Bike road trip abroad with your dog
Today the Wouafer's, we are going to discover the adventures of an unusual quartet! Lucie, Alexandre, Mallo and Rossel are adventurers on bicycles. Always accompanied by their dog and their cat, they explore the world by bike! And with them, dog rhymes with bike, that's for sure! Their dog follows them in all their adventures. They prove to us that cycling with your dog, and even a big dog, is possible and even Wow Good!
I myself cycle with my dog and my little girl. One on the luggage rack and the other in the bike trailer. We only make short trips because my calves are getting tired. In this article, I therefore give the floor to real cyclists who make long journeys and who even make their living by bike with their dog.
With more than 2800 kms in their calves, it is with courage and determination that they will share their journey and above all their experience with us! Organization, route, stages, good plans… You will know everything about cycling with a dog; and a cat!
I leave the floor to this quartet and I leave you the presentation of Lucie by Alex!
Traveling by bike with your dog
Lucie is 26 years old and she lives her life with a lot of emotions! As president of a canine towed sports association (dog.trotters), she has always loved being in contact with animals and is involved in animal communication. A passion for animals that even earned her the title of French riding champion in 2012! Lucie is a dreamer! She likes anything that allows her to get away from it all, especially thanks to nature, but she had never really had the opportunity to live her dreams to the fullest.
After a turmoil in her personal and professional life, she wanted to change and listen to herself more and that's how she decided to take the plunge and live in line with her desires, her dreams and her values. . And that's how our adventure began!
I don't tell you more about our team but if you are curious you can discover us in detail in the article Organize a road trip with a big dog !
Itinerary for a road trip by bike with your dog
We left a little over three months ago for a road trip by bike with our dog and our cat! We left on February 28, 2022 at 10 a.m. Thoronet, a city located in the Yes with the objective of going up France by discovering the eastern part of the country.
We followed the canals, rivers and streams by taking the various cycle routes. We started with the EV8 (Eurovélo) to pick up the ViaRhôna at Avignon (about 200 km). The ViaRhôna is an easily passable route with a trailer because everything is fitted out for bicycles and the signage is irreproachable.
Arrived at Lyon (more or less 260 kms), we took the blue route until Chalon-sur-Saône (more or less 150 km). This route was a little less comfortable for a bike with a trailer but along thein Saone was really very friendly!
Then we took the EV6 towards Mulhouse where we crossed and visited Besançon, very pretty town.
After Mulhouse (more or less 300 kms), we took the EV5 with which we crossed magnificent Alsatian villages as well as the town of Strasbourg before arriving in our first German city: Saarbrucken (more or less 250 km).
From the German border, we left the tracks to head towards the town of Luxembourg (more or less 100 km). We then arrived at Wallonia where we loved meeting our Belgian friends who were very interested and welcoming to us.
We passed through the town of Cork to continue along the Meuse to reach the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands (more or less 200 km). We did not follow any particular itinerary but we had fixed cities as a relay point: Maastricht, Nijmegen, Amsterdam, Volendam and Groningen (more or less 450 km).
back in Germany, we didn't want to follow the EV12 because it took us along the coast and we found it quite boring because we were behind a dyke, our heads in the handlebars and often with the wind in the face! Under the advice of our Warmshowers from Groningen, we caught up with the “vikings route” in northern Germany. This cycle route follows the trade route that has been used for hundreds of years in the area.
Arrived at Denmark (more or less 400 kms), we went back to the center to visit the city of Ribe (viking town) before reclaiming the north sea coast. We take some portions of the EV12 and continue on a local route, the Limfjord 12 which allows us to enjoy the coast and then return to the center on the city of Aalborg (more or less 450 km).
Aalborg is the capital of Jutland (peninsula forming Denmark, this concerns a small part of Germany and the majority of the Danish country). We do not plan our routes in advance, we realize them over the days, encounters and our desires!
We considered taking the ferry to Frederikshavn to go to the capital of the Norway (Oslo). We will then cross the Sweden to get us to the east coast at Sundsvall to go along the Gulf of Bothnia and catch up on the north course.
After passing the North Cape, we are thinking of descending to Tromsø and go to Lofoten. We would like to spend the winter in Lapland and then go back down the Finland and the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). For the moment, this is our plan but we have no limits other than our pleasure and our desires!
You may be wondering why we chose this route? In France, we chose the “ease” in order to learn to travel all four. Pedaling along the water allows us to have Mallo, our dog, mostly free without worrying too much about his desire or need to hydrate and where to bathe because it is at will!
The fact of following the cycle paths in France allowed us to discover the routes created for the bicycles without having to ask questions. This therefore relieves us of the stress associated with organizing the routes.
We quickly understood how to travel together. And we don't really have a route, nothing is fixed in order to leave us free of our desires. Outside the cities, we also “diverted” the route between Strasbourg and Saarbrücken to pedal in the famous “hunchbacked Alsace” and in Belgium we took full advantage of the Ardennes.
Sleep with your dog on a road trip by bike
We sleep at 90% in bivouac. We really enjoy choosing our spot and pitching our tent. We slept once in a hotel near the German/Luxembourg border because we had been cycling all day in the storm.
We did 3 campsites, 7 Warmshowers and 1 Airbnb.
Musher and Sophie: “Sleeping in a bivouac with your dog is the best, but you still have to prepare for this experience! So, to help you organize this new adventure, take a look at this article: Camping with your dog ! And for the Wouafer's who are not yet very comfortable camping, here is the selection of all accommodations that accept dogs in France ! "
Activities to do with your dog during a bike road trip
We visited each city with our animals and it went really well! We used to ask if pets are allowed, in the restaurant or inside the shops. Traders often look at us with incomprehension because for them, it was logical that our dog be accepted. In the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, it is better not to pitch the tent for a wild bivouac. In the Netherlands and Germany, our dog was very little on the loose because there are many signs asking that the dog be on a leash.
It is difficult to list all the good addresses that we have encountered. But looking a little bit in my memory here are some of them:
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The Stam restaurant in Colmar
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The Oktoberfest Brewery at Strasbourg
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The Weerd campsite in Venlo in the Netherlands
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The Grote Altena campsite in Nijmegen in the Netherlands
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The Nettchen bistro in Glückstadt in Germany
Musher and Sophie: "To discover more activities to do with your dog here ! Take advantage of many dog-friendly activities to organize a Too W'ouf vacation with your dog!”
Tips and tricks for going on a road trip by bike with your dog
I think it is necessary to have the green light from the health specialists who follow your dog. We saw our super veterinarian (Vetaunis clinic) who did a complete check-up and inquired for us about the health rules for traveling to the desired countries with our dog. I also took a session with our osteopath, Alexiane BOSSAVIT (85), so that she could restore our dog to new before our big departure.
For food, in France, I asked the butchers for “meat scraps” (you must not give bones alone because it is very dangerous) and thanks to the generosity of the French butchers, Mallo was able to eat 80% for free and to his fill (he was raw before our departure).
After the first French border, we no longer benefited from meat waste because they did not understand our request at all. The butchers told us that this was not done at all here. From abroad, we mainly buy croquettes, pâté and meat as soon as there are reductions. The ratios of raw versus industrial food have therefore been reversed for the diet of cuties since we left France.
It's relatively difficult with a husky cross to travel by bike giving him as many sessions of freedom as desired, but I'm aware that I'm really lucky to have Mallo and to share this adventure with him.
It's an incredible adventure that you have just shared with us Lucie! And I say a big thank you for this experience! I don't know if I would be able to do that with Musher but it's a nice project that makes you want to! I'm sure you've helped many Wouafer's on their future cycling holidays! By the way, to you who read this article, I invite you to follow the adventures of Lucie and all her family, here is their Insta account @Syklopaws and their Facebook page @Syklopaws !