tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597429429739136725.post5568504944420882164..comments2011-01-20T18:27:31.406-08:00Comments on From Nordkapp to Tarifa: My tripHodeihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794570525846243034noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597429429739136725.post-52007915762710297722011-01-13T12:34:09.365-08:002011-01-13T12:34:09.365-08:00Hi
I cycled from Nordkapp to Tarifa last summer. ...Hi<br /><br />I cycled from Nordkapp to Tarifa last summer. It was an amazing trip! I went through Sweden and took the ferry from Göteborg to Frederikshavn. This is probably the shortest route (~6200km), though if I were to do it again, I would go through Finland and cross from Helsinki to Tallinn. Of course, going via Russia has a certain appeal, but my experience with big cities is that you'll want to avoid them as much as possible, and it might be tricky avoiding Saint Petersburg. I would also suggest going through Poland/Germany/France and entering Spain in Navarra; as Austria and Italy are very mountainous (this is very hard work when you're carrying a lot of luggage), and the east coast of Spain is very busy in summer! Also, I hope you're aware that you can't actually get to the southernmost point of Tarifa! (it's a military zone)<br /><br />The bike I took has dropped handlebars. Although I met people with handlebars like yours, you should bear in mind that you will almost always be cycling towards the wind, and hence will want to be in as streamlined a postition as possible! My tyres were about the same as yours, but, if you're going to be cycling along roads, I would suggest getting narrower ones. Oh, and about euro velo routes... in Scandinavia it's quite safe to cycle on the roads, as there aren't many cars; and in Spain there are wide hard shoulders, so again it's quite safe. I just used a 100 page road map of Europe to navigate! I wild camped for most of the trip, and being careful you can probably get away with it. Food was never really a problem, although it's hard to get enough water in Spain!<br /><br />Don't know if I can think of anything else off hand (apart from the obvious keeping weight to an absolute minimum).. but please let me know on rmaldonadonorman@hotmail.com if you have any questions (giving a suitable title for the message)<br /><br />RafaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com