Cycling for charity from Brighton, UK to Sofia, Bulgaria

[pupesha]

Hello cycling enthusiasts,
I am planning to ride for charity from Brighton to Sofia in September 2011. Donations will go to an orphanage near Sofia.
As this idea came up only a few days ago, I'm still not well informed about how exactly that will happen, so any advice will be appreciated.

Some of my concerns are not related to cycling, so hope anyone could help with that.

- Has anyone cycled in Eastern Europe before? How does it differ from the west?
- When it comes to weight, how much weight on a bike is too much weight - considering a +30day ride? I would definitely look to minimise that.
- touring bike or road bike? pros/cons.
- Can I get sponsorship for such rides? if yes, how would I approach potential sponsors?


Martin

 

[delport]

Haven't cycled eastern europe before but i have travelled through much of it by train and walked plenty of times.I visited
Hungary/Croatia/Serbia/Macedonia/Czech republic/Slovakia/Poland/Slovenia.

If i were doing a trip like that i'd prepare for rough roads, and poor surfaces in the east.That is one thing that struck me when i was there 5 to 7 years ago.Complete lack of investment comes to mind, may'be things have changed now with european union money available.
I was going to go to Croatia in the summer my route would have been
France/Belgium/Holland/Germany/Austria/Slovenia.
Most of that journey would have been flat routes,there are some good extremely long cycle paths through Germany,Belgium and Holland are mostly flat too.
Would you be camping or staying in hotels?The hotels in the east are not as cheap as people might assume.

 

[pupesha]

Haven't cycled eastern europe before but i have travelled through much of it by train and walked plenty of times.I visited
Hungary/Croatia/Serbia/Macedonia/Czech republic/Slovakia/Poland/Slovenia.

If i were doing a trip like that i'd prepare for rough roads, and poor surfaces in the east.That is one thing that struck me when i was there 5 to 7 years ago.Complete lack of investment comes to mind, may'be things have changed now with european union money available.
I was going to go to Croatia in the summer my route would have been
France/Belgium/Holland/Germany/Austria/Slovenia.
Most of that journey would have been flat routes,there are some good extremely long cycle paths through Germany,Belgium and Holland are mostly flat too.
Would you be camping or staying in hotels?The hotels in the east are not as cheap as people might assume.

Hey delport,
Thanks for the reply,

It depends really. I am planning to take a tent with me. If there are campsite along the whole way I wouldn't camping everyday. That is the case in the west again, but in the east organized campsites are less common. I have some friends along the way too, so some days I would be crashing there. I would definately avoid hotels at all times. Even couchsurfing is an option.

I have been to the east as well (have lived in Bulgaria), and I'm aware that the roads are not the greatest.

 

[Brains]

The route is:

Harwich
Ferry
Hook of Holland
Katwijk, turn left.
Follow the Rhijn/ Rhine for 1,000 miles (all on bike paths - brilliant)
The lowest point to cross to the Danube is via the Fossa Carolina but the RDC is also an option
Danube cycle path for the next 1,000 miles

There are 4 x Bikeline books, in English, on the Danube route - well worth getting.
If you can't get the English versions get the german versions as they are worth it for the maps alone.

Also. After Vienna it all get a bit boring. miles of embankments with trees. nothing to see

 

[pupesha]

The route is:

Harwich
Ferry
Hook of Holland
Katwijk, turn left.
Follow the Rhijn/ Rhine for 1,000 miles (all on bike paths - brilliant)
The lowest point to cross to the Danube is via the Fossa Carolina but the RDC is also an option
Danube cycle path for the next 1,000 miles

There are 4 x Bikeline books, in English, on the Danube route - well worth getting.
If you can't get the English versions get the german versions as they are worth it for the maps alone.

Also. After Vienna it all get a bit boring. miles of embankments with trees. nothing to see

Hmm that's an interesting route you've suggested.
I was thinking of taking the dover-calais ferry and riding through france, switzerland, italy, slovenia, croatia, bosnia&herz. , albania & macedonia.
Do you recommend riding through holland, germany and austria rather than france and switzerland ? The 2nd part of the route will probably remain through italy, along the adriatic, macedonia and bulgaria. What would be a good site for mapping a rough plan of the route?

Thanks Brains.

 

[elduderino]

I second taking the Danube for at least some of the trip. Follow it all the way to Vienna and then head South towards Croatia maybe. The Danube is great as you don't have to worry about traffic & checking maps all the time, so it's sort of like a mini break from the trip. I wouldn't fancy 1,000 miles on it though, it'd get a little boring I think, and Slovenia is great.

When I cycled through Eastern Europe I found the more direct roads had good surface's but carried a constant stream of trucks, the secondary roads were quiet but had rougher surfaces.

 

[delport]

Poster Brains route looks quite good, don't you want to avoid hills as much as possible?
Your own route looks too hilly to me.
I've been to Switzerland a few times but i'm not so sure i'd fancy cycling it.
There are reviews on the web of the long distance german cycle paths so you can work out in advance which ones are flat.
I did 3 weeks cycling back in october, john o'groats-lands end and took 4 panniers.On the flat roads i was fine, but i was useless on the hills with so much weight to carry.

How many miles would you like to do each day?

 

[pupesha]

Yeah of course, I'd like to go through flatter terrain. The route through Switzerland was the first one i came across online, and it seems to be more direct. But now that I think of it, I wouldn't mind a slight detour through Germany (seems like their long distance cycling paths are famous) and down along the Danube.
I would like to do about 50 miles / day. That should hopefully get me to Sofia in about 45 days.

 

[jay clock]

Look on www.crazyguyonabike.com for TONS of inspiration. In terms of sponsorship you can only reasonably expect people to fork out if you are in poor shape, a bit disorganised and going to have a tough time. For most CCers who tour that just sounds like the holiday of a lifetime, and I would not sponsor someone who did it.

In terms of kit go light. Weigh everything and be REALLY ruthless. You can manage with one set of off clothes kit. See if you can manage with JUST cycling shoes, or as I do, sandals. That saves 300g+ on shoes.

In spite of going light, I do not scrimp on comfort. Did that on my first camping trip to NZ and realised a Thermarest is not for me. It might suit you, who knows. See here for my musings on kit http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=RrzKj&page_id=104184&v=4B

Keep us posted!

Jay

 

[MartynR]

Hello cycling enthusiasts,
I am planning to ride for charity from Brighton to Sofia in September 2011. Donations will go to an orphanage near Sofia.
As this idea came up only a few days ago, I'm still not well informed about how exactly that will happen, so any advice will be appreciated.

Some of my concerns are not related to cycling, so hope anyone could help with that.

- Has anyone cycled in Eastern Europe before? How does it differ from the west?
- When it comes to weight, how much weight on a bike is too much weight - considering a +30day ride? I would definitely look to minimise that.
- touring bike or road bike? pros/cons.
- Can I get sponsorship for such rides? if yes, how would I approach potential sponsors?


Martin

Hey Martin,

I'm actually going to be doing pretty much the exact same thing in the summer. I live and work in Sofia and will be flying to Manchester in July and spending 6 weeks cycling back to Sofia. I'm still undecided as to the specific route, but will probably opt for the more mountainous route (Germany, then Austria, maybe cut into Italy then Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia etc.

At the moment I only have a single-speed which is great, but useless for this type of tour, so I'll be investing in a Dawes Galaxy and only carrying the essentials on a rear pannier rack. I would definitely recommend a tourer rather than a road bike, you'll need something more robust for your gear and the eastern roads. The roads in Bulgaria are still pretty poor with pot-holes the size of craters dotted about.

I don't know if it's something you've considered, but the biggest problem for cyclists in Romania and Bulgaria are apparently the dogs (which I can believe), so I don't know if you're considering the anti-dog devices which from the blogs I've read can be quite useful, but I'm not entirely convinced.

When are you intending to cycle? If I finish mine by the time you start yours I'll be able to provide some useful information hopefully.

Also, out of interest, which orphanage? (I work as a teacher for the American College of Sofia, and coordinate a lot of community work with the Seniors (including orphanages)

Good Luck.

Martyn.

 

[pupesha]

Hey Martin,

I'm actually going to be doing pretty much the exact same thing in the summer. I live and work in Sofia and will be flying to Manchester in July and spending 6 weeks cycling back to Sofia. I'm still undecided as to the specific route, but will probably opt for the more mountainous route (Germany, then Austria, maybe cut into Italy then Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia etc.

At the moment I only have a single-speed which is great, but useless for this type of tour, so I'll be investing in a Dawes Galaxy and only carrying the essentials on a rear pannier rack. I would definitely recommend a tourer rather than a road bike, you'll need something more robust for your gear and the eastern roads. The roads in Bulgaria are still pretty poor with pot-holes the size of craters dotted about.

I don't know if it's something you've considered, but the biggest problem for cyclists in Romania and Bulgaria are apparently the dogs (which I can believe), so I don't know if you're considering the anti-dog devices which from the blogs I've read can be quite useful, but I'm not entirely convinced.

When are you intending to cycle? If I finish mine by the time you start yours I'll be able to provide some useful information hopefully.

Also, out of interest, which orphanage? (I work as a teacher for the American College of Sofia, and coordinate a lot of community work with the Seniors (including orphanages)

Good Luck.

Martyn.

Hello Martyn,

I'm not surprised at all about the problem with dogs, but It didn't even cross my mind as a possible danger before you mentioned it.

I'm planning on leaving end of august/beginning of september. Also hoping to finish in around 6 weeks. I actually hope I will be able to leave slightly earlier as cycling in October might cause a lot of delay if the weather is not too good.

I haven't picked the orphanage yet, but I will be doing that as soon as I get back for the Xmas holidays. I have a friend who goes around the country and visits different orphanages and he said he could help me pick.

Are you cycling alone ? Have you been on long-distance cycling trips before?


Martin

 

[MartynR]

Hey Martin,

I will be cycling alone for most of it (possibly a friend joining me for a week perhaps in Germany).

This will be my first major trip, I've cycled in Scotland and will be spending New Year cycling through the Outer Hebrides, but nothing in Europe and nothing for more than a week. I've done a fair bit of traveling/backpacking around Central/Eastern Europe, but it's a completely different experience by bike, so it'll certainly be a learning experience and one I'm looking forward to.

With regards to cycling in October, I think you'll be fine as you'll be further south, and for the last 2 years, it's been 25 degrees plus in Sofia until the end of October. The cold snap tends to happen all of a sudden around November time.

Questions to the other CC'ers: What's your opinion (if you have one) on the anti-dog devices? Have you used them, did you find them useful, any specific brands you would recommend?

M.

 

[Percy]

I cycled back from Sofia to the UK as part of a longer trip. The route I took was:

Bulgaria
Serbia
Romania
Hungary
Slovakia
Austria
Germany
France
Luzembourg
France

Did a lot of it on the Danube.

I had no problem with dogs in that area. Greece and Turkey were worse. I might have been lucky though. My worst experience with dogs was in the Portuguese mountains, when two chased me, and that made me want an anti-dog device but I never get one.

Regarding the roads, I found them worst in Bulgaria, mainly for the traffic. Surface quality was no better or worse than the rest of Europe - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's awful.

Cycling through these areas alone is not that much different from western Europe. You perhaps have to be a little more aware - some places I stopped in Serbia and Romania had some 'dodgy characters' but I was no more cautious with them that I was in other towns and cities. In fact, it was when I got to Austria, and the supposedly sophisticated Vienna, when I had my only real problem of the whole trip, when someone tried to attack me. It was in a nightclub though so not really related to the cycling!

Not sure what other info you're after really. There's some fantastic scenery along that route and some of the out of the way places in Romania and the north of Bulgaria particularly are superb. The valley road from Sofia to Vratsa (or the other way round if you're going north-south) is well worth seeking out.

 

[bike_the_planet]

At the moment I only have a single-speed which is great, but useless for this type of tour, so I'll be investing in a Dawes Galaxy and only carrying the essentials on a rear pannier rack. I would definitely recommend a tourer rather than a road bike, you'll need something more robust for your gear and the eastern roads. The roads in Bulgaria are still pretty poor with pot-holes the size of craters dotted about.

I have cycled in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

One thing you might want to be aware of is that, if you do encounter bad roads in eastern europe on a Dawes Galaxy, or similar, then obtaining local replacement 700c-size tyres, tubes (and rims) may be well difficult unless you use the internet and get stuff shipped across.

The bike shops you will encounter will most likely stock 26" MTB (ISO 559). Any 700c tyres you do encounter will probably be narrow race tyres and onl;y available in the more affluent cities.

26" MTB size is by far the most common size away from western Europe, the US, Australia etc. I refer you to this link here where a guy who rode through Romania and made an interesting movie is quoted as saying:

Check local bike standards first. Because until recently, the quality of road surfaces was so low, almost all the bikes sold in Romania are mountain bikes with imperial size tyres. It was nearly impossible to find 700c bike tyres or tubes. We saw several people riding bikes that didn’t even have tyres on them! Eventually we managed to buy a second hand thread-bare 700c tyre from a bazaar! There were also far fewer bike shops around. It seems a bike on the road in rural Romania is considered as unusual as a horse and cart would be in England. Its the complete opposite of what happens at home: here drivers slow right down for horses and carts because they aren’t used to them, but race past cyclists; in Romania all the drivers were courteous and would steer wide around us, but would cause much more trouble for the cart owners!

Hope this helps

Cheers,

 

[Percy]

I have cycled in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

One thing you might want to be aware of is that, if you do encounter bad roads in eastern europe on a Dawes Galaxy, or similar, then obtaining local replacement 700c-size tyres, tubes (and rims) may be well difficult unless you use the internet and get stuff shipped across.

The bike shops you will encounter will most likely stock 26" MTB (ISO 559). Any 700c tyres you do encounter will probably be narrow race tyres and onl;y available in the more affluent cities.

26" MTB size is by far the most common size away from western Europe, the US, Australia etc.

You may want to check this out before you buy a new bike.

Cheers,

Tony

I don't have specific experience of the Czech Republic, but I believe this to be an exaggerated myth. I stopped in many LBS's along the route, in small towns in Bulgaria and Romania, and was having some real problems with punctures/tyres at the time. Not once did I find them to have only 'racing' tyres - most had a good selection of 700c tyres, of varying width and tread. OK, so not a perfect pair of Conti Top Touring or whatever your preferred set is at home, but perfectly adequate. This idea that slightly out of the way places only have 26" tyres and racing 700c is simply not true.