Posted on October 22 2023
ABC Tour - the Adriatic to the Baltic Cycle Tour.
Flying Perth to Prague with our road bikes, we were excited to be travelling again after the restrictions imposed since 2020. We chose Prague because we are familiar with the city and have deep connections to the Czech Republic and it is very much central Europe. It was the start and end point of our planned 2023 ABC Tour.
Leaving surplus luggage and bike bags in Prague, we trained from Prague to Verona which was to be the start point of our cycle tour. From this starting point of our cycling adventure, it was 7 weeks cycling without support, carrying all that we needed on our bikes. Our friend Max joined us for the first week from Verona to Bolzano. Once on our cycling adventure, it was 7 weeks cycling without support, carrying all that we needed on our bikes.
Our plan incorporated non cycling days to enable us to enjoy the places we were visiting and to provide a rest from cycling, which turned into hours of walking instead - often more tiring than the cycling days. We cycled for 36 days of these 7 weeks with 12 rest (walking) days and one day of train travel. Our cycling route took us through 5 countries, cycled nearly 2500km and climbed about 16600 vm. We averaged about 4 hours of cycling per day and 68km per day. We crossed the Alps through the Brenner Pass, the Fern Pass and the Overjoch Pass.
Our cycling started in Italy, at Verona, headed east and touched the Adriatic in Chioggia, then headed north to the Alps. Into Austria, then Germany, several touches into Poland and finally a return through Czech Republic to Prague.
This planned Connal Tours ABC Tour was an adaptation from our planned cycle in 2020 (another blog written of this plan) Czech - Germany - Czech. This plan didn't eventuate due to travel restrictions. Core parts of the original plan carried through to our new bigger, bolder, challenging and longer plan for 2023. With months spent planning routes and booking accommodation, researching, packing and finally travelling again.
We recorded our daily thoughts, photos and the map of our progress on the Polarsteps site which can be found here. We found this a wonderful way for people to follow our journey as it tracked our progress.
Videos were created for every cycle day plus a couple of rest days. These have all been published to our YouTube Channel Kit Connal. A couple of these are embedded in this blog to give a taster.
Our Adriatic to Baltic Cycle Route was as follows:
4 days in Prague
1 train day Prague to Verona
1 Rest Day Verona
Cycle Day 1 Verona to Este (Italy) 72km
Cycle Day 2 Este to Chioggia (Italy) 70km
Rest Day Chioggia A=Adriatic
Cycle Day 3 Chioggia to Campo San Martino (Italy) 75km
Cycle Day 4 Campo San Martino to Strigno (Italy) 85km
Cycle Day 5 Strigno to Trento (Italy) 48km
Cycle Day 6 Trento to Bolzano (Italy) 64km
Rest Day Bolzano
Cycle Day 7 Bolzano to Vipiteno (Italy) 76km
Cycle Day 8 Vipiteno to Innsbruck (Austria) 57km
Rest Day Innsbruck
Cycle Day 9 Innsbruck to Bichlbach (Austria) 77km
Cycle Day 10 Bichlbach to Sonthofen (Germany) 56km
Cycle Day 11 Sonthofen to Laupheim (Germany) 106km
Cycle Day 12 Laupheim to Tübingen (Germany) 85km
Rest Day Tübingen
Cycle Day 13 Tübingen to Stuttgart (Germany) 55km
Cycle Day 14 Stuttgart to Mosbach (Germany) 84km
Cycle Day 15 Mosbach to Heidelberg (Germany) 62km
Rest Day Heidelberg
Cycle Day 16 Heidelberg to Frankfurt (Germany) 86km
Rest Day Frankfurt. This was another day of family history seeking. The reason for taking our route through Frankfurt is the reason for my existence and the generations after me. It was the meeting place of my mother - an Englishwomen working for the British Control Commission here after the war and assisting displaced refugees; and my father - an escaped Czechoslovakian (from the communism takeover in '48) now on the British side and crossing borders on intelligence work. He was sent to my Mum's lodgings which effectively was a 'safe house'. Start of a love story in Frankfurt 💕. Had some moments of reflection at places they may have met, held hands and kissed. The old Opera House, the green park circling the old city, the riverside.
Cycle Day 17 Frankfurt to Steinau an der Strasse (Germany) 73km
Cycle Day 18 Steinau an der Strasse to Sünna (Germany) 85km
Cycle Day 19 Sünna to Waltershausen (Germany) 61km
Cycle Day 20 Waltershausen to Weimar (Germany) 67km
Rest Day Weimar
Cycle Day 21 Weimar to Naumburg-Saale (Germany) 53km
Cycle Day 22 Naumburg-Saale to Leipzig (Germany) 54km
Rest Day Leipzig
Cycle Day 23 Leipzig to Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Germany) 84km
Rest Day Lutherstadt Wittenberg
Cycle Day 24 Lutherstadt Wittenberg to Potsdam (Germany) 72km
Rest Day Potsdam - Berlin
Cycle Day 25 Berlin to Potsdam via Berlin Wall south path (Germany) 67km
Cycle Day 26 Potsdam to Lanke (Germany) 82km.
This route took us via the Berlin Olympic Stadium which is of great significance to Jen as our namesake Kit Connal was an Olympian in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and also worked in the British Control Commission in Berlin following WWII. Her Olympic Memoir can be read in one of our background stories.
Cycle Day 27 Lanke to Angermünde (Germany) 53km
Cycle Day 28 Angermünde to Pasewalk (Germany) 67km
Cycle Day 29 Pasewalk to Świnoujście (Poland) 81km
Rest Day Świnoujście B=Baltic
Cycle Day 30 Świnoujście to Wolgast (Germany) 44km
Cycle Day 31 Wolgast to Stralsund (Germany) 79km
1 Train Day Stralsund to Gӧrlitz (Germany)
1 Rest Day Gӧrlitz / Zgorzelec (Germany / Poland)
Cycle Day 32 Gӧrlitz to Krompach (Czech Republic) 58km
Cycle Day 33 Krompach to Litoměřice (Czech Republic) 67km
Cycle Day 34 Litoměřice to Mělník (Czech Republic) 41km
Cycle Day 35 Mělník to Prague (Czech Republic) 33km
Cycle Day 36 Prague to Karlštejn to Prague (Czech Republic) 72km
4 days in Prague before flying home.
We travelled light and truly tested our own product - Connal Kit Cycling Clothes. They proved to be packable, versatile, comfortable, light, washable, durable, dryable, functional, layerable and interchangeable. Perfect for travelling and adventuring by bike or walking.
We had to travel with minimal gear as the weight was crucial to our ability to keep our bikes moving forward (especially through the Alps). Our seat post bag, front bar bag, and frame bag meant we only carried the bare necessities. A range of our own Connal Kit cycle clothing, plus a few extras - rain jacket, gloves, sleeves, long pants for evenings, overshirt and scarf, undies, shoes and basic tools, electronics, and basic toiletries. Layering proved to be the answer in dealing with temperature changes. The only items taken but not used were the first aid kit and some of the bike spares.
It was the trip of a lifetime. Since being home I miss the excitement of the adventure, not knowing what was around the next corner or over the next hill, bursting into town squares which were gobsmackingly amazing in their architecture. Rattling over cobbled streets, visiting the cool and quiet innersanctums of huge cathedrals, savouring foods, beers and wines to fuel our bodies without any pangs of guilt, knowing everything we consumed would be converted into fuelling our cycling days ahead. Blessed with good weather, good health, friendly and helpful strangers. Good planning paid off with 36 days of cycling preplanned routes using Komoot App, Pre-booked accomodation with bookings.com with cancellation options up to a week out. Flights with Qantas/Emirates who cared for our bikes and us. Planning cycle free days in the locations we wanted to spend more time to explore on foot. And of course our trusty road bikes M1 and M2 (both Merida road bikes with many kilometres on their clocks) who made the distance with only 1 flat tyre and a change of brakepads.
If you have any questions about planning your own cycling tour, we are more than happy to share information with you. Make contact.
... Jen & Greg October 2023.
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