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Last summer season I cycled 7,600km (4,722 miles) alongside a route referred to as the European Divide Path, which runs by way of 9 nations, all the best way from Arctic Norway to the Atlantic coast in Portugal, largely tenting out alongside the best way. The thought was sparked by an article I noticed on the web – on a web site referred to as bikepacking.com. I slowly went from pondering, “That appears cool,” to, “I’m going to do it.” It appeared a bit loopy, however someway just a few months later, in June 2022, it was taking place! I used to be heading off for 3 months – and I’d even persuaded my pal Max to return alongside for the primary three weeks.
I’d finished some bikepacking journeys prior to now, however normally solely a few nights. As soon as I did a nine-day journey, biking from my home in Pembrokeshire to the highest of Snowdon and again, however I had a very dangerous and lonely time alone. In some way that didn’t put me off … Additionally, it was a tremendous stroke of luck that I met Anna from Sheffield, who was biking the identical route, on the primary day of the European Divide path.
I had a mountain bike and a fundamental bikepacking setup, and aimed to cycle a median of 100km a day. With simply 90 days in Europe to do the path – all that my post-Brexit UK passport would enable – I figured I’d spend 86 days driving and have a pair to spare both finish. On some days I’d cycle extra – 120, 130, even 140km – and on others, once we reached the mountains, far much less.
The route was designed by a British man referred to as Andy Cox in 2021 to be in an identical vein to the Nice Divide mountain bike path within the US. It begins at Grense Jakobselv, deep within the Arctic Circle in Norway and close to the Russian border, then runs by way of Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain, all the best way to Cabo de São Vicente in Portugal.
About two-thirds of it’s off-road, some sections are fairly rocky and technical, and it passes by way of many pretty distant areas in Scandinavia and the mountains of Spain. It doesn’t comply with any geographical continental divide, however, as the web site says, it does “cross many cultural, political, financial and environmental divides”, and is the longest predominantly off-road bikepacking route on the planet.
The place to begin is a bit bizarre, with CCTV cameras and a army checkpoint – however Max and I cycled away downhill and shortly reached a seaside, the place we went for a dip within the sea. It was such a buzz to get going.
On our very first day, as we sat consuming lunch, we began speaking to Anna, who was on her personal and turned out to be biking the Divide too. Not many individuals have undertaken it – I believe solely 12 have accomplished it to this point – so this was fairly the coincidence and we joined forces, which was superb. I’m unsure the place I’d have ended up had I been alone after Max had gone.
The terrain is different: countless forests, lakes, rivers and grime roads in Scandinavia, then it’s the farmland, woodland, heathlands and grasslands of central Europe, and at last the various Iberian peninsula (the very best factors are in jap Spain at about 2,000m). We have been solely in Norway for a few days, biking pretty near the coast. It was lovely, all fjords and large cliffs, and we camped out within the woods (wild tenting is authorized in Norway, Finland and Sweden). Then out of the blue we have been in Finland – border crossings turned out to be completely uneventful – the place we cycled by way of forests for about 4 days. The route then heads by way of Sweden, the place we spent three weeks.
Denmark was fairly easy-going, however Germany was onerous! Very onerous. In locations the paths have been merely unrideable. Someday we had a 2km stretch the place timber had been felled throughout the observe – a whole lot upon a whole lot of timber. It took us hours to raise our heavy bikes over each one. On the ultimate one Anna fell over, straight on to her knee along with her bike on prime. That was a low level, for certain.
Because the route went on, we moved from flatter areas within the north to the extra mountainous areas within the south. However though all of the up and down was tough, the panorama turned increasingly more fascinating. I believe the mountains of France and Spain have been my favourites locations. The Vosges, Jura, Pyrenees and Sierra de Javalambre have been fairly particular. There’s something superb about reaching a bit refuge with a sundown view all to your self after driving and pushing your bike uphill for a full day or two. All alongside the route, we went to locations that you’d by no means have thought to go – little cities and villages the place vacationers don’t usually enterprise.
And, in fact, the folks you meet alongside the best way and the kindness of strangers stays with you. The largest problem is discovering meals and water stops. One morning in Sweden in the course of nowhere we have been saved by the nicest Dutch couple, Marten and Karin. Having reached a closed store the evening earlier than we have been low on provides, and so they insisted we take their packet of digestive biscuits and chocolate bar to maintain us going. In Sweden a person with a bit boat helped us throughout the Lainio River as a result of we’d missed the ferry. In Germany a man referred to as Benni gave us a spot to camp on his household’s land and meals one night, and we met many different form and fascinating folks in all places we went.
My recommendation to anybody pondering of enterprise a giant journey is: simply do it. I didn’t do an excessive amount of preparation – most of my vitality went into merely getting myself to the place to begin. I figured I might work out every little thing else from there, so long as I had the fundamentals. I had maps and deliberate every day as I went, searching for villages and locations to cease for provisions alongside the best way. I used to be very glad to have Anna with me so we might work as a crew. In fact, issues went fallacious – mechanical and bodily – however we mounted them and carried on.
As for coaching, my pondering was: “If I’m not match sufficient at first, I’ll be match sufficient by the top.” Which turned out to be true. Inside a couple of week of biking I might really feel my physique was fully completely different from once I began, and by the top a lot extra once more. It’s fairly stunning how rapidly the physique adapts.
Although I could not have observed it till my return house, I grew a lot in confidence throughout these few months. Due to the numerous issues solved and new experiences lived, I can do issues now that I couldn’t earlier than. And listed here are only a few of the teachings I realized: civilisation isn’t civilised; there might be issues – the path will train you methods to repair them; convey a full roll of duct tape; by no means move a very good swim spot; lube your chain; eat, eat, eat. And most significantly: strangers make nice associates.
Interview by Jane Dunford
For extra data, maps and recommendation go to europeandividetrail.com. The perfect time to sort out the route is from late Could or early June beginning within the north, or from late March or early April beginning within the south.
Jacob’s photobook from his journey, Strangers Make Nice Mates, is on the market at store.midnowhere.co.uk. Go to his web site at midnowhere.co.uk
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