{"id":3074,"date":"2014-08-04T14:52:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-04T14:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/2014\/08\/04\/cycle-tour-europe-finding-our-way-one-giant-step-2\/"},"modified":"2023-11-29T23:55:34","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T23:55:34","slug":"cycle-tour-europe-finding-our-way-one-giant-step-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/2014\/08\/04\/cycle-tour-europe-finding-our-way-one-giant-step-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycle Tour Europe: Finding Our Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/FindingOurWay_500.jpg\"><img alt='findingourway_500-6936052' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/FindingOurWay_500-6936052.jpg' \/><\/a>Of the three formidable tasks in cycle touring \u2013 determining where to go and how to get there, finding a place to stay, and deciding what and when to eat \u2013 the first and second combined to be the most work.\u00a0<em>(Primarily because, when you cycle that much, you will eat just about anything at just about any time!)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/042014_Day3_Canterbury-Dover-6.jpg\"><img alt='olympus-digital-camera-77' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/042014_Day3_Canterbury-Dover-6-2529332.jpg' \/><\/a>Europe has plenty of well-marked velo routes, but our itinerary (such as it was) never seemed to sync with many of them. We certainly found ourselves on many bike paths but we never simply followed one marked route for very long. Instead, it was a combination of deciding the long term destination \u2013 for example, the Vimy Ridge Memorial in northern France \u2013 and then finding a route to there over a number of days.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/052014_Day21_Pirmasens-Burrweiler-008.jpg\"><img alt='olympus-digital-camera-79' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/052014_Day21_Pirmasens-Burrweiler-008-8272583.jpg' \/><\/a>A quick series of questions usually determined this for us:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is the terrain like? \u00a0This helps us decide how far we can go in a day. If it\u2019s flat and smooth we can go a lot further than if it\u2019s hilly.<\/li>\n<li>What towns are there along the way? The \u2018no camping\u2019 rule means that we can\u2019t just stop whenever we are done for the day \u2013 we need to make it to civilization at some point. In some areas, such as northern France, the distance between towns is farther and so greatly impacts our \u2018how far can we go\u2019 decision.<\/li>\n<li>Which of those towns have reasonable places to stay? Once we\u2019ve decided on a possible distance, and a town to stop in, then we look for a place to stay. It is certainly possible to not book ahead but we found that it caused us a great deal of stress to not know where we were staying for the night. The idea of rocking into town at the end of a long day of cycling and trying to find something that fit our budget and comfort levels just did not appeal \u2013 we needed a destination, a determined stopping point, where we knew we could shower and rest and it wouldn\u2019t break the bank. I usually looked in the town we had agreed upon and, if I couldn\u2019t find what I was looking for, then I would start looking at the smaller towns on either side until I found something.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/052014_Day21_Pirmasens-Burrweiler-004.jpg\"><img alt='olympus-digital-camera-81' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/052014_Day21_Pirmasens-Burrweiler-004-1324361.jpg' \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>What Tools Did We Use?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Traditionally, cycle tourists use paper maps for navigation. The problem with paper maps for longer term trips (besides the fact they\u2019re made of paper and it rains) is the weight and room they take up. You\u2019ll need maps in the 1:50,000 scale in order to really see where you are, and where you\u2019re going \u2013 they don\u2019t cover much ground so you\u2019ll need a lot of them!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/052014_Day21_Pirmasens-Burrweiler-027.jpg\"><img alt='052014_day21_pirmasens-burrweiler-027-6125063' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/052014_Day21_Pirmasens-Burrweiler-027-6125063.jpg' \/><\/a>We wanted to take advantage of technology as much as possible and thought we could use our trusty iPhone and Google Maps to lead the way. Then we realized that we would be crossing borders essentially in the middle of nowhere \u2013 where were we going to get a local SIM card? There would be no vending machine at the border in the middle of a farmers field!<\/p>\n<p>Our cycling friend in London offered up a great solution. He was using a GPS unit to find his way and recommended the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00EM2HVOK\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B00EM2HVOK&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=onegiantstepc-20&amp;linkId=4WNRMPYW2MC4TY7R\">Garmin Edge Touring Navigator<\/a> to us. After learning more about it from him we quickly made our way to the local bike shop to get one for ourselves.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/052014_Day21_Pirmasens-Burrweiler-016.jpg\"><img alt='olympus-digital-camera-83' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/052014_Day21_Pirmasens-Burrweiler-016-9692162.jpg' \/><\/a>It worked brilliantly. Jason plotted our route on the Garmin website and then uploaded the route to the device. While riding we simply followed along. If we went off route for any reason he could see the underlying map to self-navigate or to get back on track. It also recorded our actual route; KM\u2019s covered, time actually spent moving, time spent not moving, total time, and elevation changes.<\/p>\n<p>When we needed a larger overview, wanted to know\u00a0<em>exactly\u00a0<\/em> where we were, or were looking for a beer or lunch spot, we would pull out the phone and use Google Maps to help out. The combination worked really, really well.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/062014_Day58_Cologne-Bonn-001.jpg\"><img alt='olympus-digital-camera-85' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/062014_Day58_Cologne-Bonn-001-6337410.jpg' \/><\/a>To support all this technology we carried an external battery. The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B005PMCE3Y\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B005PMCE3Y&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=onegiantstepc-20&amp;linkId=6NCV4XGOXNGSEG5L\">HyperJuice Micro<\/a> is the size of a mans wallet but carries enough power to recharge the phone three times over. We obviously charged everything up every night but there were some longer days where the power was getting low and it was a relief to know that we had a back up to rely on. We didn\u2019t use it often but we were happy to have it when we did use it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/062014_Day42_Breskens-Antwerp-003.jpg\"><img alt='olympus-digital-camera-86' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/062014_Day42_Breskens-Antwerp-003-6546352.jpg' \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Finding Places To Stay<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Accommodation isn\u2019t traditionally part of navigation but, when where you can stay determines where you go, it becomes an important part.<\/p>\n<p>Believe me, you can spend hours in the rabbit hole of finding the\u00a0<em>perfect\u00a0<\/em>place to stay. Checking out tons of booking sites, reading all the reviews, and determining the minute differences between Hotel A and Hotel B.<\/p>\n<p>Or, you can write out a list of criteria that defines\u00a0<em>your<\/em>\u00a0perfect place and then\u00a0stop looking once you\u2019ve found it. Just stop. If you think there is something better out there then you must be missing something on your criteria list. If it meets all your criteria then it must be perfect. Stop. Looking.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/062014_Day41_Ghent-Breskens-022.jpg\"><img alt='062014_day41_ghent-breskens-022-9721058' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/062014_Day41_Ghent-Breskens-022-9721058.jpg' \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Our criteria for this trip included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Budget \u2013 it\u2019s always #1<\/li>\n<li>Proximity to our intended destination<\/li>\n<li>Walking distance to food and drink \u2013 we did not want to get on our bikes again after showering<\/li>\n<li>Breakfast included \u2013 so we could fuel up and get going in the morning<\/li>\n<li>Wifi available<\/li>\n<li>Decor\/Style \u2013 will we feel comfortable there? Funny, this is becoming more important the more I travel (and the older I get). If we stay in a shit place I just get cranky and don\u2019t want to spend any time there. A nice place = a happy Gillian. \ud83d\ude42<\/li>\n<li>Bike storage \u2013 although I stopped worrying about this pretty early on. We\u2019re in Europe, lots of people bicycle everywhere. Every place we went, except one, found a safe and secure place for us to store our bikes.\u00a0<em>One place, right near the Frankfurt train station, wanted us to leave our bikes in the main, public, parking garage around the corner. Yeah, right. We had to convince him to let us schlepp them down stairs to their utility room for the night.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We stayed in some really interesting places; hundred year old inns, rustic farmhouses, apartments perched overlooking valleys, and cute and cozy little bed and breakfasts.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/062014_Day45_Middelburg-Renesse-018.jpg\"><img alt='olympus-digital-camera-88' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/062014_Day45_Middelburg-Renesse-018-9172413.jpg' \/><\/a><br \/>\nI started out this trip using a number of hotel\/hostel\/pension\/B&amp;B\/guesthouse booking sites. In the end I used <a href=\"http:\/\/www.booking.com\/\">Booking.com<\/a> almost exclusively. I like their website experience, the selection of properties, the on-site reviews, the payment process (pay on arrival, not before hand) and that, most often, I could cancel for free almost up until the day of arriving. It was rare that I couldn\u2019t find anything on there and had to use another, usually more local, site to find a place. I also liked that, as a registered user, I was privy to specials and \u2018Genius\u2019 deals that often meant we could stay in a property that would normally be out of budget. Score!\u00a0<em>Note: I tell you this because it\u2019s honestly what I found was best. I\u2019m not paid to say this nor do I get a commission if you use them. I just like them. A lot.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>For longer term stays I used <a href=\"http:\/\/airbnb.com\/\">AirBnB.com<\/a> to find apartments. They seem to have the best selection, are well used so have lots of reviews, and their website is easy to use. What I HATE about them is the booking fee. For longer term stays the booking fee adds a few cents to each night but for shorter stays it sometimes pushed a place to the edge of our budget. Not cool. <a href=\"http:\/\/homeaway.com\/\">HomeAway.com<\/a> is a good alternative with no booking fees, but their selection is not as good.\u00a0<em>Shameless Plug: I wrote all about finding the perfect apartment in my book <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B00HWEX3VK\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B00HWEX3VK&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=onegiantstepc-20&amp;linkId=7PWI52BYC2W4HNPD\">How to Find the Perfect Vacation Rental<\/a>. Check it out.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/062014_Day68-75_TheodorKerner-025.jpg\"><img alt='olympus-digital-camera-90' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/062014_Day68-75_TheodorKerner-025-6464023.jpg' \/><\/a>All-in-all it wasn\u2019t that hard. Yes, it was a lot of work and took up a lot of time but it wasn\u2019t that hard to figure it all out. It would be even easier if you decided to stick to one, or two, of the main velo routes. They are well marked, pass through some beautiful countryside, and have great cycling infrastructure alongside.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img alt='pixel-3191630' src='https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/pixel-3191630.png' \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Of the three formidable tasks in cycle touring \u2013 determining where to go and how to get there, finding a place to stay, and deciding what and when to eat \u2013 the first and second combined to be the most work.\u00a0(Primarily because, when you cycle that much, you will eat just about anything at just [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26081,"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions\/26081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}