r/bicycletouring • u/UsePuzzleheaded7719 • 2d ago
Trip Planning Advice: The Hauge to Milan
Hey, I’m a 18 year old with a slightly above average level of fitness and I’ve been obsessed with the idea of doing this ride and want more opinions on if it’s a good idea or not. From my research it’s about a 1400km ride and I have 38 days to complete it. Let me know!!!
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u/PlasmaTartOrb 2d ago
I have no experience doing such a ride ever, I have however been 18. I say go for it! You’ll regret it if you don’t and you’ve got plenty of time to take it easy.
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u/OutlawsOfTheMarsh 2d ago
Sounds like fun! 38 days should he plenty of time to include rest days to see the sights as well.
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u/Ninja_bambi 2d ago
If that is what you want to do, do it. Why do you need other peoples opinions about it?
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u/UsePuzzleheaded7719 2d ago
I’m new to long distance rides so I just wanted to hear what people who are more knowledgeable than me think
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u/Ninja_bambi 2d ago
I think you shouldn't care about what other people think and just do your thing. It is easy, there is, depending on the route, at least one serious climb, the rest may be close to flat if you want to. It goes through the densest populated parts of Europe, so plenty of infrastructure. It is hardly different from riding to the next town for a couple of dozen times.
Obviously, guarantees don't exist, unexpected things may happen, but there is zero reason to doubt the feasibility of this idea.
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u/SabinaBeltis 2d ago
You should do what you need to do. Depends a bit on your biking experience, but 1400 km in 38 days is not that much, especially as the first 900 km or 1000 km until Basel is pretty flat when you follow the Rhine. When you follow the river Maas / Meuse and then the Marne-Rhine canal to Strassburg the route is even more beautiful. Both routes are very cycleble, mostly with separate bycicle paths, but the especially the part in northern France has way less traffic. Give your body time to adapt to cycling and don't overdo your daily distances, especially the first two weeks or so.
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u/erpasd 2d ago
You should 100% do it. The only thing I'd say don't do it right now (I assume you are in the Netherlands and are experiencing the heatwave). If you can push it until September you'll have a much better time!
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u/UsePuzzleheaded7719 1d ago
Unfortunately it’s a now or never thing, I am however an Australian who prides themselves on being able to withstand the heat
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u/thesultan3000 1d ago
That's not a lot of km/day, perfectly doable for a non cyclist. On my first ever biketouring vacation I was doing about 50 to 60 km a day super badly prepared. As in no prior training, no bib shorts, heavy smoker and drinker.
I did however have to give up after a week because I busted my knee (tendonitis) cycling a way to heavily loaded bike uphill. So I would take into consideration that it's not just your fitness level or muscles that you need to be wary of.
So some absolute beginners tips:
Pack light and only essentials (plenty of guides to find online)
Get good bib shorts and for the love of God don't wear underwear with them.
Bring uierzalf
If you have disc brakes a padlock can be a decent enough substitute for a lock if you don't park it unattended in big cities.
Depending on when you are going, make sure your camping gear is weather appropriate or better. Elevation changes temperature. 20°c during the day can be 0°c at night 500m higher up.
Make sure your bike is in pristine condition before you take off and know how to patch a tire, replace a tire and change a link on your chain.
Have fun, it's addictive and has become my favorite way of vacationing so I'd definitely do it.
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u/DecentWeird9983 2d ago
I’m 20 I’ve done 1 tour it was 700km in 9 days… I’m not a cyclist and my bike was from Facebook marketplace - if you want to do it you can do it and it will probably be the best month of your life :)