Europe 15, Germany

Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 August.

Despite the forecast the rain did not stop, so I am quite happy sitting it out in this nice hotel. The wifi was a little troublesome for a start, but the host sorted it and I got my private router in the room. I must say how helpful and friendly they are in this hotel.

I spent the day reading, relaxing venturing out to the shopping centre and going out for meals as the restaurant in the hotel is closed. I cannot quite work out if the chef is on holiday or they have decided to close it permanently. There is a terrific breakfast and I am certainly getting my share of that. also the TV has Eurosport and I have been watching the Econo Tour and the tour of Norway cycling, and the German Bondes League football. No shortage of things to do or to get bored.

Monday 17 August.

After another good breakfast and parting like old friends, I am away by 8.30.  It is heavily overcast and the temperature is barely 12C. Quite a change from the previous days and the hot sticky nights. The road takes me through Worth and past the Mercedes-Benz factory, with several street names with the Mercedes name incorporated. The trail follows the main road which is quite busy and I have to negotiate several large round-a-bouts. Following the water again I pass through a lot of places with names ending with "Heim", Leimersheim and one of them called Sonderheim.

Sonder meaning without, so the poor people living there don't actually have a Heim, that must be devastating for them ! I lost the signs to the trail in Germersheim and had to back track to find it and lost it again in Lingenfeld. It is generally very well marked and I have got used to the logic of the people who designed and installed it. But sometimes trees or shrubbs have growen tall and hide the odd sign, but especially when criss crossing commercial areas, parked trucks are a nuisance and often block the view of a sign, so one has to be alert.

At Speyer there is a huge Transport and Technology museum with an impressive range of aircrafts on display, most accessible by visitors. A long stretch of main road riding followed which was good for progress but not very safe in this fast and busy traffic. Passed through Otterstadt and when in Altrip I obeyed the sign to Mannheim which was still 12 km away. It took me to a ferry, which took me across to Neckarau, which is the industrial hub of Mannheim. The pollution is terrible and I can feel the effects quite clearly on my breathing. It is a terrible ride into Mannheim from here, dodging trams, trucks and cars all the way in. In hindsight I could have stayed on the trail as there is a bridge with cycle lane not too far from the old centre where I am staying.

The hotel is an old fashioned one, I am on the fifth floor, and have a view of a flat roof just below me and can see the rain disturbing the puddles on it. They have a few bus tours in so dinner is delayed until after 8 pm, with the risk of having to wait ages between placing the order and actually getting the meal. I decide to go for a walk and find a restaurant full of students, which is very good and reasonably priced. Another good day, biking 87 km, climbing 112m, with temperatures from 12 to 18C, average speed 21 km/h.

Tuesday 18 August.

Away early at 7,30, to beat the rush hour traffic and the hordes of tourbus travellers coming down for breakfast. It was quite noisy overnight with a few drunks crashing around in the passage and a lot of loud talking and laughing. I quickly found the signs to the route, which I had checked out last night, and I was across the bridge into Ludwigshafen in no time. The signs took me along one of the main thoroughfares, with a bike lane of sorts, sharing the footpath which keeps one out of the traffic lanes but having to drop off the curbs at intersections makes the going slow and hard on the bike. At one point the sign pointed straight at a gate with barriers, and I followed the many people approaching it.Security guards were at the barriers and other cyclists had demounted and walking up to the turnstiles. Then I realised they had cards to open the small gates for them. The security guard came
over, stopped me and told me to go around the building into the next road. Which I did, and realised it
was a BassF factory. As I rode on through the parallel road as directed I passed many more gates, and there were still gates after turning off 7 km later ! These businesses are huge, and put NZ industry into perspective.

It became more rural after Petersau, Worms and Hamm am Rhein. Then turned more inland and rode through many orchards, apple, pear and plums. Some look neglected with uncut grass and weeds and lots of wind fallen fruit under the trees on the ground. Many bikers stop and help themselves, but some orchards are fenced off to keep them out. Going through Ludwigshohe, Dienheim and Oppenheim, getting back to the Rhein at Nierstein. Followed by Nackenheim and Mainz. Another big city, I normally avoid at all cost, but on this route, there is no choice. I gave Mainz little attention apart from a quick lunch at McDonalds, another thing I avoid at all cost in normal circumstances and carried on to Budenheim and Bingen, where I booked into a hotel in sight of the first castle. 

Riding 118 km, climbing 103 m, temperatures 13-21C, average speed 19.9 km/h.

Wednesday 19 August.

The morning is clear and the sun is out! Setting off it is very chilly at 11C, I haven't adjusted to the change in temperature yet and am still riding in just my shirt. It is very busy with bikers and the trail varies again from smooth sections through tree lined alleys, to rough uneven and damaged paving, some gravel and edges of busy roads and railway lines. 

The views of the castles and ruins are restricted to the ones on the other side of the river, and the best way to experience this in comfort is definitely by boat, preferably from ones own deckchair with a glass of Riesling from this region.  The hills are wooded and the are much closer to the river, but it lacks the rural feel and the villages and towns continue from one into the other. 

I pass through Niederheimbach, Bacherach, Oberwesel and Sankt Gorrshausen.

Through Boppard, Braubach and Lahnstein I reach Koblenz, which is a nightmare to get through. The waterfront is wide and full of people, rows of tourist busses parked were ever they can squeeze in. There is a gondola to take tourists across the river to an old fortification on the hill opposite. One feels very much out of place on a bicycle here and the poor tourist trying to queue for attractions, taking a photo or just aimlessly wandering about don't appreciate these rogue bikers coming through, despite the fact they are blocking the bike lanes.

I decide to continue through and ride on through Umaz, Leutesdorf and Bad Breisig to a small hotel in Krip, across the Rhine from Linz. Riding 109 km, climbing 118m, temperatures from 11 to 25C, average speed 19.8 km/h. 

Thursday 20 August.

Another chilly start at 11C, the hills retreat and the space is competed for by agriculture and industry. After Remagen, Bad Honnef and Koningswinter I reach Bonn, expecting the usual loss of trail, and finding my way through the city, but none of that, the ride is virtually uninterrupted along the river. I don't dwell in cities and usually I avoid them at all cost, sightseeing cities is not convenient on a loaded bicycle. 

Niederkassel follows, then Wesseling and Rodenkirchen, before the next big city Cologne or Koln, here it is a lot more troublesome to get through, but not before stopping and taking a picture of part of the famous cathedral.

After Koln it gets more industrialised and after Chorweiler and Zons I am on a wild goose chase, around Neus, with confusing signs, where I end up 3 times at the same intersection. I finally get out by using the compass and ignoring the signs and heading in a generally Northerly direction. It is sort of funny, as Neus is Dutch for Nose, and if someone plays a trick on you, and leads you astray, the saying is you have been lead by the nose. I was truly led by the nose there! 

But it got worse, getting through and out of Dusseldorf, what a nightmare. I did the same and headed North, got into the countryside, nice smooth cycle ways. I got past by a mature cyclist on a racing bike, I jumped on his wheel, meaning I sped up and followed close behind (drafting). He had not noticed, going around 30 km/h twice as we went over a bump, my gear on the bike rattles, and he stops peddling and looks down on his bike, probably thinking this rattle was his. The third time I pulled up beside him and said laughing, it is me, rattling. He was surprised to see me but I said it looks better if I hang on your wheel than if you hang on my wheel! He agreed and we had a conversation, he is 68, hopes to bike like me at my age he said, yes just keep doing it, we shook hands departing after he directed me to a hotel in Krefeld for the night. So the frustrating day had a good ending after 138 km, climbing 149 m, temperatures from 11 to 29C, average speed 21.1 km/h.

Friday 21 August,

Another sunny start at 14C and it turned out quite a challenge to find the trail again, Krefeld is a little away from the Rhine and an industrial hub of Dusseldorf. 

It turned out to be a very stop start sort of a day, with the continuous change from riverside to navigating around another huge industrial complex. Many articulated trucks to avoid, railway lines and broken road surfaces. Not the ideal bike tour to my liking.

Riding through Hohenbudberg and Reinhausen into Duisburg, another big industrialised city. The pollution is very noticeable and the skyline is a continuous line of smoke stacks and cooling towers. In between all this are the villages, some new obviously built to house the workforce, but also old ones that have been taken over and squeezed by the "development".

Once through Duisburg, Bearl and Walsum, the countryside becomes more rural again. Despite the confusing or missing signs here and there the ride is more enjoyable, passing through Momm Niederburg and Wesel, the Rhine bends and twists much more here and the ride is much longer than expected. Often the trail runs a top or beside the dyke or flood dam built along the entire length of the river, but here for some reason locked steel gates prevent us from following the signs and we have to follow some of the main roads to progress. I blame the belligerent farmers for it, although I haven't got the slightest bit of proof. I finally reach Emmerich am Rhine, on the Dutch border, where I plan to have a rest day and update the final German blog. Over the bridge and the 2 hotels in town are both locked up, so I have no choice than to ride into The Netherlands. 

In 'sHeerenberg they are full, but find a bed in Zeddam, about 5 km over the border. 

Riding 126 km, climbing 186 m, temperatures from 14 to 28C, average speed 20.1 km/h.