Bikepacking the European Divide Trail

Soon, ‘HMS Bomba’ will be packed up again and will travel West and North. He will be carefully wrapped in bubbles, surrounded by stuff sacks with clothing, cycling gear. His new saddle will be slid down, the handlebars turned, pedals removed. I pray to the clouds of mercy to have gentle bagage handlers at the airports where I have stops and Bomba needs to be shifted. My prayers are not a guarantee for success.

A very long ride will commence in Europe’s North and will finish in the South. If all goes well. Over the past year this magnificent journey has been planned in detail and I keep on fine tuning the route as we go. Bikepacking is also about opportunity, adaption and change. Thank you Andy Cox for your thorough work!

It will be a slow effort, fitting to my age and fitness. Our stages aren’t so much dominated by kilometres but by an intimidating total of altitude. For a bull who is not built for climbing – this will be my biggest challenge. Bomba doesn’t care.

This blog will keep you posted on the ride, the scenery, the sketching along the way, the natural wonders and the people that Bomba and I will encounter.

And as always – in a simple form.

The route

Northern section. The ride starts in Grense Jakobselv in the very North East of Norway, right on the Russian border. From there we will ride in a gentle diagonal South Westerly direction through Finland, followed by a long ride through Sweden where we will finish in Göteborg.

The Central section starts with a ferry ride from Göteborg to Frederikshaven in Denmark. From there we will ride the Western coastline of Denmark, followed by a ride through central Denmark, crossing the border to Germany where we will ride down, through the Elzas, and cross the French border in the Vosges mountains. Then it’s all the way down hugging the hills of the Vosges, the Jura, a quick 2 days in Switzerland, and back into France to climb further to Valence in the Alps region.

The Southern section starts in Valence, crossing the Cévennes and riding into Spain over the Catalan Pyrenees. then, away from the coast through Catalunya, Andalusia, and crossing the Portugese border near Mértola, after which a short 5 day ride will take us to the finish of the EDT at Sagres in the Algarve

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After finishing and resting for a bit, the idea is that we ride directly North to Lisbon and Porto, and from there the plans are dependent on the weather forecasts.

Ultimately I will end up in my native the Netherlands where I will spend valuable [catch up] time with family and friends. It has been too long.