Month: March 2024

Cycle Touring With Solar Panels: Problem Solved?

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Generating and storing electricity while cycling is a perennial issue for anyone who had embarked upon a long cycle. On my current touring bike Wanda, the Koga WorldTraveller, I have a front wheel Son hub which dribbles a current into my phone when cycling via a USB socket clipped to the handlebars. I use the word ‘dribble’ purposefully. I’ve never been convinced that it is very effective at topping up the battery on my phone. That said, the hub dynamo does do an excellent job of powering the lights on the bicycle so it is definitely worth having. I have previously toyed with solar power but have come to the conclusion that when it comes to cycling and electricity the best thing to do is to find a socket that is attached to a power station. But have I been too hasty to dismiss the solar power option?

The Alpe Adria Cycle Path

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A while ago – back in November 2023 – I published an episode of The Cycling Europe Podcast (number 076) that consisted of an interview with a friend of mine, Tim Sanders. I know him through the Cycle Touring Festival and the podcast was actually recorded at last year’s event. (This year’s event is at the start of May by the way – see the recent post here on CyclingEurope.org.) Tim talked about cycling from Venice to Munich via Innsbruck in Austria on a route called, err… mรผnchen venezia. It needs a better name than that but there you go. When I received an email a few days ago from ‘freewheeling’ David I thought he was writing about the route that Tim had discussed in the podcast. But he wasn’t…

Covering All Bases: ‘Le Grand Tour … On A Bike Called Wanda’

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Secondary school teacher and inveterate would-be adventurer Andrew P. Sykes is back in the saddle. This time, however, itโ€™s not the one belonging to his long-term sidekick Reggie. Thereโ€™s a fresh-faced kid on the block and sheโ€™s a bike called Wanda. (Nothing fishy about that!) The new double act set off on a grand tour of Europe to explore some of the continentโ€™s most iconic cycling routes and locations: the Vรฉlomaritime, the Avenue Verte to Paris, the Vรฉloscรฉnie to Mont-Saint-Michel, the Vรฉlodyssรฉe, the Canal de la Garonne, the Canal du Midi, the ViaRhรดna, the Furka Pass and the Rhine are all on the itinerary of this light-hearted loop from the Hook of Hollandโ€ฆ to the Hook of Holland. Join Andrew and Wanda as they put their best foot and only front wheel forward in a hot, dusty but at times very damp quest to delve into the lives, landscapes, history and culture of some of our nearest continental cousins and the countries they call home. [Warning: This adventure also contains trains.]