In the summer of 2023, we took an Interrail trip to & through Scotland.
Tag Country
Our tour ends with rain, art and a comfortable ride to Minneapolis.
After many meters of altitude on regular roads, relaxed cycling now followed on the Gandy Dancer Trail.
After four days on the road by bike, we took a break for the vow reneval of Sigrid and Kevin.
Pleasant ride through a vacation region with a very strenuous shortcut.
A day of touring with almost all types of roads.
After settling in, the new experiences really started.
After settling in in Duluth, we drove to Superior as the first short day's drive.
In order to get used to the time difference and to prepare everything for the bike tour, we had first booked three hotel nights in Duluth.
Get up early to wait in the rain :-)
Instead of our planned tour along the coast of Estonia, we once again made a round in Switzerland.
After the big tour in North America last year, this year we decided for an easy to organize tour in Switzerland.
We really did it: we rode the tandem home from the airport!
Last stage in North America with crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge!
Many bikes and three tandems on the campground!
Animal rich campsite!
Kitchens influence each other
Wellness afternoon with pine cone bombardment
Many cyclists on a too small square
Back over big hills to the Pacific Ocean.
Drive through a drive-thru redwood!
Over steep roads back to the Redwoods.
Beautiful coastal road and overnight stay at an expo site.
Foggy cold day with moose.
Back to the hills and redwoods.
Camping in the Redwoods
An American Kevin Breakfast.
Rain & Lasagna
Long day over many bridges
A lot of traffic on Labor Weekend
Many meters of altitude and many kilometers
Very short 65km
Along the Pacific Ocean
Long, busy car road to Cathlamet
Record heat!
The days are getting hotter and hotter.
Bathing in the Pacific Ocean
Longest permanent pontoon bridge in the world
Beautiful railroad trail
Exhausting detour via Saltspring Island.
A dream delicatessen
An impressive family of cyclists
Leisurely tour along the coast.
A day full of challenges!
Another beautiful day through the forest in the north of Vancouver Island.
After the long break we drove all day through the forest!
Over the White Pass back to Alaska.
Nice drive on the South Klondike Highway.
Another ideal bike day with construction site.
Drive to the First Nations Camp in Champagne
Last rainy day for now with beautiful descent to Haines Jct.
Short drive along Lake Kluane to the beautifully located Cottonwood RV Park & Campground.
Again rain, road works and headwind on the Alaska Highway.
First wild camping on our trip.
Lots of rain on the Alaska Highway.
From Alaska to Canada.
On the Alaska Highway we meet other tour riders.
Very short day stage back to "civilization".
Very long day stage until just before Tok.
On the Tok Cut-Off to the beautiful Red Eagle Lodge
100km Richardson Highway
Lots of elevation gain to a nice campsite at Paxson Lake.
On the fourth day of the tour we crossed Maclaren Pass, the second highest pass with a public road in Alaska.
On the third day we continued on the highway to the campsite at the next lodge.
After the exhausting double first day of touring, we treated ourselves to a short stop at the next lodge.
First tour day - all inclusive!
When planning, we considered for a long time whether we wanted to visit the national park ourselves with the tandem or a guided tour. Since the park road is a gravel road, for which we would have needed about three days, we decided to get to know the park comfortably.
From Anchorage, we traveled north on the Denali Star of the Alaska Railroads.
After the stay in Munich we took the train to Kempten. From Kempten we enjoyed beautiful & quiet roads to Lake Constance.
After the quiet and shady Bavarian forest we drove along the Danube and the Vils until just before Munich.
On the first part of our summer tour we drove from Wiesen to Deggendorf through the Bavarian Forest.
The biggest organizational challenge on our vacations is usually the arrival/return trip.
Since April we are the proud owners of a second tandem...
To keep our "normal" tandem and our recumbent bike species-appropriate company, we decided to expand our fleet with an AZUB Twin recumbent tandem.
Due to the bad weather we visited the railroad museum in Bergün and rode the tandem only a little.
Our first day on the Alpine Bike Route with cows and other bikers.
Ascent to the beautiful Val Mora incl. 200hm pushing and a rapid descent to Zernez.
Strange weather after a wonderful breakfast.
For once again a vacation in Switzerland.
The route to the Bragg Creek region was quite different than expected....
After what was probably our last day of rest, we started to leave the Rocky Mountains for Calgrary.
A real rainy day for once.
After the efforts of the Icefield Parkway we made two exciting rest days in Lake Louise.
After the rest day, we were looking forward to going back to the mountains.
Back to civilization...
A largely very nice route from Banff NP into Yoho NP.
Start in the rain and drive on the Trans Canada Highway (TCH)
First bear sighting before Bow Pass.
After we drove the previous day in cold and partly wet weather from the mountains on the busy TCH downhill, we faced the opposite on the route from Golden to Radium.
On the second day of the tour we passed the Columbia Icefield and Sunwapta Pass in strong winds.
Our first "real" stage of the day consisted of the climb towards Sunwapta Pass on the Icefield Parkway.
The journey took a very long time, but worked out amazingly well!
Soon the time will come and we will start this year's summer vacation in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Since we want to be on the road with our tandem, we are currently looking back on almost a year of preparation!
After the onset of winter a week ago, we wanted to go once again with the tandem in the mountains in beautiful weather, before the passes are definitely closed due to winter closure.
The Furka Pass was due to the past warm days already free of snow again, at the Gotthard Pass but there was still "enough" snow on the old pass road ... Who loves his bike, who pushes :-)
We were not able to do our summer vacation tour this year until September.
Since we received too few registrations for the tandem club tour over the Brünig and the grosse Scheidegg, we converted the first two days of our tour to a tandem club tour.
Afterwards we drove "alone" through the Jura and along the Ain to Lyon.
Very strenuous route to Adelboden.
Very nice route over the Glaubenberg pass.
In order to organize a tandem tour in the fall, we wanted to drive parts of the route first, because the own impression despite accurate maps and elevation profiles can not be replaced...
Slowly it is time to stow the snowshoes, avalanche shovels and snow saws from igloo construction definitely until next winter and edlich be back on the road with the tandem!
On a beautiful Saturday and rainy Sunday we made a strenuous but beautiful tandem tour south of Lake Geneva.
No one should claim that New Zealand is far away... It takes us about 51 hours to get to Trondheim...
To make planning a little easier for copycats, we have summarized some facts and tips about our tandem tour.
We visited Oslo and then started the long journey back to Switzerland.
On our first stages we got to know Norway in the rain.
The weather showed itself from the better side in the following days, when we drove again a little up and down...
We supplemented the sporty weekend tour over the Lukmanier and Oberalp passes from the tandem club with the crossing of the Nufenen pass the day before.
Last beautiful weekend we rode the tandem from Kandersteg down to the Aare valley.
After the rain finally stopped, we took another tour to the Emmental this afternoon and on the way back by train we loaded the tandem once in a tight space.
The travel preparations for our planned Norwegian tour this summer turned out to be more time-consuming than expected. Therefore, we have now summarized some tips and tools for copycats:
We took advantage of a beautiful September weekend to once again experience a tandem tour with bag and baggage.
After a few hours flight we reached Hong Kong via Auckland.
From some notes and several drafts, we have now put together a summary for our whole trip.
After the check-in we wait for our plane...
Last days through the Canterbury Plains.
With "light" luggage over the hills.
Short 90km to the edge of the Canterbury Plains.
Another day break with a trip to Mount John at night.
A hike up the local mountain of Lake Tekapo.
A short day stage followed by a very cold one.
Our "king stage" over the Lindis Pass.
Since we liked it so much, we stayed a little longer than planned.
Drive along the highest paved road in New Zealand.
Headwind and rain!
Three days of relatively easy tandem riding
We are leaving the Catlins.
Beautiful, rust promoting campground.
A strong tailwind accompanies us.
Hector dolphins become seals
Beautiful landscape, steep hills
For us once a vacation of a different kind. Two guided bus and boat tours.
The tandem tour continues!
With the tandem (in the car) quite fast southward.
Something for the poor for a change! A kayak tour.
Fast through the rain! 225km in three days.
Capital visit and crossing to the South Island
First south island stages, partly with a lot of rain :-(
We close our first conclusion after 1759km of tandem riding on the North Island of New Zealand
Two rest days - city sightseeing and a Gannet Beach Adventure Tour with tractor and trailer.
Three day tour with a lot of wind!
Train ride from Masterton to Lower Hutt
Exhausting two days with canyons, hills and a beautiful lake
Two day tour with overnight stay in Morere Hot Springs
East Coast driving style and breadcrumbs
Beautiful route and tandem horror
New pedal position and police contact
First rays of sun from 2010
Again over 90km, but with a lot of tailwind!
Short stage and finally new tires!
Short stage before a long and exhausting route
First rain stage
Ascent to the plateau
Tire change and search with over 90 day km
Small day trip to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.
Windy tandem tour and a beautiful campsite.
In Waihi we visited the last operating gold mine in New Zealand.
Exhausting 80km with ferry crossing.
A short day trip and one with a first repair.
After the car ride to Auckland and a day trip, we now rode the tandem for the first day.
In less than two weeks we will start!
Today we were able to fly with one of the last DC3s certified for passenger flight.
Actually, we planned a tour to Kaikoura, 180 km away. But due to the weather we had to shorten the tour.
On Labor Weekend we went to Leukerbad in New Zealand.
Last Saturday we did a very strenuous day trip over Gebbies Pass and Summit Road.
As announced, we traveled by train last weekend from Christchurch on the east coast to Greymouth on the west coast.
Finally we have received our tandem. But this weekend we have planned without a bike tour yet.
Last Saturday we did a tandem tour over the hills south of Christchurch.
frighteningly different but still somehow enjoyable...
It is not as lurid as in the title... From the cool flight safety film, we only learned afterwards that the flight attendants and the pilot were not wearing uniforms, but were only painted. We didn't even see that on the small screen. This (real!) film is part of a "Nothing to hide" campaign of Air New Zealand. Unlike other airlines, everything is included in the price = nothing to hide. The link to the movie is in the article.
After a few hours flight we reached Hong Kong via London. (Update on 20.09 : two snapshots added)
The cantonal event is over. A lot of things are already packed up.
Soon the time will come and we will fly off!