Travelling in Europe on fixed?

hey, so i'm not actually from / never have been in london, so apologies for sneaking into yr discussions, but i'm an american (from chicago, most recently), studying in vienna for the next three months, and i'm trying to figure out what sorts of small bike trips i can manage while i'm over here. it's not likely i'll be back to europe soon. i mostly have class monday thru friday, so 2-3 days is the most i can spend traveling at a time. plus i'm on my fixed gear that i brought from chicago, so unless i rent a bike, long touring trips are reeeeally not practical.

but i was wondering, has anyone done much traveling around, especially eastern europe, with a bike? what cities / countryside areas are nice for riding, especially fixed gear? (no mountains, that is...) and are there good cheap bus/train services to check out - for example, i'm told that biking croatia is really nice, but i'd have to get down there somehow, ride around for a day or two, and come back to vienna, all in a long weekend.

okay. any advice you have would be really awesome. i haven't had much luck at bike shops around here, since they just shake their heads at the fixed gear thing.

thanks!

bike path along entire length of Danube, through Hungary and Romania.... will be flat as a pancake.

winston bike path along entire length of Danube, through Hungary and Romania.... will be flat as a pancake.

oh! yeah, i've taken it only a bit outside of vienna so far. i didn't even think how far it went...is there any big deal about border crossing?

Not sure, but I looked into doing this myself and there were some warnings about bandits in Romania! as far as I'm aware the country you enter from outside the EU is considered the border then as long as you travel within the EU you should be OK, I guess any country reserves the right to check documents if they want...find out which countries are EU (I'm no expert) and check the US embassy website for advice.

at the time I was considering this, path wasn't completed but long sections did exist including out of Vienna....but that was a few years ago, hopefully you could ride all the way now....someone must have a page or two up about it if you care to google.

There are boat services aren't there? so maybe you could sail downstream (faster?) and ride back....now that would be nice if time was limited.

actually upstream to German border looks nicest!

http://www.mayq.com/Best_european_trips/Danube/Danube.htm
http://www.boblucky.com/Biking/Danube.htm

yeah, i found that, too. on one website it said "biking in romania and hungary is not recommended for western cyclists"; i'm not sure if that's because of road conditions or dangerous people you might encounter, or what...but it probably holds true for a girl traveling alone as well. i might try and do trips more along the lines of taking a train to somewhere, biking part of one of the EuroVelo routes for a while, and then taking a train back. less adventurous, maybe, but it might be more practical. and yr right, the danube trail, either to germany or to budapest, looks pretty great.

if you get across the border then ther is no problem right...

Not sure about Romania - couple of sets of my mates had stuff nicked there but nothing more serious that wouldn't happen in Rome or something anyway.
Cycling along the Rhein/Rhine and Mosel rivers in Germany during summer was very easy and pleasant. Catch the Rhein in Flammen (massive fireworks festival that moves between various cities).
Actually cycling in Germany and Netherlands is very cool. Southern Germany gets hilly unless you stick with the rivers though and northern is a bit boring. The Netherlands is just too cool with their bike culture!
Northern Poland is flat but I've not cycled it. Shouldn't be a problem and it's in the EU. Watching the Tour of Poland race on TV right now. Southern Poland is hilly.
If you like beer, Belgium is great for cycling around. Not as nice scenery-wise but the beer! the BEER!! :)

As for solo women cycling.. read some of Josie Dew's books.. this chick road everywhere!! Most guys I know wouldn't have the guts to do what she did..
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wind-My-Wheels-Travel-Saddle/dp/0751502499/ref=pd_ys_iyr21/202-9264639-2335808

hippy If you like beer, Belgium is great for cycling around. Not as nice scenery-wise but the beer! the BEER!! :)

I lived in Belgium for a bit. The beer is great, but the cobbles! The COBBLES!!

cobbles are pretty gnarly on fixed...vienna definitely has way too many of them, even on the "bike routes". kind of teeth-rattling.

i think i just need to come back to europe sometime to bike poland, belgium, netherlands, etc.; i only have time to travel on the actual weekends this trip, and it's probably going to get cold soon?

isn't czech republic supposed to have good beer, too?

threedaymonk [quote]hippy If you like beer, Belgium is great for cycling around. Not as nice scenery-wise but the beer! the BEER!! :)

I lived in Belgium for a bit. The beer is great, but the cobbles! The COBBLES!![/quote]

haha yeah.. i remember.. and I was riding on a fat-tyred mtb. I'd hate to think how much damage I'd do on a track bike.. but then I wouldn't be carrying panniers on a track bike :)

Does anyone here ride over the van entrance on Appold St.,? Fukn London's best cobble copy!

Czech beer does have a good reputation but it seems mostly lagers whereas Belgium and even Germany have such a variety and the flavours..

Just had a mate's birthday party start off in Dovetail in London. Cool Belgian(ish) bar.

We went cycling in Belgium for a long weekend a couple of years ago - I might even have been on a fix but to be honest I can't remember what state the bike was in then - but, yeah, a lot of the bike lanes are basically on the pavement so it can be difficult to get up some good speed. I do like Ghent though, and Belgians are generally pretty cool people.

Shit! Now I wanna ride the Danube!

hippy [quote]Just had a mate's birthday party start off in Dovetail in London. Cool Belgian(ish) bar.

That's one of my fave pubs.

One time I came out and the Paddy Wagon was gone.

After half hour of stomping about and muttering darkly I realised I'd come on the bus.

I blame the Leffe Dark.

hahahaa! That's ace!

We actually made it around the corner to Fluid Bar. One of our lot was a bit crook though so I let the others go. Of course I left without my credit card! Doh!

I blame the Satan Gold.

Do not under-estimate your ability to ride distances on fixed, I ride as long miles now on my fixed as I ever did on my geared road bike. If you do, up your gear ratio. It seems insurmountable but you will actually feel less fatigue.

yeah! ride the danube if you get a chance, on fixed or whatever. i thought i was going to take two days, so i took a train (for about an hour) north from vienna to this town called Melk, which is famous for a big beautiful abbey there, and walked around a bit. i left Melk after 11, and got to Krems, where I was planning on staying the night, by 1:00. so i wandered around there and the town across the river for about an hour, and then just kept riding...i could've made it to vienna before it got dark if i hadn't gotten lost on side trails for a couple hours...but i ended up paying less than 2 euro for a 20 minute train ride back into the city, finally. probably rode 60-70 miles (whatever that means in km), through the most beautiful countryside i've ever seen. big castles up on cliffs above you, green mountains, and the path had some hills, but was mostly long stretches through tiny towns and right through the middle of vineyards and orchards. friendly bikers everywhere. amazing.

between Melk and Krems is definitely the best part; from there to vienna it gets kind of boring.

but seriously, awesome, go do it.

LFGSS danube tour anyone?

raises hand Finally someone else wants to ride more than 5km from their house! ;)