#achieveableadventure

Bikepacking the lower Bavarian forest

The Bavarian forest in the south Germany might be better known for its mountains and protected forests close to the Czech border but does spread to the west up to the city of Regensburg. This western part is dominated by commercially used wood- and farmland but is still quite wild and “out there” as this trip showed.

The route that I chose started directly in the city of Regensburg, famous for its medieval city centre and a world heritage site, into the Bavarian forest through farmland which changed into woodland. The forest tracks and trails I used often followed the small rivers running down the hills into to the valley of the river Danube. My return trip to Regensburg did mostly follow the Danube. In the end I had covered 2500m of climbing and 185 km of distance.The conditions of forest tracks in Germany are mainly very good (I like to call them forest Autobahns) and you can easily cover a lot of ground quickly.

Germans love there camping and a there are many cheap and quaint campgrounds around. Wild camping is forbidden and I would suggest being careful here because you are either on private land or in a nature protection area and you might find yourself discussing with a humorless forest ranger or worse the police. Be also warned that if you go in the shoulder seasons (May in this case) the days may be pleasantly warm the nights can get bitter cold - I measured 4 degrees C that night while shivering in my 10 degree C sleeping bag.

Besides the start town of Regensburg there is nothing of note on this trip besides the many beautiful river valleys, endless seas of trees and the occasional wide view into the Danube valley. But that is fine with me and very much worth the trip. You could easily do a longer trip starting from Regensburg and traveling all the way through the Bavarian forest up to the Czech border and beyond. This would be a great alternative to the more busy and technically harder trips across the Alps.

Four days in the cold north of Germany

So I did want to meet a bunch of friends living in and around Hamburg in the north of Germany. And with it being late March I thought: “Well let's borrow a bike and ride the distance between the overnights stops.”

So I traveled from Spain to Hamburg and got the bike on a Friday and rode the next four days first from the outskirts of Hamburg in a wide arc to Lübeck, then from Lübeck back to Hamburg, on to Stade on the south of the river Elbe and back to where I started. All in all about 350 km - so nothing to bad.

What made it a bit more challenging was the weather (A nice mixture of fog and clouds at around 0-2 degrees C) and the fact that meeting friends does not mean getting into bed at 10pm to get a good nights sleep.

In the end hobo-ing for a few days with a small backpack and enjoying the evenings among friends is a good way to spend your time even if your hands are cold and you need to yawn from time to time.

Hiking the West Highland Way in Scotland

The Scottish highlands do have a place on many travelers bucket-list - be it hikers, mountain bikers or motorcyclists. They are well known for their mystic landscapes, ever-changing weather and sometimes dramatic history. We chose to hike the West Highland Way as our introduction to this part of the world.

This trail covers 154km from Glasgow to Fort William and passes through some of the most spectacular parts of the Highlands as for example Glencoe and ends at the foot of Ben Nevis - the hightest mountain on the British isles. We did the hike in seven days and walked up to the summit of Ben Nevis (1.345m above sea level) on the day after.

The trail can be divided into parts: The first from Glasgow to Loch Lomond which brings you from the farms of the lowlands into woods and via the summit of Conic Hill to the shore of the lake. The second part follows the shore of the lake and is the most difficult as you have to climb over large rocks and through muddy bogs the whole way. The third part covers the “proper” Highlands with Glencoe and Devils Staircase. This part does have more elevation change but it is less tricky than the second in my opinion.

The trail does connect small towns and village so that we decided to use hotels and hostels for accommodation. You are allowed to camp most of the time but we hiked in April 2017 and did have to deal with a bit of rain and cold weather (including snow). Not the cheapest way to travel but comfy and it keeps the back weight down.

For me the highlight of the trip was the third part of the trail and the subsequent hike up Ben Nevis. The landscape is full “Braveheart” and the low hanging clouds in the mornings give it a mystic quality. Besides that digging into huge portions of Fish and Chips was also pretty great.

PS: We did spend a few days in Glasgow after the hike and got our geek on.

A two day hike to Castell d'Alaró

Besides riding bikes hiking might be the second most popular outdoor activity both locals and tourist do on Mallorca. The GR221 hiking trail through the Tramuntana is world famous for being very beautiful and at the same time accessible for a trail right through a mountain range. But besides this there a hundreds and hundreds of kilometers of other trails in the mountains and the rest of the island.

In January 2017 my girlfriends and I took of for a two day hike from the foot of the mountains into the Orient valley and up to Castell d´Alaró sitting on top of a rough mountain. This hike does include quite a bit of elevation and rough trails but is very doable even for less experienced walkers.

We stayed in the refuges which is situated right in the walls of the old castle. The castle has a long history and might be most famous as the last holdout during the christian conquest of Mallorca. Today its frequented by hikers and day visitors for its fantastic views into the mountains and rest of island and what may be the most spectacular sunset visible there.

Bikepacking the Cami de Cavalls on Menorca

After my previous trip to Menorca on a road bike I quickly made the decision to come back on nobby tires to ride the famous Cami de Cavalls. This roughly 170 km hiking trail follows the whole coast of the island and was used as the locals to survey for incoming pirates who tended to raid the island quite regularly.

I again arrived in the town of Ciutadella by ferry from Mallorca and started my three day clockwise trip around the island keeping on the Cami de Cavall at all times. The first day I went most of the way around the north part of the island, day two went through the capital city and part along the southern coast and on day three I went back to Ciutadella.

The Cami de Cavalls itself is a hiking trail but open to bikes and horses. Overall the track is quite difficult due to the rocky and narrow nature and the fact that while you are never high above the sea (roughly 100m) the track goes up and down in steep slopes all the time. Another “difficulty” are the many, many, many wooden gates on the trail. The northern part of island is definitely more difficult but also more beautiful. In total I did ride, push and carry the bike for 17+ hours. If you do not like hike-a-bikes this one will be difficult to do!

Of the towns that you come through only Ciutadella and Mahon are worth noting while the rest are coastal resort towns. However these two are really nice and worth a trip alone. I went November 2017 and almost all places outside of the two main towns were closed but I was able to find a place in Fornells in the norths and in Cala en Porter in the south for my overnight stays.

I would fully recommend doing the Cami either by MTB or even on foot. The trail is fantastic and unique as it is continuous around the whole of the island. The landscape changes several times and is beautiful all the way. So if you are happy to work a bit harder take your bike, if not get out your backpack and boots.

PS: The trail is rocky as in “ripping off derailleur hangers”-rocky - which happened to me on the last day of the trip.

Circumnavigating Ibiza on a MTB

The first thoughts about Ibiza (the other smaller sister of the Balearic island of Mallorca) is either that one Cafe del Mar sampler that everybody owns or pictures of yachts, rich people and neverending parties. When setting out to Ibiza on the ferry with a bike packed for off road touring I asked myself if there was more to the place than that too - and there is.

After arriving in the port of Eivissa (aka the city of Ibiza) in almost 30 degree C heat I set out for the first of two days around the island using dirt roads, single track and the occasional tarmac. Day one was dedicated to the south part of the island with Sant Antoni (which is the place where the real Cafe del Mar exists) being the overnight stop. On the second day I went for a long loop along the north coast back to Eivissa and the boat home.

The dirt roads of the island where a revelation as in almost every third level road is well kept gravel (even a 28mm tire on a road bike would work here). The difficulty is less the surface condition of monster climbs but that fact that the roads and tracks are rarely flat and that every short rise seems to have 15% pitch.

The town of Eivissa is interesting for its architecture and rich history but Sant Antoni is what one expects of Ibiza with many discos and bars and little else. I did stay on the local campground and even that was used by party tourists who are too cheap for a hotel. I would recommend camping wild if you do not have an issue with that.

Ibiza did show its other face especially in the north with steep cliffs dropping down the ocean and a quiet back country feel to it. Would I recommend Ibiza on a bike? Yes - if you have seen Mallorca and Menorca already.