I cycled across Europe with this 50 year old bike (From Finland to Portugal)

This is me and I cycled across Europe. I'm going to show you my journey. The good and the bad. The fun and the not so fun. And the how and the why. It had been a long time since my last solo adventure and I was itching for another one. Freaking amazing. This is a joke. So hot. But let's start from the beginning. I had long dreamed of cycling somewhere ridiculously far. But such opportunities had been rare. Suddenly I had plenty of time on my hands as I had just resigned from my job. With no time to waste I bought a bike and all the gear all second hand. No detailed route planning, no YouTube tutorials. I packed simple with no luxuries as this was not a race but an adventure. That's also why I chose this 50 year old beauty of a bike. It was everything I needed and nothing more. At first I had no clear destination. But soon after departing I received invitations from my dear friends. One in Geneva and another one in Coimbra, Portugal. The idea of going to Portugal seemed absurd at first but it quickly became a challenge. I could not resist. This would be my spot. Isn't this beautiful? It's time to set up the camp here. Most nights I spent wild camping in my hammock. Saving money and giving me the freedom to push as far as I wanted each day. In Europe wild camping is generally safe and easy. Though in hindsight a tent might have been more practical. Although moments like this were golden. Every now and then the sounds of wildlife stirred my imagination. On this particular night the activity seemed unusually intense. Creating an unpleasant atmosphere. So I didn't sleep that much. At this point I began to enjoy the simplicity of focusing solely on the basic necessities. My everyday life worries were replaced by heat management, taking care of sufficient water and food and figuring out the route. My body also began adapting to the physical demands. Mornings no longer came with sore muscles and sitting didn't hurt anymore. Despite being the toughest challenge I'd ever taken on it was starting to feel achievable. 30 degrees. I've got a lot of water, don't worry. A lot of electrolytes, a lot of energy. Packed up right in here and right back there. Almost done for today. Only 12.8 kilometers left but it's uphill. Despite the heat the journey progressed quickly. I don't like cities. I like small towns. I like country roads. So that's why this road is amazing. Not so many cars since it's still morning. I'm freaking excited to go to Germany. Today's been a good day anyway. I've been just flying. I think I will fly over the border as well. Crossing a border always gave me a boost as it clearly marked progress. However, Germany felt a bit too densely populated for my taste, making it harder to find places to sleep. The frequent towns along the way also disrupted the flow and slowed me down a little bit. Although that gave me a good reason to push even harder. So hard that I would even break my bike. There should be still a good one and a half hours of warmth and sun. The rest of the day will be just grim, gray and full of uphills. My pedal came off. Finally! I was waiting for that. So what the **** do we do now? Suddenly I pushed against nothing and I can hear just the pedal flying away. Almost fell down but nothing happened. I'm okay. Rotate it. Rotate freely but it doesn't. I'm not sure if my pedal will work. The only way to find it out is to ride it out. The hardest uphill of the day and the heaviest rain of the day at the same time. And the pedal is working perfectly. I got a new pedal. It's not perfect but I hope it works. Let's go! Final kilometers for today. And tomorrow... Switzerland! This will be my camp. Entering Switzerland brought a dramatic change to the landscape, which was a welcome shift. The warm southern European culture also started to shine through. In just two days I was offered two coffees and a croissant by friendly strangers. Nevertheless, I had few setbacks as well. I'm in a kind of sticky situation at the moment. I couldn't get inside the camping places. And the reason for that was... I have a hammock. I'm either going to drive all night looking at these views, which get dark very soon. Or I will find a place to sleep. Google Maps will be my friend tonight. Showing me all the best spots where there are no houses. All right, wish me luck. Oh yeah. Good freaking morning. Look at these views. I think I... Fucking hell. Perfect timing. I chose my route a little bit poorly. Okay, it's really intense. Fucked. I thought I was being clever by taking a fun shortcut through a one kilometer forest path instead of following the main route, which was a few kilometers longer. It backfired spectacularly. As stubborn as I am, I refused to turn back and just pushed through. I'm ******* done. As a result, I ended up wasting an hour puncturing my side bags and getting everything coated in clay. Anyway, later that day I was about to meet my friends in Geneva. I can already see the shadow. For a day I had the privilege of babysitting my new friend and catching up with the older ones. But soon the journey continued. That rest day was welcome, but I felt a strong urge to get back on my bike. Many bikepackers take it slow to savor the journey. And while this wasn't a race for me either, I loved the satisfaction of watching the kilometer set up and ending the day as far from my starting point as possible. Especially the long days on the road with minimal distractions let me enter a sort of meditative state. It's a choke. The most beautiful day of the whole trip. Also one of the hardest days, but it starts to pay off. This is my camp tonight. Southern France truly surprised me with its diverse road network and landscape. There wasn't a single boring day. Also, wild camping was effortless and waking up to mornings like this felt luxurious. Frit-taking. This uphill, I mean. The view is okay as well. Still the last day in France, which I'm very happy about. I used to live in San Sebastian for a while. And since it happened to be along my route, I took the opportunity to pay a visit to my friends there. We enjoyed a lovely lunch together, after which I continued my journey inland. It was a hard morning. All my clothes were still wet from last night's rain. And during the night, they didn't have a chance to dry. So I needed to wear all the wet clothes in the morning. What is this place? I don't have a place to sleep at the moment. And there are no freaking trees in this country. I still didn't find the place, but I'm enjoying at the moment just the views. It's freaking amazing. Freaking love it. Okay, then back to business. I have no idea how to... Okay, there seems to be a good spot. I gotta say that Spain was easily my favorite part of the journey. Endless field roads, constant warmth, and almost no traffic. As the finish line grew closer, the days felt longer and tougher, and I became a bit impatient. But there was no doubt I was excited to meet my good old friend and reach the goal I set. Although the toughest milestone was still ahead. It's the time. I made a last minute call last night. I checked the map. I checked I only have 308 kilometers. But this guy thinks that he could do it in one day. I already started 6.17 in the morning. And I'm already full ahead towards Coimbra. I have no idea if I can make it. Soon it's gonna start getting lighter, but I think still like one more hour. Hola, buenos dias! Es mi ultimo dia en España. So almost 100 kilometers down and not much to go. It made me so happy last night to realize that why to spend two days if you can make it in one? It's so hot. And these hills are killing me. This was indeed the toughest distance I had ever taken on in my life. I hadn't realized that the route included nearly 3000 meters of total ascent. But I had promised myself to reach my goal today. To make it before dark, I had to complete the route within 16 hours, which meant 14 hours of cycling and just two hours for breaks. But the daylight was fading alarmingly fast. Almost there. How can it be so ******* dark? We are almost in the city. Is this a joke? As I hoped from the beginning, it really was an adventure. Being out there away from everyday routines That's what it makes it feel like an adventure for me. And the friends I got to meet were the cherry on the top. Now I'm already sketching out plans for my next adventure who knows where. You're an absolute legend for watching this video all the way to the end. Thank you and I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave me a comment about the video as I want to get better at this. 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