2012-05-19T16:09:57Z Wally Copyright 2012, Wally SPHPBLOG
Other trips I've done with Millerine are Rakvere to Viimsi and Tartu to Viljandi.

In general, Estonia is a great place for cycling in summer. There are quiet roads, regular villages and towns, and most importantly it is very flat. The highest point in Estonia (and all of the Baltics) is Suur Munamägi at a mear 318 metres high.

There are about a dozen official sign posted bike routes throughout Estonia. The number 1 bike route is part of the number 10 Euro Velo route which circuits the nordic countries.

The Esto Velo website contains a good amount of info in English. I purchased maps of the bike routes from a bookshop and they have come in handy when a sign post had gone astray. These days the routes are clearly marked on the Open Street Maps Cycle Map, which can be downloaded with a bunch of different apps on smartphones.
]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry120121-201718 2012-01-22T00:00:00Z 2012-01-22T00:00:00Z Train Tallinn to Rakvere

There were a few days spare in our calendars and the weather looked fine so we decided to go on a bike trip. Rakvere sounded like a nice place to visit, so we packed our panniers, grabbed our bikes, and arrived in Rakvere by train in the afternoon. Rakvere is a nice Estonian town with the usual wooden houses and one of my favourite castles. It is partially ruined, and is set against a foreground of green grass over small hills and a moat. I found myself wishing I owned a holiday house in the town.

We stayed in a nice guest house in town. I've no idea how we found it, but I can recommend that friendly and cheap style of accommodation.



Day 2
Rakvere - Võsu 79km

The plan was to follow the number 4 bike route towards the coast and then the number 1 route back to Tallinn. This is not a particularly direct route, but certainly a scenic one. We passed through quite a lot of wheat farming land.

It rained quite heavily around lunchtime, but luckily we were under cover at the Altja Kõrts (like a pub) until the rain petered out. Otherwise Altja was a lovely seaside town with old log fishing cabins.



The road winds along the coast. It was quiet, flat, and scenic. Basically everything one could want in a lazy day of cycling.

We stayed in a campground outside of Võsu, a few metres from a creek (Võsu jõgi). There were no toilets, but otherwise it was nicely set up with an under cover area with a table, and a metal bbq type enclosed fireplace. These both came in handy, as again it rained but while we were under cover. Campgrounds in Estonia are free and comfortable, but they can be hard to find so it's worth doing some research first.



Day 3
101km Võsu - Viimsi

It would have taken a couple of days of cycling to get back to Tallinn if we followed the bike route around the coastal peninsulas. As the weather seemed destined to provide more rain we decided to fast track it home via the highway. On the way we visited a small waterfall, but it was mostly a direct fast and flat ride home. In terms of distance it was the longest day off riding we've done, so a satisfying end to a nice few days away.
]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry120121-060517 2012-01-21T00:00:00Z 2012-01-21T00:00:00Z No travel

All of the ferries were booked out for this day, so rather than go for standby again we opted to book tickets for the 00:50 ferry at night. This gave us a very long day in Visby. Our plans of spending the day exploring the old town were foiled by a very wet thunderstorm, which included a blackout from around lunchtime. We couldn't walk around visiting the sites, and even our usual fallback when bored travelling, the movies, was out of action due to the blackout. Instead our day was spent hiding from the rain in bars and eating salad (the restaurants couldn't cook anything). The best beer I've had in Sweden was from the local brewery and was stocked in all the bars, so it wasn't all bad. Rather than being an enjoyable and relaxing day it was more of an uncomfortable and boring one. However candle lit dinners (and candle lit trips to the toilet) are always a memorable experience.

Day 7
Ferry Visby - Nynashamn
Bus Nynashamn - Stockholm
Ferry Stockholm - Tallinn

None of the websites indicated that you could put a bike on the ferry bus to Stockholm, but apparently you can if you're lucky, and we were. There were two buses. The first told us definitely no bikes, but the second told us there might be space if we waited. After us, five other cyclists arrived to catch the bus as well. Our driver chatted to the other and between them they managed to fit us all on. I think it's much like catching a plane on standby - if the driver likes you and you're a bit lucky you'll get on. Smile, be courteous, and be there as early as possible.

So we arrived in Stockholm at about 6:00 am and had all day to kill. We started by dropping our gear off in the train station lockers then having a sleep in a park somewhere. After that it was a full day of Stockholm site seeing which was easily filled up. It was actually difficult to find time to fit in a few drinks. The outdoor museum and zoo Skansen was worthwhile and could easily occupy most of a day.

Stockholm is an excellent city for biking around. It has bike paths everywhere which are well sign posted and easy to follow, but it's not crazy busy like Amsterdam. A lot of design effort has gone into making it a safe and easy place for cyclists. There were enough hills to make me glad to have gears, mostly around Gamlastan (the old town), but not enough to be bothersome.

Again we went for the separate cabins option on the ferry on the way home, but this time we were both in rooms with other people. I had a bunch of Russian dudes who weren't bothersome in nature, but were in body odour. I stayed up playing blackjack and hanging around the various bars until I thought my tiredness would overcome the bad smell of the cabin. Still, the ferries between Tallinn and Stockholm have a reasonable enough range of facilities to be comfortable, and after combining that with a sunset over the islands I'd recommend taking it over flying if you can spare the time. ]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry100717-055654 2010-07-17T00:00:00Z 2010-07-17T00:00:00Z
Millerine and I share a birthday, and this was it. We awoke fairly early and had completed the 35km to Visby by mid morning. We left the Gotlandsleden and took the shortest route along one of the main roads. It still felt quite safe, and there were no hills even though we passed through the middle of the island.



Visby is a very attractive city with a well preserved city wall around the old town and a bunch of church ruins. St Katrins is possibly the most beautiful ruin I've seen. It was hot and sunny, and perfect weather for walking around exploring, with frequent bar stops. It's definitely a touristy place, but not incredibly overcrowded and was still relatively pleasant.

]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry100716-055215 2010-07-16T00:00:00Z 2010-07-16T00:00:00Z
The first part of the ride was spent searching for breakfast, which is pretty difficult when most places seem to open at midday. I highly recommend BYO breakfast unless you're staying somewhere with breakfast supplied. Supermarkets and even stores are hard to come by outside of the bigger towns, so it's best to carry some emergency supplies. We eventually came across a cafe that was open and had some incredibly satisfying sandwiches. It seems the Swedes enjoy their sandwiches and don't care much for a normal heavy breakfast of porridge or eggs and bacon. However they all seem to provide the most excellent tea.

We continued to follow the Gotlandsleden which turned off the main road pretty early and went along a dirt road following the coastline. It wasn't a terrible road by any standards, but made for slow going compared to the asphalt. Some sections were potholed, but it was generally OK. Along the way we came across a restaurant/B&B with a fantastic beach front, and an Australian waitress who was somewhat excited to see a fellow citizen. We also saw a few small snakes. There seem to be a lot of them out on the road sunbaking and turning themselves into roadkill.



It was another fairly hot day, so our lunch break lasted 4 and a half hours. It included the tallest hamburger I've ever seen, a bottle of wine, and a couple of hours of sleep near the sea.



We finished the last 20km to Slite pretty quickly. Slite is a town entirely based around the cement industry and has the feel of a boring mining town. It does have a campsite, restaurant and supermarket though, so suited us just fine.]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry100715-054923 2010-07-15T00:00:00Z 2010-07-15T00:00:00Z Cycled ~30km Visby to Stenkyrck

The ferry we went for was sold out, but they allowed us to get standby tickets and, after waiting in line with other cars and motorbikes for some time, we got on. They were expensive tickets for a three hour trip though - around 500 SEK each.



Again there's a bike route signposted immediately when you get off the ferry (Gotlandsleden). There are a lot more cycle tourists here. Looking at the gear some of the bikes are carrying most of them are probably new to the activity. There are families with huge family tents, backpacks sitting in buckets on the rack, and even a rolled up foam mattress (a proper mattress, not a camping one) tied to a pannier rack.

We arrived in the afternoon and left from Visby at about 3:30pm, but we still managed a stop to see the Lomalund Cave along the way. So far we're just following the Gotlandsleden north. There have been a couple of short climbs (to get from the beach to the main road), but it's generally very flat and little traffic.

It looks like accommodation is easy to find in this area. We've passed a few signposted campgrounds. We managed to find a reasonably nice cabin for the OK price of 400 SEK at a "Mix Ranch" near Stenkyrck. The place also had a few goats and other animals hanging around.]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry100714-054655 2010-07-14T00:00:00Z 2010-07-14T00:00:00Z
There's a bike path called the Nynasleden that goes the entire distance between Stockholm and Nynashamn. It's a reasonably short ride from the Stockholm ferry terminal to central station, and the bike path starts near the station. It's about an 81km route, with some of that on off road bike path. The route is also one of the best sign posted bike routes I've seen. We got confused a couple of times, but were on track within a few minutes each time. At the time of writing there's an excellent map available.



Sweden was going through something of a heatwave, and I hadn't ridden a bike in a few weeks so found this day pretty hard. It's a little hilly - a fair amount of up and down, but no long climbs at all. After Stockholm the path only passes through small villages. There aren't that many opportunities to stop for food or water, but enough to make it comfortable. If you want to stop for a swim there are a few lakes that looked very tempting.

There's a camping ground in Nynashamn where we are staying the night. It's reasonably priced at about 150 SEK. We had to get a Camping Scandinavia card for 130 SEK, but they provided that at the checkin and now we have it we don't need to worry about it again. I've read a few websites recommending getting a Camping Scandinavia card before the trip, but I wouldn't bother.]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry100713-053401 2010-07-13T00:00:00Z 2010-07-13T00:00:00Z Ferry Tallinn to Stockholm

The ride to the ferry from our place in Viimsi is a pleasant ride by the sea. The Estonian bike route No. 1 starts in Pirita (near Viimsi) and goes into Tallinn and beyond. That part of it is entirely off road bike path and is mostly used by recreational cyclists and rollerbladers. It passes through the ferry terminal, which is very handy if your destination is over the sea. The ferry tickets to Stockholm cost 1900 EEK for two berths in separate single sex cabins and bikes. It was 3500 EEK if we wanted a cabin for the two of us and we went for the cheap option. It turned out there was nobody in either of our cabins, so we just moved in together anyway.

The Tallin to Stockholm ferry ride went from 6pm to 10am and was non eventful for the most part, but there's the opportunity to see a nice sunset and enjoy the bar. The ferry passes through a whole bunch of nice islands (the Stockholm Archipelago, and I think also the Ålands if you're awake early enough.]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry100712-052451 2010-07-12T00:00:00Z 2010-07-12T00:00:00Z Windsor to Wiseman's Ferry - 55km

We caught the train to Windsor and left about midday towards the Sackville ferry. Not long after the ferry we turned left onto River Road which followed the Hawekesbury until Wiseman's Ferry. It's a nice ride, undulating but no daunting climbs. There are a lot of water skiers and noisy boats, and a lot of caravan parks beside the river if you want to camp anywhere along there.



An old man who was chatting to us over his front fence recommended we go to Del Rio, which is a "riverside resort" with camping and a bar, not far over the river from the Webbs Creek ferry. It wasn't the most peaceful location, but it did have hot showers and a bar. We were cooking our own, but the bar also did food.

Day 2:
Wiseman's Ferry to Mangrove Mountain - 56km

In the morning we went back over the river on the Webbs Creek ferry, then again on Wiseman's ferry. Wiseman's Ferry Road follows the river downstream for a while until Spencer where we had lunch. Then it leaves the river and heads up Mangrove Creek. This is an OK ride until the road leaves the creek and heads up towards Mangrove Mountain. There are a few kilometres of a constant hard climb before it settles into a bit of an easier climb.

Even though the distance covered was short for a day of riding it did take us most of the day, although we regularly stopping for coffee breaks and the like in the morning.

There's a shop at Mangrove Mountain where we bought a drink and some water and asked about camping. There are no caravan parks or campsites around, but she recommended the football field which was a short ride up the road. This turned out to be ideal - nice grass to pitch on, quiet, and fairly secluded. After a good meal, some wine, and some very tasty scotch supplied by Dan we slept well.

Day 3:
Mangrove Mountain to Brooklyn - 44km

We were quite close to the top of the hill. It's about 4km to Central Mangrove, then almost all downhill from there for the rest of the way. We stopped at Peats Ridge for delicious hot crossed buns and a bad chai latte, then enjoyed a quick downhill run (some of it quite fun) to the Pacific Highway and on down to Brooklyn. At Brooklyn we had a couple of celebratory beers and fish and chips for lunch, before catching the train home.



The route we took for this ride came from http://www.cycleaustralia.info/cycling/hawkesbury.htm. If you look at his google map we followed the main route the entire way. Apparently the side trip he has marked to St Albans is worth it.

Even though there were shops along the route we took most of our food with us as it was Easter, but there wasn't really a need as most shops seemed to be open even on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I would recommend carrying a fair bit of water. We had no problems refilling in cafes generally, but at Mangrove Mountain (at the top of a long climb) the only water to be found was bought at the shop.

For camping, there are a plethora of caravan parks along the Hawkesbury, but after that nothing. I would recommend the football field we used at Mangrove Mountain (it's on a side road, but signposted from the main road), and other than that there are probably a heap of places you can free camp in Ourimbah State Forest and the like.

It was quite scenic for nearly the entire way. Where we weren't following the river we were either too busy climbing to notice anything, or going through state forest or national parks. There were some great views from the Pacific Highway.

With an early start and a late finish you could easily do this as a two day trip.
]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry090418-060738 2009-04-18T00:00:00Z 2009-04-18T00:00:00Z
The trains didn't seem too bad although we didn't feel particularly welcome. The rail network in Croatia doesn't have a lot of coverage though. As with Slovenia, you might have a bit of trouble getting on the trains with a bike if it's particularly crowded.

Buses will accept bikes, but only when they're in the mood, and it's up to the driver. You have to wait until the bus arrives, and if you're rejected try the next one. If the bus is not very full you have a good chance, so try not to travel in peak times. The charge for taking a bike is considerably more than for the same size of luggage, as well.

Car ferries are great for bikes, but the passenger-only catamarans won't take them. There's no reason why not, so, as with most things, this might be negotiable. You may also be able to negotiate with tour operators and the like if they are travelling to an island you want to go to. To be sure ahead of time, check that the route you want to take is serviced by a car ferry. Also, in some cases the cost of a bike on a ferry is more than the cost of a person.

In Slovenia we never tried using buses, but we used trains fairly regularly and never had a problem. We weren't travelling in a peak time though, and I understand you can be rejected by the train conductor if he thinks it is too full.

In general, travelling outside of peak season will give you a good chance of getting onto public transport with your bike.

We never had to box or bag the bike on any trains, buses or ferries. Just take the front wheel off for the buses.]]> http://www.walradio.com/biketrips/index.php?entry=entry090416-043246 2009-04-16T00:00:00Z 2009-04-16T00:00:00Z