experience from a beginner
I wanted to share my experience from a beginners view after 14 days bikepacking trough the baltic states. I have never done a bikepacking tour before. My girlfriend did two shorter tours before.
- routeplanning
I downloaded the gpx-files from eurovelo. We took the EV10/13 from Lithuania to Estonia but made a few changes due to timing issues. We did not fix the routing errors beforehand, since we did not know the conditions of the roads.
We planned 80km/day with two spare days (+ breakdays). That worked pretty well for us. We did two long days in a row, than a shorter day. We did not have prebooked accomodations. In our lunch break we decided how far we actually want to go and looked for campingspots in that area on different apps (google, p4n or local ones).
In total we planned 833 km and biked 911 km. So nearly 10% more. These addinitionl kms are for extra ways to campinggrounds, supermarkets, beach visits or other places of interests. I would have thought, that would be way more.
- road conditions
On the EuroVelo website road conditions are divided into categories. From under development to developed with signs. But these categories could have meant everything... really nasty "gravel"-roads with big rocks, washboard patern surface or sand or roads, where trucks overtook us with less than 0,5m distance. I underestimated that a bit. But in the end, we overcame these challenges aswell and it was pretty fun. We were proud of ourselves after every hard section and were rewarded with great nature, smooth bike lanes and delicious food on the way.
- nature
We all do this, because we want to be outside, move ourselves and enjoy pretty nature - and what can I say... The baltic states are perfect for this. Peaceful forrests, wide beaches, bogs and fascinating wildlife.
There were great spots in every contry, where you could pitch your tent. With great highlights in Estonia, where the National Forestry Commission provids campingspots with toilets and fireplaces for free. We enjoyed the evenings with walks on the beach, swimming in the baltic sea or bog lakes or running through forrests.
Highlights have been sightings of the first migratory cranes (hundreds), wolves and many other animals (unfortunately no mooses...)
- Arrival and departure
We took the train to ferry terminals and went from there across the baltic sea to our startingpoint. It went pretty smooth, considering everything that could have happend. We even had to take Rail replacement service. But everything worked fine. We booked the tickets in advance and decided to drive weekdays since it is less crowded than on weekends (and cheaper).
- packing
I wasn't fully equiped, since I have never done a tour like this before. I had a few bags that I wanted to use, so I did not have to buy everything new. My setup was: Trailsaddle bike bag, frame bag and two new gravel luggage rack bags from ortlieb. I had our tent in a 30l waterproof bag on my luggage rack. I was annoyed by the sheer number of bags. It was a hussle to attach all these bags on the bike every morning. My girlfriend had two bigger luggage rack bags, a handlebar bag and a waterproof bag on her luggage rack for our food. It was way easier for her. So this is a thing I will definitely change in the future.
List of equipment:
camping
- tent + accessories
- sleeping bag
- sleeping mat
- clothesline
- repair kit
- pocket knive
- shovel
bike
- bike (gravel and touring bike)
- spare tires
- electric pump
- repair kit
- lights
- tools
- tape
- cable ties
- bags (as mentioned before)
- lashing straps
cooking
- gas stove + 1 gas cartridge
- 1 pot
- cutlery + dishes
- 4 litres water bottles
- pre packed food for 5 days (selfmade: see below)
- towel, sponge & soap
- snacks
clothing
- 2 bibshorts
- 1 shorts
- 2 long trousers
- 3 pair of socks
- 3 underpants
- 2 sport shirts
- 2 normal shirts
- 2 sweatshirts
- 1 rainjacket
- 1 rain trousers
- 1 pair of runningshoes
- 1 pair of sandals (daily use)
- 2 towels
- cap
- sunglasses
electronics
- smartphone
- powerbank
- bike computer
- inkl. cables, adapter
- headphones (not used)
toiletries
- toothbrush + -paste
- soap
- vaseline
- first aid kit for cycling
- sunscreen
- toiletpaper
- food
First of all: We planned with freshwater on the campinggrounds - that was not allwas the case. On many campsites the freshwater was in our opinion not drinkable. It was brown and smelly from high iron-concentration. So we bought extra water in stores before arriving.
We prepared our porridge for five morings and carried it in zipplock bags. It had oats, linseeds, hemp seeds, protein, dried fruit, nuts and oat milk powder. We drank instant coffee with oat milk-powder. Every day we bought some mueslibars, sweets and fresh fruits.
For our warm meals we prepared some instantfood. With noodles, soy protein, dried vegetables, broth, ... - we had 5 different meals. We only needed some water to cook them. On our lunch breaks we sometimes had some bread, went to a restaurant or a café.
Conclusion: We had a great time and will definitely do it again. Our packing list was fine, only my bag-management needs improvement. Disclaimer: we had perfect weather conditions: No rain (only in some nights), tailwind for 90% of the time and cosy temperatures.
Thanks for all the input that we used to plan our trip!