Cycling

A collection of 44 posts

Cycling

Big climbs, big sky and big smiles in the Sierra de Los Filabres

Most road cyclists know Mallorca, Calpe and maybe the Sierra Nevada as destinations to ride stunning roads in great weather. However there is much more to explore in Spain - like the many climbs, quaint villages and beautiful landscape of the Sierra de Los Filabres.

Cycling

Through the hills and by the sea on knobby tires

Even though I have been riding bikes on Mallorca for some years there is still new stuff to explore - even close to home. So Martin and I packed light and rode off on mountain bikes for an overnighter along the East coast.

vanlife

Ariège: A somewhat hidden gem in the French Pyrenees

Having already spent quite some time in the Spanish Pyrenees and other parts of the French side of this range, our travels brought us into the Ariége valley for about a week in the late summer. What we found was a climbers and cyclist paradise that at least we did not have on top of our list.

vanlife

A perfect slice of Spain

Picturesque sun baked houses on a backdrop of beautiful steep mountains combined with the possibility to take deep dives into the culture and history of the „real“ Spain. That what awaits!

Climbing

The Southern France Ramble

What was planned as a quick drive-by meetup between Martin, Brigitte and I on our respective ways north and south in France turned into a almost weeklong raid through the climbing areas and backroads of Cevennes and Ventoux regions.

Cycling

The Zip Tie Express and its entourage

Take four climbers, put them on (and in) bikes, point them towards the Tramuntana mountains, add the special sauce of this being a test for Sebastians handbike creation and see what happens: That was the plan for this two day round trip on Mallorca.

vanlife

Benasque and the Aneto - The heart of the Pyrenees

This chapter of our ongoing exploration of the Iberian peninsula brought us into the central Pyrenees and the very heart of this range, the Benasque valley under the mighty Aneto.

Cycling

Re:Tour de Norddeutsche Tiefebene

As per usual, just visiting and meeting people is not enough for impatient me. So a quick plan was whipped up to ride a bike all over the landscape surrounding Hamburg and to cap everything off with the first public reading of a book I was involved in.

Cycling

Riding the Cayolle, Champ and Allos passes in the French Alps

After focussing on rock climbing in first part of our van tour June 2023 I made sure that the bike did not feel lonely in the second half - and a monster ride over three cols higher than 2.000m was just the thing to challenge bike and rider.

Cycling

Exploring la España verde

Spain does have a deep history of road cycling both as a professional sport and an amateur activity. And especially the northern regions do offer tons of beautiful landscapes, cycling history and winding roads to explore.

vanlife

In the shadow of Monviso

Our travels through this part of the Alps brought us over to Italy and the source valley of the river Po to continue our eclectic mix of outdoor activities.

2022

Outdoor sports and other adventures in La Brigue

The valley has been hit hard by the storm Alex in 2020 and it still shows. However this means that the area is quiet and the many outdoorsy activities you can do here are not crowded at all. And all of the alpine beauty is still there!

Cycling

Riding Cols in the French Alps

Cycling up long steep alpine roads might sound like madness for most people - but for some this is what we call a very good time. I had the chance to ride some of the most iconic climbs of the French alps and yes, that part of the world is as stunning as it looks in the Tour de France.

Cycling

Cycling on Ibiza. Is it any good?

The smallest of the three main islands of the Balearics might be best known for its party scene and hippy culture but it turns out that it's a pretty good place for all kinds of two wheeled adventures also!

Tips and tricks

Endurace CF SL Disc 8.0 Di2 10.000 km Review

After having ridden my trusty Cervelo R3 for about 10 years and 150.000 km I was in the market for a new road bike and after a lot of deliberation I settled on a Canyon Endurace. Seven months and 10.000 km later I can confirm this to be a great bike.

Cycling

La Vuelta Media

“Ride half the distance of the 2020 Vuelta a Espana at the same time as the pros on local roads - just for the sake of it.” - That was the simple premise of a totally unnecessary and equally fun project that had me riding for 45 hours and 1.500km in three weeks.

Cycling

Screw Covid! Ride bikes!

Due to busy schedules and the travel restrictions fellow Grimer Torben and I had not seen each other in a very long time and had to put our plans for some future trips on hold. So I was more than happy to tag on a weekend of bike riding with him to my summer trip to the Austrian alps.

Cycling

Hitting the road in 2020

To stay on track with my ongoing commitment to do a trip at least once a month I headed out for a two day road bike excursion from the East coast of Mallorca, into the Tramuntana mountains and back in January - and was convinced again that this place just keeps being awesome.

Cycling

La Grava del Pla

A gravel cycling overnighter on Mallorca Keeping true to one of my goals (doing at least one trip per months be it short or long) I packed ye olde Fargo in late April 2019 and went on a two day exploration of the farm tracks and gravel paths of the

Cycling

The Galatzó loop

A bikepacking weekender in the southern Tramuntana mountains To kick of the new year I went out on the mountains again for a two day exploration of the southern Tramuntana. A bit unknowingly my route was a big loop around the Puig de Galatzó, one of the higher peaks in

Cycling

Hunting trails on an aluminum horse

Exploring the Oise region of France on a lent MTB Every self-respecting bike nerd will have a vision of riding in France: Mount Ventoux, the Tourmalet or the cobbles of Roubaix will come to mind and going to France and NOT riding would be a travesty. When I set of

Cycling

Weisswurst Worlds Tour ´18

A two day road ride to Innsbruck to watch the road cycling world championships Having visited the cyclocross world champs a few years ago I pitched the idea to Torben that we should have a look at the road cycling world championship in Innsbruck in October 2018. And being who

Cycling

Äppelknyckar

1300 km of gravel cycling and camping in Sweden In the summer of 2018 we set out for a two week gravel cycling trip through southern Sweden. This multi-part article narrates our experience. Sweden, the North, lakes, woods, moose and fermented fish - those were our first thoughts while coming

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 11: Always too short...

Uppsala to Arlanda Our flights would leave at Arlanda that afternoon and we made sure to have plenty of time at the airport to pack up out stuff and get through security (it would turn out nearly not enough). The ride toward the airport was just 40 km and we

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 10: There be vikings and blast beats

Into Uppsala The day started off weird. While preparing to leave for Uppsala a guy with a giant backpack came right out of the woods. It turned out he was training for a expedition into the mountains on the border between Sweden and Norway and was carrying 35l of Water