Lifestyle: Freedom – that's what most people associate with cycling holidays. Above all, you have to free yourself from material abundance. The mobile household should be as small and light as possible. And how little you actually need amazes everyone. Although touring bikes are often very individually designed, there are many similarities when it comes to equipment. The pressedienst- Fahrrad has asked experienced cyclists about special features and their tips.
The handles are blind - no wonder, because people are constantly packing. Several times a day, during breaks or when the weather changes, cyclists reach into their luggage and jacket, chocolate bar and camera have to be at hand during the ride. All touring cyclists are faced with the balancing act between the best possible preparation and weight reduction. Because it should always be possible to carry the entire vehicle alone. At the same time, traveling is becoming easier and easier: global trade and global parcel services make it easier to find spare parts and the decision to equip is not so final – both to the advantage of weight!
“It always starts with the question: What am I taking with me and what is pointless?”, reports cycling legend Tilmann Waldthaler (www.tilmann.com). Even after 37 years, which he now quasi full-time When he goes on bike trips, he still packs too much, after all, people are collectors. "After two weeks you know what you can send home again."
What is needed for which trip is also different. “A water filter for Central Europe? Maybe charcoal tablets will suffice”, explains Philip Baues, a cycling journalist (www.bike2boat.com), and advises keeping an eye on the total weight – the tight luggage limit of the airlines serves as a guide.
The cycling doctor Dr. Dirk Rohrbach (www.dirk-rohrbach.com) recommends a preliminary tour to check the extent of the equipment for the long journey. Sybille and Michael Fleischmann (www.cycle-for-a-better-world.org) each started with four large panniers, pack sack, handlebar bag, frame bag and rucksack - full to the brim with needs for themselves and their two dogs. In the meantime, handlebar bags, packsacks and backpacks are history and the bags are no longer as full as they used to be: "These are great successes!"
Almost all cyclists around the world travel with the typical waterproof pannier bags. Understandable, because damp clothes or a wet sleeping bag are not only extremely uncomfortable, but ultimately bad for your health. The fear of the wet is a permanent fun killer. "Good bags are essential", explains e-bike traveler Maximilian Semsch (www.what-a-trip.de). Whether in everyday shopping or with 3.000 euros expensive photo equipment in the pouring rain, even after 10.000 kilometers - "no worries".
Denis and Tanja Katzener (www.denis-katzer.com) are traveling with eight identical green panniers and have therefore labeled them without further ado. "By the way, you should make sure that the weight is evenly distributed on the sides", says Denis Katzener. "And not too heavy at the front, seven kilos maximum!"
As far as packing strategies are concerned, there are many similar approaches. “Everything – without exception – has its fixed place”, announces Daniel Kormann, who is currently touring Asia on folding bikes with his partner Karen Greiderer (www.petittours.com). "This not only saves access time, it also ensures that nothing is forgotten." Basically, heavy luggage goes down in the bags and up, what you need faster during the day.
A simple mnemonic helps Jens Klatt: "Left like lying down (sleeping bag, sleeping mat, cozy things for the evening), right like rain (rain gear, vest, change of shirt, whatever you need during the day)", otherwise you always open the wrong bag first.
"The most important bag for me is the handlebar bag, I have all the important items in there, such as wallet, passport, credit card, but also my full memory cards from the camera", explains Max Semsch. Eric Schujt (www.vakantiefietser.nl), on the other hand, plays it safe and hides a 100 euro note on the bike as a nest egg.
Mateusz Emeschajmer and Ania Poltorak have been on tour since early 2012 (www.gettingnowhere.net) and navigate with their smartphones – those are charged on the hub dynamo or solar panel. Philip Baues never goes anywhere without earplugs: "Without restful sleep I'm not productive and the whole trip suffers."
For Karen Greiderer and Daniel Kormann, waterproof pack sacks are of central importance. "They are available in different sizes, so you can "simply make better use of the available packing volume and you can keep track of things." Dirk Rohrbach also leads the argument here aroma protection at. He also advises carrying thin work gloves for repairs: "They protect hands from skin injuries and greasy oil that is difficult to remove on the go."
And there should also be a bit of luxury: Sybille and Michael Fleischmann treat themselves to an espresso maker, hammocks and small loudspeakers, "because music in the tent is sometimes balm for the soul!"
The camping stove is indispensable for most globetrotters, reports Tom Richter, who was the first German to circumnavigate the world on a recumbent bike (www.tour-en-blog.de): “In some destinations you could get by without a cooker. In many countries, however, the alternative would be to eat endlessly, ineffectively, white bread. A nutritious diet when cycling is too important for that, psychologically too.”
"What you pack is logically determined by the season, climatic variations and the local infrastructure," reports Reinhard Pantke (www.reinhard-pantke.de). "It doesn't really matter whether you're on the road for two weeks or two months." Deniskatzer explains that he always has his rain gear to hand: "In Siberia, the temperature can quickly change by 20 degrees, so it's better to dress once too often than to catch a cold. The body is my temple, it has to take me forward!”
Michel Leisner, who returned home in April 2014 from a recumbent world tour in warmer climes, has a different opinion (www.facebook.com/welttour): “At first I used rainwear, but then I found that I got soaked faster than I could put the clothes on. So you can save yourself the luggage – it’s better to store it and wait.” The tent can also serve as a shelter if nothing else can be found.
"There is now an unprecedented abundance of high-quality touring bikes and ingeniously specialized attachments such as bags, luggage racks and trailers", says Tilmann Waldthaler. However, the needs of travelers have sometimes become even more specific. "The basic principle of transport by bike hasn't changed since the XNUMXs", explain Mateusz Emeschajmer and Ania Poltorak. Rethinking is therefore essential for both of them. For two years they rode with self-developed, expansive front luggage racks, which on the one hand held their backpacks and panniers and on the other hand formed the basis for bike transport boxes. In the meantime, they are pursuing a more minimalist approach and are oriented towards so-called bikepacking, traveling without a luggage rack, which tends to use handlebar, frame and saddle bags. They are currently designing the bags for this themselves – in addition to proven standards. “Once you know exactly what you want, you can think about how it fits best on the bike. You can do a lot yourself!”, Mat is convinced.
Maximilian Semsch from Munich is a pioneer when it comes to e-bike adventures. In 2013 he drove through Australia, with a charger and a second battery in his luggage. The engine compensates for the higher overall weight, he explains – but of course you have to plan carefully, because the distances between gas stations are huge, especially in the outback. So it's surprising that he only covered 16.000 kilometers out of 400 without juice had to cycle. "But that's the advantage of the pedelec - you can just keep driving, you would have to push an e-car."
Recumbents - whether with two or three wheels - are ideal travel vehicles because they offer a relaxed seating position and a comfortable all-round view. Due to its low center of gravity, the driving dynamics with a lot of luggage do not vary as much from the unloaded state as with a conventional bicycle. "The low position also gains in terms of air resistance compared to upright driving - and even the luggage is optimally positioned aerodynamically behind the backrest", explains Tom Richter.
"When people plan a bike trip, they always want to be as self-sufficient as possible", Tilmann Waldthaler knows. "That's false pride!" He has had good experiences with asking people for help all over the world. The most important piece of equipment is therefore not material, but rather ideal, a body of thought: willingness to communicate. “People are friendly and grateful for contact and conversation, for example because of a few liters of water. They are often surprised to meet you and glad to help!” Very important: Rejecting helpfulness is not an option in any culture! “People are happy when someone else makes the trip and can tell about it. This is how we can find and maintain our way to each other!”