Kait and Ash: Eurovelo 6 Preparation (Part 2)

We are catching up with family in Texas this week, and enjoying some downtime. We follow up with Kait and Ashlyn and discussing their Eurovelo 6 preparation. (If you missed Part 1, here it is.) Today we discuss their equipment, training, and other aspects of preparation. 

What’s your planned mileage per day? How far will you bike in total?

K: Our plan is to do around 50 miles per Bike Day. The total mileage for the trip is somewhere close to 3000 miles – we’re still working out the final details of Romania. Our current schedule, though, has us biking two-thirds of the days we’ll be over there, and sightseeing/resting on the other third.

What stop are you most looking forward to?

A: We’re both obviously very excited about Romania. But you know, I’m also really looking forward to Serbia. We’re not spending a great deal of time there, but it’s by far the country that draws the most wide-eyed and fear-stricken looks of the nine in our itinerary. It’s very much a country experiencing its decade-young independence like you or I might wear a new set of shoes. There’s a lot of recent history still pulsing there – in the war-ravaged buildings and the memories of its people. I’m really itching to experience that.

Starting the trip in Nantes France

Have you done any training for your ride? If so, what does a normal week look like?

K: So, the appropriate answer here would be that we’ve been training for a while and are so pumped and fit and ready to ride.

The honest answer is that we ride whenever we get a chance, but it by no means looks like a typical training schedule. We’ve done a few longer trips to try and become accustomed to the weight we’ll be carrying (everything we need to camp, eat, and bike) and what camp set up looks like. It’s been eye opening to say the least, and I think we’ll be learning a lot as we go, but the trail is supposed to be flat and hopefully well-marked. And if things get too hopeless, we can always hop on a train.

What other preparation have you done? First aid or language courses? Any shorter bike camping experiences? Taken any bike maintenance classes?

K: I’m actually pretty shocked to acknowledge that we’ve done a little bit of all of that. Ash has taken a few really thorough bike maintenance courses, and has changed more flat tires than she should have in our short training stint. She’s also learning some French which will be helpful because, although I may know some words, my accent is so bad that it’s unlikely anyone will be able to understand me. I became a certified Emergency Medical Technician for the state of North Carolina last year, so I’m hoping that knowledge combined with basic first aid will be enough to get us through the entirety of our trip. All body parts moving and functioning correctly are a bit pivotal to us reaching our final goal.

A: Our longest ‘short’ bikepacking experience was a trip from Washington, D.C. down to Petersburg, Virginia. While we had taken even shorter trips before then (we highly recommend the Richmond to Jamestown route via the Virginia Capital Trail), this was our first trip covering significant mileage in a straight line. While we had done some research beforehand, we found that the route we wanted to follow, US Bike Route 1, was either impassable with construction or else generally busier and truck-ier than we would have liked. It was, however, an incredibly valuable learning experience, which I think gave us a more realistic picture about where we were going to be starting and what Europe would be like.

Surly Long Haul Trucker

Let’s get into the gear specifics. What bikes did you decide on? What gear are you bringing with you? Any bike-specific clothes? What are you planning on buying there?

A: I decided on a Surly Cross Check, which I’ve named Padfoot (yes, after Sirius Black). I have 700c wheels and a more compact frame than Kait. The bike is designed for cyclocross racing, but it functions really well for light touring. I decided to stick with platform pedals, front and rear panniers, and a handlebar bag. We both went with Ortlieb panniers for their durability and visibility. As for camping gear, I had a good amount of stuff already stocked up from my backpacking trips. The great thing about a trip like this is that you can pretty much do it with whatever you have on-hand. You’ll be tempted to spend a ton of money on top-of-the-line gear (and you may in fact do that), but be comforted in the knowledge that it’s a great feeling to make do with what you have. That said, Kait and I did splurge on some pretty cushy inflatable sleeping pads.

K: I’m riding a Surly Long Haul Trucker, which we’ve christened “The Professor.” He has smaller wheels (26s) and a longer frame. While Padfoot, perhaps because of his rider, crushes the mileage and makes it look effortless, I get the sense that The Professor tends to pick up speed more quickly on the downhills. I went with clipless pedals, fenders, and rear and front panniers. The longer frame also means that I have space for three water bottle holders, compared to Ash’s two.

(Hint: all water bottle holders are the perfect size to hold a bottle of wine – just be careful with the glass!)

Surly Cross Check

We both have biking shorts and helmets, but that’s about as far as it goes by way of ‘bike specific’ clothing. Otherwise it’s tank tops and socks, or whatever smells the best. We’re taking about three biking outfits each, and then sleepwear and maybe something to wear around the cities we’re exploring. A lot of the items we plan on buying once we land have to do with the liquid restriction on planes. From contact solution to wasp spray to sunscreen, many of these items will be easier to just pick up once we’re on the ground in France.

What’s your estimated cost of the trip so far? How has it compared to what you originally thought?

K: Our estimated cost for the trip back when we were first planning it was that the entire thing, bikes, plane tickets, and surviving Europe, would cost about $6,000. The first half of that would go to plane tickets and bikes/bike supplies. The second half would go to the actual surviving in Europe aspect. We plan on doing a lot of camping, so a lot of the money will likely be going towards feeding the hungry beast that lives inside of us after the long days of biking.

We found a great deal on airline tickets via WOW airlines – which is an Icelandic company. And it is seriously WOW – the name is not a joke. We’re flying over, with our bikes and luggage, for under $1,000, which I was actually pleasantly surprised about. The rest of the biking equipment, less than pleasantly surprised. Bikes and their additions are expensive. I think I’ve probably gone a little bit above the $3,000 mark from where I thought I’d be, but the good news is that a lot of this gear I can reuse when I come home and try to start implementing my “bike more, live like Living EZ” mindset. We still don’t know what our typical spending pattern will work out to be in Europe, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

source

Did you splurge on any items?

A: One of the biggest items we heard that we should splurge on is a Brooks saddle. So far, neither of us has taken the plunge. To be fair, I expect we may regret this decision and end up splurging on these upon our return. Other than that, our bikes have been the biggest purchases so far. We definitely could have spent less on them, so I’ll say they count!

Thanks so much for sharing your preparation with us. We are super excited for you two!! How can we follow along on your journey?

We’ll be keeping a Facebook page to keep all of our adoring fans (hi mom!) up to date on our misadventures and fundraising efforts. You can find us at www.Facebook.com/WhereTwoPedal. Thanks for having us!