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Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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  #1  
Old 17 Apr 2013
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Interesting RTW route
Most RTW books and DVDs either gloss over or edit out the long boring stretches that are a part of most round the world routes.

I'm aware of this and it's one of the main reasons why I wouldn't travel far on a small capacity bike. Also on any long journey, unless you seek it out, there is not a great deal of unpaved road.

Can anyone come up with a route, no matter how convoluted, that would take in most of the worlds 'best biking roads' and unpaved roads whilst keeping the dull bits to, say, no more than 100 miles at a time.
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Old 17 Apr 2013
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Not particularly strung together but:

from Europe across Russia via Walter's 2012 Sibersky Extreme route.

Across North America via the TAT combined with the Lolo motorway and Oregon backcountry trail or TransCan

North/ South or S/N on the Continental Divide trail. In northern Canada and Alsaka there's roads like the Top of the World Highway and the roads to Inuvik or Deadhorse.

There's a lot of gravel/dirt if you avoid the PanAm in Mexico (ride some of the Baja1000 routes?)/Central/South Am.

North Africa: Plenty of Dakar race tracks.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Despite Chinese road building there's a lot of dirt/mud/former Colonial pavement.

Australia: The center has very few paved roads e.g. Canning Stock Route.
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Old 17 Apr 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Magnon View Post
Most RTW books and DVDs either gloss over or edit out the long boring stretches that are a part of most round the world routes.

I'm aware of this and it's one of the main reasons why I wouldn't travel far on a small capacity bike. Also on any long journey, unless you seek it out, there is not a great deal of unpaved road.

Can anyone come up with a route, no matter how convoluted, that would take in most of the worlds 'best biking roads' and unpaved roads whilst keeping the dull bits to, say, no more than 100 miles at a time.
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Originally Posted by chris View Post
Not particularly strung together but:

from Europe across Russia via Walter's 2012 Sibersky Extreme route.

Across North America via the TAT combined with the Lolo motorway and Oregon backcountry trail or TransCan

North/ South or S/N on the Continental Divide trail. In northern Canada and Alsaka there's roads like the Top of the World Highway and the roads to Inuvik or Deadhorse.

There's a lot of gravel/dirt if you avoid the PanAm in Mexico (ride some of the Baja1000 routes?)/Central/South Am.

North Africa: Plenty of Dakar race tracks.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Despite Chinese road building there's a lot of dirt/mud/former Colonial pavement.

Australia: The center has very few paved roads e.g. Canning Stock Route.
Forget it... doesnt exist... Or you fly your bike to only this routes... e.g. here in Australia, where we are at the moment, 100 miles you go for shopping without asking... you have to add a 0 to it and then it would maybe work ...

Cheers
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Old 17 Apr 2013
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Originally Posted by RTWbyBIKE.com View Post
Forget it... doesnt exist... Or you fly your bike to only this routes... e.g. here in Australia, where we are at the moment, 100 miles you go for shopping without asking... you have to add a 0 to it and then it would maybe work ...

Cheers
Ok, I admit it. Everything I wrote above was totally fabricated and I've never ridden any of them. My entire website is photoshopped, as I'm sure Walter's trip was too.
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Old 17 Apr 2013
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Will you photoshop my website too? Can't seem to get pictures further out than Norway or North Africa. It's all the wifes fault

Could I suggest a more anarchic strategy on top of the route suggestions? Simply get off the motorway of the inbetween bits when bored. Some days you find another slower but equally pointless thoroughfare, other times it's ladies-of-negotiable-virtue and drug dealers, often it'll be a nice little country lane with a pub or coffee shop that'll cut ten miles off the autobahn out. I almost never regret it though.

Andy
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Old 17 Apr 2013
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I took "Forget it...doesn't exist" to mean that you can't ride the routes you listed without interspersing long stretches of pavement--certainly far longer than 100 miles. Which is true: you can't get to the Top of the World Highway without riding on pavement for a few days straight (minimum). Etc. It's the same thing you said: "Not particularly strung together."

The "forget it" response was mostly incomprehensible, but then again so was the original question. What's "dull?" What's not? Stuff I find mainly quite boring (Kansas, Manitoba, Western Sahara, much of Ukraine, most of central Australia, long stretches through Patagonia) you might go wild over.

Mark
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Old 17 Apr 2013
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See I think this is one of the reasons to have a smaller capacity bike, they're just that much nicer on smaller roads be they paved or not that you seek them out instead of hammering through countries on the autoroutes but each to their own.
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Old 17 Apr 2013
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Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie View Post
Will you photoshop my website too? Can't seem to get pictures further out than Norway or North Africa. It's all the wifes fault
At least you still have a wife!

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Originally Posted by markharf View Post
I took "Forget it...doesn't exist" to mean that you can't ride the routes you listed without interspersing long stretches of pavement--certainly far longer than 100 miles. Which is true: you can't get to the Top of the World Highway without riding on pavement for a few days straight (minimum). Etc. It's the same thing you said: "Not particularly strung together."
I took "Forget it...doesn't exist" to mean I was talking sh!te.

One person's dull could of course be somebody else's wild. I believe there is of a lot more out there if you take the road less travelled. You just have to look/research hard enough, which the OP seems to be doing.

For a few of shorter deliberately off pavement trips on a thumper (Baja, Pyrenees, Romania, Morocco, Iceland, CDT, western TAT, Oregon, Lolo, northern Thailand for example) I sourced detailed maps or acquired/purchased GPS data that allowed me to ride virtually 100% no pavement.

I believe Walter used his contacts, research from previous trips and Google Earth to ride the length of Russia off pavement. Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All - ADVrider

In places like France there's a lot of opportunity for off pavement (a.k.a interesting) riding if somebody shows you the way, as the OP did for myself and some others a couple of years ago. Thanks again Charles!
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