BikeHobo

There are 2 posts tagged BikeHobo (this is page 1 of 1).

Consulting the Oracle – Tour of Greece & the Balkans 2019-2020

I’ve been all over Europe, but never to Greece. By all accounts I know that it is a beautiful country with a fascinating history, friendly locals and great food. I lived with a few Greek lunatics at university and I still can’t bring myself to drink another drop of Raki. Horrible stuff. But recently I’ve been reviving my love of Greek mythology, tales of which entranced me as a young lad.

So it was an easy choice of destination for my first bike tour. But why stop there? Over several weeks I devised the following route:

Starting from my current base in Prague, follow the Greenways to Vienna, then switch to EuroVelo 6 along the Danube towards Bratislava and Budapest before swinging south to Belgrade.

From there, change to EuroVelo 11 towards Skopje and Thessaloniki, taking time to visit the oracle at Delphi (maybe a spot of haruspicy?), then around the Peloponnese, to visit the temples and battle sites of yore that fascinated the younger me (and still do!)

After filling myself with wine and Taramasalata, head north on Eurovelo 8 along the Albanian coast, into Podgorica before trekking inland to Bosnia, up to Zaghreb, Graz, Linz and back to Prague.

Distance approximately 4,000 kilometres.

I reckon 100 days on the road in total, allowing for stop-offs and whatever takes my fancy along the way. No rush, like.

To prevent ambition and fatigue getting the better of me, the trip will be taken in stages, starting with a 12 day dry-run to Budapest. Prague-Vienna and Vienna-Budapest are both popular cycling routes these days, seemingly well signposted and not too detached from civilization. This is a much-needed holiday, concluding with the night train back to Prague.

In July, all things permitting, I aim to resume with a hop from Budapest to visit my new friends in Belgrade (hi guys 🙂 ). Maybe down to Kruševac and the mountains.

Then, in September, take the road south from Belgrade for the main tour around the Greek mainland. The trip back north will probably have to wait until 2020, but who knows?

Perhaps I’ve lost the plot. Time will tell. In any case, it’s beyond time to shake-off the creeping cynicism of modern life and rediscover the bigger picture. If I die, I die.

The BikeHobo Manifesto

Hobo (noun) ho·​bo | \ ˈhō-(ˌ)bō 

1: a migratory worker 
2: a homeless and usually penniless vagabond

After years of having my face buried in a computer screen I decided that I need to get out more. My job used to be involve travelling around, interacting face-to-face with real people, making friends and feeling of some practical help. But my line of work these days has degenerated into an online bureaucratic exercise, which can be tedious and ultimately soul-destroying if not switched off occasionally.

In a bid at rejuvenation, I have been devising a demented scheme to cycle around Europe – eventually further – and still keep working. All I need is a laptop. Thus BikeHobo was born. The journey is the destination! Basic rules:

1. Map the route, but don’t over-plan

Although I will be following some established routes, not all of these have reliable GPS tracks to follow. So, I’m going to record progress on my phone and publish the GPX files here. Otherwise, I’ll be playing it by ear.

2. Be frugal, but no too much.

I’m a city boy at heart, but this time I’ll be sticking mainly to the countryside. This means wild camping, and meals cooked in the open. Extra weight on the bike, but more fun. Not to say I won’t have the odd blowout, and I will be sampling the local foods as much as possible, while no doubt meeting new friends, as long as I don’t smell too bad 😛 .

3. It’s not a race.

100km per day is a reasonable target, though some days more, some days less depending on road conditions and time spent smelling the flowers.

…and make the rest up as I go along!