ALBANIA: DISGUSTING & BEAUTIFUL, at the same time

I’ve been to Albania 4 times. I’ve biked it, rented a car and via public transportation. I followed an environmental group on Facebook who are from Shkoder. They clean up areas of garbage, that is found everywhere. They posted photos showcasing the amazing natural areas: waterfalls, trails, mountains and rivers. I tagged the areas they visited. I made an attempt to visit when I had the car. The gravel road was so unbearable, I turned around. They finally finished a paved road all the way to Theth in the past year. Time for a bike tour.

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GERMANY AND AUSTRIA

I read about Tubingen, Germany on BBC travel. College town, fiercely Vegan, average age 40 and to my delight a HUGE biking town. Camping Tubingen Neckarcamping, just 3 km from town is a great place to set up for exploring. The camp was full of individuals and families mostly bike touring! There’s so many paved off road biking opportunities in Germany, I see why it’s so popular here.

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SPAIN: BIKING BARCELONA TO COLERA (French Border)

NOW, JUST ASSEMBLE AND RIDE AWAY (& I did!)

I grabbed a car share ride, BlaBla Car, from Madrid to Barcelona. The folding bike makes all options of transportation available: train, bus, ride share & best of all? You have a bike to ride! I was dropped off at the train station, found some shade and put the bike together. I’ve been to Barcelona 3 times & La Familia twice, I wasn’t planning on visiting this time. While biking the 22km to Camping Masnou I noticed the 250km of bike lanes around Barcelona, they were very inviting. From the campground you can put your bike on the train for 5euro, roundtrip into Barcelona. This is a great way to visit Barcelona and save some money too.

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SPAIN: San Sebastián & Madrid

SAN SEBASTIAN

I’m staying at Camping Oliden, about 11km from the city center. The first 2 people I meet in Spain? Juan & Jose (you can’t make this stuff up). I start setting up camp, they decide it’s now time to mow the grass,. 2 hours of mowing later it’s finally quiet again. I have all 6 sites to myself. Good thing, its time to recharge everything, 6 outlets and I’m using 4 of them, glad no one else is here.

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E-Bike tour Northeast Slovenia: Jezersko, Velenje, Ptuj, Gornja Radgona, Murska Sobota, Maribor & Celje

E-Bike tour Northeast Slovenia: Jezersko, Velenje, Ptuj, Gornja Radgona, Murska Sobota, Maribor & Celje

I’ve ridden to Jezersko many times. If you’re avoiding the crowds in July & August, this is a great escape for some great hiking and biking. I have some friends who live here. They gather wild herbs, grow mint and grow raspberries for making syrup and jams. I volunteered to help clean-up the raspberry rows. Doing this kind of work makes you realize how much work growing food is and how lucky we are There’s a super (somewhat new) pizza restaurant too.

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FIRST E-BIKE TOUR, SOCA VALLEY, SLOVENIA

FIRST BIG CLIMB WITH LOADED E-BIKE

Loaded up the new e-bike and headed first to Bohinj Lake, then to Kobarid and Bovec in Soca Valley. I’ve ridden this route several times before and usually stayed just one night at each campground. I’m staying 3-4 nights at each campground and doing some of the activities while I’m there: canyoning, rafting and local bike rides.

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I FINALLY BOUGHT AN E-BIKE TO GO TOURING WITH

JUNE 13 2021

In 2011, I wanted to cycle around Paris, but the bike share system wouldn’t accept my credit card. So, I went to a bike shop and the only bike I could rent was an E-bike, ok? I rode and around Paris in 5 hours and was totally sold on E-bikes. Came home and bought an e-bike kit for an old bike. It changed my life, I ditched my car and the E-bike became my first choice transportation option.

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WHERE THE HELL IS VELENJE SLOVENIA? & WHAT IS THERE TO DO?

I volunteered to set up an Electric-Bike (E-Bike) testing area., during the European Mobility Week.  I love to bicycle, but for transportation the E-Bike can replace your car, in lots of situations.  We had 30 people test ride the E-Bike, all came back with  huge smiles. One of the other participants also had an E-bike for testing.  I talked with him and he said he was from Velenje (where?). He told me there are  60 km of separated bike paths in Velenje & you can get an E-Bike too!, I’m in. Continue reading “WHERE THE HELL IS VELENJE SLOVENIA? & WHAT IS THERE TO DO?”

MILAN with NEIL YOUNG AND TOURING WITH E-BIKE SHARE

There’s not a lot of music options in Slovenia, so going to Milan to see a concert is a must, if you want live music.  Neil Young is 70 and I’m 60, it’s probably our last time together.  Milan was the closest that Neil Young got to Slovenia, so I bought an online ticket (39 euro just for shipping ($45)).  I meet some people on my weekly Lubnick bike ride,  who were going to see Neil Young at Piazzol Sul Brenta, about 2 hours away?  They added the show after I already bought the Milan ticket.  I was driving by the day after the show, so I decided to leave a day earlier and catch the show.  Yep 2 Neil Young shows. Continue reading “MILAN with NEIL YOUNG AND TOURING WITH E-BIKE SHARE”