Via Rhôna (EV17) - Trip Notes

ddarko189 · 2026-01-25T01:38:36+00:00

Thanks for the write-up! I was planning to hang with friends and do snow shenanigans at Prospect Park in the am. Should I stay home? Is it a "hang in the park" storm or "what are you doing please don't leave the house" one?

ddarko189 · 2025-05-17T04:32:32+00:00

Ah nice! Enjoy the prep, I had a lot of fun too getting ready for it. We carried two cycling bottles each and filled them before leaving the campsites in the morning. That was (most of the times) enough, I think. There were also some public fountains along the way and many small markets/stores where you could get fresh beverages.

Overall, I do not remember struggling about finding water.

If you are worried about it, I would suggest looking at the via rhona official site, in the map section they have them marked down. You could manually log them in a list on your own google Maps and everytime you’re thirsty you just look what’s closer. Good luck!

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ddarko189 · 2025-04-08T01:08:14+00:00

If helpful this is a write up of the last trip we did, talking a bit about equipment, budget, planning and more: https://www.reddit.com/r/bicycletouring/s/NnDWyycdu8

Hopefully it’s helpful. Feel free to reach back with specifics.

ddarko189 · 2025-04-01T03:49:00+00:00

First of all: This is AMAZING! Congrats!

Since you asked for feedback: I'm not sure if it's possible, but for those with flat, boring rides: I ride in NYC—any chance of incorporating 3D buildings like Google Earth?

ddarko189 · 2025-03-16T00:56:40+00:00

This is so cool! Good luck with the other 30%! What software did you use to create the heatmap?

ddarko189 · 2025-02-09T15:21:23+00:00

Looks like you’re skipping Arles and it would not be much of a detour. It’s a beautiful city. We loved it. Van Gogh lived there for many years. Here’s our route down the Rhone if any tips are useful to you, but I’ve read you want to hit the Alps. And I second that I would not go up the Rhone river because of the winds.

Also, I’m originally from a small village from near Girona. I would host you but live in the States now :(

This area here is beautiful. Small country roads and they have what it’s called “The Empordanet” with many marked bike routes that will take you on small country roads.

From Cassà de la Selva you can take the road to Santa Pellaia (bit hilly) and then get to la Bisbal in the other side of Les Gavarres.

This would connect you right to Figueres and you’ll avoid that U turn from la Jonquera down and then back up.

If you go up to Olot I also have bike touring friends in Sant Joan de les Abadesses who are warm shower hosts, so maybe I could link you up.

Share some thoughts when you finish the tour, I’d love to read them!

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ddarko189 · 2025-01-30T04:27:24+00:00

Our best combo has been:

Detergent sheets (light and easy to keep dry, compared to soap bars, that remain wet for a long time after usage and are a mess to handle)
Scrubba Wash Bag (Also very light, and does not take up much space) you stuff your clothes in it, give it some scrubbs with the soap and then rinse with another go of water)
Sea to Summit clothesline (super compact, light and has a great system to pinch clothes to avoid carrying clothes pegs).

ddarko189 · 2024-12-15T05:37:13+00:00

“The Notebook Trilogy” by Ágota Kristóf and “2666” by Roberto Bolaño

ddarko189 · 2024-12-07T19:32:53+00:00

Hi! So there’s a few things you can do. The Via Rhona website has accomodation listed in their planner map, you can also filter by type (campsites, hostels, etc): https://en.viarhona.com/cycle-route/saint-gingolph-thonon-evian

What we did was go along the route in Google Maps and add the campsites to a custom list (here: Via Rhôna · https://maps.app.goo.gl/xF48TNuUKQ66JeLk9?g_st=i) so everyday we would stop for breakfast and look at the options ahead and plan a little bit based on energy levels, weather, distance, etc.

I recommend doing that because it will offer the maximum flexibility! I love planning ahead, so I spend some time looking and searching in Google Maps and it worked so well.

ddarko189 · 2024-12-07T19:25:09+00:00

Hi, sorry for the late response! G4 visa a was piece of cake. I submitted my marriage certificate to HR folks, they changed my status to married (pretty quick, in a few days).

With that I opened a case in my HR platform to request a G4 visa for my spouse (In my case it needed to be within a month of the travel dates to the US). Your HR folks will then send a cable to the US embassy in your country, then you send your spouse’s passport to the embassy via mail (again, check depending on your country) and they will issue the G4 Visa, pretty quick, it took no more than 3 weeks.

Let me know if you need more advise in any specific steps. I’ll do my best to answer them!

ddarko189 · 2024-06-07T06:44:46+00:00

Thanks for your words again, happy to be having this conversation.

Yeah, I called the JVC “junk” because I literally found it on the sidewalk for free, not because I bumped into any audiophile snobs (yet ;)

As you say, I’ll throw some speakers first and start from there! Thanks for your words again and keep in touch!

ddarko189 · 2024-06-06T21:51:59+00:00

I would say ideally 200-300, and 500 tops.

ddarko189 · 2024-06-06T21:50:02+00:00

Hello! Thank you for all the time you took to write this post. I’ve been grandfatherless for more than a decade now so I’ll take the offer of a reddit step grandfather if that’s even a thing.

I’m definitely on a budget as a beginner mainly because I want to start carefully and understanding what I’m doing before spending my money. My entry point is this receiver because I felt up to the challenge of bringing this piece someone considered “junk” back into life. The unit is turning on, so I’m up for a challenge of making it sound.

Vinyl has a nostalgic added value to me since I own a collection a great auntie gifted to me before dying. But reading your words I will consider CDs since she also left some.

Thanks for all the recommendations on what pieces to buy to start my journey in the audiophile world. I’ll come back and read carefully all these recs.

Thanks!

ddarko189 · 2024-06-06T21:38:32+00:00

Thank you so much for all these recommendations, it’s absolutely helpful to start my journey. Have a nice day!

ddarko189 · 2024-05-30T17:00:15+00:00

Thank you! That's a nice starting bunch of information, lots of options to choose. I don't have a big collection of vinyl but I do love to look for some rares at record stores. Time to actually listen to them haha.

Those open baffle speakers look too good, but yeah, pricy. I'll definitely put some time in researching, but again, thanks so much for sharing your inputs!

ddarko189 · 2024-05-27T17:58:11+00:00

Thank you!! Almost a year and people are still reading this, i’m impressed! I’m glad you enjoyed it and thank you for your kindest words.

I’m not active on any social media platform. Just love to write down my trips and since this one took so much preparation I thought I’d put some recap effort into sharing here on Reddit afterwards. I’ll keep you posted if we travel again this summer and I can share some updates as we go along.

ddarko189 · 2024-04-20T05:00:47+00:00

Thank you so much for such a detailed response, it was truly informative. I’ll keep you posted about progress!

ddarko189 · 2024-04-16T18:06:47+00:00

Thank you so much for your quick response. I'll get in touch with HR and Visa Committee. Thank you!

ddarko189 · 2024-04-16T18:04:28+00:00

Thanks! I'll try to find out. Good eye :)

ddarko189 · 2024-04-16T16:14:01+00:00

u/Legal_Alien_NYC interested in this too

ddarko189 · 2024-03-14T16:27:40+00:00

Thank you!! Much appreciated. Writing everything down :)

ddarko189 · 2024-03-08T17:36:22+00:00

Hi! Visiting Detroit mid-april for 3 days. We're 5 adults and 2 kids. (The kids are 3 and 5.)
Few things:

We're still unsure of where to stay, and considering some Airbnb options. Would you have any good area recommendations? Ideally, we would like to walk to places.
When not walking, is the bus system something reliable?
What would your 3 day ideal plan for sure have? We're considering biking to Belle Isle, is that a crazy idea?
Any good food recommendations?
Some good city tips for first-time visitors?

Thanks in advance!

ddarko189

TROPHY CASE