If you don’t have time to read all the other blog posts, just skip to this one. It's a mega-summary (we'll sell you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!) of the entire two-month Europe trip.
The Route
The Route
This bike ride evolved through so many versions of itself over three years of dreaming and planning, but the final iteration was ultimately determined by the fact that the cheapest ticket to Europe landed in Frankfurt, David absolutely had to see Copenhagen (the bike friendliest city in the world), and all the best flights to SF/Malawi departed from Paris, which is near Cungy Challemont, where my mother lives. To tie all these factors together, we ended up taking a train from Frankfurt to Copenhagen, stopping to visit some dear friends in Berlin, then biking to Budapest, before turning west and taking the EuroVelo-6 bike route to Decize, where we turned north and followed the Nivernais Canal to Cungy.
The Pros and Cons (mostly pros)
It was an absolutely amazing bike ride from start to finish. In general, I highly recommend cycling in Europe – the infrastructure is simply unparalleled. There are rest stop with drinking water and toilets, beer gardens, bike stands, and tire pumps. The routes were well maintained and well signed. There are bike lanes all over the place, and even more critically, cars are used to seeing bikes on the road and they’re very respectful to cyclists.
It was an absolutely amazing bike ride from start to finish. In general, I highly recommend cycling in Europe – the infrastructure is simply unparalleled. There are rest stop with drinking water and toilets, beer gardens, bike stands, and tire pumps. The routes were well maintained and well signed. There are bike lanes all over the place, and even more critically, cars are used to seeing bikes on the road and they’re very respectful to cyclists.
The only thing that got me down about Europe, which has
nothing to do with cycling, was the smoking. While studying medicine in Cuba, I
remember the frustration that doctors working in a socialist country felt at
their inability to curb people’s appetite for alcohol and cigarettes, which
were by far and away the largest preventable contributors to morbidity and
mortality. As a doctor, it almost hurt to see people smoking while riding a
bicycle (who does that?), or around their children. We were also surprised to
see cigarette vending machines, which I learned are illegal in the US and the
UK, which is probably why I hadn’t seen them before.
Cigarettes and Condoms
Bike Tire Inner Tubes
Milk Straight from the Cow
Milk and other Farm Products
Baguettes
Lessons
We learned a lot on this trip. We learned that corn and wheat are the two largest crops in the world, and we believe it. We learned that Nutrias are native to South America, but were introduced to Europe because of their luscious pelts and are now considered pests. We learned that small German shops will never accept credit cards because there is a 1.50 euro charge on their use, whereas small farmer’s stands in Denmark have a mobile pay option. We learned the hard way that all the campsites close on September 15th, and those that don’t close on October 15th. We learned that David should have 20 granola bars on him at all time to avoid getting hangry.
A lot of people have asked about the budget for this bike ride. Despite the fact that we are both debt-free (thank you Fidel and the US military), we were fairly thrifty during this ride – we camped except for rest days in large cities and a few very rainy nights when we availed ourselves of a guesthouse. We had groceries for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner, and we only ate out on rest days, and when I insisted we eat Kaffee und Kuchen. In fact, our largest non-grocery food expenditure was probably pastries. In total over the two months of European cycling, we spent about $3000 each, of which $500 went to transportation within Europe, with the remainder split almost evenly between food and accommodation. Expensive, but totally worth it.
Photo Glossary:
Here are some of my favorite photos from the ride. As you will notice, David took almost all the photos, which means that I'm in almost all of them, and he's in almost none of them. The very observant among you may also notice that I left my only other shirt in Ulm, so after Ulm, I'm wearing the same grey shirt every darn day. Good thing they're not scratch and sniff photos.
So many vending machines!
Cigarettes and CondomsBike Tire Inner TubesMilk Straight from the CowMilk and other Farm ProductsBaguettesLessons
We learned a lot on this trip. We learned that corn and wheat are the two largest crops in the world, and we believe it. We learned that Nutrias are native to South America, but were introduced to Europe because of their luscious pelts and are now considered pests. We learned that small German shops will never accept credit cards because there is a 1.50 euro charge on their use, whereas small farmer’s stands in Denmark have a mobile pay option. We learned the hard way that all the campsites close on September 15th, and those that don’t close on October 15th. We learned that David should have 20 granola bars on him at all time to avoid getting hangry.
We also learned some lessons specific to riding a bike,
although I like to think they have some general applicability as well.
Be Mindful: Whenever I ask David what he’s thinking on a
bike ride, he inevitably responds “nothing”. Whereas at any given moment, I’ve
got a song stuck in my head, I’m calculating how many minutes/kilometers
till the next snack break or I’m rehearsing a patient encounter in my head.
However, there is (very weak) research to suggest that cyclists are happier
when they cycle mindfully, that is to say, paying attention to their breath and
their surroundings. As meditators will know, the trick to mindfulness is to acknowledge an intrusive thought – for
example, “Thank you Bruno Mars for your partial rendition of 24K Magic” – and
then to let it go. This is much easier said than done - Bruno Mars is incredibly persistent - but I gave it a good go, when I remembered to. Now, like many people, I do some of my best processing when I’m
stuck in the saddle for hours at a time (it’s like sitting on a toilet for an
entire day), but if I’m at least mindful when I remember to be, I still get lots of
processing time. What I noticed during my mindfulness practice was that I saw more of the side of the trail than I usually do, which is, of course, where all the good views are.
“Get On Your Bikes and Ride” (credit to Queen for that one): Cyclists can be a little bit elitist and intimidating at times, but it's really important to remember that cycling is easy, fun, and truly for everyone. In Germany we saw older and less fit people on ebikes, in Hungary we saw whole
families on supported, organized bike trips, and a couple of cyclists who were carrying bows and arrows on their bicycles on their way to a mounted archery tournament. One touring cyclist decided that he needed to
carry a drone around in order to make his bike trip worth the hassle. Whatever gets your butt in the saddle.
Always have a Plan B: A British couple was recounting how
they struggled through the Iron Curtain bike route because many of the signs
either didn’t exist or had been misplaced at some point. They had a book map,
but you can imagine how laborious it was to drag it out every time they had to
turn – and when are you supposed to know when to turn? In their case, they had planned, but planning hadn't been enough. We followed the signs but we also had a backup GPS and a cycling navigating app, and we still got lost sometimes, but at least it wasn't disastrous. This went for everything - a number of times the campsite that we were planning to stay in was inexplicably closed, so we learned to call ahead even if the website said that the campsite was open. Fortunately, we never had to resort to wild camping, but I guess that would have been Plan C.
Uphills are actually the best: They get a bad rap, you know, cause they're hard, but they are the best time to take
in the view without worrying about obstacles in the road, they are what allow
you to eat all those chocolate-coated peanuts, and they are always accompanied
by a downhill.
Cool things we saw
A lot of people have asked about the budget for this bike ride. Despite the fact that we are both debt-free (thank you Fidel and the US military), we were fairly thrifty during this ride – we camped except for rest days in large cities and a few very rainy nights when we availed ourselves of a guesthouse. We had groceries for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner, and we only ate out on rest days, and when I insisted we eat Kaffee und Kuchen. In fact, our largest non-grocery food expenditure was probably pastries. In total over the two months of European cycling, we spent about $3000 each, of which $500 went to transportation within Europe, with the remainder split almost evenly between food and accommodation. Expensive, but totally worth it.
Us doing goofy stuff
So, to bring it full circle, going back to why I did this darn bike ride in the first
place. After about a month of riding, I felt like I had had enough down time
and was just about ready to get back to work. But it wasn’t until after two
months of riding that I actually started making Chichewa flashcards, completing
tropical medicine modules, organizing my life, and inventing a computer bag. So
I guess that means I got my needed break from residency, enough that my brain
has started working on its own again. My mother doesn't have a scale, so I have no idea if I lost all my residency weight, but I sure look good.
Photo Glossary:
Here are some of my favorite photos from the ride. As you will notice, David took almost all the photos, which means that I'm in almost all of them, and he's in almost none of them. The very observant among you may also notice that I left my only other shirt in Ulm, so after Ulm, I'm wearing the same grey shirt every darn day. Good thing they're not scratch and sniff photos.
Best Bridges
Animals We Saw on the Trail
Why you should wear sunscreen
