Europe 2023

Introduction

Last year in 2022, I had the most amazing, solo bikepacking trip and cycled about 3,000 miles (4,700 km) through England, France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.  You can read all about it in this blog, dipping into days of interest using the index.

It having been such a great experience, I naturally wanted to do something like it again. But this time, if I could persuade her, maybe my wife (codename "M2" - I'm "M1") would accompany me. And what do you know? She was persuaded! So, this year, I will not be alone :-)

M2 has not been bikepacking before, so it's very much a case of "in at the deep end" for her. I did a number of short, trips in England to get some experience and learn some lessons before I headed over to continental Europe in 2022, but M2 is more of a "let's just do it" kind of person and so that's how it will be.

We plan to set off in July and will cycle around 1,200 miles over the course of six weeks. Our son and daughter will be taking turns to house sit whilst we're away.

The Europe 2023 Route

Our route takes us across South East England to the port of Dover, as did my route last year. We'll catch a ferry from there to Calais. Once in France, we'll follow a rough figure of eight, cycling in France, Belgium, back into France, then Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France again and then England. Clear? No? OK, well here's the map.

The route makes use of some of the Eurovelo network and breaks down as follows:

Stage Description	Cycling Miles
Across SE England to Dover.	94
Ferry from Dover to Calais.	N/A
Eurovelo route EV5 from Calais into Belgium. Through Brussels and then onwards to Namur.	247
EV19 south, through the Ardennes back into France. Slowly turn east, through both parts of the Parc de Lorraine.	273
In Parc de Lorraine in Foret Domaniale, re-join EV5 heading North. Follow EV5 north west through Germany, to Luxembourg City.	102
Take a self-planned route from Luxembourg to Calais.	283
Ferry from Calais to Dover.	N/A
Return home across SE England	94
TOTAL	1092

  

Preparation

We've both been working on our fitness, largely by doing a lot of cycling uphill! This worked well for me last year, building both strength and endurance. 

Equipment needs are largely the same as for my trip last year. But M2 needed a new sleeping bag which was light and compact enough for bikepacking, so after some research I decided to get her the Sea to Summit Flame. Hopefully it will do the job. It looks better than my Alpkit sleeping back to be honest!

We also decided that my much loved MSR Hubba Hubba tent, which was my home for 12 weeks last year, would not be big enough for this trip. It's a two person tent, but you really need a bit more room so that you have more space to relax in and your luggage and equipment has somewhere to live. So, I bought a 3 person, MSR Mutha Hubba as well. It's very similar to the Hubba Hubba, but is symmetrical and has doors at your feet and head rather than at the sides. It's a little heavier than the Hubba Hubba of course, but not excessively. It looks perfect for our needs.

That's it! Europe here we come!