Why We’ll Never Take E-Bikes on a Long-Distance Trip to Greece Again

After our wedding in July, we set off on a long-distance cycling trip on ebikes to Greece to find out what such a journey really entails. We couldn’t find a single other person — in our home country or anywhere in Europe — mad enough to head south on these heavy beasts (an e-bike weighs roughly 25 kg without any luggage). It was one of the most fascinating months of our lives, a genuine adventure — but one we’ll never repeat. Why?

1) E-bikes are massive heavy monsters that try to kill you

Lukáš and I hadn’t stopped since April — we were writing our theses, sitting final exams, and planning a wedding. On top of all that, we were both working full-time.

Maybe we should have test-ridden them first

We sat on our brand-new e-bikes for the very first time (yes, we’re insane) only once they were fully loaded up. In other words, on departure day. I couldn’t even get going until my third or fourth attempt, and for the first two weeks I was falling off regularly like a sack of potatoes (Lukáš fell less often, but he wasn’t immune either). Fully loaded, each bike weighed around 50–60 kg — absolute beasts.

On social media, we happily blamed all our troubles on our two “beauties.” But I’ll confess now — it was our own fault for never riding them beforehand. How do I know? By the end of the trip, we were cruising along like we owned the road!

Charging was never a problem

Riding e-bikes genuinely made things easier, and I’d wholeheartedly recommend them. Ours could manage 70–190 km on a single charge depending on the terrain (190 km being completely flat), and people will let you charge the batteries everywhere. You just have to ask. We once even charged up in a greengrocer’s shop. Just promise me that when you first bring yours home, you won’t ride them straight to Greece, alright?

2) Working while cycling isn’t impossible, but it’s like working with stomach flu

Lukáš and I both work online. Thanks to that, I’ve got a whole collection of stories about incredibly unusual places I’ve worked from. When something’s urgent, I can sit down on the ground, switch on mobile data, and work — even in a toilet if I have to. I’ve worked in Uganda at 2,500 metres above sea level and next to bins in an alleyway leading to Prague Castle.

We also worked during our 3-month road trip across America, so we didn’t expect it to be a problem on bikes. And guess what? It was. A massive one.

I honestly don’t know what was worse. Being exhausted from pedalling all day, or not being able to just pop down the road for Wi-Fi when the campsite connection wasn’t working (on a bike, even 10 km is a real detour — especially when you’ve already done over 100). On top of that (and this should have been obvious), you can’t do anything while cycling. Normally on road trips, I get half my work done in the car. Here, I had to wait until we stopped somewhere.

What’s worse — the heat or the exhaustion?

A typical day looked like this: we’d get up between six and seven, frantically pack the tent, and fifteen minutes later we’d be half-asleep, hammering away at the pedals. We’d stop at a supermarket for a yoghurt drink instead of a proper breakfast, just to save time. From Central Europe all the way to Greece, temperatures never dropped below 35°C.

At midday, we’d stop for an hour or two for lunch, then carry on until the evening (with plenty of stops for cold drinks, of course). We’d arrive at a campsite between six and eight, have a quick wash, cook dinner, then hunt for Wi-Fi and work until midnight. We often couldn’t start working until half past nine, and I probably don’t need to describe how shattered we were (we definitely didn’t need any sleeping pills).

The internet wasn’t always fast, and sometimes it didn’t work at all. It was far from idyllic. Exhaustion, too little time, and constant stress — I felt like I was working through a bout of stomach flu. In fact, this might have been even harder.

3) You have to kiss your freedom goodbye

We knew we’d have to skip a lot of places, but we ended up skipping far more than expected. Basically everything that wasn’t directly on our route. I know travel isn’t about seeing everything. But this robbed us of hiking in the mountains (stunning mountains — and if you know us, you know how much we love trekking).

The idea of leaving fully loaded e-bikes — carrying everything we owned — unattended somewhere was simply out of the question. I mourned so many hikes, the Greek Meteora, and Mostar. Places I’d been looking forward to that turned out to be impossible to reach on an e-bike. Where’s that legendary freedom you’re supposed to feel when travelling by bicycle?

4) You never properly see anything

You’d think six weeks would be plenty of time for a trip across Europe. But even so, you barely manage to see anything. Spending a few hours somewhere means you hardly make any progress. At the beginning, we tried to enjoy it — we swam in Lake Bled and explored little towns. That didn’t last long. Not once we realised how far behind schedule we were. Plus, there are loads of places you simply can’t reach on a bike.

5) The weather is your worst enemy

Yes, it was a pretty foolish idea to ride to Greece in the peak of summer heat. But we eventually got used to the 40°C temperatures. We learned to dodge the worst of it by getting up early and waiting out the midday sun in cafés and restaurants.

The real nightmare came when we hit torrential rain and freezing cold in the Dolomites. It poured relentlessly all day and all night, and we’d never felt so helpless. We were soaked to the bone, the tent was soaked, the sleeping bags were soaked. Our entire life was soaked! Alright, I’m being dramatic, but our only pair of long trousers and long-sleeved top were drenched, and we had no idea what to do because the rain just kept coming. On top of that, we often found ourselves in situations where there was literally nowhere to shelter from the weather.

6) Cycling is expensive

We naively assumed that travelling by bike would be cheap. But if you want to do it legally, you’re paying for a campsite every single night across Europe. And in that scorching heat, we frequently ended up in restaurants and cafés. If you’re sitting comfortably indoors right now, you might think we’re soft — but try cycling eight hours a day in 40°C heat. You’ll stop counting the pennies pretty quickly. So how much did it all cost? That’s a story for another article.

7) You eat the same thing for six weeks straight

Since we camped almost every night, we cooked on a tiny portable stove with a single small pot. Coming up with anything more sophisticated than beans or spaghetti after a full day of riding was simply beyond us. And half the time, the ingredients we needed weren’t even available.

Final thoughts

We actually fell in love with cycling (bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?). But not enough to want to go on a fully loaded trip longer than a week, for all the reasons listed above.

I’ve listed plenty of complaints, but the truth is the biggest issues were mainly work and not being able to go hiking. The e-bike itself is a fantastic thing — our beasts are currently parked in Písek, Czech Republic, and whenever we’re home, there’s a good chance you’ll spot us riding them around the countryside.

You can read all the articles from our trip on the Reportér magazine website.

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