From the same minds who took to fixed gear touring across the alps, 8bar bikes decided this summer to get back to some adventures close to home. They took two of their updated singlespeed cyclocross bikes and headed out the door to find their way to Prague with just a compass to keep them headed in the general direction and no pre-planned route. Only 280km as the crow flies, but more than 350km by normal roads, they thought they could explore just over 100km of trails, dirt roads, and regular roads a day to do the trip in 3 days.
Checking their actual position only twice a day, by lunchtime on the first day they realized that by avoiding paved roads and getting turned around a few times, they were already slipping behind fast. With a little motivation they stuck to more gravel and paved roads, always heading SSE to get back on track. Come past the break to see a short video 8bar just finished wrapping up the trip, and see how they fared…
In the end the ride was a lot longer than expected, which added to the sense of adventure. They stuck it out and made it to Prague without wandering too far from that straight point-to-point line. In the end, the final ride distance was about 450km, and their shoulders and butts were happy to arrive at their destination.
The take away was pretty clear that adventure rides are already there in your backyard. Just put the GPS and maps away. I know it is pretty cold for a lot of our readers now, so the thought of extended touring is a bit far off. But as we’ve rolled past the solstice this past weekend, every day brings more daylight to ride. And this has even gotten me to thinking about doing some winter touring, and I can definitely imagine taking an adventure like this in the spring. Although I will be strapping my gear to the bike, not on my back. One good thing is it won’t require much advance planning!
Have a look at 8bar’s write-up over on their blog. And go find an adventure out of your backyard.
