#7Countries7Passes - The simpulan preparation

Copenhagen to Andorra, via some of the highest mountain passes in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France. 3,000 kilometres. 50,000 metres of climbing. The #7Countries7Passes tour is imminent.

The bike is packed, the kit list is finalised, and the route is plotted on the map. My approaching departure from the Danish capital of Copenhagen, will mark the start of my longest and hardest bike tour to date.

The Route

My route plans have been tweaked and modified over the last few months, but here is the current (still changeable) plan:

Checkpoints/Passes/Highlights

• Start: Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen (Denmark)
• Checkpoint 1: Villingen (Germany)
• Pass 1: Hochtannbergpass (1675m) (Austria)
• Pass 2: Timmelsjoch (2474m) (Italy)
• Checkpoint 2: Merano (Italy)
• Pass 3: Stelvio Pass (2757m) (Switzerland)
• Pass 4: Col de Montgenèvre (1854m) (France)
• Pass 5: Mont Ventoux (1911m) (France)
• Checkpoint 3: The ‘Cycling House’ (France)
• Pass 6: Col de Pailhères (2001m) (France)
• Pass 7 (Finish): Port d'Envalira (2408m) (Andorra)

Route Card

The Bike

• Find out more about the set-up on the Kona Rove Ti here (links to blog post)

The Kit Selection

• Find out more about the kit selection for the #7Countries7Passes tour here (links to blog post)

Follow the adventure

• On Instagram #7countries7passes
• On Twitter #7countries7passes
• On Facebook:

The Hansen's Cykelløb - Ice Cream, Gravel and Good Friends

Good friends, great ice cream and gravel adventures. The Hansen's Cykelløb was a unique and special Danish experience, with the fantastic team from GripGrab.

Riding your bike should be fun, revitalising and memorable . It should bring excitement, adventure and reward, in equal measure. A gravel ride in the Danish countryside; with ice cream, fresh coffee and great company, sounded like the perfect warm-up ride before my #7Countries7Passes tour.

A Danish celebration

Hansen's are one of Denmark's most famous ice cream producers; creating beautiful fresh dairy ice cream, from the local herds of cattle that graze on the country's fertile grasslands.

The Cykelløb highlights Hansen's love of the Danish countryside, and of their prized ice-cream. 130 kilometres of gravel tracks; taking you through the green pastures just north of Copenhagen. With fuel stops featuring fresh 'Hansen's Ice', coffee, Danish sandwiches, and plenty of friendly conversation.

This isn't so much a race... more an end of summer celebration, of many great Danish virtues. My kind of event.

Good friends = A great team

The team from GripGrab have become special friends over the past six years that I have known them. I was the UK's first 'GripGrab Local Hero', and it has always been a pleasure to champion their products, and the brand's genuine passion for the sport.

I travelled to Denmark to join the GripGrab crew, along with another great friend - fellow Isle of Wight rider, Jack Elton-Walters. We both grew up in the same town, and now both work in the world of cycling media.

Our 'Band of Brothers' was the perfect group for a fun and fast day in the saddle.

The 'Race'

Rolling out from the HQ at Hansen's dairy parlour, there was a fun and chatty atmosphere in the peloton.

We headed north, escorted by the company's shining milk tanker.

Unfortunately, the relaxed atmosphere and big bunch on these early roads led to a crash at about kilometres five. I came off unharmed physically, but the bike suffered a bit of a hit, which reduced me to just three usable gears for the rest of the race.

Strength training for the mountains, I guess...

After the small hiccup, we pedalled on. A fast GripGrab mini-peloton, chasing down the main group.

Before long the tarmac led us to gravel, and then into the secluded and sunlit forest.

We soon approached the first 'feed station'; and were treated to a Hansen's nougat choc-ice, and fresh fruit.

Fuel for the ride... which suddenly became a lot more vertical... with an uphill timed hill sprint!

After heart rates had fallen back to a reasonable level, we pedalled on through the beautiful green forests and open farmland of the Danish countryside. Alongside deserted railway tracks, and quiet villages.

The lunchtime feed stop arrived just in time to kick away a looming blood sugar slump. Fresh sandwiches, coffee, and the biggest and most delicious ice cream I have ever had. I opted for the 'Rocky Road' - it seemed appropriate.

Sugar levels elevated, we raced through the tamat third of the course. Smiles and laughter a-plenty.

On arrival back at the Hansen's HQ, we enjoyed milkshakes, fresh beef salad, and beers.

Stories and plans for future gravel adventures were shared.

Then, we headed back to Copenhagen for a celebratory meal with the team. A great day in the saddle with the GripGrab crew.

#7Countries7Passes Day 1 - Bike Paths, Bridges and Bakeries

We rolled out from Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen at 8am this morning. The sun glistened on the fjord, as the rush hour traffic filed into the city.

Skirting down bike paths, Peter (Marketing Manager at GripGrab) and I were soon out of the thrum of the city, and into the deserted countryside.

Flat roads were a welcome start for first day legs, and we enjoyed heading along the coast at a gentle pace.

Kilometres ticked by, and at the 55 mark we met up with Martin for a few more photos.

Then, after saying farewells and thanks for a fantastic weekend, we parted ways.

By lunchtime I had reached the town of Vordingborg, and treated myself to one last Danish pastry and coffee.

As I headed into the archipelago of islands that composes southern Denmark, the bridges and long straight roads grew in number.

Head down, fuelled by caffeine and sugar, I pushed on into the afternoon.

By 16:00 I had made the Rodbyhaven ferry, and boarded to leave Denmark in my wake. Good memories.

On arriving in Germany, I made the call to try and eat into my long day 2 quota, and managed to get 50km on the clock before setting up camp.

A good first day in the saddle.

#7Countries7Passes Day 2 - An Introduction to Germany

Today's ride provided plenty of variety; from the Baltic coast, to the deep forest around Hamburg; then on into the lowlands of Hannover.

Up with the sun, I was on the road at dawn. Through quiet and deserted Baltic beach resorts, before heading southwards in-land.

The majority of the day was spent pedalling through endless forests, open farmland, and small smart little German towns.

A quick lunch stop at a bakery, and another mid-afternoon stop to make some sandwiches kept me fuelled.

By late evening, I was 150 kilometres in, and searching for a campsite just north of Hannover. Unable to find anywhere though, I made the call to push on through the city and try my luck the other side.

Unfortunately, by the time I had navigated the complex (but stunning) bike paths out of the Hannover forest, it was properly late and dark.

I found a few possible spots to pitch the tent, but then discovered them to be swampy and infested with mosquitoes. I pushed on again.

At about 21:45, I was stopped by a German lady, who had flagged me down to warn me my back light was off. In desperation, I asked if she knew somewhere I could camp. In an incredible act of kindness she invited me back to her family home; dinner and a warm bed inside. I was incredibly grateful.

Germany has shown me an impressive start to the trip across the continent.

#7Countries7Passes Day 3 - Detours and Delays

 Today's ride seemed to take a while to get underway. A delayed start, delays with some GPS problems, and then heavy legs.

Things didn't accelerate when I hit the hills, and headwind; and I had barely covered 85km by noon.

Then I decided after the kind offer of a bed for the night, from GripGrab's Marti, that I would divert to Fulda, from my planned route.

The Wahoo improvised route led me to believe this would be 175km, taking me to 245km for the day. That would have been doable. Unfortunately, the reality was a bit further...

The wahoo route took me on no end of gravel tracks; on the straightest possible line. My true route would be a lot further.

By 21:00 I still had 45km to go, and was on a busy main road. Marti came out to meet me, for the last 30km, and guided me onto safer roads into Fulda.

I was incredibly grateful for a warm meal and good bed.

New route to Villengen planned, the next two days will hopefully be faster.

#7Countries7Passes Day 4 - Long Day Out

Marti and I set out together this morning, routed towards Villingen, I was just going to see how far I could get towards the target.

Aside from some gentle drizzle, and some unexpected road works, the first 50km went smoothly. Then Marti turned back towards Fulda.

I continued on into the afternoon, and despite rather slow progress, managed to make it to Heilbronn, my rough target, by about 20:00.

Having got too close to the northern side of the city, camping spots soon thinned out, so I made the call to head through to the other side and try my luck on the southern perimeter.

It was 22:00 by the time I set up camp in a sweetcorn field just south of Heilbronn (the city was larger than I had expected, so took some time to cross).

A long day in the saddle.

#7Countries7Passes Day 5 - Damp Day to Villengen

Today, I really struggled to get going; but luckily I had the motivation of my sister's hospitality at the end of the day to look forward to.

It was wet and cold for the first five hours, but eventually the skies cleared, and fuelled by more coffee and cake, I saw Villingen on the map.

A welcome BBQ, cake and tea awaited me. Perfect.

#7Countries7Passes Day 6 - Into The Mountains

I left Villingen in great spirits this morning, after a fantastic overnight stay with my big sister and her husband. Legs and mind refreshed (as much as possible), from a BBQ and friendly faces, I was looking forward to heading into the mountains.

Last night, I made the decision to alter my route slightly. The last few days have been super long and really draining; I decided a shorter route to get to my rest day in Merano was a better option. Having known that my sister and her husband have driven the various routes back to visit his family in South Tyrol, they seemed like the ideal pair to offer advice.

My new revised route would take me south of Lake Constance, then over Wildhaus Pass and onto Fluela Pass and Offenpass, to get me into Italy.

The first 75 kilometres of the day seemed to fly by; mostly because they were downhill, and I had a great breakfast in my stomach, courtesy of my sister's cooking.

By 100 kilometres, the climb up and over Wildhaus had begun; almost 50 kilometres of gradual and more extreme gradients. Strava routing has thrown me some curve balls over the last few days, but the route up this valley - a singletrack road running parallel to the main one, was sublime.

In the last 20 kilometres, the skies opened, and with the temperature at just 2 degrees Celsius, I'm not sure if it was sleet or rain. It was damn cold either way. I was forced to stop for the world's most expensive Swiss coffee, to warm me up a little.

The descent from Wildhaus into the Lichtenstein valley is steep, and was very wet. The bike seemed to handle it well though, and I had enough feeling in my hands to use the brakes.

Once on the valley floor, the skies cleared, and brought a great tailwind. It was then the start of the gradual climb to the base of the Fluela Pass.

I stopped to grab some dinner at a local supermarket, and then began the ascent.

Because you can't ride up the main road on this pass, the cycle track is a seperate road almost all the way. Great traffic free roads.

At 19:30 I had reached the day's target. I set up camp, cooked in daylight, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the pass tomorrow.