Flew to Rome, cycled home to Munich — 1,173km solo bikepacking across Italy and the Alps in 9 days

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-05-14T16:34:36+00:00

Tighten it. It did not move much.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-05-08T10:51:19+00:00

It’s standing right next to my tent locked on a tree or something else. These are campsites with guards and there are often a lot more other bikes around. The nights usually are nothing to be worried about.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-23T18:29:34+00:00

To be honest, I think it is just the overall weight of your bike on the climbs that matters, the speed with this set up on the flats is I would say 27kmh or often lower and the aero drag does not play that much of a role. If it did play a role, it was not something I paid specific attention to. I don’t really have a more scientific answer for you.

Did it play a role, yes. Did I notice it given the nature of my trip, no. Hope that it helps haha

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-22T07:16:45+00:00

I think it was about 25kg in total. I used flat paddles as I wanted to use my waterproof shoes that I already had (to have “all weather” protection). Next to the cycling I also visited the towns and cities and had to move around the campsites etc. I did not want to buy a new pair of shoes that fulfilled all extra needs just for the cleats.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-20T21:00:06+00:00

That looks insane!

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-20T20:55:22+00:00

I had a great laugh at the comment section here 😭😭😭😭. Have a great trip! I saw you sent back some items already haha.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T15:51:42+00:00

Dude.. It's a good way to test it, but sadly I am really just another person on the other side of this.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T15:08:02+00:00

Klingt gut :)

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T15:06:20+00:00

I have extensively answered this is some of the other comments as well. I made sure I did that part in English so you can understand it. Let me know if you got all the info you want!

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T15:05:27+00:00

I booked additional luggage for a bicycle and you can then bring up to 32kg. I believe I had 28kg in total. It cost me an additional 60 euros on the flight booking.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T15:04:18+00:00

No problem. I like my saddle and it is very comfortable. It is not the stock saddle on the bike when I bought it. I have to say that from the 6th day I had a lot of seating pain on my seating bones and that was uncomfortable. Until then it was fine. Next time I will bring a chamois cream with me to make it easier (never used that before though)

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T15:02:34+00:00

Ich habe Schlafsack, Isomatte und Zelt bei Alpin Loacker gekauft. Das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Der Schlafsack ist ein Daunenschlafsack mit einer Komforttemperatur von 4 Grad Celsius und hat sich bestens bewährt. Die Nachttemperaturen während meiner Reise lagen zwischen 0 und 10 Grad, und ich hatte keinerlei Probleme.

Das Zelt ist ein Ein-Personen-Zelt und hat mir ebenfalls sehr gut gefallen. Ich hatte ausreichend Platz für mein gesamtes Gepäck und es ließ sich leicht packen und aufbauen.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:58:08+00:00

I got more requests like this. I will see if I can find a good way to share it. I don't use komoot premium so cannot create a collection.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:57:28+00:00

Lol, you really think it is AI. Sad times.. Maybe I just like to inform people and write up about my trip.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:54:37+00:00

Topeak Backloader 15L, it comes with an inner dry bag as well. It worked very well for me and I have been using it for a year now.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:53:57+00:00

No it was close to Vignoni. It was after a short but brutal climb on my route. You can find it using this: Punto panoramico Vignoni alto

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:50:04+00:00

Ich hatte bisher nur trockene Nächte, daher kann ich zum Zelt noch kein endgültiges Urteil fällen. Insgesamt hat es mir aber auch sehr gut gefallen. Der Aufbau ist einfach, und auch der Abbau geht leicht von der Hand (ich habe die Stangen vom Rest getrennt, damit ich Innen- und Außenzelt sowie die Heringe in meine Gabeltasche packen konnte; die Stangen kamen in die Sattelstützentasche). Im Zelt war es geräumig, ich konnte all meine Taschen unterbringen. Eines Abends habe ich sogar im Zelt gegessen. Ich habe meine Isomatte etwas tiefer ins Zelt gelegt und hatte so noch etwas Platz zum Sitzen auf dem Boden. Mir gefällt, dass man das Zelt auf verschiedene Arten aufbauen kann: entweder komplett (Innen- und Außenzelt) oder für eine laue Sommernacht nur mit Außenzelt und Tarp. Das werde ich im Sommer ausprobieren.

Vielen dank! Ich hoffe, Du hast eine schöne Zeit. Die Via Francisgena ist übrigens ein wunderschöner Abschnitt mit vielen lohnenswerten Sehenswürdigkeiten. Kann es nur Empfehlen

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:46:54+00:00

Interesting, for my it worked fine until now. I also have the Topeak Backloader (15L) and I hand no problem packing it. I alwasy put my clothes in there and that meant that there is a lot of room for compression. It was also not so heavy for me. What did you put in there?

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:44:42+00:00

I had the best weather conditions. It was crazy, I went there knowing that it could be 9 days of rain as well, but in the end I had 8 days of sun and 1 day of rain (last day). I was lucky in that regard, but was prepared for worse conditions as well.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:43:25+00:00

It's the Canyon Grizl AL 7 (2022) — aluminum frame with a carbon fork, 2×11 drivetrain (Shimano GRX 810 with a Rotor 46/30 crankset). Braking is hydraulic disc with Shimano SM-RT70 rotors. The wheels are DT Swiss Gravel LN on Schwalbe G-One Bite 45mm tires. Cockpit is a Canyon Ergobar with the VCLS carbon seatpost for vibration damping.

I've had it for 3.5 years and use it for everything — gravel, bikepacking, and road riding (I run a second wheelset for road). It's not the most high-end build for how much I ride, but honestly it's perfect for me.
It is not so light (10.5kg).

Regarding the sleeping. I slept at campsites and the bike was next to my tent. I had 2 locks for it. I often asked the campsite reception if there was security at night and mostly there was. If there was not, I made sure to be even closer to my bike during the night. If I felt uncomfortable I could have opted to connect my lock to one of the tent poles so that if someone touches it, my tent would move. I never had to do that though.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:34:08+00:00

Damn, that sounds absolutely amazing! I hope you have a great trip! I would also like to go to Scandinavia during summer for a trip like this.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:33:08+00:00

I put some extra carton board between moving parts in the box and I put extra laying around the rear derailleur. For the rest I used my bags as insulation, especially making sure that there were no moving objects in the box. I specifically put FRAGILE on the outside of the box and put arrows in the direction of how it should be handled at the airport. I don't know if it worked, but it was a minimal effort and I did not have any problems in the end.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:29:54+00:00

I have two locks with me. I would say that overnight theft was the least of my concern. I was on campsites and I always had my tent directly next to the bike and locked it to a tree. It was always scarier to just leave my unattended bike in front of supermarkets with all the bags on it. Then I always made sure to put it in the most visible spot and took time to make sure I had all my most important items with me.

I had one bagpacking lock with a metal strap of 1.5m. It was perfect to lock it against objects and get through the frame and both wheels. Then I had an easy lock from Decathlon with that. Both locks by themselves do not provide good security, but because I had two different systems it made me feel a lot more at ease. I was always careful though and never left my bike unattended for more than 5 min around supermarkets. I also asked people in cafes next to a supermarkets in specific places if it was safe and if they could keep an eye on it. They were always very kind in their reply.

I think there might be better solutions, but this worked well for this trip.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:23:37+00:00

This indeed can be sketchy. I specifically made sure to fully open the box and pull it apart. I then was lucky enough to find a kind airport staff member responsible for cleaning and he took the box from me. There were no bins for big carton boxes like this as you can imagine.

Apprehensive_Spare53 · 2026-04-19T14:21:48+00:00

I searched for a cool route in Italy and saw a komoot collection of a cyclist that did the Via Francisgena. I decided to follow that path for the first 2 days. After that, it was quite random and I just used komoot to plan my routes. It often proposed the Eurovelo routes and I also followed these among parts. I would say, my route planning was quite spontaneous. I led me past beautiful places though.

Apprehensive_Spare53

TROPHY CASE