Cycle Touring Highlights

A few weeks ago we sold our tandem touring bikes, and recently we’ve been thinking about some of the things we loved about our three months cycling in Europe. We decided to post a few thoughts and highlights from the road….

Navigating through different countries

Every country that we’ve been biking in has it’s own cycle routing system and we’ve enjoyed experiencing all the differences. One of our favourite mapping systems was in the Netherlands where the segments of cycle routes are all numbered in sequential order. Every morning we’d simply plan our route by writing down all the numbers we had to follow to our destination. It was almost like a fun game of connecting the dots – which Kai and Vea loved.

In total contrast to the Netherlands, we found Northern Tuscany in Italy to be completely lacking in biker friendly streets or cycle routes. But we quickly adapted and discovered we had our own built in ‘VPS’ (Vea Positioning System). We would load up the iPhone with Google Maps and Vea would hold the phone in ‘Hands-Free’ mode at the back of the tandem while she directed us along our route. This worked great for directions, however it meant that Kari was peddling twice as hard while Vea was focused on navigating instead of peddle power.

VPS navigation

VPS navigation

Our route plan for the day

Taking a nap under the map

Getting our bearings

The feeling of total freedom

One of the things we love about cycling is the sense of total freedom we feel while on the road. This is a different kind of travel experience compared to backpacking. Instead of relying on trains and bus schedules or rental cars and tuktuks to get around, we have everything we need in our panniers and on our own bikes. Usually our planned route would change often along the way due to weather or because we wanted to spend more time in one place. We’ve been truly feeling the enjoyment of living in the moment.

A narrow trail by the sea

Cycling through falling leaves

The open road

Slowing things down

Speed is not the priority when we’re cycle touring!  At first we tried to cover a certain distance per day – but then realized we wanted to slow things down on this chapter of our trip. Cycling is the perfect opportunity to travel slowly and soak in the experience. We were able to appreciate so many things that would normally be missed – like perfect picnic stops and fields where we could fly the kite, slugs and beetles that we’d find on the trail, wildflowers growing along the side of the road and the dancing leaves that fell from the trees as we’d cycle by.

Since we’ve been trying to stay on smaller roads we tend to spend most of our time in small towns. It’s here that we get a true appreciation for local life and culture. We’ve really gained a genuine feel for the places we’ve been and we’ve met some wonderful and interesting people along the way.

A walk in a farmers field

A slugs pace

Catching falling leaves

Stopping to smell the flowers

Enjoying perfect picnic lunch spots

Meeting great people

Meeting great people

Getting through the long stretches

There were lots of long stretches and some boring parts of our cycling. This forced us to become quite inventive with ideas to engage Kai and Vea. We made lots of simple games along the rides – like who could catch a falling leaf while cycling, who could keep a mint the longest in their mouth, who could blow the biggest bubble with gum, and who could do the mouth trumpet as good as Malia.

There were also many impromptu stops along the way. We found perfect soccer pitches which made for some fiercely competitive ‘Matthews Cup’ soccer games. Playgrounds that would make Kai and Vea squeal with excitement, and we couldn’t resist the abundance of bakeries that just called our names for a little something to share.

We also put the Harry Potter series on audiobooks for Kai and Vea to listen to as we cycled. They had one earphone in the ear, and one out so we could always communicate and still chat along the way. Vea got so engaged with her audiobooks that she seemed to forgot to pedal sometimes and would just spin while she listened – and Kari would miss her endless chatter, so we only pulled out the audiobooks in times of desperation during the long stretches.

Often we would find Vea in another ‘hands free mode’ on the tandem with a little black notebook in her hand, writing or sketching some ideas while we cycled. She’s become quite a writer during this trip and has so many stories, ideas or lists in her head that she just has to get them down on paper right away.

Vea writing in her little black book

Dialed into an audiobook with one earbud

Matthews soccer tournaments

Stopping to savour the flavour

Writing on the go

Jumping high

Swinging low

Enjoying the simple things

We’ve always appreciated the simple things in life – and this chapter of our trip has been an opportunity to embrace so many of these wonderful moments.

During our days of cycling we’ve had some amazing conversations with Kai and Vea on the back of the bikes. Vea tends to be more chatty than Kai – but we already know that is their character. We’ve also had lots of time for our own thoughts on the road which is equally important.

While cycling we’ve also loved smelling the scents of autumn with burning leaves and wood burning stoves, the smell of bakeries in the morning with their fresh baguettes, and the sounds of church bells ringing through the towns.

But overall the simple sense of accomplishment getting from the start of our day to our final destination all on our own power is so amazing.

Getting lost in a field of flowers

Flying a kite on a windy day

Stopping at a church to light candles

Our Daily rituals

When we were in New Zealand with our motorhome we developed some great daily rituals that we all participated in. It’s funny how we’ve developed similar rituals during our cycling tour. Every day we all had our own responsibilities for packing gear up and getting the bikes ready to ride. Kari and Norrie would check the weather and route over coffee before Kai and Vea woke up and decided if we needed our rain gear accessible. Kai and Vea would each have their own panniers to pack up in the morning, and often they were on breakfast duty getting our eggs boiled and our lunch packed. Norrie enjoyed finding two flowers in the morning to place on the ‘Flower Power’ handlebars, and Kai checked tire pressure, brakes and whether he had a good supply of snacks in his seat post pannier for the day.

Morning coffee and route planning

Flower power gifts from Norrie

End of the day debrief

Checking the bikes before heading out

Packing up in the morning light

Crossing the borders

It’s always exciting to get to a new country. Even more-so when we cycle across the border with our tandems. But now with the EU, borders are a thing of the past and it’s difficult to know exactly when we’re crossing into a new country. It seems like now the only cue that we get is the immediate text from our phones saying that our SIM cards are now roaming.

What we notice when crossing borders is a gradual transition of the road signs, licence plates look the same but have a different letter, and the architecture starts to change and reflect the county. We wanted find a way to mark the occasion of crossing into every new country with a simple ceremony, so we established the ‘Kai bow-tie ceremony’. Kai received a special ‘emergency bow-tie’ from John and Beth as a gift in Denmark – and we decided it was a perfect symbol for our border ceremony. Kai would wear his bow-tie with pride as we passed across every border, and he didn’t even mind some of the strange looks we got.

Danish / German boarder crossing

Border crossing at a farmers field

Proud parents

We are so incredibly proud of Kai and Vea for happily embracing cycle touring for these past 3 months. It all started with a family conversation in Australia about ‘what if’ we cycled most of the entire time we are in Europe. One thing led to another and before we knew it our crazy idea was set in full motion and embraced with such excitement. We were amazed everyday by Kai and Vea’s stamina and patience. Even in days of down-pouring rain when we wanted to call it quits we’d hear Kai whistling and Vea singing from the back of the tandems.

Happy kids

Whistling in the rain

Singing in the rain