Help!!! Im Stuck!

[monrosm]

Hi everyone
This summer a friend and i are planning a trip from here (England Shropshire) to Slovenia, taking a very northerly route through Germany...all in all about 2000km if cycling. We are both 18 and with a bit of experience. A few questions...Being young and fit is an estimated 80km a day reasonable? Secondly im stuck on deciding what speed bike to get...we will be crossing the alps...so what does everyone think? 18 speed? 21? 24? Being students it's pretty hard to come by money, has anyone got any ideas of how we could raise money for this? We are doing it to promote eco-friendly transport, but it's tough finding funds...We recon we need about £800 each to cover the expences (including bike)...what does everyone think?
Thanx
Stef

 

[Andy in Sig]

Young and fit and 18 = 100 km a day with no probs whatsoever and if you need to do a longer day you can add at least 30 km to that. You will find that your endurance increases as you go along. However, it is common sense to take, say, every sixth day as a rest day. So plan that around interesting places.

If you're going through Germany (and then I guess Austria) to Slovenia, I would suggest the following route:

Harwich to Hamburg. Follow the Hamburg-Bremen route to the R Weser. Then the Weser route to Hannoverische Gemünden, go down the Fulda route until you can cross the Rhön hills into the Sinntal (Sinn valley) down to Gemünden am Main, along the Main to Würzburg, then down the Romantische Strasse route to Füssen, then over the Alps on the Via Claudia Augusta route to Innsbrück and even on to Venice and then along the coast to Slovenia or from Innsbrück through Austria to Graz and over the border.

Use Bikeline guides for the routes I've named above, starting with the Weser route. You can buy them in Germany at any decent bookshop. Use ADFC maps (German bike association) for the Hamburg-Bremen and Rhön-Sinntal bits.

Good luck.

 

[Creamcrackered]

The number of gears is much less important than the range. So, 18, 21,24 or 27 doesn't much matter as long as you lowest gear is sufficiently low and you highest reasonably high. For loaded touring I would look for a range of 22-44 teeth on the front triple and 11-34 on the back.
Getting people to donate cash to fund a trip like this is notoriously difficult - it's like asking them to pay for you to have a holiday. You are likely to have more success asking local suppliers to give you discounts on the equipment you need. If your £800 is for the bike, associated gear and living expenses on route, then I think it is a bit on the low side.

 

[rich p]

Get a job in your spare time and save up like the rest of us!

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

at age 18...100-150km a day should not be difficult depending on terrain and load. If you follow Andy's advice above you will be riding along rivers which should mean relatively level going for much of the way .

 

[domtyler]

Nick your parents credit card and get it all ordered over the phone, they'll never notice!

 

[thePig]

Like everyone is else is saying 100km a day is reasonable. If you are not used to long days, I would suggest taking it easy at the start of the trip. Also, make sure you take it really easy early in the day as what can feel like a comfortable pace can quickly turn into fatique come the afternoon.

The suggestions from CreamCrackered are good for the gears. You will need this if you are going to do any serious climbs.

Also, make sure you don't pack too much stuff. Is very easy to do on a first trip. I suggest you take half of what you think you need.

 

[jags]

100 km a day no problem ,most modern bikes now have 20 gears with a wide range of gears think is how do you get your hands on one or two in your case ,simple go to your local cycling club get talking to the members if there a friendly bunch they could let you have a couple bikes for the trip

 

[vernon]

Hi everyone
This summer a friend and i are planning a trip from here (England Shropshire) to Slovenia, taking a very northerly route through Germany...all in all about 2000km if cycling. We are both 18 and with a bit of experience. A few questions...Being young and fit is an estimated 80km a day reasonable? Secondly im stuck on deciding what speed bike to get...we will be crossing the alps...so what does everyone think? 18 speed? 21? 24? Being students it's pretty hard to come by money, has anyone got any ideas of how we could raise money for this? We are doing it to promote eco-friendly transport, but it's tough finding funds...We recon we need about £800 each to cover the expences (including bike)...what does everyone think?
Thanx
Stef

£800 is not going to go far especially when your donations towards the sum sound very low.....

As mentioned elsewhere, working for the money is likely to yield the speediest results unless you strike it lucky with a major benefactor/sponsor. You'd have to be doing something pretty remarkable or unique to get organisations to make substantial donations.

You haven't mentioned if you are going to use hostels or camp sites. Do you have to buy tents and other equipment as well as the bikes?

The daily distance should be well within your capacity. The number of gears is not as important as the bottom gear. Crossing the Alps requires fairly low gearing. The gear ranges suggested elswhere should be more than enough for you. A similar gear range: 26/38/48 on the front married to an 11-34 rear cassette meets all of my needs and has done for the past five years of cycle camping with a 21 speed bike.

Enjoy the ride. I'm quite jealous.

 

[Tony]

And Harwich to Hamburg? No ferry any more, AFAIK