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Last Thursday, I set off on the ferry from Alcudia, Mallorca (Spain) to Toulon, France to ride my bike about 1100km to Munich. I had a tiny bag with me and no route planned. I wanted to indulge in full adventure mode and go whatever comes my way. Below are the statistics of the ride (plus Strava route at the bottom):
Route and riding
Total distance: 1029 km from Toulon (where ferry from Alducia, Mallorca landed) to Munich
- Day 1: 170km
- Day 2: 208km
- Day 3: 221km
- Day 4: 249km
- Day 5: 181km
Total Elevation gain: 7613m
Days including sleep: 5
Time spent on the bike: 38,7 hours
Total riding time with breaks: 46,1 hours
Time off the bike during the ride: 7:13 hours
Average speed: 26,5 km/h
Total stops: 15
Calories burned: 18133 calories
Total sleep time: 8+7+6+4=25hours
Countries
Countries crossed: 4 (Spain, france, Switzerland, Germany)
Spain: 1
French provinces: 2
Swiss cantons: 8
German States: 2
Bike and bag
Bike used: Scott Addict Gravel
Components: Shimano Ultegra
Tires: Continental Grand Prix 4000
Weight of carry-on bag: 1kg
Bike maintenance
Number of flats: None
Number of tires pumped up: 2
Number of oiling chain: 1
Personal
Most important piece: passport
Incidences as a solo female: None
Main fuel: croissants and coffee
Accommodation
Total costs for hotels: 60+80+60+60€=
Ways to find hotels: tourism office (Sisteron) online (Aix les bains), walked in (ins, weingarten)
Reason to stop for night:
- No hotels within the 50km (sisteron)
- Enough for today (alb, ins)
- Getting too late (weingarten)
Navigation
Country borders crossed: 7 (multiple times between Switzerland and Germany)
France: easy to navigate
Switzerland: moderate
Germany; moderate (not all bike paths are a good decision do take for someone who wants to go faster than 15kmh)
Kilometers getting lost: 5
Tips
Main advice for doing an adventure trip for first titime: go through a familiar country where you speak the language and know the customs on the road. Start small to get a feel for it. Have fun. These trips are about exploring and about adventure.
For solo female: a tracker is a good way to stay safe. Evaluate situations like dont use paths or roads that seem shady or where there is no way to get help. (I am not talking about the odd kilometer here or there but long stretches that are deserted. Be smart. Stop before the dark sets in.) Most people are more impressed than anything else that you do it alone).
If there is anything missing, just let me know 🙂 Pictures, videos and the story will come in the next post.
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[…] super exciting but it is definitely far from boring. My most recent 1100km cycling adventure from Mallorca to Munich is a great example when time literally flies on the bike. For such a ride there are three reasons […]