming weather, hence the early start and expediting this section of the ride, with the goal of getting to Thusis that evening where I had a WarmShowers host lined up.
WarmShowers is a similar service to couch surfing, where people will put their profiles up to host travellers passing through their area, and in return, the expectation is you will host someone else in your own neck of the woods to pass the favour on. The only difference is, WarmShowers is just for cyclists, meaning you’ll always meet like minded people who understand how nice it is to have a shower and a bed at the end of a long ride! The best.
I almost made it before the torrential rain came in.. almost! Turning off the road to Chur and on to the Thusis Valley road, the rain came in hard, so I ducked into a little coffee shop for a hot chocolate. This was where I realised that I was now in the German speaking part of Switzerland. I hadn’t spoken to anyone for a couple of days, and with my limited German, I could start to pick up on a few words which felt like a novelty! Growing up surrounded by Germans, at a Steiner school, it felt very familiar, and nice to finally be in this environment that I’d heard so much about.
I pushed on to Thusis, and punched up the last hill to my WarmShowers host, which ended up being one of the highlights of my trip. This family had hosted so many bike packers in recent years, and had a map on their wall with all of the people they’d hosted. They hadn’t hosted anyone from New Zealand before, and their ‘World Map’ didn’t have New Zealand on it.. Classic. So I drew up a New Zealand map, twice the size of Australia and whacked it on. And at the time of writing this blog, I have had another kiwi friend backpacking through Europe and I put her in touch with this family and she has since put her pin on the NZ map too.
A bunch of Swiss lads overtook me during their 300km ride to celebrate the longest day of the year... I didn't hold on long!
This family welcomed me kindly into their home life, and offered me to stay another night to wait out the weather. Family dinners, home grown food, and fascinating stories. The next day I spent the whole day at their house, while the family was at work and school, I was given free reign to their music room, and spent most of the day playing guitar and trumpet, and watching the thunderous rain come down outside.
The host, Lauren, who was 21, was a super keen cyclist and had got his family onto WarmShowers a couple of years ago when he did his own bikepacking trip. He asked me, how old are you? And I said ‘25 tomorrow…’
Lauren decided he wanted to ride with me the next day, which I was super excited about. It ended up being my biggest day, 213 kilometres and a ton of elevation gain, getting over two alpine passes. At the 100km mark, we reached our second Alpine pass summit, which was also where Lauren would jump on the bus to return home… he pulled out a little birthday cake he’d whipped up for me! This young man had a heart of gold, and one of the more memorable moments of the trip. We said our goodbyes and parted ways. It was so good riding with someone else for a good stint of the day, but I knew I had a big job ahead of me to get to Italy by dark so I was happy to be on my own to punch it out and get the job done.
My legs felt great all day, and I felt pretty chipper that I was now capable of knocking out these big days. Back in my triathlon days, biking was always my weakness, lacking the strength to match those I was riding with. This was my first time of getting a hint of what it felt like to have some bike strength to me.
I rolled into Bolzano, Italy at around 8:30pm to meet my WarmShowers host, Stefanos, who was the most classic Italian gentleman. Stefanos was an Oboe player at the local church which he told me all about. I wasn’t much chat that evening, after smashing a full pizza and sharing a drink with Stefanos, he disappeared to a 9pm Oboe rehearsal, and I crashed out into a deep sleep.
The next day was all about getting into the famous dolomites. They weren’t originally on my list, but since I had the time and the legs, I decided to go and see what it was all about.
Made it back into Italy, for Pizza in Bolzano after 213 kilometres in the legs.
My review of the Dolomites.. Spectacular, busy, hard to find camp spots, lots of pro cyclists, expensive restaurants, and many tourists. I camped one night off the side of the road in the hills in the Dolomites, and then made my way into Brunico via the classic Dolomite passes. I met a bunch of other bike packers along that section of the ride. Smiles on faces, and heavy rigs.
I got so many comments about my ‘light weight set up’. And equally, so many comments about people saying ‘I wish I didn’t bring this or that’. I was very happy with my lightweight (28kg) set up, 2 undies, 2 T shirts kinda set up, it’s all you need on a summer trip!
I arrived in Brunico and settled into a hazy beer at the local pub, where I would meet my next WarmShowers host Bruno (from Brunico) who insisted on meeting me in town and riding home with me otherwise I’d get lost apparently! He was lovely and proudly introduced me to his cat, ‘King Fenus’. They had a lovely house in South Tirol, which looked towards the green hills I’d ride along the next day. He sat me down and handed me a gigantic bowl of pesto pasta, to which I gratefully accepted, as he sat next to me at the table to watch me eat it and asked multiple times ‘you like?’. Soon his wife arrived home and it was dinner round two! Mozzarella overload and tomato, classic! They took a lot of pleasure in telling me and showing me photos of their trip to New Zealand some years ago. Sometimes I felt like WarmShowers Hosts were just as keen to have someone stay as I was to not sleep in a bivvy!
The next day, Bruno, my WarmShowers host rode the first 40ks with me to the turn off to the pass that would take me into Innsbruck Austria. He was proud as punch to be showing me through his hometown, and taking me through all the cycle ways to get to the bottom of my next climb. After we got to the train station where he would take it back to his hometown, it was time for me to try and beat the rain over the next pass into Austria! I didn’t beat the rain… this was the wettest day of the trip by far! Brenner Pass was an easy ride in the end and I was able to dry myself off on the descent when it stopped raining.
Arriving in Innsbruck was special. For years I’d heard about this town as the hub of white water kayaking in Europe. I had fleeting thoughts camping there for a few days and getting on the rivers, but the pull of German Lagers in Munich vs big admin trying to sort paddling gear meant I ditched this idea and wound up staying in Innsbruck with an awesome WarmShowers host, Adam Pasik!
When I arrived in Innsbruck, I didn’t have a place to stay, and I quickly realised that camping was not a thing in this town. So I continued to fire out WarmShowers requests like any human without a bed would… and just as the sun was setting, Adam got back to me and invited me over! Just a 20 minute ride up a hill and I was there, with him and his dog Chugger!
Adam mentioned that the rock climbing world champs were on the next day and that I should stay another night at his house to watch them in town. So of course I said yes, and messaged my friend Theresa who I was going to be staying with in Rosenheim then next night to come and meet me in Innsbruck to watch the competition as she’s a keen climber!
It was great to catch up with Theresa in Innsbruck, and do the dinner and drinks thing, whilst watching climbers and climbing fans yell ‘ale ale ale!’ Whilst it’s not my favourite environment… It was impressive to see professional climbers do their thing.
Theresa drove back home that night and I stayed another night with Adam, who had kindly made me dinner and breakfast for the next day, bloody legend! I set off early the next morning for an easy valley cruise day into Rosenheim, Germany.
Adam was lovely, a few years older than me, big time bike packer and fluent English. He was from Poland, working in Innsbruck, and I soon realised that most people in Innsbruck, aren’t actually from Innsburck, it is a very international town, due to it being the adventure capital of Austria and hosting a well renowned university. We spent most of the evening catching up on various trips we’d done, and going through our bike set ups. Proper bikepacking nerd stuff. I wouldn’t rule out the potential of a trip with Adam in the future, the seed was planted!
Riding along the Inn river was nice, cycle way the entire way, and with the Inn river being the border of Austria and Germany, I could almost throw a stone to Germany from Austria.
Entering into Germany and arriving to Rosenheim felt like a long time coming for me… years of growing up surrounded by Germans and people talking about Germany, I genuinely felt like I had been there before. The people were super nice who I met during my week there, and as soon as I arrived to Theresas house, she invited me to her university professor's staff party… so strange, but so much fun! We rocked up and her partner was playing in the band, which is why we got the invite. There were about 200 university professors in this courtyard, free drinks, free dinner, and some traditional ‘ish’ live German music. Being in a friends home towns when you’re traveling is the best. They just sucked you into their day to day life, and I always felt like I got more of a genuine experience in these towns as opposed to staying at a hostel with a bunch of other travelers. I felt extremely lucky.
It was so good to see Theresa after about 9 years on the other side of the planet!
The next day I left around midday in the hot Bavarian sun, and embarked on my last riding day from Rosenheim to Munich! This day was a funny one, I wasn’t particularly motivated, but since it was my last day, it felt quite special. Rolling green hills, rural small German towns, exactly as I imagined. Despite it being quite pleasant, I’m glad I wasn’t biking through Germany all the way to the Netherlands, I was already over cornfields and farm land!
Arriving in Munich was strange… 2200kms in the legs, Albania to Germany, the job was done! At this point I felt so fit and used to riding, I could have kept on going for another 6 weeks, yet at the same time, I was ready to go back home.
I arrived at Mikes apartment in downtown Munich, and was greeted by his big smile and a big hug, man it was so good to see him again. From the Copland Valley on the West Coast, to spending 4 days with him in Munich!? Life has its ways.
Arrived at my destination - Munich, Germany aka Big Mikes House!
Suited up for Mikes best mates 30th.
Big Mike served me up a beautiful meal with a German lager, and we caught up on recent times for the next couple of hours.
I stayed with Mike for 4 nights, he was so hospitable, he’d taken time off work to show me around. We floated down the Eisbach river in Munich, visited the Dacau concentration camp, many beer gardens were visited, we watched a bunch of the Fifa World Cup matches and hung out with his friends.
Mike has so many connections in Munich and it was such a pleasure to be introduced to his people. We even went to his best friend's 30th birthday dressed in traditional Lederhosen outfits, with a Bayern Munich football jersey.
I won’t prattle on too much about my time in Munich, but it was the most incredible end to my trip. I felt so lucky and well looked after.
Getting on the plane ready for my 60 hr trip back to New Zealand, I felt a lot of things. But the main feeling was feeling grateful. Grateful for the fact I’m one of the lucky ones that gets to take on these kinds of challenges by choice. It’s such a privilege to be able to do a trip like this, as all the things in the background that would even lead to someone coming up with the idea of doing a trip such as this, are all ingredients that I don’t take for granted.
I would say Bikepacking is a simple way to travel, but it’s not. It’s a lot of admin, a lot of gear, a lot of planning, the set up costs are relatively high and then you also have to have your body in working order to make it pleasurable too. However, once my trip was underway, it was an addictive state of travel. Simple living, self sufficient, cheap as anything, and you get to go where the wind takes you.
One of my main reflections on travel in general is; the days are long. Really long. As soon as you’re out of your own community, day to day work schedule, and an environment where there are always things to do, traveling is the total opposite, which has its pros and cons. I’m someone who likes to be busy, and have things going on. To be honest the idea of going somewhere with the intention of just ‘looking around’ and ‘sightseeing’ kind of stresses me out.
I think bikepacking was the perfect fix to that problem for me. I still had heaps of time, experienced some very unique moments, and felt like I connected with the people and places more than I ever had before during past travels. Bikepacking gives you a purpose, something to keep you busy, and if anything else, it’s a conversation starter.
I’m so grateful to all the people that played a part in this trip, it proved to me again the value and power of relationships. Louise, Mike, Theresa, Lauren, Adam, Bruno and other people I met and hosted me along the way, thank you!
Finishing writing this blog 5 months later, I’m not far off booking my next overseas backpacking adventure. It’s fair to say, I’m hooked!
Until the next one.
Pete
On the Bike:
- 1L Water Bottle x 2 - Mounted behind seat
- 750mm bottle drinking on down tube x 1
- 500ml bottle with tools, repair kit and first aid
- Multi tool (with chain breaker)
- Chain link x 1
- Gear cable x 1
- Inner tubes x 2
- Tyre patches x 4
- Chain lube x 1
- Brake pads x 2 sets - Used 1 set
- Small pump
- Zip ties
- Bike lock - $11 warehouse.. you beauty.
- Spoke key (on multi tool)
- Valve core remover
- Duct tape around drink bottle
- Electrical tape around drink bottle
- Medical tape in FA bottle
- Quad Lock phone holder and case
- GPS watch and charger
- In bike bags (clothes)
Clothes:
- Rab lightweight Cinder Phantom rain coat
- POC long pants
- Riding liners x 2
- Riding shorts x 1
- Casual shorts x 1
- Merino T shirt x 2
- Merino long sleeve
- Macpac long sleeve sun proof
- Puffa Jacket
- Socks x 2 (Mons Merino)
- Undies x 2 (Mons Merino)
- Buff x 1
- Sunhat x1
- Plastic fake burkes
- Riding shoes
In the bike bags:
- Head torch
- Knife
- Spork
- Pot/bowl/cup (All in one)
- Clean up kit
- Towel (small 30cmx30cm cloth)
- Small fold up backpack
- Passport
- Wise Card
- Printed travel insurance
- Photocopy of passport
- Phone
- Ear phones (wire)
- Battery bank (20,000mAh)
- Phone charger cord
- Toothbrush/ toothpaste
- Zip wallet
- Watch charger
- Wall USB adapter (4 ports)
- Rab light weight Ultra sphere sleeping mat
- Bivvy
- Sea to Summit Spark 1 Sleeping Bag
- Light weight pegs
- Spear string
- Sun screen
- Sunglasses
- Riding gloves
- Sweet Cheeks Butt Butter
- Battery shaver
- Bike light (rear only - headtorch for front if needed)
- Inflatable pillow
- Kindle
