Solo Cycle Touring and Loneliness on the Road | Cycling From Germany to Poland

What’s it like travelling alone on a 1.5 year solo cycle tour? Cycle touring as a beginner with no experience had been tough, but cycle touring alone was tougher.

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Solo Cycle Touring from Northern Norway to Azerbaijan – Arctic to Asia 6 (Day 91-104):

After struggling to keep it together on my way along the Elbe as I cycled through Germany, I’d spent a week relaxing and cycling around Berlin while I recovered from a flu, before cycling to Poland, crossing the bridge over the Oder river from Frankfurt an de Oder to Słubice. The adjustment to cycling alone almost broke me; at times, the loneliness was overwhelming and I’d struggle to see how I’d last a month, let alone a year, on the road by myself.

It was, eventually, the hospitality of the people I met and the kindness of strangers that helped me forget about the isolation that had been weighing on me, but it took weeks before I was finally able to truly enjoy the time by myself on the road. That started when I visited Rauen, in Brandernburg, Germany, and stayed with the Wiezer family, and continued to Nowa Sól in the Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland.

I’d never visited the country before, so I didn’t know what Poland was like, but cycling across Western Poland and meeting locals gave me a chance to soak up and learn a lot about Polish culture. After dealing with a broken bicycle (a damaged derailleur) at night in the middle of nowhere, I stopped off in Swiebodzin, to see world’s largest Jesus statue, before continuing to Nowa Sól where I met Greg, Marek and Sławek, who put on an event for the 275th anniversary of Nowa Sól getting it’s city rights. On the banks of the Oder, they introduced me to new Polish food (Bigos) and Polish music!
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BACKGROUND:
For the last 1.5 years, I’ve been on a cycle tour from Tromsø in Northern Norway to Baku, Azerbaijan, while interviewing locals along the way for my blog. Cycle touring for beginners like me can be intimidating; I’d ridden a bike 4 times in the previous 10 years before this journey, but I decided to jump in at the deep end and learn about bikepacking and touring while I was on the road. After watching a few videos on “how to cycle tour”, I set off, and covered 11 countries by bike (and took detours to another 2).

Long distance cycle touring alone was always a challenge, but one that I got used to after about a month, and eventually started to truly appreciate. I didn’t have much cycling gear or expertise, and I resorted to using an old Trek mountain bike that I got for free, which was frustrating at times, but I found motivation in the locals I met along the way, and the far-flung places I reached off the beaten track.

The adventure by bike introduced me to a new side of travel. Never before had I interacted so much with local people and my surroundings, when I’d been abroad or been so exposed to the kindness of strangers. Travelling so slowly as I pedalled made me feel immersed in the countries and cultures I cycled through, and it forced me to stop in some of the more obscure places the world has to offer. All in all, cycling the world shows you a side of some countries that most travellers never get to appreciate.
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I do not own any of the Music in this video:

Where did you come from (feat Paul Dano) – Andy Hull and Robert McDowell