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Here we are again: summer is coming in, and despite an increasingly jammed calendar I can't quite bear to have a year go by without my fix of dragging far too much stuff across continental Europe, exposing myself to the elements (and exposing the local population to me) and sleeping in rough bits of ground beneath bike paths - otherwise known as my idea of prime cycle touring.

A conjunction of leave and time-owed has meant I've somehow managed to wrangle five weeks away over August and September this year. Three weeks of this has been long-allocated to getting to South East Asia, to attend a wedding and do some non-cycle-related travelling. To my (and possible my employer's) surprise I found I could still fit another two weeks in August - and so the prospect of a cycling adventure became a distinct possibility.

The last couple of years I've had some wholesome adventures working my way up the Middle of Sweden and avoiding mountain climbing by Finding the Rivers through the Black Forest. My MO in each has been to throw myself into some part of Europe I'm not particularly familiar with, ideally away from the more-travelled routes, and with the possibility (or  necessity) of indulging in some wild camping and self-supported touring. A bit of self-reliance, with a healthy appreciation of the benefits of returning to civilization.

Each of these rides has been memorable and overwhelmingly enjoyable; albeit with their own challenges. In Sweden, the distances and sparseness of population was unlike anything I'd really ever come across in Western Europe, and I rather over-estimated the distances I could comfortably cover. In Germany, the challenge was more environmental: all across Western Europe we had the one of the hottest summers on record, and I frequently found myself covering 100km+ days in 39 degree heat. I also managed to crash into a curb and bend my [i.e. the wheel's] rim, but really I had nobody to blame for that but myself.

The real challenge in each of the last two tours has been my own attitude to planning vs winging it. While the plans have generally come together, and the well-researched routes and camping stops have generally been rewarding - I did previously have something of a tendency treat the plans as ends-in-themselves. The good news is that the winging it style has also generally paid off - or at least not got me into any serious bother so far.

Which is a good thing, because for this tour I'm not going to have nearly as much time to plan things (all our holiday planning energy is being focussed on South East Asia). Apart from my transport to-and-from the continent, it's going to be a fairly seat of the pants trip. What could go wrong?