Cycling London to Berlin...anyone fancy it?

[Smedleyuk]

Hello all, On the 21st of September 2012 and I am going to attempt to cycle from London to Berlin, in the hope of arriving on the 28th (2 days before I run the Berlin marathon) It will be unsupported and at the moment I am doing it on my own. Let me know if you would be interested in joining me for part/all of the route as It would be great to have some company! Craig

 

[trevorferdy]

Hiya,

well, I just done this - here is some advice in an entertaining 17 min package!

Take care

Trevor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m7bNPbuj-Q

 

[limerickman]

Fair dues to you guys for doing this cycle !

I'll look at that youtube link later.

 

[limerickman]

Well done to both of you guys.

I just watched the Youtube clip and it looked like a fantastic trip.
The Titanic music on the ferry /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Gardelgen looked like an exciting place /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

As you youtube clip says a lot of villages and towns in Germany are built around a church or cloister.

And did you get your passport at the Brandenburg Gate? They have special passes there in to what was the Old East Berlin?

Did you fellas pedal back to Britain from Berlin?/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

 

[Smedleyuk]

Well done guys, so it is defo doable. How did the legs feel towards the end, if you don't mind me asking. Brilliant video, really did make me smile. Bit worried about your comments about the R1 route though. Is it really that bad? I've got the bikeline route map which gives you an idea of surfaces but like you guys, I'm doing this on a road bike! Loved the music too, what's that song that keeps coming in and out, is it from the Olympics opening ceremony? Craig

 

[trevorferdy]

Legs were fine. In fact, physically it was fine, it's just the lack of planning that made it so hard - but most aspects of the trip cannot be planned!

Yes the music is from the opening ceremony - all the tracks all bar one, which is "Autobahn".

I did write another reply earlier, did you get it? About the R1?

 

[trevorferdy]

OK so this is the 3rd time I have written this - I hope it works.

About the R1, absolutely it is no good for bikes with thin tyres. If your road bike has medium tyres then it is OK is terms of physically coping with the R1 trail (and it is a trail) but distance-wise the R1 is a nightmare. It was formed with the intention of being only scenic and not distance motivated. See my homemade diagram attached to illustrate with I mean.
The path contains many seciton of gravel track nad mud track. Most of it is tarmac but not all, perhaps about two thirds. I assume you are getting the boat to Hook of Holland. Cycling through Holland is easy - just use the street signs that have RED TEXT ON A WHITE BACKROUND. These are for cyclists. IGNORE ANY OTHER COLOURS (e.g. green text) as these denote other R1 style scenic routes and will take much longer to complete. Just plan from town to town to get to where you need to go: so look at the major towns on the way to your destination and go from town to town using these sign posts.As for Germany, it is confusing because Germany also has these sign posts with red text ona white background but these are much less efficient and are scenic only. You should plan using B-style roads. Buying MARCO POLO maps is your best bet as all the safer B style roads are clearly marks as YELLOW ROADS (don't follow the bicycle routes on the map - again, these are just scenic and not efficient). These are by far the best way to travel through Germnay - most of them are scenic, providing a nice mixture of nature areas and cities, not too busy, have many cycle paths by the road and are very direct, in fact, much more direct than highways as these tend to meander a lot. It should be knwon that you can cycle on any roads in Germany apart from the Autobahms unless it is clealry sign posted that cycles are not allowed (same types of red circular signs as in the UK). If there is a cycle path however, you are obligued to use that rather than the road, and the cycle paths vary MASSIVELY from smooth tarmac to nasty cobble-stone. Good luck.