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Tour de West Coast Finland - 1000+ km road trip on EUCs. Tour blog.


UniVehje

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3 hours ago, travsformation said:

A powercube is also a good option (although they're a bit bulky):

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I use this:

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With this device I can connect EUC charger, phone charger and something that was originally connected to the wall socket I use at the moment. One of important features is that grey plug rotates freely 180 degrees - it's really helpful.

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RE: those ginormous plug adapters, that looks hilarious, it just never occurred to me that of course they would need to be that big due to the size of European plugs.

For any fellow NA riders, I always keep one of these in my riding bag: https://amazon.com/dp/B001UE7SC8/ . (Actually that appears to be an updated/changed version from what I bought, older versions were even smaller and looked like this: https://ebay.com/itm/GE-Wall-Tap-1-Extra-Wide-Adapter-Spaced-Easy-Access-Design-3-Prong-Outlet/254654098889 .) It's so tiny & adds virtually no weight and is great to have for group rides with people contesting for outlets.

Edited by AtlasP
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8 hours ago, travsformation said:

BTW, @UniVehje & @HelRider, how satisfied are you with the routes you planned? I know from experience that on paper (or on screen) they can seem great, but later, once you're on them, they can prove to be different from what you expected, sometimes requiring some improvisation. Did you have any such issues? Is there's anything you'd do differently in future trips? 

I’m pretty satisfied how our plans worked out. During the journey we learned to avoid certain kinds of gravel roads that are just uncomfortable to ride for too long. We didn’t have very much options so it was quite straight forward. We always tried to take the smallest or most interesting route possible. 

We used Komoot and compared it to Google maps cycle route. And then I scanned the suggested route and searched for alternatives, charging stops or anything interesting to see. A few times we improvised and took an easier and faster route because the weather was not nice. We didn’t really have any route that wasn’t as we expected. We did learn a lot and will be better planners in the future. We learned that the actual ride will be quite a bit longer than planned and mostly will be using similar method to plan future trips.

8 hours ago, travsformation said:

And in terms of time organization, pit stops, accounting for the weather, etc., is there anything you'd do differently in future trips?

We learned that there are a lot more power outlets available than you would think. Sometimes we were worried that we couldn’t find a cafe or restaurant within 60 kms. But once you learn how to scan for the outlets you can see them everywhere. Most public buildings have at least one outlet outside. 

We will be packing better rain gear in the future. Proper breaks and stretching must be included in the plan. You will be more tired than you think. We missed a couple of towns because the ride there was too long and we just wanted to go to sleep. In the future we will plan easier ride just before an interesting place we plan to see (if possible). 

8 hours ago, travsformation said:

And about packing...anything you took that you didn't end up needing and wouldn't pack in future trips? 

@helrider made a good post about her gear. My gear was very similar. I needed almost everything I packed and didn’t miss anything. A pump and some tools were not used but I wouldn’t leave without them. I had small roll of duct tape, zip ties and multitool. Multitool was needed a few times. Maybe I could have done without slippers and one set of underpants and socks if I wanted to. 

I took a calculated risk in leaving out very warm and rain proof clothes. It was supposed to be the warmest month. I ended up buying new water proof shoes, gloves and  water proof ultralight and packable jacket and pants. Every other item are wind proof. 

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17 hours ago, travsformation said:

And in terms of time organization, pit stops, accounting for the weather, etc., is there anything you'd do differently in future trips?

Well, I would try to leave earlier in the morning. As @UniVehje said, the ride usually took longer than we expected and we were often very tired when we got to our next cabin/airbnb/hotel. It’s not always easy to leave earlier, but if you do, you have more time and energy when you’re in your destination. 

17 hours ago, travsformation said:

And about packing...anything you took that you didn't end up needing and wouldn't pack in future trips? 

As I said in the earlier post, I spent hours and hours planning the packing. There are a few small things I would’nt pack in future, but otherwise everything was used and needed. But I’m going to organize the stuff even better to make packing faster. 

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Great!!! @HelRider and @UniVehje - you did what you planned and succeeded! My congrats and welcome to the club! :cheers: I've been following your reports and it was a pleasure to see how other EUCists are going for long distance trip. It was certainly an exciting and pleasant journey, thanks to which you gained a lot of valuable experience. So where will you go next? :)

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Thanks @Seba:cheers:

1 hour ago, Seba said:

So where will you go next? :)

Well, we have one summer holiday week left. We are probably going to have it in August and ride Hämeen härkätie (map). 
 

For next summer we are planning to ride through Finland: from southest point Hanko to northest point Nuorgam. But we’ll see. ;) 

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