Cycling

A collection of 45 posts

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

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 9: Wasp infestation

Köping to almost Uppsala The next morning while having breakfast on the lake shore it dawned on us that this trip might actually come to an end soon. This would be the last day of real riding towards Uppsala and in two days we would be back in the plane

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 8: The coldest lake

Karlskoga to Köping Our general heading for the last few days would be east towards Uppsala and finally Arlanda airport. We started the day with a visit at Alfred Nobels villa which is noteworthy as this would be the last bit of civilization for the day. The day continued with

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 7: Cannons and Mister Nobel

Göta canal to Karlskoga After a few days of sleeping outside and it being quite hot we decided that we should find a hostel or similar for the next night to shower and reset everything for the last third of our trip. Our initial searches online in the next towns

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 6: Bikepacking vs Cycle touring

Hjo to Göta canal Leaving our shelter in the woods we headed towards the Göta canal. This man-made waterway connects coasts of Sweden and makes use of the two great lakes of Vänern and Vättern on its way. We would be riding alongside the stretch of the canal that connects

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 5: 50% Vätternrundan

Gränna to Hjo This day was spent circumnavigating the southern half of Vättern following more or less the route of the Vätternrundan, a massive yearly cyclosportive going around the complete lake. As it turned out the day was quite eventful. The first part of the ride brought us to the

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 4: Tinned ravioli

Kisa to Gränna, lake Vättern Our general heading for the day: West until we hit lake Vättern. With thunderstorms forecasted around the lake for later that day we kept a close eye on the weather the whole day and we paced ourselfs to make sure we would not be riding

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 3: The green tunnel

Lake Näsnaren to Kisa Riding away from our camp spot the traveling groove was starting to set in. The day would bring us about 150 km further south, by the town of Norrköping and through what looks like a green and blue Pollock painting on the map. The first two

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 2: Endless gravel and Swedish rednecks

Enköping to lake Näsnaren After raiding the breakfast buffet of our accomodation in Enköping, we set off for our first full day of riding. The first leg of the day brought us to Västeras and into one of the few rain showers we would encounter on this trip. Two things

Cycling

Äppelknyckar Day 1: Roll out! - Arlanda airport to Enköping

Packing your Bags and ready to go? Torben and myself flew into Arlanda, Stockholms main airport, and met up in the afternoon to reassemble the bikes. The plan was to ride about 100km this first day making use of the fact that up north the sun is shining until late

Tips and tricks

How to plan your bikepacking trip

After a number of trips our toolset for planning has evolved and we find ourself going back to a few websites and approaches time and time again. To make your life a bit easier we would like to share what we learned. This text will focus on cycling, but we

Cycling

ALL THE CLIMBS!

Road bike overnighter in the Tramuntana mountains So what do you do if a good friend and fellow Grimer visits you on the island of Mallorca for four days? Two overnight bike trips of course - one on MTBs and this one on road bikes. Our road bike trip covered

Cycling

Le Tour de norddeutsche Tiefebene

Four days in the cold north of Germany So I did want to meet a bunch of friends living in and around Hamburg in the north of Germany. And with it being late March I thought: “Well let’s borrow a bike and ride the distance between the overnights stops.

Cycling

Keeping an eye out for pirates

Bikepacking the Cami de Cavalls on Menorca After my previous trip to Menorca on a road bike I quickly made the decision to come back on nobby tires to ride the famous Cami de Cavalls. This roughly 170 km hiking trail follows the whole coast of the island and was

Cycling

Less EDM more bikes

Circumnavigating Ibiza on a MTB The first thoughts about Ibiza (the other smaller sister of the Balearic island of Mallorca) is either that one Cafe del Mar sampler that everybody owns or pictures of yachts, rich people and neverending parties. When setting out to Ibiza on the ferry with a

Cycling

Rocks, sheep and a beach for one

Two day bikepacking the Natural Park of Levant on Mallorca / Spain The island of Mallorca might be more well known for its lovely beaches and parties and, if you are looking it bit closer, fantastic road cycling opportunities and great local culture. However if you go a level deeper you

Cycling

Exploring the home of mayonnaise

Menorca on a road bike The island of Menorca in the Mediterranean sea is known to be the greener, quieter little sister of Mallorca. It is about a fifths in size and inhabites only an eighth of the population. Driving from one site to the other of the island takes

Cycling

Never ending views and never ending climbs

Through the Tramuntana mountains by MTB in two days The Tramuntana mountains, which range the north-west coast of Mallorca, are well known for their beauty both among road cyclists (just look at early season training photos of any pro-team and the chances to see shots from here are great) and

Cycling

Mountains, Forests and a Bowl of Spätzle

2 days of bikepacking in the Bavarian Forest Bavaria: Beer, generous portions of food and some more beer - at least as far as the clichés go. Having lived in that southern most part of Germany for five years I can assure you there is much more to it as

Cycling

Woods, farms and cold nights

Bikepacking the lower Bavarian forest The Bavarian forest in the south Germany might be better known for its mountains and protected forests close to the Czech border but does spread to the west up to the city of Regensburg. This western part is dominated by commercially used wood- and farmland