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Tour 2009
I am now well on my way of planning my 2009 tour in Europe.
This years epic is to get to Rotterdam via Hull by bike and ferry and then train to Berlin, where the tour proper will start. A somewhat later than usual starting date (last weekend in May) has been selected since it is a lot further North than my previous trips. Hopefully it will be a drier tour this year! I intend to visit friends there for a couple of days -- and then to spend about a week to 10 days exploring the city including a foray into Poland ( I wonder if I could get a job there!). Then I shall start on my way back via Hamburg and then the North Sea Coastal route round Holland back to Rotterdam and home. My reason for posting this is to try and clarify the position with regard to travelling by train with bike ( no problem) AND a TRAILER in Holland and Germany. I am in early correspondence with "Die Bahn" -- an excellent website -- to make sure there is no problem ( I am avoiding ICE trains) but it would be good to hear from anyone who has actual experience of getting on a train in Holland/Germany with a trailer! I ask this because I hit a problem in 2008 in France, when I had an injured knee, where "they" would not let me on a train with my 2 wheeled Carry Freedom. My thinking is that, should this present a problem, I will revert to carrying 4 panniers again. I specifically need to be able to travel from Rotterdam to Berlin with my bike in "touring setup" and it would be nice to have the reassurance that, given a recurrence of my gammy left leg, I can escape by train for a couple of days if necessary. So any Nederlanders on urc with advice! Or indeed anyone! I would prefer answers with real experience -- not theories!!!! BTW from reading many accounts about the North Sea Cycle Route, I shall certainly not stick to the "official" track but it is a very useful planning guide. I have been a bit concerned about prevailing winds round the North coast of Holland, since I am going in the "wrong" direction, but experience seems to show that strong winds will be encountered in many directions!!!!! In any case I am not intending to "make kms" every day but to enjoy a holiday on my bike. -- Trevor A Panther In South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk( under Major reconstruction) |
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#2
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Tour 2009
On 12 jan, 10:35, "Trevor A Panther"
wrote: snip So any Nederlanders on urc with advice! Or indeed anyone! I would prefer answers with real experience -- not theories!!!! BTW from reading many accounts about the North Sea Cycle Route, I shall certainly not stick to the "official" track but it is a very useful planning guide. I have been a bit concerned about prevailing winds *round the North coast of Holland, since I am going in the "wrong" direction, but experience seems to show that strong winds will be encountered in many directions!!!!! In any case I am not intending to "make kms" every day but to enjoy a holiday on my bike. -- Trevor A Panther In South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom.www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk( under Major reconstruction) Trevor, It is not allowed to take a trailer, some information can be found here http://www.fietsen.123.nl/treinenfiets.htm in dutch however. It is also not allowed to take a bike during rush hour. It even states that bags and other things should be removed from the bike during the trip. It all depends on the people that you encounter during the trip. If one official from the railroad thinks it is ok, it is no guarantee that you will never encounter any problems. Surely, people in Holland are very relaxed in general. But that knowledge is of no use if you encounter a bureaucrat. perhaps a tip, there is a nice exhibition in Tilburg on 4, 5 july 2009 called Cycle Vision. Greetings, Jack |
#3
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Tour 2009
"Jack" wrote in message ... On 12 jan, 10:35, "Trevor A Panther" wrote: snip So any Nederlanders on urc with advice! Or indeed anyone! I would prefer answers with real experience -- not theories!!!! BTW from reading many accounts about the North Sea Cycle Route, I shall certainly not stick to the "official" track but it is a very useful planning guide. I have been a bit concerned about prevailing winds round the North coast of Holland, since I am going in the "wrong" direction, but experience seems to show that strong winds will be encountered in many directions!!!!! In any case I am not intending to "make kms" every day but to enjoy a holiday on my bike. -- Trevor A Panther In South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom.www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk( under Major reconstruction) Trevor, It is not allowed to take a trailer, some information can be found here http://www.fietsen.123.nl/treinenfiets.htm in dutch however. It is also not allowed to take a bike during rush hour. It even states that bags and other things should be removed from the bike during the trip. It all depends on the people that you encounter during the trip. If one official from the railroad thinks it is ok, it is no guarantee that you will never encounter any problems. Surely, people in Holland are very relaxed in general. But that knowledge is of no use if you encounter a bureaucrat. perhaps a tip, there is a nice exhibition in Tilburg on 4, 5 july 2009 called Cycle Vision. Greetings, Jack Tkx Jack. Although I am fairly fluent in German and French and can get by in Italian, Spanish and still have a smattering of Arabic -- I have absolutely no Dutch ( Nederlandish?) at all ---- beyond "Astrublief" ( Please?) and "Dank u wel" ( Thank you) and don't even know how to spell them either! So that web site is, sadly, complete "double dutch" to me So it looks as though I might have to carry panniers again! Pity I wonder if international trains might have different rules -- I expect ot ----- it is always difficult using ICE ( Grerman expresses) and TGV ( French) unless the bike is packaged and travels seperately -- Trevor A Panther In South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk (Under major reconstruction) |
#4
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Tour 2009
On 2009-01-12, Trevor A Panther wrote:
BTW from reading many accounts about the North Sea Cycle Route, I shall certainly not stick to the "official" track but it is a very useful planning guide. I have been a bit concerned about prevailing winds round the North coast of Holland, since I am going in the "wrong" direction, but experience seems to show that strong winds will be encountered in many directions!!!!! In You might reconsider if you could have seen the grim faces on the cyclists coming the other way on a fantastic wind-assisted run up the Noord-Holland coast on our .nl tour last year. You could of course take a more inland route, there's hardly a shortage of cycle paths. BTW, I recommend the Falk maps over the ANWB ones - clearer, all streets in towns shown and most importantly campsites are marked. cheers, Finlay |
#5
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Tour 2009
On Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:50:12 GMT, "Trevor A Panther"
wrote: Tkx Jack. Although I am fairly fluent in German and French and can get by in Italian, Spanish and still have a smattering of Arabic -- I have absolutely no Dutch ( Nederlandish?) at all ---- beyond "Astrublief" ( Please?) and "Dank u wel" ( Thank you) and don't even know how to spell them either! So that web site is, sadly, complete "double dutch" to me So it looks as though I might have to carry panniers again! Pity I wonder if international trains might have different rules -- I expect ot ----- it is always difficult using ICE ( Grerman expresses) and TGV ( French) unless the bike is packaged and travels seperately Can't you flat pack your Carry Freedom? I have a very non-standard CF trailer which takes a few moments to dismantle and flat pack. OK - pushing a bike while carrying a flat pack trailer and baggage would be a right pain and possibly totally impractical, but if you could tell the guard that after stowing your bike you would flat pack the trailer and put it onto the luggage rack as soon as you board the train you might get away with it. |
#6
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Tour 2009
"Tom Crispin" wrote in message news On Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:50:12 GMT, "Trevor A Panther" wrote: Tkx Jack. Although I am fairly fluent in German and French and can get by in Italian, Spanish and still have a smattering of Arabic -- I have absolutely no Dutch ( Nederlandish?) at all ---- beyond "Astrublief" ( Please?) and "Dank u wel" ( Thank you) and don't even know how to spell them either! So that web site is, sadly, complete "double dutch" to me So it looks as though I might have to carry panniers again! Pity I wonder if international trains might have different rules -- I expect ot ----- it is always difficult using ICE ( Grerman expresses) and TGV ( French) unless the bike is packaged and travels seperately Can't you flat pack your Carry Freedom? I have a very non-standard CF trailer which takes a few moments to dismantle and flat pack. OK - pushing a bike while carrying a flat pack trailer and baggage would be a right pain and possibly totally impractical, but if you could tell the guard that after stowing your bike you would flat pack the trailer and put it onto the luggage rack as soon as you board the train you might get away with it. Tom. That is a sensible idea at first glance. I could ride to the station early and then break down the Carry Freedom and bungee all the bits together My trailer bag with tent strapped on top has got a shoulder carry strap and then the bike just has one pannier on left rear with tools and spares for daily travelling. So it would be bike and two pieces of luggage! Sounds acceptable to me and I will consider it very seriously! There is one change of trains at Amerfoort with an hour between connections so it should not be too much hassle My only worry is what happens if I am refused entry to the train! At the very beginning of my holiday! With a ticket paid for ! It does seem a reasonable way round the problem. I presume there is no limit as to the amount of baggage I can take! I have plenty of time to think about it and have a few other ideas bouncing around in my mind. I could reverse my route and cycle to Berlin and then train back to the Dutch border somewhere and cycle back to Rotterdam. But I would prefer not to do that! I shall try and elicit some more information about bikes on trains in Holland and Germany but I think Tom's idea is a good solution. I have also sent an e-mail to my German friends in Berlin for them to find about trailers on trains too. -- Trevor A Panther In South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom. www.tapan.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk (Under major reconstruction) |
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