Canyon to Rapha — a bikepacking tramp across Germany: Part 1
This is the first post in a series of stories chronicling my journey across Germany.
On Friday 11th May 2018 I set off on an adventure to ride from Canyon’s headquarters in Koblenz to the Rapha Clubhouse in Berlin: an awesome journey that would take me 677km across Germany (with over 6000m of climbing in-between). My weapon of choice was the Grail CF SL 8.0, so naturally, I made sure to ride exclusively gravel whenever possible. Originally I had planned to ride 160km a day for 4 days, carrying nearly everything I needed to survive. That proved to be a little optimistic and in the end, I took 4.5 days with several route alterations along the way. I hadn’t anticipated the late start, the slowness of riding gravel and a bike that weighed over 20kg with everything on it!
But how did I end up bestowing this challenge upon myself?
Well, it all started with the Grail itself — the bike that I (accidentally) named. If you haven’t read that post then the story really starts here: https://www.strava.com/athletes/2329727/posts/1599799
With a swell of pride in my belly, I reached out to Roman Arnold (Canyon’s CEO) who kindly offered to loan me said bike for the year. Somewhat shocked and jubilant, I instantly thought that the best idea would be to plan a maiden voyage in which I picked up the bike from Canyon and rode it back to Berlin. What better test for both the bike and the new Rapha Brevet kit that had just been released the month before? I didn’t hesitate in planning a route on Komoot that would take me right across the country and over the highest point in Northern Germany — the Brocken, standing proudly at 1100m tall!
Like most challenges I find myself undertaking, I had zero prior experience of bike-packing and decided the best way to get into it was to just throw myself in at the deep end. I’ve never carried anything more on my bike than water bottles and a puncture repair kit. So this was all new and I was more than a little apprehensive! But I’d figure it out, I knew that much.
After several failed attempts to buy my own bike bags (thanks Amazon), I ended up borrowing some from friends and packed up everything I would need. Unlike most bike-packing scenarios, mine was logistically more problematic as I would be staying in Koblenz for 4 nights before I even started. So this meant I had to take more than I would have otherwise. Somehow I made it work — but not without several games of ‘bag Tetris’ to get it right.
Two days before departure, I picked up the bike from Canyon and was ready to roll. I bought some bottle cages, checked the setup and realised that I didn’t actually need to change anything on the bike — not even the saddle height. It was already pretty perfect. I’d seen the bike over a year before in the engineering team’s office but this one was mine, in the flesh, and ready to ride. The bike itself is simply stunning and I’ll discuss it in more detail at a later date.
I spent my last two days in Koblenz catching up with friends and former colleagues, avoiding a storm on Thursday and mentally preparing myself for what lay in wait. Everything was ready…. except me.
My designated start date came around fast. I headed to Canyon to try to get a few last minute things sorted and grab some lunch before heading off. I munched a sandwich and a ‘Puddingteilchen’, got in a quick photoshoot and tightened by bag straps. No fanfare, this was it. It was time to get going…..
