subject: Take A Look At These Hints And Tips If You're Thinking About Taking A Bike Around Europe [print this page] Of the many different reasons why people purchase a bike, ask any amount of owners and the vast majority of them will link their reason to being able to head out on the open road with the wind in their hair (or at least on their helmet) and stopping wherever they like. The truth is, a lot of riders will not manage to gain the benefit of their bike like this and will more often than not use it solely for commuting or the occasional weekend drive in the local countryside.
There will come a time, however, when the bike owners will remember exactly what the bike was purchased for in the first place and will take their two wheels out on a long journey. With a ride around Europe being a prime example, if you're one of these owners and are planning your first bike riding trip to the continent, take on board the following tips to ensure that your journey is as enjoyable as possible.
1. Planning is absolutely imperative to a successful and enjoyable trip and as tempting as it can be to simply hop on your bike and book into the first hotel that you see when you're ready to stop, this isn't recommended. The reason why is it is highly dangerous - not for the fact that you're likely to encounter a mass murdering hotel owner straight out of a Hollywood film, but if you're not booked into any hotels and don't contact home, there is no way of others knowing whether you're safe or not.
Even if you only book hotels once every two or three nights, your friends and family back home, if they haven't heard from you in a few days, can contact the hotel that you were last staying in and find out if you did actually check in.
2. In addition to planning, there are two other aspects which are crucial to a successful trip, with the first being bike insurance. By UK law, all bike insurance companies are required to provide third party cover as an absolute bare minimum when the policy holder takes the insured bike out of the UK. Whilst this ensures that you do not have to worry about any costs claimed against you by another party if you're involved in an accident with them, it does not remove the worry of paying for costs that you incur yourself.
Most bike insurance companies will upgrade your policy to a more substantial level of cover when travelling abroad - usually for only a temporary period of time and for not a substantial more in terms of premium costs - as soon as they are asked. It may be a cost that you haven't factored in, but it's one that is definitely worth considering.
3. The third point that is important to keep in mind so that there are no unexpected problems occurring throughout your trip is to make sure that your passport is up-to-date. When you're travelling abroad on an aeroplane, it's easy to remember your passport as its drilled into us since we first start flying that basically, if you want to get on an aeroplane, you need to have a passport. When riding, however, it can be easy to forget that a passport is required as you'll not be boarding an aeroplane. Don't be fooled, though - the same rules apply when crossing borders by bike and if you're passport isn't in date (or you don't have one at all), you won't be going anywhere.
