15 Countries, 3 continents, in 4 (maybe 5?) months.

[EdNoriega]

Hello everyone !

This is my first post on this forum, although I have been quietly watching and reading here for hours. Incredibly helpful and smart advice. Thank you all for that !

I want to share our little itinerary and see if there is any input, suggestions or advice that pops into your minds as you read on. We have been doing some research for a couple of months, as well as training, since we are literally new to cycling, so we feel confident we are in good shape. Then again, it is our first ever tour so ANY and ALL comments or feedback will be extremely thankful. It is possible we already know some of it, but it doesn't hurt to hear it again

The route:
Norway-->Denmark-->Sweden-->back to Denmark-->Germany-->Netherlands-->Belgium-->France-->Spain-->Portugal-->Back to Spain, then Ferry to Morocco-->ferry back to Gibraltar-->Back to London for 5 days-->Bali-->Ferry to Java-->Ferry to and cycle Madura--Ferry back to Java, flight to Singapore-->Malaysia-->Thailand all the way up to Bangkok-->East into Cambodia-->Vietnam and finish at Saigon/Ho Chi Min. Fly back to London in time to enjoy the English Winter !

The details:
We fly out of London on Sept 9th into Bergen, Norway. We will follow along the North Sea Cycle Route to Kristiansand, where we ferry south to Hirtshals, Denmark. This is because of the time of the year. (no point going north back to Oslo and then south again in September). From Hirtshals, we cycle and board a ferry in Frederikshavn towards Gothenburg, Sweden. We will then re-join the North Sea cycle route. This next section is still being discussed, but broadly speaking, we will go south until we can cross back to Denmark and head south or just stay in Sweden and go all the way south to Trellenborg and ferry to Sassnitz, from there make a bee line towards Hamburg and join the North Sea cycle route again. Follow it into The Netherlands, Belgium and France with cultural stops along the way. i.e. Amsterdam. We will come into France headed almost straight to Calais but then continue on South as straight as we can manage towards Bordeaux where some cheese and wine will await. At some point we will join the Santiago de Compostela route and join it all the way to Santiago. We will probably hop on a train or two to bypass some mountains there, just because this is not even 'half way there'. From Santiago we will ride south into Portugal, and cross back into Spain once we are close to Andalucia, where more wine and some Jamon also awaits. Eventually, we will make it south to where we will take a ferry, possibly leave the bikes at a hotel room in Spain and 'do Morocco' for a day or two depending on dates. Then get back and make our way towards Gibraltar where we will fly back to London.

That is leg one.

The second half, starts with us boarding a flight to KL, with a day or two stay to acclimate and de-jetlag. Then Fly to the Indonesian Island of Bali, where we bike around a volcano or two, then make our way to the West end to ferry to Java. We cycle north a tiny bit of Java, just to get to the other ferry port, where we ferry to Madura. We do all of Madura, westbound and ferry back into Java, to the city of Surabaya. From there we fly either to Jakarta and 'relax' in the city for a day or two, or to Kota Kinabalu to explore a rain forest or two over a two-three day break. From either of those two, we Fly to Singapore, where we start riding north, north, north. Into Malaysia and along the East coast, into Thailand and headed towards Bangkok. The route around the Gulf ot Thailand should sling us around and into Cambodia, Phnom Penh hopefully and from there, straight into Ho Chi Min for out flight back to KL and London.

We plan to take a few days off just to rest a bit at that point.

The team:
Yours truly: Mexican, 35 M
My Wife: Lithuanian, 32 F
Her BFF: Brazilian, 27 F

The gear:
We are riding a Raleigh Sojourn and two Kona Sutras. We are expecting rain. Lots of it through the north section of Europe. Period. So, we are watertight. Crosso Panniers, Terra Nova tents. And two pieces each of jackets, pants. All Goretex, or something like it.

The Asia section will be much, much, much lighter since we will carry no tents, no bedding and no cooking gear. Phew!

The Blog
Being created, will post it here as soon as we figure out and we finalize buying everything we need to purchase. And move on to the 'talk about it' part of the experience.


So, this is it. Any advice, any suggestions, links or sources you can think of, I would LOVE to hear from you. We have been researching the trip for a little while, but we have jobs and lack of experience so, we hope to benefit from more experienced riders' advice.

Yours truly,

Ed Noriega <-- codenamed 'Mother Goose', as I seem to be followed by my two chicks

[iviehoff]

It takes longer than a day or two to acclimatise to Malaysian/Indonesian climate. Take it fairly easy your first few days cycling there, perhaps only cycle half the distance you would usually cycle to start with, and set out early in the morning. You will acclimatise more quickly if you avoid air-conditioned bedrooms. You won't enjoy your first few nights, but it will be worth it in terms of reducing the risk of collapsing with heat-stroke when out cycling.

[EdNoriega]

It takes longer than a day or two to acclimatise to Malaysian/Indonesian climate. Take it fairly easy your first few days cycling there, perhaps only cycle half the distance you would usually cycle to start with, and set out early in the morning. You will acclimatise more quickly if you avoid air-conditioned bedrooms. You won't enjoy your first few nights, but it will be worth it in terms of reducing the risk of collapsing with heat-stroke when out cycling.

Thanks Iviehoff,

That sounds sensible, actually. In fact I will adjust the daily numbers to make sure that is addressed.

Have you cycled in that part of the world ? Would love to hear Do's, Don'ts and Musts ! ~

~E

[snibgo]

... we are literally new to cycling ... Then again, it is our first ever tour ... We fly out of London on Sept 9th

Wow.

I strongly suggest a shake-down tour before then, if you haven't already. Even if it's just two days, with an overnight stop. It will give you an idea of whether your bikes, gear and legs can do what you want, whether there is something you can leave behind, whether you absolutely need some other gizmo, and so on.

Things will go wrong, of course, but it's best to sort out major problems before having to cope with foreign languages and the rest.

[iviehoff]

Have you cycled in that part of the world ? Would love to hear Do's, Don'ts and Musts

I have cycled in Peninsular Malaysia. I would advise you stay away from KL and more generally the densely populated areas of the western flatlands: too many cars and busy roads. Most people agree the eastern side of the country is nicer to cycle. The climate is very trying at any time of year, though.

You haven't given exact dates, but it looks like your ride will likely be during the wet season in Java and maybe also the east coast of Malaysia. But the risk of catastrophic flooding tends to be later in the wet season, more like Jan or Feb. As you proceed further north into Thailand, you should get into areas where it is the dry season, as is more typical of northern hemisphere tropics.

Check out the crazyguyonabike.com website, lots of people have been cycling where you are going (well not so many to Java) and written about it there, and you will get some good ideas. "Mr Pumpy" has been cycling in Java and many other parts of SE Asia, check out his website mrpumpy.net.

[EdNoriega]

Oh ... Mr. Pumpy ! Yes, we know him !

We are leaving this coming Friday to Norway. Plan to be finished with the Europe part by Nov 10th. Fly to London and then out to KL on the 13th.

We have added two days in KL just to acclimate and de-jet lag. We then fly to Bali in Feb 18th, and we start with light cycling ... up a Volcano!

I think we will be in Malaysia by Early Dec, and into Cambodia in early January. With luck, we hope to spend 3 weeks, or so in Vietnam alone.

~Ed