Travelling Around Europe On A Bicycle
 

After reading this thread (http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=96316) and the motorcycle across the US one, I thought about seeing Europe on a bike.

I figure it would take 3 months to complete 2650 miles (4267 km), and I would have to travel 50 miles a day for 50 days on average. There would be 40 days to rest and do things. And, I wouldn't be opposed to using the EuroRail in some places.

I don't have any set dates in mind, but I would want to be in Pamplona, Spain for the running of the bulls and in France to see the Tour de France (at least a few stages). Those both happen in July. I also want to go to the beach, drive on the Autobahn(not on my bike) and party in Ibiza.

There are some things I worry about, but they aren't deal breakers. How do you get from Rome to London with a bike? What are the roads like over there to ride on? Are there back roads that don't have much traffic and are good to ride a bike on? Are there bike trails like in the US? How much trainning would I have to do? There is a bike trail from Dayton to Cincinatti and back that I could easily do in a weekend, I would probably have to do that a few times.

Money wouldn't be a big problem for me, but I'm not sure if I would be staying in hostels and hotels outside of the cities. I would only carry a few items that would easily fit in a backpack. I would take my small laptop computer for it's GPS capability, translation software, and to store digital pictures. Other than that, I wouldn't need much. I am guessing it would cost between 4 and 5 thousand. Most of that would be airfare, food, and lodging. I know some people in London, so I could stay there for free and ship my bike there, if I can't take it on the plane. My current employer bought my passport (Don't need to worry about that $100), and I have traveled by my self many times, but never to a place where I couldn't speak the same language. I'm not sure if I would want to do this trip with another person. I could probably talk my Mom & Dad to ride around France to watch the Tour de France with me for a few days.

It seems like this is the thing to do in my family. My Grandpa got a all-expense paid trip to Europe courtsey of the Army when he was in his 20s, my Mom went there on a summer vacation when she was in her 20s, and I have 3 more years left in my 20s.

I have made a quick stetch of a map of the route I would like to take on my website:

http://www.geocities.com/redmatch18/EuroTrip.html

Most of the route, I just guessed at. A lot of it would be made up as I went along. And, I would need to find out a lot more about good places to visit over there.
(I found out there is a city named after me in Italy that I have to go to)

And here is some information from someone who has done this type of thing before.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/euhansen.html