Project VELAIA

After 1.5 months (not years) of planning and preparations I set out from Gundelsheim, my hometown in the south-west of Germany. The first 200km of nightride brought me to the manufacturer of my recumbent bicycle where I had it checked and some parts changed. Together with 2 friends I cycled to the Special Bikes Show in Germersheim, the annual gathering of the whole special bikes community of Germany.

Afterwards I went up to Cologne/Bonn and further through Holland and Belgium to Brussels – a small detour to make and visit friends in a place where just 6 decades ago my grandfather was fighting in WWII. In Brussels the CouchSurfing meeting and the VeloCity kind of critical mass ride just the next morning were just taking place

On the way to Paris, the official start of the Carfree Rallye, I met Claude Hanras and his wonderful family who saved me from the rain for at least one day. But the next 2 weeks, including May 10, the day I left Paris, were packed of rain and headwinds – a first hard probe for the beginning adventurer.

All through Europe I didn’t sleep in a hotel/motel/youth hostel/B&B a single time but under the sky, in farms, chimneys, ruins and not finished buildings. I met some CouchSurfers who often hosted me for a night or two and connected to the internet with my laptop mostly through open wireless networks.

The rainy weather followed me to every single country I visited and even in Greece I had a shower at least once a day (2 months later the Greek had to fight heavy bush fires all through the country). In Thessaloniki Nasta and Vasilis, very nice and enjoyable people and my CouchSurfing idols, hosted me in their special CS unit.

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Continuing my way along the Black Sea coast in Turkey a stunning scenery and constant up-and-downs together with stomach aches caused by grapes slowed me down a bit.

Surviving and continuing through Iran, the center of the Axis of Evil, was one of the hardest tasks as I was overwhelmed by the hospitality and warmth of the people over there, especially my long-time host and friend Saber and his friends from Tehran and his great family. Getting the visa for the Central Asian countries in Tehran caused a month long delay (”assholes Uzbekistan”’s fault (quotation from the movie “Borat”) – there are in fact many friendly and welcoming people in these countries!).

The nightrides through the deserts that had been possible in Iran would have very likely caused severe accidents with probably deadly outcome in Turk- and Uzbekistan. But as the temperatures were often above 40degrees C combined with heavy headwinds the 5 days transit visa for Turkmenistan was a tough nut.

Through Uzbekistan I speeded as fast as I could but still missed my fellow Beijing to Paris riders on their way in the opposite direction.

Together with Goska and Herve from Paris I had 4 beautiful days in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and cycled the first pass above 3000m (3615m) to Sari Tash and the stunning Pamir mountain range in the background with 7000m+ Peak Lenin in the center.

Because I got a 3 month visa and a planning mistake I got a chance to cycle through Tibet just after arriving in China. And even though my style of traveling was absolutely minimalistic and some of the equipment not make for the extreme conditions on the Roof of the World, I made it, together with my friends Marc (not a minimalist at all) and Boris (same style as I). The biggest extremes were a pass of 5400m, a night at -31 deg C temperatures (when the thermometer in the cycling computer stopped working), and a 1.5 month period with only 3 or 4 days below 4000m altitude!

Having left Tibet behind I made a big mistake in leaving some of my clothes behind in expectancy of warmer temperatures on the way through Inner Mongolia to Beijing. This and some problems with my heels and changing money made the 2 remaining weeks to the capital, Olympic City 2008 and finish line Beijing an adventure in itself.

And what a coincidence: Just 3 days before my arrival in Beijing I met French Sebastien from Lyon-Pekin again and together we had a lot of fun and a pleasant ride to the finish line of our tours, the Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing.

I want to thank the following sponsors very much for the equipment they’ve supplied:

• Rohloff has checked my gear hub and supplied me with replacement parts, lubricants and repair tools at tour start. Continuing the tour after Beijing Rohloff always supplied everything necessary to keep me shifting properly.
• Brando has sent me a foldable bluetooth keyboard and a case for my Dell x51v PDA at the beginning of the tour. Several times Brando subsidised when I had to purchase technical stuff, like the Canon Digital EOS 450D camera. After the tour Brando sent me a smart phone with GPS where I am doing OpenStreetMap cartography with.
• Ortlieb Waterproof gave me a waterproof camera bag and two Front Roller Plus bags (GREENPEACE) edition. After finishing the first part, they gave me new panniers, a handlebar bag and later on a new camera bag and sleeping pad. All the supplied gear is still in usage either by myself or my father, great, waterproof and durable stuff.
• Schwalbe has supported me with kilos of tires and tubes. They have been very generous and also given tires for my father. I came to appreciate especially their Marathon XR tires in the rough Andes and had incredible experiences with the slightly heavier Marathon Plus (22,500 km to the first puncture with the first tire!)
  For commuting and ongoing tours I will get a new and specially for recumbents designed set of waterproof bags from Ortlieb.
• From the Adventure Company in Heilbronn I got a 200€ gift card. I’ve encashed it through a sleeping bag inlet, a biwak sack, Luxeon headlights and a knife. Due to a tight budget they couldn’t continue supporting me.
• From the Radhaus Ilsfeld I got a pair of long windstopper and one of short trousers, an undershirt, new cycling shoes and clips for the shoes. They put together the mountain bike I was riding with for the second half of my trip and sold it to me for just above trade price.
• Magura has sent me spare parts and brake pads for my brakes and shirts, long-arm shirts and trousers. They also wanted to send me a replacement for my 2001 front disc brakes which I denied because I’m completely content with them. They couldn’t continue sponsoring me after I had reached Beijing due to used up sponsoring budget.
• HAIDS gave me a discount on the GPS receiver WINTEC WBT-201. Unfortunately I lost the cute little device in Iran.

When do you start?

There are two starting dates. First, I’ll start in Germany at the Special Bikes Show 2007 in Germersheim April 28 + 29. This will mark my kilometer -700 or so. Then I’ll cycle to Paris where I will have my official start of my Paris to Peking trip right under the Eifel tower at 10 May. I’ve chosen this date because it’s in the middle of the dates of the other starters of the great Beijing to Paris 2007 Carfree rallye and because this seemed to give me enough time for both preparation and maybe even reaching Chine before winter.

How did you get involved with Beijing to Paris?

By pure fate! I happend to donate a one year subscription of the Carbusters Magazine to my sister when she got 18 and by that the drivers license. I thought that was a good compensation for her not to get too much into the motorists way of thinking and to open up far better alternatives for her. As we come from an car manufacturing area it’s normal for parents to pay the drivers license to their kids when they get 18 and many even bind their children to their first car by giving it to them to top it all of.

Are you riding solo?

I hope not! There’s one other rider doing the tour in the same direction but starting from Istanbul, as he cycled the Paris-Istanbul trip last year. He wants to start in Istanbul May 15th or so. We wanted to cycle together but don’t know whether the large time lag can be compensated some way.

Besides that I’m alway happy to cycle with others and with locals. So if you want to cycle with me (and are quite fit) or want me to participate in a local race or cycling tour/event that can in some way be combined with my tour, please please get in contact! I want to get to know (cycling) culture and that is cyclists and locals from all around the world!

How long do you plan to take for the whole trip?

I am planning with 100km / day and therefore about 220 days, so about 7 to 8 months. If I get problems with the weather (winter in Himalaya) or with bureaucracy it could take somewhat longer and I would even consider a more southern or northern route.

What do you want to do after the tour?

I’ve thought about continuing with physics at the university even though I’m tending to change to a more environmental study. It would also be great to get involved in environmental or bicycle activism through the tour and continue therewith after the tour. I’m also planing to learn at least French but maybe also some other languages. And of course I will continue touring (hiking, cycling, whatever!) around the planet as long as I can afford – I don’t want to work too much – Henry David Thoreau worked only for 60 days a year in 1850 – so why sould I work more with a tremendously increased productivity and therewith even destroy our beautiful planet further?

How do you finance the tour?

I primarily try to live with less. That is 5-10€ per day in Europe and in developed countries for food, internet, insurance, repair parts and 3-7€ per day in Asia for the same + visa. Many relatives and friends have offered me their help and I will use it if I need to – thanks! Especially my father, mother and sister support me. Thank you very much!

What about the toilets since Turkey?

No big deal!

When have you decided to continue?

The idea of continuing was already in my head before I actually started – it’s just the perfect time to do that kind of adventure, very likely a ‘once in my life’ chance. And during the tour it got more and more likely that I want to see more of this beautiful planet, this jewel that has been given to us.

Why have you changed to mountainbike?

First: I regret that I have changed! I will change back again. And here the reasons why I have changed:

• the publicity and curiosity of people since Central Asia and all through till Beijing was so big I often felt uncomfortable and annoyed alone on the recumbent – they were touching sensitive parts of the electronics, jumping on the bike while I was away … it was easier when I cycled with someone else
• the StreetMachine GT I had was too heavy – an estimated 20kg is not what an ultralight cyclist traveling at an average of over 100km/day even in bad terrain wants to invest too big proportions of his energy in to get it over steep and high mountains
• city cycling was not as much fun with the recumbent as with a normal bike – but only because of too many cars in the city! So it’s more like a problem with modern cities and the traffic planing in the same ones
• while riding you can’t “stand” like on the normal bike, e.g. when cycling uphill – just a bit less agility
• I planed to go more off-road, leave the main roads and start cycling trails – therefore a mountain bike with 26″ wheels

How many kilometers do you average per day?

That’s in fact a very frequent question. I used to average almost exactly 110km per day of riding with my recumbent, including the long and hard ride through Tibet. But on the new bike I take things a bit more relaxed and average maybe 50 to 70km per day of riding. Contributing to this recent laziness increase is also the new tent I got since New Zealand and the more exhausting position on the upright bicycle.

Do you use a wide angle lens or a wide angle converter lens?

I’m using a 18-200mm lens from Sigma and am so far really happy with it. It’s a really nice lens for traveling as you get a big range including wide angle. I got the tip from a book called “Digital Photography Vol. 2″ by Scott Kelby.

How do you do panorama photos…do use a special software….?

I have a software for Windows called Autopano PRO which automates a lot of processes in stitching a panorama image. I bet you can find a listing of the features online.

Additionally I had been using another free (of price) software called autostitch that also does a pretty good job.

These days I’m using a dirt slow iBook 600MHz with 640 MB of RAM and the stitching software that came with my Canon Digital Rebel XSi camera – the results are not what I’m hoping for and it takes ages to stitch a panorama – a really hard job! That’s probably why I”m not putting a lot of panos online any more, a fast notebook with decent processor would help a lot.

I’ve also read that the professional Adobe Photoshop software stitches panoramas but I’d call it an overkill to buy such a big and mighty software just for stitching panos.

And what camera are u using currently….?

Since San Diego I’ve been using a Canon Digital Rebel XSi. It’s a wonderful camera and allows me to set the theories and the knowledge about digital photography that I acquired through a lot of reading and testing as well as tips from other photographers I’ve met on my tour into practice.

My old 12x optical zoom Sony DSC-H5 is also a great camera but definitely came to its limits. My father is shooting with it these days (since South America).

The lens is the Sigma 18-200 mm with OS (image stabilization) for Canon EOS cameras.

Additionally I’m currently using a circular polarizer filter, a remote control, a pretty cheap travel tripod – that’s about it.

In the following I’ll write a short list of services I will use for keeping you up to date and managing the tour:

• It’s not BETA anymore. I have used flickr a lot to publish, promote and backup my pictures during the drip. This has shown me the pros and cons of the system. You almost can’t lose this backup if you have a strong password and stick to high security rules (don’t enter URL and password while in internet cafes, e.g.). If you have the time and ressources you can also promote your pictures online through the social system behind flickr with friend-network and groups to share your best shots in. I have always linked from the pictures on flickr to my website to get a bigger audience and make available to the people who view the pictures on flickr the corresponding stories.
  On the other hand you always need to have a fast connection if you want to upload the highest quality of your images (and believe me, that’s the only thing you want … you don’t carry an expensive camera with the latest technologies to upload only crappy 500 pixels in width pictures and delete the other ones).

  About this kind of picture management: It’s a bit tricky in censorship countries like China or Iran to upload pictures but it’s possible. There’s almost no way to upload pictures from many rural and off the beaten track areas in South America and I’ve also found it to be almost impossible in many remote areas in Australia. You will always need a computer (best would be laptop) and have to calculate with high internet costs depending on the countries you travel to.
  In some countries there are free libraries available (USA, Chile) while others charge you 3 to 5 € an hour for only an hour of modem-speed internet (Australia). I’ve found China to be really cool for this technique as you have fast internet and the latest computer hardware for 20 to 30 € cent an hour.

• is used to keep you up to date, supply you with information about the tour and to hopefully get response from you! It’s a great tool with many plugins and over a thousand themes! The entry to create your own weblog or travelogue is really easy with it.
  Update: I had quite some issues with stability during my journey as I kept installing new plugins while on the road. My installed version was still 2.1 but the plugins often used to be for versions higher than mine. So I got a bit upset with the short support span for the system.
  But now with version 2.7 WordPress is a lot more stable and is probably the best and most user-friendly system out there. I had to dive into the HTML and PHP Code several times, so if you’re thinking about getting one yourself, better use a (free) one preinstalled from WordPress.com or use any of the countless online diary/travelogue services available for all kinds of travel. A self-hosted WordPress needs some technical skills.
• is where I’m hosting my website. It’s a small webservice provider run by a friend of mine, Felix Ebert. He’s a really cool guy and does super fast support, high quality and availability service and much more!

Forumslader (broken)

The Forumslader is a charger for NiMH batteries I can run with my SON hub dynamo. It also gives you two plugs for 6V and 9-20V voltage to charge mobile phones, PDAs, GPS receivers and more. Here’s a link to the homepage of the Forumslader.

Camera Canon Digital Rebel XSi (DSLR), 450D

Having had more than a year experience with the DSC-H5 and realizing its limits I felt that the time was ripe to switch to a more proefessional camera, one I could play a lot more with and therefore have more fun with. Cycling in the USA I therefore started to research online and the Canon Digital Rebel XSi won … probably there are a lot of other fine entry DSLRs out there these days but I thought with the successor of Canon’s famous XTi I couldn’t do any wrong.
And now after more than 4 months of usage I have to say that I’m really happy with this decision. I didn’t buy the lens bundle but ordered a Sigma 18-200 zoom lens with vibration compensation – perfect for travel photography!

Camera DSC-H5 (switched to a more advanced DSLR)

I’ve used a Canon PowerShot A540 for over a year and have been quite satisfied. But the variety of options didn’t suffice any more. I wanted something to play with and so I searched a while and found the Canon IS S3 and Sony DSC-H5. The reviews for both models are great and so I decided by price where the Sony was a bit cheaper.

PDA(sent it home)

I won’t take a laptop with me on the tour. So I had to find a replacement which I could type texts with in distant places and which I (hopefully) can charge with the Forumslader. Looking for reviews the Dell Axim x51v and the Palm TX caught my eye. Both have BT and WiFi which can come quite handy when in bigger cities with many open hotspots. I bought the x51v. I still have to buy a keyboard, memory cards and a bluetooth GPS device (with data logging capabilities). Therewith I’ll be able to write my travelogue updates in more inspiring places than internet cafes and save some money when using open wireless networks.

GPS(forgotten in Iran)

I got a WINTEC WBT-201 GPS with Bluetooth connection and datalogging functionality (130 000 waypoints). It has a battery life of 14+ hours and has withstood every kind of rain and water so far-

I have a Hilleberg Nallo 2 GT tent for two years now. I’ve used it on several occasions, the first time on my Norway trip. It’s perfect for bigger tours because you can get your bike and enough equipment in the apsis. I’ve also taken it on a hiking trip together with my mother and our dog. The dog fit in the apsis perfectly and was well protected against rain.

Further in warm climates I use a good down sleeping bag which I use together with a small and lightweight Thermarest sleeping pad. I’ve used a Ortlieb sleeping pad on a longer trip but it was way to heavy but really puncture-proof, even with 4 people sitting on the pad at the same time. For the sleeping bag I got an inlet and a biwak which can close completely (good for mosquito protection) and you can still breath!

The Nallo 2 GT would have been a total overkill for the way through Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia and therefore I left it at home – I will probably use it in colder and more wet parts of my tour as far as these are predictable. Instead I got a 1kg, one person biwy tent that provides good mosquito and insect protection but is not good for extended showers. It is furthermore extremely small so I can`t sit inside which is a major drawback as you can’t do much more than sleeping in it – I am thinking about getting a better one person tent in about the same weight class but where I feel more comfortable and am better protected from cold and rainy nights.

Update (New Zealand, from posting):

Wow, what a stroke of luck: I was browsing through some outdoor shops in the Christchurch city center and stumbled upon a 25% off offer for Exped tents. Exped is a Swiss tent maker and I’ve stayed with Marc in one for a few nights in Tibet.

With the Exped Vela 1 Extreme 1person tent with a lot of space for the time in NZ I hope I won’t get wet too often during the night and will be more relaxed to bring you the best photos and stories.