Words and photographs by Helen Odia.
Earlier this summer my partner Mike and I set off with our dog Nigel on a two week van trip across Europe with our bikes in tow. We had a rough plan to drive from our home in Cornwall, take Le Shuttle over to Calais and work our way down to the Alps to camp, hike and cycle, with stops along the way in Belgium, France and the Netherlands to visit friends and pick up pastries from some of the bakeries on my bucket list.
Planning a van x bike trip across Europe
Most of my big trips over the past ten years - France, Spain, Italy, Norway, Sweden - have involved a bike in some way. I love the freedom of travelling by bike, the unexpected encounters you have when cycling and the off-the-map places you often end up.
After a cycling accident in April put an end to all of my summer plans, I was in need of an adventure and a van/bike trip was the clear choice, though this year would be slightly different this year: our first attempt travelling with Nigel.
Nigel is a hefty red labrador, and not the most fun to tow on a regular bike, so I was lucky to be able to borrow Temple’s new Electric II, meaning we could bring Nigel and his trailer along too. I could have rented a bike out there, but there’s something nice about having your own bike, or at least a familiar bike, with you. And this way I knew that Nigel’s trailer would definitely be compatible.
Travelling with a dog was not without its complications - the health certificate and vaccinations, regular walkies, managing the heat (solution: swim stops) - but we knew we didn’t want to leave him behind. Going by van gave us the flexibility to change our plans on the fly, stopping off for lake dips and walks en route, and a few more toilet stops than we might have had without Nigel!
Having the van also meant we could bring along enough kit and toys to make the most of those two weeks. We packed up our tent and camp kitchen, hiking boots and poles, a paddleboard, bikes and a trailer for Nigel and set off for Folkestone.
The sensible part
A few days before leaving, with what felt like hundreds of tabs open on how to travel across Europe with a dog, various maps strewn across the table and a plan to pick up a loaned Temple Electric II e-bike from Bristol at the weekend, I realised I’d forgotten one very important detail: insurance.
On previous bike trips abroad I’ve always found it easy to switch on my Laka policy’s Race and Travel add-on without much thought or effort. But this time - maybe as I was planning to travel with a borrowed bike - sorting travel cover just didn’t cross my mind until the last minute.
It’s not like I’m new to bike insurance. I’ve been a Laka customer for seven years, starting with insuring my beloved Cinelli tourer, before adding on my Temple Adventure Disc 2, a bike that’s seen me through everything from the daily commute to the Transcontinental.
It’s perhaps more surprising that insurance slipped my mind this year, as after a bad cycling accident in April that left me off the bike for a good couple of months, I had to make my first ever claim. On a pre-work ride along a road I’ve ridden many times before, my fork and helmet took the brunt of a run-in with a car. Fortunately I recovered fully, and with the help of Laka and a local bike shop, so did my bike.
Since then, insurance has stopped being something I take for granted and renew without thinking. So sorting cover for a borrowed bike with a plan to cross five countries in two weeks wasn’t something I was going to leave to the last minute. Except, apparently, I had.
When I realised my insurance oversight, I emailed Laka’s customer support team and got a quick answer to all of my questions. I was then able to easily update my policy online to include the loaned Temple e-bike for the duration of the trip. This meant one less thing I needed to worry about, leaving more time to enjoy the holiday.
How to temporarily insure a loaned bike
Can you temporarily add a bike to an existing policy?
Yes, you can add a new bike to an existing policy under the ‘Gear’ section and simply delete it if/when it’s no longer needed.
Can you add a bike to an existing policy that you don’t own?
Yes, you can add a loaned bike to your policy in the same way you would add a new bike - under the ‘Gear’ section. You can use the loan agreement in place of the required proof of purchase. You’ll also need to take and upload photos of the bike in its current condition when adding it to your policy.
Does the policy cover you across multiple countries in a single trip?
Yes, the Race and Travel add-on covers your insured bike(s) and gear in multiple countries during a single trip for up to 120 consecutive days. It can be added and removed to an existing policy, just note that it can only be removed after a minimum of 30 days.
Taking a bike across Europe
After the slight panic finalising last minute plans and the insurance oversight, the rest of the trip went smoothly.
The Temple bike stayed safely boxed in the back of the van from Bristol, through the Le Shuttle crossing, and across France and Germany until we reached Switzerland, where I put it together at our Lauterbrunnen campsite.
The e-bike gave me more post-accident freedom and meant Nigel could come along too, letting the three of us explore the Swiss valleys, lakesides and woodland trails together.
From then our bikes stayed strapped upright in the van, ready to be taken out quickly on some of our regular stops for Nigel. Driving across Switzerland we crossed Gotthard’s Pass and used the e-bike for a quick detour to reach the summit cross, taking in the switchbacks we’d just climbed.
Good to know: If your bike is stored inside a locked van or campervan where you control access, this counts as a private storage location. If you’re using a bike rack outside the vehicle, it’s considered public storage. In this case, your bike must be locked through the frame to the bike rack (or another immovable object) using a Sold Secure Gold-rated lock.
Switzerland: an unexpected cycling paradise
We had a rough goal for the trip: to make it to the Swiss Alps. Mike wanted to get his mountain bike fix in Flims-Laax, and I wanted to visit a few places that have been on my list for a while: Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald, famous for their hikes and views.
Switzerland did not disappoint. Glacial lakes so strongly turquoise they looked artificial, pine forests and alpine meadows blanketed in wildflowers, mountainside train rides to the sound of cowbells, and in a wooden Berghütte on one of the many passes, a healthy dose of fondue.
The Swiss cycling was a bonus. Gentle woodland trails and generous cycle paths helped me feel more confident on the bike. Plus regular charging points meant battery life was never something I needed to worry about, even after using Boost mode to power Nigel up the hills.
Nigel is a very lucky/spoiled dog, depending which way you look at it, and this was a trip of firsts for him. He had his first zoomies across an alpine meadow, his first night’s sleep in a tent and his first go at paddle boarding on Brienzersee, where we unintentionally ended up in Iseltwald, the prettiest little lakeside village of half-timbered houses, flowers spilling from their window boxes.
It was also the first time we had ventured on longer rides with Nigel in his trailer. After a slightly shaky start, he settled into the rhythm of the bike, quickly learning that a short journey in the trailer meant a fun reward - a swim in the lake, or a run in a meadow.
By the time it came to drive back, we were both big e-bike converts. Now back in Cornwall, we’ve been busy planning more adventures with Nigel and the trailer closer to home.
In the end, as these things often go, we didn’t need to use the insurance. Nevertheless, I was glad to have it there as a backup. That peace of mind was worth more than the time spent on the couple of emails I exchanged with Laka and updating my policy.
