Holiday, for most people, means sipping on colorful drinks with their toes in the sand. For Sports Tracker Sergio Almeida, it means cycling hundreds – and even thousands — of kilometers.
For more than 10 years, Sergio has been using his holiday time to travel Europe by bicycle. His weeks-long trips span countries – for example, from Bulgaria to Portugal — taking him all over the continent. In fact, with 38 countries under his belt, he’s cycled through nearly every European country.
The coolest part? He tracks every trip using Sports Tracker so that you can follow along, enjoy the scenery, and even plan your own trip based on his routes. He shares plenty of beautiful photos from his journeys, too.
Staying fit with cycling
Sergio has been using Sports Tracker, the first sport tracking app he ever used, since 2011. “I use Sports Tracker mainly for long distance biking. It’s perfect to provide trips for other cyclists who intend to explore countries,” Sergio says.
Cycling has always been Sergio’s favorite sport. “It’s the best means of transport, which you can bring along with you on weekend and vacation trips, and your daily commute,” he says. “Plus, there’s all the proven benefits, such as environmental, economy, health, social, self-esteem, improvisation, creativity, and self challenges.” He does love to get active in other ways too, though. He likes exploring new cities on foot, mountain hikes, half marathons, and team sports. “Anything that keeps me moving, basically!” he says.
Pack and track
Other than his bicycle and phone, Sergio packs light for his trips, with only the bare necessities. One luxury he couldn’t do without, however, is his portable coffee kit. “I can drink coffee anywhere, and it’s much better than any energy drink,” he says.
Sergio’s cycling trips have taken him all over Europe and brought him new experiences – he’s cycled the Monaco Grand Prix circuit, climbed the Pyrenees, and made tons of new friends. One of his favorite experiences is discovering places with interesting names. Sergio has cycled through both Kissing and Lazy, and even a few more risqué places, like Áshóll, Iceland. “Some of them are 18+, but they exist,” he laughs.
Want to live vicariously through Sergio? Most recently, he has been cycling around Iceland – literally! Check out his Sports Tracker profile to see the 1446.41 km route and amazing pics taken throughout the trip.
Kathleen Harris – Writer and active explorer of Helsinki
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Sergio Almeida
Many thanks for the article!
So here are some tips if you plan to explore some countries (up to 2-3 weeks average). Plan departure/arrival in populated places. Plan routes closest to active railway lines. Any problem that might happen, will allow you to pick the train and lead you to your planned destination (you are not on any competition, and eventually you have accommodations confirmed).
Travel light, especially no need to carry sleeping bag or tent, couchsurfing, warmshowers and several hostels (average 10 euro per bed/night) are good economy saving, buying a good tent would cost nearly the same and you would not have an adorable warm shower and nice warm bed/couch privilege!
Eat as much as you can during breakfast and dinners, this will allow to have no need to eat for around 6 hours in flat roads, good wind and fresh days, with some rain will actually have a light feeling, bring food just enough to your day.
On steep roads, do not hesitate to walk, this decreases drastically any eventual mechanical issue. Also walk a bit in order to allow the blood flow to your legs and feet as well rest the bottom for a while, you will recover your lost time anyway.
A big trash bag is the best waterproof protection for your cargo, also you can wrap your bike with 120liter bags and carry on the plane, the non damaged bags can be used for its initial usage.
About the rest, simply enjoy the view! And breathe!
Moustafa Essoulhi
I want to share with you on a bike ride I’m good at riding on it
Sports Tracker
Hi Moustafa
You can share your profile (needs to be public) to us by send the Sports Tracker profile link or sharing your workouts in Instagram by using @sportstracking #sportstracker.
Rui Plácido
If Sports Tracker were 500 years ago, a portuguese would take it to the new whole world.
Constantino Parente: Meet the Sports Tracker who travels Europe by bike – Constantino Parente
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