Regardless of your ambitions, if you want to cross the Alpes or Death Valley, seek adventure or do a city round trip with your friends, if you are a newbie on the bike or an experienced rider, there are few common rules, which apply to everyone and are key to making your cycle trip enjoyable.
I’d like to share them with you in this blogpost, hoping that you don’t feel restricted by a set of rules, but instead they’ll help you tackle your cycling trip successfully.
#1 Respect the Weather
#2 Live in the Moment
#3 Do your Homework
#4 Trust your Instincts
#5 Fuel well
#6 Team-up
#7 Forget the Average, Have a Coffee instead
#1 Respect the Weather
There is a well-known German saying, probably influenced by some advertisements: “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”.
In my opinion, this is just bullshit!
Of course good clothes are crucial (See rule: #3 Do your Homework), but bad weather on a cycling trip simply sucks.
I am no sports scientist and can’t provide exact figures, but it feels twice as hard to cycle in bad weather conditions compared to normal.
Your body constantly needs energy to keep you warm and going at the same time. Moreover, you can’t enjoy your breaks and the first 20 minutes after a break, back on the bike, searching your rhythm, are just horrible.
Rain and wind make things even more exhausting and sometimes dangerous. Obviously roads get slippery and increase the likelihood for a crash. Also, not only headwinds make things complicated, but (heavy) cross-winds may cause serious threats, especially when travelling with luggage on streets with heavy traffic.
As long as you don’t want to do an adventurous survival tour with adrenalin pumping through your body all day long, check the weather forecast and adjust your plans accordingly. Of course, you can’t avoid bad weather some time down the road, but if you want your cycle trip to be fun, always
respect the weather!
#2 Live in the Moment
If I am in the middle of a long, exhausting climb, nothing else exists.
It’s only me, my bike and the mountain I need to conquer.
I think that is why we love cycling and decide to spend our free time on the saddle instead of relaxing on the beach with a cocktail in our hands.
When cycling, you travel at the perfect speed. It’s not too slow, that it gets boring and you don’t progress, but just right to explore nature’s beauty, small cities and highlights along the road, which you would simply miss, if travelling by car or plane. So enjoy it!
Don’t think about where you want to be at the end of the trip, what matters is now. If you just have one big goal, it’s far away and its hard to stay motivated.
Set yourself intermediate goals. A lake to swim in, the top of the next mountain, a nice city to visit. If you have small goals, you win all the time and it keeps you stuck in the moment.
While cycling, many ideas and memories pop to your head. There are no distractions, enjoy the pain you suffer, the speed you feel on your face downhill, the beauty of the nature, the next corner you’re approaching,
all is real. And all is in the moment.
You need to stay focused to keep safe and you should enjoy every single second of your trip and simply live in the moment!
#3 Do your Homework
For me, the homework of a cycling trip consists of three essential things.
Training
Equipment
Planning
Training
As mentioned above, I am no sports scientist and there are heaps of great training plans and tutorials out there, which will help you get in shape for your trip.
One simple rule I’d like to share with you is: A cycle trip is no sprint, it’s a marathon. Probably multiple ones on consecutive days.
Therefore, focus on endurance, not on speed. Your body needs to work after six hours on the saddle. And it’s super important to spend as much time possible on the saddle, before your trip.
Another simple rule in cycling is: the two main factors for you to move ahead on a bicycle are: Watts and Kilos. You either increase the former or decrease the latter. It depends on you and on your trip on which factor you need to focus on.
If you plan a hilly tour, focus on minimising your weight. If it’s a flat and windy tour, focus on gaining watts.
Equipment
Having said that, weight matters. So please just take along what you really need. You will have to carry it all the way up/down with you.
The equipment heavily depends on the conditions of your trip, but in any case your bike is the tool, which is most important to you. You can spend as much money as you want for your dream bike, but more importantly is that it does the job right.
Breaks should break, Shifters should shift and Wheels should — well — wheel (or roll). And they should do that properly. So check your machine before you start. You have to trust your bike and it should not make things worse for you.
The two main clothing items for me are: good shorts with a decent padding and a proper rain jacket, which is capable to protect you from rain and wind. And I wouldn’t be stingy on that. “Who buys cheap, buys twice”.
Another German saying, in this context I do agree.
Needless to say, wear a helmet and have a small repair and first aid kit for minor fixes along the way.
Below you will see a picture of my luggage on my first Transalpes.
It all fits in the small frame bag on the right of the picture. Additionally, I have one tiny saddle bag (bottom middle) and an upper frame bag for phones, food, money, etc.
Planning
Last but not least, plan ahead. Check the route.
How much altitude you’ll cover in one day, the road surfaces.
Both heavily effect the distance you are capable of covering.
What are beautiful highlights along the roads, which you do not want to miss?You don’t want to miss a world heritage site by two kilometres, just because you weren’t aware of it before.
Plan realistically, not optimistically.
Start easy and always have some buffer (e.g. rest day on longer trips).
You can’t always go 100% and it just feels bad if you always have to, but fail to achieve it.
If your trip is planned wisely, you’ll also gain fitness on the way. So start off slow and increase carefully until the king’s stage.
Before you start your trip do your homework!
#4 Trust your Instincts
In cycling at some point, you face limitations.
Physical limits, when your body simply can’t go any further.
Psychological limits, where you can’t find any more motivation.
Or natural limits, where it is simply too dangerous or impossible to ride further.
Everyone acts differently in those situations. One is super brave, but hates long, abandoned straight streets. Another one drives super careful and always drops downhill, but is riding consciously and reaches each destination safely.
Having said that, it is important that you trust your instincts. You’re leaving your comfort zone, known territory. You are well prepared (See rule: #3 Do your Homework), you are not alone (See rule: #6 Team-up) and now it’s on you.
Listen to your body, know your limits and ride the way you want to.
Trust your instincts. Sometimes you face a challenge and happiness awaits you just around the corner, sometimes a limit is a limit. Listen carefully to what your body wants to tell you.
A bit off topic, but this also applies for navigating. You do not want to stop at each corner, checking your phone or Komoot which road to take.
If you want to go South, just follow the sun and trust your instincts!
#5 Fuel well
It sounds like a dream: You can eat what you want and how much you want. All the time. In cycling, that’s true.
But it’s also an obligation sometimes. You must nourish yourself well.
It is a pity, if you’re in perfect shape, but face serious issues because you didn’t eat or drink enough. Take enough breaks, eat regularly and fill up your water bottles whenever possible. I always feel much more comfortable knowing to have a spare banana with me at all time.
Depending on the weather, adjust your nutrition.
If its super hot always stay hydrated, if it is cold make sure to eat enough.
Your body turns into a machine in cycling and you have to make sure you have enough fuel in the tank to reach your destination or the next gasoline station.
Therefore, fuel well!
#6 Team-up
People, who don’t know a lot about cycling think it is a one-man sport. I guess they never cycled further than work or the next bakery shop.
A partner can pull turns in the wind for you, encourage you when you’re low and save you in case of an emergency.
Apart from that it is simply more fun to share the experience with someone. You experience absurd things, beautiful scenery and many kilometres together, which will bound you forever.
Many things are required to make your cycling trip enjoyable (not only these rules). One gets up early in the morning and prepares breakfast for everyone, the other one has perfect sense for orientation, the next one knows how to motivate everyone. Everyone has some talent to contribute to the team.
Plan the trip together and check if you match well.
It makes things easier if you have a comparable experience and fitness level, but most importantly is that your expectation of the trip matches. You must all know what is expected of you so that you feel comfortable and enjoy the experience.
Gather together with your friends and team-up!
#7 Forget the Average, Have a Coffee instead
In days of Instagram and Strava it becomes important to show off. Sometimes I feel like, if you can’t share your ride, it’s like you haven’t done one.
Of course, if you’re ambitious you want to go fast, you want to reach your full potential. And you will. But what is the use, if you can’t stop for a picture, because you’re in the middle of a Strava segment?
Your luggage, road and weather conditions all come into play and will effect your performance. Your greatest achievement is the trip itself.
You spend your well-deserved holiday on the saddle, so first and foremost you must have fun. Include as many highlights on your trip as possible and finish each day — if possible — on the piazza.
Forget the average, have a coffee instead!
I hope you find these rules helpful for your trip and also inspiring to do your first/nth bike trip on your own.
Comment down below and let me know how you feel.
You might also want to checkout my routes on Strava.
All the best, ciao!
Tim-Noah
