When Brompton Fails You... | Eurovelo 8 | S1-E14

In this video, you will join me along an exciting eurovelo 8 bikepacking trip as...
I woke up early, had a quick breakfast and checked out of the hotel. I started cycling at 11 am, hoping to avoid the thunderstorms that were forecasted for the evening. I only had seven hours of daylight, so I had to cycle fast.
To join the Velo8 route, I had to exit Alexandria through a busy road with trucks. It was scary and stressful. Then I took an alternative route that was more hilly than I expected. The views were nice, but the climbs were tough.
I passed Valenza, a tourist town with a beautiful bridge over the river. Then I passed some hill towns that looked like ghost towns, such as Monte.
The downhill roads were rough and bumpy, and sometime along the ride, I got a puncture. I didn't notice it at first, but then I felt my tire losing air pressure super quick. I was in the middle of nowhere, far from civilization. That was a pickle situation.
I realized that my plan to reach Turin was canceled. I had to fix the puncture somehow.
Luckily, after many kilometers of field road, I got to a small village. I stopped there to inspect the puncture. It took me 30 minutes to take the tube out of my Brompton tire and find the hole.
I tried to apply patches, but they didn't work. The patches couldn't cover multiple holes on an uneven surface. I was frustrated and worried.
Then something amazing happened. A guy named Gabriel passed by and stopped to help me.
We had a great chat about cycling, bikes and multireflexology and spiritual pain meditations. He was very friendly and helpful.
My air pump battery got low and we had to come up with plan B.
I thanked him for his help. He was one of those people who make you grateful for life.
It was already 4 pm and it should rain at 6 pm. I had lost two hours patching the puncture. I continued cycling with the patched tire, hoping it would hold.
But it didn't. The tire went flat again after a few kilometers. I was so frustrated and tired. I decided to call it a day and look for an Airbnb nearby.
I found a classy bed and breakfast with authentic furniture, a big bed, a big living room and a fireplace.
Tomorrow, I will try to reach Turin again. Hopefully, nothing will stop me this time.
Thank you for following my adventure!
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EuroVelo 8 (EV8), named the Mediterranean Route, is a 7,560 km long EuroVelo long-distance cycling route running from Cadiz, Spain to Athens, Greece, and then continuing to İzmir, Turkey and to the island of Cyprus. The route runs east-west across Europe mainly along or close to the Mediterranean coast, passing successively through 12 countries: Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus
Monferrato:
If you are looking for a destination that combines natural beauty, cultural heritage, and gastronomic delights, you might want to consider Monferrato, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Monferrato is a land of rolling hills and small villages in the provinces of Alessandria and Asti, where some of the best wines of Italy are produced, such as Barbera, Moscato, and Grignolino.
Monferrato is a place where you can relax, explore, and savor the essence of Piedmont. Whether you are a wine lover, a history buff, or a nature enthusiast, you will find something to suit your taste in this enchanting region.
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[@Moshebenyair]

Thank you so much for this video. I find it very useful as all Brompton videos seem to be flawless…BTW i had the same major hustle with punctures while riding EV6 on MTB bike on Sunday. It was hot, no open stores, malfunction pump and lousy sticks. I had to drag my bike 6KM uphill in hot weather after 100KM ride. It was a lesson learned to leave a little room for luck and always check my gear like pump, sticks, spare tube etc… before i go on along trip. ❤

[@VietPhan]

I feel you :D That sounds painful, but then you get fond memories. I also admire you did Velo 6. Looks as bigger adventure, especially hungary to romania. Have it definitely on my wishlist, but probably not with brompton. Dunno. How many days did it take to finish?

[@HK-zu8xx]

stay with it, keep on going!

[@VietPhan]

Thank you for encouragement!

[@BrownPeterAnthony]

Great trip and good videoing, you could get a tannis solid tyre and then no more worries.

[@VietPhan]

Thanks for the tip. Its this one right? for 60 GBP...Tannus Airless Tyre 16 x 1.25 (Brompton)- Fits 17-20mm Inner Rim Width...how is riding on airless tires?

[@BrownPeterAnthony]

@@VietPhan yeah, thats the right one.

[@shanemuk1]

Only recently found your channel (and only recently got a Brompton) - amazing stuff - thank you! Just hoping you haven't got something sharp stuck in the actual tyre that's giving you all these cluster-punctures (teaching Granny to suck eggs, but I've had that trauma!).

[@VietPhan]

Thank you for tips. Search inner tube thoroughly with my fingers and nothing came up. But a cactus needle in a tube betrayed me once in Croatia. Was wondering why it keeps flatting haha.

[@Moshebenyair]

Would you still recommend on Brompton as oppose to regular MTB bike?

[@VietPhan]

Well depends on your goal. Brompton is like cycling on hard mode :D. But then its so tiny you bring it everywhere you go, train, pub, hotel...so I would stay with MTB if you have your route planned with exact stopovers, you will have better time.

[@bcd3rdgen699]

To prevent from puncturing you need to inflate the tire for the psi of 100-110

[@VietPhan]

Thank you. I refilled PSI at 110 every second day. 4 holes near each other points to super sharp hole through

[@psocretes8183]

I can remember buying patches and glue that didn't work I was furious. Getting all those punctures is suspicious. Do you check for a thorn or whatever might be causing the punctures?

[@VietPhan]

At that moment on the road, I would have to uninstall rear wheel, which with impeding thunderstorm looked risky. Later in hotel I inspected using hand, but nothing. I think Its riding over hole in high speed caused 4 holes near same spot.

[@Stonely1974]

I only wish my Brompton have a quick release for the wheels

[@VietPhan]

But then you would have Tern haha

[@DevlinStone]

Great video(s)! Can you say which bags you are using and where to get them?

[@VietPhan]

Its called brompton C bag. Dunno if still on sale. But I can load most of my camping gear on it minus tent. Paid like 200USD

[@jelenapopovic7791]

I don't believe what you're doing. You replace it immediately with a new tire and when you stop you find a hole, patch it and you have a spare. Everything takes 20 minutes. Simple 😊

[@VietPhan]

Kudos if you can remove rear wheel from rack in 20 min! My risk assessment was if i get puncture again in the wild, I would be stranded. Next time will try your way :)

[@carywatmore]

Real bummer to find so many holes. Not sure what tyre you have on but for touring i think you should give Schwalbe Marathon a go. Not marathon racer. Also with all that gear you should inflate it to about 100 psi

[@VietPhan]

I bought stock brompton with schwalbe. And kept PSI every second day at 110. Hard to say what else to do. Maybe avoid downhill Italian roads :D

[@phuocgerman]

Đi chơi vui vẻ

[@VietPhan]

Cam on ban

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

I know how it feels on a 6 gear Brompton, when you reach a point when you prefer to walk, going up! And those who claim that Denmark is flat, with a hardly 200m point as the tallest, has never been riding bikes in Denmark 😁!! Finn. Denmark

[@VietPhan]

Cant wait to visit Denmark through one of eurovelo routes. Its true frequent mini hills are worst. Cannot enjoy downhill long enough :)

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

@@VietPhan We do have some of those also! One was used during a World Championship for bikes and is named Geels Bakke, just outside Copenhagen. Also a hill in Vejle, normally used during races!

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

Of course going up!!