Last Updated on: October 23, 2021
For some a summer adventure has already started, and people are on the move. South, north, west or east, in Europe, US or elsewhere. On two, four or no wheels. A chance to take a break from mundane life.
For me it’s soon to begin, like last year and the year before, on two wheels.
Original & new Summer Adventure plan
During winter and into spring the plan was to ride with a friend, and head southeast. Cover a bit of Balkan, then set course for the Carpathians and Romania.
It’s quite a ride from my whereabouts. Therefore a part of the plan was to take the Nightjet from Hamburg to Vienna. But, things happened, project southeast is now back on the bucket list. Maybe something for 2019, we’ll see.
So the adventure will be to go solo again, and that’s fine by me. Direction is sort of decided, like previous years will adapt, and make choices underway. It’s how i like it.
Far more experienced riders than me have, when asked, answered; “oh the best trips and rides are those that just happens, with no plan whatsoever”.
Not all might agree though, fine, I’ve done it twice and even if I made some bad decisions it was awesome. And that despite some heavy rainshowers, however if you’re decently well protected, it’s not an issue.
As some fellow riders put it, if you worry about the weather you’ll get absolutely nowhere. This is, if nothing else, true.
The first legs
Twice I’ve gone through Sweden on the way down and back up. For this year’s summer adventure I’ll take the ferry from Larvik to Hirtshals (route map top right). Then go through Jylland of Denmark, mess about in Denmark for a bit while moving in direction Germany and Schleswig Holstein.
Weather might push decision on details but the idea is now to continue where I left off.
What does that mean? Well this blog post might shed some light. Or the one after that. Feel free to check out the rest of them if you haven’t. I am also going to organize things a little better but maybe not until past summer.
So anyways, entering Germany one plan is to carry on in the direction of Schwarzwald or Black Forest. Before getting that far south I want to check out Eltz Castle.
From Black Forest I’ll head into Switzerland, ride across Furka, St.Gotthard, Grimsel and a few other passes. Then head in the direction of Lake Geneva. Where on the French side Routes des Grand Alpes (The Grand Alpine Route) begins.
Hopefully the weather will be nice, and grant me the privilege of being able to spend some days exploring. Amen 🙂
Edit (fall 2018): Things didn’t go as planned, well, they almost never do. What happened? Where did I go? Start here to find out 🙂