Graham and Gill Holder - Safe Home

After 72 days and 2021 miles we have returned home from our trip through Northern Europe. The final section of our route took us through Denmark which was fantastic, so much so that we might return to cycle part of the North Sea Coast route and some of the islands in more detail, but after a break!!

During our trip we passed through 10 countries ( one or two only briefly!); travelled on 6 ferries with two of these passages being 26.5 hours Helsinki to Rostock and Esbjerg to Harwich 18 hours through a force 7! There were also a number of smaller ferries across rivers or to link the route between islands in Denmark etc.

The bikes, identical Dawes Super Galaxy's, performed fantastically well. We only had one puncture and a slight adjustment problem with the brakes to one of the bikes. The insurance policy of taking a spare tyre, brake blocks, cables, chain links, inner tubes, cable ties and adhesive tape paid off.

The route, which mostly followed the Eurovelo route 1 is largely through countryside so don't rely on finding any tea rooms on the way, self catering is the order of the day. I would also recommend that if you are considering doing the R1 then wider wheel/ tyres than the 32's we had would be better for the long sections of off road particularly in Germany or the minor roads in Poland and the Baltic States.

All the countries that we passed through were generally considerate to cyclists with the notable exception of the part of Poland referred to in earlier emails. It seems that cycling in Poland is not a widespread leisure pursuit, except for motorists that is!

We found that travel on trains, particularly in the Baltic States very easy and cheap. They still allow you to walk your bikes across the tracks to change platforms rather than carry them up and down the stairs (so much for health and safety!) One thing to bear in mind though is that you need to climb three or four steps to enter the train carriage which means that the bikes need to be unloaded each time you board.

Before I finish I have to say that we found the people either in the countryside and/or towns generally very friendly and helpful and the accommodation good although some campsites and guest houses were a little basic to say the least.

If you are thinking of doing all or part of the route Gill and I took then we will be happy to share our experiences with you in more detail together with a review of the countless maps that are now squeezed into our bookcase.

I will be back to cycling on Wednesday next week hopefully with a clean bike!