The digital side of my cycling trips - tools, platforms and self-hosting

There's more to my cycling trips than just pedaling and scenery. My digital infrastructure allows me to easily share my tours and journeys. From route planning and statistics to photos: here I'll show you which tools and platforms I use to document and share my travels.

This blog

The blog you are currently reading runs on Ghost with the Solo theme, which I have customized in a few places. Ghost is a modern, open-source blogging platform that I host myself.

• Cloudflare : caches and proxyes this blog for faster loading times.
• Plausible : for anonymous and privacy-friendly visitor tracking (does not require cookie banners)

My devices

I'm using the following setup:

• Navigation: Coros Dura, which has a solar cell for longer battery life. After 50 days to Istanbul, it still has 36% battery.
• Smartphone: Fairphone 6 with /e/OS, a privacy-friendly Android without Google services
• Emergency tracker: Garmin inReach Messenger for emergencies away from mobile networks and to share my location when I have no mobile network.

power supply

The electronics also need to be charged, of course:

• Two power banks : 20,000 mAh each
• Future plans: Perhaps a solar panel or USB dynamo charger for longer stages without access to a power outlet.

Internet & Mobile

My experiences with internet on the go:

• Norway: I didn't need an additional SIM card, as there are no roaming charges.
• Balkan tour: Traveling in EU countries without roaming internet was a mistake (navigation and communication)
• Future trips: I will plan them with eSIM . For the Pan-American Highway, I will use the Vodafone Travel Package in Canada and the USA (6 months for €9.99).

Route planning & navigation

I plan my routes with Komoot . I synchronize the planned tours with my Coros Dura. After completing a tour, the recorded tracks are automatically uploaded back to Komoot.

Offline maps

Besides Komoot, I use other map apps:

• Organic Maps : shows water sources better than other apps, completely offline
• Maps.me : proven offline maps with POIs
• Google Maps : when I'm actually online, for up-to-date information and opening hours

Interactive maps

The way my routes are displayed has evolved over time:

• Previously: The maps ran on Facilmap and the Wanderer software, which automatically imported my routes from Komoot. I could also upload pictures to the routes there.
• Today: Since Wanderer was getting a bit slow at times, I developed my own application . This saves my Komoot routes to an S3 storage device. A second application then loads this data onto an interactive map. Wanderer, however, continues to run for the images.

statistics

To present the numbers nicely, I put together a small system:

1. I enter my data into a web form hosted by n8n (an automation tool).
2. The data is stored in a baserow database.
3. A dashboard in Chartbrew then visualizes the statistics.
4. Optionally, when saving, the current route from Komoot is also transferred to my map application and the cache there is updated.

My statistics are also linked under Maps:

Weather

During the tour I check:

• Rain radar from Wetteronline to avoid showers
• Windy is important for avoiding headwinds.

Social Media & Communication

I am active on several platforms and keep my family and followers updated there:

• Instagram for pictures from the road

• Polarsteps offers automatic trip tracking with photos

• I use a WhatsApp channel to share my current status and location.

• Facebook: my page where I share posts and stories

• Threads: short updates and thoughts from the road (was easy to automate right away 😉)

Automated posting

Sharing a new blog post individually on each platform would be tedious in the long run. That's why I used n8n, a self-hosted automation tool, to build two workflows that automate the process for me.

Automatically upon publishing

As soon as I publish a new post here on the blog, the following happens automatically in the background:

• Facebook post: the featured image from the blog post is posted along with a text excerpt and the link to the article.
• Facebook and Instagram Story: the image is automatically cropped to portrait format and includes a title, text excerpt, and a link to the bio.
• Threads: a short post with image, text excerpt and link
• WhatsApp channel: I receive a notification with the finished text, which I can manually post in the channel (channels cannot be accessed via API...)

At the end, I receive a summary of which posts were successfully sent and where there were problems.

Manually via a form

For posts unrelated to the blog, I use a web form. There, I enter the title, text, and optionally an image, and select the platforms on which the post should be published. The workflow then takes care of the rest, including image processing and story creation.

What's happening in the background

Both workflows handle a significant amount of image processing to ensure posts look good on every platform:

• Large images are automatically resized using imgproxy, as Facebook and Instagram only accept a maximum size of 10 MB.
• Story images are cropped to portrait format (9:16) and overlaid with text. For this, the image is first cropped by imgproxy and then rendered as a finished image with text by a headless browser.

This all runs entirely on my own infrastructure. No external service, no cloud, no monthly costs (except for electricity 😅).

Pictures & Photos

I tried various solutions for the image gallery:

• Initially: The Instagram alternative Pixelfed
• Current topic: Integration via hikers
• Planned: I'm still looking for a better alternative that's fast and self-hosted. I currently use Immich for photo backups, and perhaps it will be possible to share images easily through it.

Useful apps

A brief overview of the apps that help me find accommodation and supplies while traveling:

• Booking.com: Book accommodations
• Hostelworld: Find hostels
• Warmshowers: Free overnight stays with hosts
• 1nitetent: Wild camping spots from the community
• iOverlander: Points of interest for overlanders (water, camping, etc.)
• rollingaround: iOverlander for cyclists
• Park4Night: Parking spaces and overnight accommodation
• Vildnis: Overnight stays close to nature
• Gobikecamping: Bicycle touring camping (USA only)
• Shelter: Finding shelters (Denmark only)

This supplements the somewhat older blog post where I explained the tools I was familiar with at the time:

How to plan my cycling trip - 3. Accommodation:

A good night's sleep helps me start the day well. For that, I need a good place to sleep, whether outdoors or in accommodation. But how do I find one? How to plan my cycling trip - 2. Equipment: The second big question (after the destination) is always what to pack.

Cycling Basti - My cycling travel blogSebastian

Conclusion

Almost everything runs on my own infrastructure. This means more work, but also more freedom and independence. If you have any questions about any of the tools or want to build something similar yourself, feel free to contact me!

Next

I have a test ride planned for next weekend in Tuscany, on the Strade Bianche starting from Siena. You can follow it on my channels mentioned above.

I'll also be doing a Q&A about the Pan-American Highway tour, on Instagram and later as a blog post. Maybe there will even be a merch store 😉