Ultracycling

UK train travel with bikes is a pain - other than maybe going to Scotland when you have bike reservations lined up. And it takes more time both to plan a train journey and to do it - so it simply doesn't work for some people or for some trips.

But I do have a thing about doing long journeys across Europe by train - in many ways its at least as much fun as doing it by bike. Sure it takes more research and preparation, but it is fun in a way that travelling by plane never is.

I got hooked on it after I had to quit the TCR in 2019. The train journey back from Austria was both fun and a good opportunity to spend time reflecting.

Going to Zagreb and back last year worked well - 24 hours each way including a sleeper. Highlights included bantering with football fans from Slovenia and Serbia, and the scenery: the Vosges, Strasbourg, Sava Valley through Slovenia - some places I've cycled through and some I haven't.

Having rinko sorted makes it less stressful as I don't have to do the bike reservation element, which adds too much complexity. I find spending an extra hour taking a bike to bits is less tedious than spending the same amount of time researching bike reservations.

Lovely film, well made, quality sound too! Makes me want to ride there. Nice to see my friend Nienke featured in an optimistic pose - although she scratched shortly after 😅

I do like trains, it's just when you add the bike it's stress/hassle. There's rarely special space for it so the whole journey is paranoia about people damaging or nicking the bike.

I took trains to RATN which was cool and I trained back from the last TCR I raced (had a Scherrit to deal with my bike which made it much easier) so I'd still use them for sure if I could make it work. I do like a train trip. I came back from Bedford today on the train and it was £18 for a 3 stop train instead of £30 for stopping all stations so I was pretty happy with that.

Oh, we used train to/from An Turas Mor in Scotland and Deano's audaxes. The Scotland train is cool coz your bikes are in their own spot, relatively safe.

How did you get to Zagreb and what did it cost? Were they much possibilty damaging the bike in a Rinko bag?

On Eurostar, TGV, ICE etc it just goes on the luggage racks with the normal suitcases. I discovered that Eurostars have bigger racks at one end of the carriage than the other. Some people take bungees to stop a packed bike falling over but I didn't need that.

On my sleeper it was more of an issue as there is less space. I had to take the wheels out so the frame would fit under the bottom bunk and had wheels, which were in cling film, cable tied along the side of my bunk. I'd booked a 2nd class sleeper which was shared as I had no idea what to expect but would go for a 1st class one next time to get more bike space.

How did you get to Zagreb and what did it cost? Were they much possibilty damaging the bike in a Rinko bag?

I just did what he said:
https://www.seat61.com/Croatia.htm#london-to-zagreb-by-train

It all worked more or less to plan.

Also got a local train from Zagreb to the Bosnian border. Croatian trains are excellent for bikes.

I could have damaged my bike if I hadn't packed it up properly, dropped it, etc - but no-one else touched it, so all risks were under my control. My biggest concern was losing a critical bit when rebuilding on the platform at Zagreb, and I think I managed to leave my (cheap) watch there.

If I was doing it again I would get an interrail pass, but didn't think of it this year so probably paid slightly more - can't remember exactly what.