Europe 14, Germany, Switserland, France, Germany.

Wednesday 12 August,

The hotel is on the German side of the Rhine, just over the bridge at a busy border crossing. Which I found out during the night with continual truck traffic. The Swiss border is manned and all trucks are checked as they come into Switserland. I suspect the customs office is closed overnight hence the increase of traffic over the bridge.

The hotel is run by Chinese people, the restaurant has a 5 page Chinese menu,  a very nice lady who appears to be in charge, tells me she had been to NZ on business. WhenI said NZ is good for foreign investors, because the country is run by a bunch of naive capitalists. She smiled broadly and said, yes it is very good.

My room was small she warned me, another smile when I asked, do I have to stand up to sleep ? It is small, it has enough room for a single bed, small wardrobe at the end of the bed, the bedside table which also has the TV on it, the only way to watch it is standing by the door. The space beside the bed is taken up by a simple chair, the rubbish bin underneath it, so there is just enough room to place my two panniers on the floor beside it without blocking the door. It is shared facilities, a nice clean bathroom with shower and toilet. Different story in the morning when it turned out to be shared by 10 rooms! When I got up to go to the bathroom a big angry Russian is pacing the passage. As I had seen very few woman in the hotel's restaurant the night before I convinced him it is ok to use the ladies, that's what they do in France, Which he did, without telling him we are actually in Germany !  It got me into the men's a lot quicker ! The breakfast is very good,  and fortifies me for the days ride, back over the bridge into Switserland, to follow the mainly gravel roads along the Rhine. 

Passing through Schaderloch, Laufenburg and at Stein my pannier rack slides down the forks and I come to an abrupt halt. Lucky it happens at an intersection dropping of a low curb, and not hitting a pothole at 60 km/h descending. I find a shady spot and dismantle the rack to remount it, no damage is
done. Interesting, while working on the bike, at least 25 or 30 other bikers passed by, a mixture of tourers and people on empty bikes. Despite many of them looking over, not one asked if I was ok or needed help, very strange indeed.

On my way again I pass through Reinfelden, nearing Basel, it is getting very built up on both sides of the river now and I get swallowed up by the city and the traffic. The sineage changes and I loose track of the route, I ride direction river but loose it again. Finally I just ride north and cross the border into France at St Louis. I continue through Rosenan, Sierentz to Dietweller and onto Rixheim on the edge of Mulhouse. It has been a hot day at 37C and I enjoy my reward a big glass of cold beer after 113 km. Still managed to climb 535 m today.

Thursday 13 August.

On the road again by 8.30 and I decide to go to the German side of the Rhein, and find a bridge across via Ottmansheim at Neuenburg. Following the river again on gravel roads, through Weinstetten, Breisach am Rhein to Sasbach. A lot of those villages are a few km off the trail, so there are few buildings or houses in sight. There is industry, mostly stone and sand harvested from the river with floating barges and large storage areas along the banks where the trail goes around and sometimes straight through, passing under the conveyor belts.

After Sasbach I must have missed a sign as there are none for a long time, but as long I see the river on my left and the GPS tells me I am going in a Northerly direction it must be ok. 

At Rhinau there is a ferry across the river and I notice a  biker standing by the landing watching it come in. But he suddenly moves and start riding just ahead of me. I pass him with a greeting and carry on at a good pace. After about 20 minutes he suddenly appears beside me and obviously wants to talk. He tells me he is on his way to Poland for a 5 day music festival, dancing the nights away, he is on a 3 week tour planning to do 1000 km a week. My bullshit detector is on high alert here. I wish him all the best, stopping by a sign about the local wildlife and vegetation. He also stops and tells me he is 29 and some more detail. I ask him if he does these long tours often, no this is the first time, on his second day, sleeping in a tiny sleepingbag/tent, where do I sleep ? Well I will find something very soon, I tell him the next town is for me. We set off again and I am pleased to see the sign to Ottenheim. I have to tell him to get going as he needs to do 200km a day, he reluctantly goes after taking my picture.

I find a small hotel/gasthaus in the village, that night there is a huge thunderstorm and I wondered how my new German friend got on for just a moment.

It was another hot and humid day at 36C, riding 110 km, climbing only 85m.

Friday 14 August.

This small hotel is run by a lady of about my age, I won't say an old lady, and it is an old building of wood and plaster, no air conditioning like none of the small hotels generally.

The room has a small fan but It was the hottest sweaty night so far. Even the big thunderstorm did not clear the air. The lady spoke no english, but I get by with the little german I learned at school 60 years ago. She would have been very good by the Gestapo, as her directions consisted of one word "HIER" accompanied by a pointing finger. First where I had to put the bike, then where I had to wait while she went to answer the phone, then where I had to put my panniers in the room, this morning where I had to sit for breakfast, ( not the best) finally where I had to put the key of the room, which I had left
in the room, I got it after the third "HIER"! Then to my surprise, paying she looked at the credit card and said in perfect english: only cash !

 

A small label with Private would do, here the sign is a bit more forthright !

Guten tag Fraulein kommandant, auf wiedersehn !

 

It is raining softly when I leave the warm cell at Ottenheim, the trail is wet and soft and the bike changes colour from racing green to grey. The trail is littered with broken branches and debris for the next 70km or so,  it has been quite a storm. I ride through Kehl, which is across the Rhein from Strasbourg, Eurozone's Capital. I decide to go on and not sightsee the city as the weather is still threatening. I loose the signs again and am riding through a long nature reserve along the river. It sounds nice but it is much the same scenery all the way. The trail runs out near a large lock for shipping and I turn inland to Wintersdorf. At just over 100km I stop at a small hotel. Bike in the garage, restaurant open tonight? No, a restaurant of sorts down the road. Do you have wifi ? No ! With the forecast for more rain, I might have to stay 2 nights, but now Veronica has conned me into daily messaging, she would be worried if she suddenly did not hear from me for 2 days! Were going soft!

So I apologised and retrieved the bike and left an unhappy lady, just to make a lady in NZ happy. I ride on to Au am Rhein and Neuburgweier.

There is a ferry across the Rhein here, both sides are German now, as the border went West a few kilometres back. I follow the Rhein through Neuburg am Rhein to Maximillansau which is about 11 km West of Karlsruhe.

Here I book into a lovely hotel just across the road from a shopping centre, it is air conditioned and the host could not be nicer or more helpful. A perfect place to have a rest day tomorrow and update the blog etc.  It is raining again at arrival after 125km along muddy gravel roads in a cool 29C, climbing even less at 69 m.