Auntie Helen and PippaG go to Germany!
- Thread starter Auntie Helen
- Start date
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Keith Oates
Janner
- Location
- Penarth, Wales
Sitting here in Vietnam and reading about your travels each evening (for me) is great Helen. Keep up the good work and I hope the rest of the trip continues to be enjoyable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OP
OP
Auntie Helen
Ich bin Powerfrau!
- Location
- 47906 Kempen, Germany
Day 7 - Friday 4th September - Aschaffenburg to Mainz
Distance: 59.45 miles; time: 5 hours 54 minutes; calories: 3509
Pippa and I had decided that, as today was a long distance and the weather would get worse during the day, that we would get up early, eat breakfast and go. So we met up in the breakfast room at 7am and tucked into bacon sarnies. The first breakfast with bacon! There was also scrambled egg which was nice, but the cereal selection seemed a bit odd for Germany - no müsli, just kiddie-type chocolate ball cereals. We had some anyway.
When we went to check out the receptionist chappie was very chatty and talked to me a for a while about his niece in Oxford. When the bill came it was for 50€ rather than the expected 55€ so that was a result.
We rescued our bikes from the other hotel's storeroom and set off into a cold wind, but at least there was no rain so far. It was good to be on the road at 8am and we saw a different set of people - loads of dog walkers, few touring cyclists, a few commuting cyclists. We also noticed an unfamiliar species of goose, loads of 'em, but they all seemed to segregate themselves - the wildfowl I mean. You'd have 100 metres of regular ducks, 50 metres of swans, 100 metres of seagulls (where is the nearest sea?) and then 100 metres of these other geese. They didn't seem to mix.
At one point we went over the Main on a bridge entirely for cyclists - it was a rather attractive bridge too. It had a statue to St Kilian, whoever he is, in the middle; we keep seeing St Kilian on boats and other places so he must be a local saint. I shall wikipedia him in due course!
The landscape seemed to change today from the previous orchards (apples and pears) and sweetcorn to vines and industrial stuff. The hills that had been either side of the river also seemed to have flattened out as we pootled our way towards our first cake stop at Mülheim, just past Hanau. We found a little local bakery and bought a pastry each (I had a wonderful Himbeer Schnitte, Pippa had something akin to an apple turnover) and two cups of tea for 2,55€. Bargain again! The baker spent ages chatting to us, he was clearly a keen cyclist and wanted to share lots of good local routes with me (he kept waving maps at me). I pointed out we were going directly to Mainz, so he chatted generally about German cycle routes instead after that. He said they had a toilet at the bakery for cyclists - we thought he was joking but no, he guided us one at a time to the loo and it had a Main Radweg sticker on the door. We went right through the bakery to get there (it was in an outhouse out the back) and it was clear that they make all their bread and cakes daily - I assumed they came in from the German equivalent of Brake Bros. It was a very interesting insight into a proper baker's in Germany.
When it was time to leave the baker asked to take a photo of us and he had a good look at Pippa's "Sportfahrrad". He said Germans only use tyres that thin when they are racing. No racing here, we can barely average 11mph over the day!
We continued on our way enjoying the blue sky although it wasn't very warm. We went through Offenbach which had a rather bumpy cycle track. It joined up with the Frankfurt cycle path straight along the Main which had a lot of dishy men jogging or cycling, so that was a result.
We found at one point a statue base with "ich" inscribed upon it and instructions that we are supposed to pose on it to show our individuality. So Pippa took a photo of me standing up there, then we took one of her holding her bike, then we decided to haul my trike up onto the plinth and took a photo of me with it. Well, why not!
We continued on out of Frankfurt through a rather industrial bit and the path then wended its way around and under lots of motorways as we were very near Frankfurt airport.
We were getting pretty hungry at this point as it was 1:00pm and we had done 43 miles so we stopped at a greek restaurant in Kelsterbach and enjoyed a break with some hearty food. As we were sitting on the terrace it started to rain - oh no, more rain. It got heavier and heavier and didn't inspire us to get back on the road. But we had 15 miles to Mainz and we wanted to get there and settle in to our hotel so we decided to set off. Pippa decided to remove the outer layer of her shorts (they have a liner) to keep that from getting wet; she decided to do it just as we were going out of the door that the Greek waiter and his friend were holding open for us. She stopped and said, "oh, my trousers" so I explained to them "she's just taking her trousers off." They seemed rather nonplussed.
Fortunately the rain wasn't too heavy - yet. But the path we were on wasn't asphalted, instead it had a loose sandy covering, and as the rain soaked in it began to flick up onto our bikes and us. Soon enough we had mucky sand all over our hands, legs, gears, the tyres were digging in so we had to use a lot of effort to make progress, Pippa's brakes were all gummed up... and then we arrived at another bridge. Now we had passed a sign about six miles back that warned us that the route we were taking meant we would have to lift bikes up steps but I sort of ignored it. Now the steps had arrived they were a pain. We took the panniers off both bikes, Pippa carried hers up to the bridge and then came and helped me with mine. We then pushed both bikes all the way across the bridge, which was a LONG way as it covered a particularly wide bit of the Main that also had a lock and a weir. As we were pushing our bikes we were overtaken, on the bridge, by a most handsome and fit-looking chappie in lycra pushing his mountain bike, a more suitable bike for the path no doubt. We tried to keep up with him but he was clearly more skilled at wheeling a bike across a bridge and so by the time we got to the other side, and would have liked a helpful chap to carry our bikes, he was nowhere to be seen.
Over the other side of the bridge there was yet more sandy track, this time on a levee between two low fields. It was very weird cycling along there without changing gear (didn't want sand in the cogs) or braking (Pippa's didn't work well full of sand) but trying to keep a decent speed up as the sandiness was slowing us down, plus planes from Frankfurt were flying just over our heads. We were glad when we got onto a decent track after about two miles of this.
The rain was absolutely pouring down now and we made sure we cycled through every puddle we could see to try to clean the sand off the bikes. My rear suspension arms were caked in it and it was all around my suspension elastomer. At least my brakes worked OK. It was fun cycling through puddles but obviously also rather childish!
We were counting down the miles to Mainz and to the end of the Main River where it flows into the Rhine. As we rounded the bottom corner of Mainz and saw the Rhine in all its wide glory, the rain was like stair-rods, the roads were rivers with weird bubbles all over the place, we were soaked despite our waterproofs, and our hands were really cold. Oh how we cheered each other up with talk of the fantastic shower in the hotel just over the bridge.
The hotel was a quaint, old building stuck in the middle of a load of modern Hilton concrete monstrosities. The bicycle storage place was inside so we had to tip my trike on its side to get it in the door. There was no-one at reception but there were some keys hanging on hooks on the reception door, one of which said "Henn kock" and had two room keys so I assumed that was mine. We carried our dripping panniers (dripping water and sand) up the stairs as the water and sand cascaded off our waterproofs, shoes, bare legs (Pippa still hadn't replaced her trousers). We did the usual random assigning of keys to the rooms and after a brief moment of panic when Pippa couldn't find her room (it was upstairs somewhere), we parted, agreeing to meet again in an hour and twenty minutes' time, to hit the town of Mainz.
I found my room up a very narrow twisty staircase and walked in. What a cute little garret room, just room for a bed and a wardrobe and a bedside table. Er. Where is the toilet? Where is the shower? WHERE IS THE EN-SUITE?
I went out onto the landing and opened one of the two other doors (the other door was a room); a storage cupboard with hoover and stuff. Ah.
I went downstairs, walked along the corridor and saw a toilet and next door to that, a shower. Ah.
Pippa then appeared from the floor above, "I haven't got an en-suite..." she wailed. We both wailed. Especially as we then saw the sign that said "Breakfast 6€ per person". This was a cheap hotel at 39€ but I thought that was just because it would be quirky or on a busy main road, I didn't realise we didn't have an en-suite or breakfast!
Oh well, we would make the best of it - we were both desperate for a shower! So I went back to my garret, picked up both panniers and brought them down into the shower, returning to the garret for the towels I had forgotten. I stepped into the shower fully clothed as usual but this time also with my cycling sandals on as they were very sandy sandals. The wringing out of clothing was awkward in such a small space, plus getting dressed again and attempting to keep bare feet from the sand deposited on the shower floor by my panniers, but I managed it and emerged feeling human again. As Pippa pointed out, we've made sure that these hotels have space for our bikes - we ought not to forget to ask if they have en-suites too!
...cont
Distance: 59.45 miles; time: 5 hours 54 minutes; calories: 3509
Pippa and I had decided that, as today was a long distance and the weather would get worse during the day, that we would get up early, eat breakfast and go. So we met up in the breakfast room at 7am and tucked into bacon sarnies. The first breakfast with bacon! There was also scrambled egg which was nice, but the cereal selection seemed a bit odd for Germany - no müsli, just kiddie-type chocolate ball cereals. We had some anyway.
When we went to check out the receptionist chappie was very chatty and talked to me a for a while about his niece in Oxford. When the bill came it was for 50€ rather than the expected 55€ so that was a result.
We rescued our bikes from the other hotel's storeroom and set off into a cold wind, but at least there was no rain so far. It was good to be on the road at 8am and we saw a different set of people - loads of dog walkers, few touring cyclists, a few commuting cyclists. We also noticed an unfamiliar species of goose, loads of 'em, but they all seemed to segregate themselves - the wildfowl I mean. You'd have 100 metres of regular ducks, 50 metres of swans, 100 metres of seagulls (where is the nearest sea?) and then 100 metres of these other geese. They didn't seem to mix.
At one point we went over the Main on a bridge entirely for cyclists - it was a rather attractive bridge too. It had a statue to St Kilian, whoever he is, in the middle; we keep seeing St Kilian on boats and other places so he must be a local saint. I shall wikipedia him in due course!
The landscape seemed to change today from the previous orchards (apples and pears) and sweetcorn to vines and industrial stuff. The hills that had been either side of the river also seemed to have flattened out as we pootled our way towards our first cake stop at Mülheim, just past Hanau. We found a little local bakery and bought a pastry each (I had a wonderful Himbeer Schnitte, Pippa had something akin to an apple turnover) and two cups of tea for 2,55€. Bargain again! The baker spent ages chatting to us, he was clearly a keen cyclist and wanted to share lots of good local routes with me (he kept waving maps at me). I pointed out we were going directly to Mainz, so he chatted generally about German cycle routes instead after that. He said they had a toilet at the bakery for cyclists - we thought he was joking but no, he guided us one at a time to the loo and it had a Main Radweg sticker on the door. We went right through the bakery to get there (it was in an outhouse out the back) and it was clear that they make all their bread and cakes daily - I assumed they came in from the German equivalent of Brake Bros. It was a very interesting insight into a proper baker's in Germany.
When it was time to leave the baker asked to take a photo of us and he had a good look at Pippa's "Sportfahrrad". He said Germans only use tyres that thin when they are racing. No racing here, we can barely average 11mph over the day!
We continued on our way enjoying the blue sky although it wasn't very warm. We went through Offenbach which had a rather bumpy cycle track. It joined up with the Frankfurt cycle path straight along the Main which had a lot of dishy men jogging or cycling, so that was a result.
We found at one point a statue base with "ich" inscribed upon it and instructions that we are supposed to pose on it to show our individuality. So Pippa took a photo of me standing up there, then we took one of her holding her bike, then we decided to haul my trike up onto the plinth and took a photo of me with it. Well, why not!
We continued on out of Frankfurt through a rather industrial bit and the path then wended its way around and under lots of motorways as we were very near Frankfurt airport.
We were getting pretty hungry at this point as it was 1:00pm and we had done 43 miles so we stopped at a greek restaurant in Kelsterbach and enjoyed a break with some hearty food. As we were sitting on the terrace it started to rain - oh no, more rain. It got heavier and heavier and didn't inspire us to get back on the road. But we had 15 miles to Mainz and we wanted to get there and settle in to our hotel so we decided to set off. Pippa decided to remove the outer layer of her shorts (they have a liner) to keep that from getting wet; she decided to do it just as we were going out of the door that the Greek waiter and his friend were holding open for us. She stopped and said, "oh, my trousers" so I explained to them "she's just taking her trousers off." They seemed rather nonplussed.
Fortunately the rain wasn't too heavy - yet. But the path we were on wasn't asphalted, instead it had a loose sandy covering, and as the rain soaked in it began to flick up onto our bikes and us. Soon enough we had mucky sand all over our hands, legs, gears, the tyres were digging in so we had to use a lot of effort to make progress, Pippa's brakes were all gummed up... and then we arrived at another bridge. Now we had passed a sign about six miles back that warned us that the route we were taking meant we would have to lift bikes up steps but I sort of ignored it. Now the steps had arrived they were a pain. We took the panniers off both bikes, Pippa carried hers up to the bridge and then came and helped me with mine. We then pushed both bikes all the way across the bridge, which was a LONG way as it covered a particularly wide bit of the Main that also had a lock and a weir. As we were pushing our bikes we were overtaken, on the bridge, by a most handsome and fit-looking chappie in lycra pushing his mountain bike, a more suitable bike for the path no doubt. We tried to keep up with him but he was clearly more skilled at wheeling a bike across a bridge and so by the time we got to the other side, and would have liked a helpful chap to carry our bikes, he was nowhere to be seen.
Over the other side of the bridge there was yet more sandy track, this time on a levee between two low fields. It was very weird cycling along there without changing gear (didn't want sand in the cogs) or braking (Pippa's didn't work well full of sand) but trying to keep a decent speed up as the sandiness was slowing us down, plus planes from Frankfurt were flying just over our heads. We were glad when we got onto a decent track after about two miles of this.
The rain was absolutely pouring down now and we made sure we cycled through every puddle we could see to try to clean the sand off the bikes. My rear suspension arms were caked in it and it was all around my suspension elastomer. At least my brakes worked OK. It was fun cycling through puddles but obviously also rather childish!
We were counting down the miles to Mainz and to the end of the Main River where it flows into the Rhine. As we rounded the bottom corner of Mainz and saw the Rhine in all its wide glory, the rain was like stair-rods, the roads were rivers with weird bubbles all over the place, we were soaked despite our waterproofs, and our hands were really cold. Oh how we cheered each other up with talk of the fantastic shower in the hotel just over the bridge.
The hotel was a quaint, old building stuck in the middle of a load of modern Hilton concrete monstrosities. The bicycle storage place was inside so we had to tip my trike on its side to get it in the door. There was no-one at reception but there were some keys hanging on hooks on the reception door, one of which said "Henn kock" and had two room keys so I assumed that was mine. We carried our dripping panniers (dripping water and sand) up the stairs as the water and sand cascaded off our waterproofs, shoes, bare legs (Pippa still hadn't replaced her trousers). We did the usual random assigning of keys to the rooms and after a brief moment of panic when Pippa couldn't find her room (it was upstairs somewhere), we parted, agreeing to meet again in an hour and twenty minutes' time, to hit the town of Mainz.
I found my room up a very narrow twisty staircase and walked in. What a cute little garret room, just room for a bed and a wardrobe and a bedside table. Er. Where is the toilet? Where is the shower? WHERE IS THE EN-SUITE?
I went out onto the landing and opened one of the two other doors (the other door was a room); a storage cupboard with hoover and stuff. Ah.
I went downstairs, walked along the corridor and saw a toilet and next door to that, a shower. Ah.
Pippa then appeared from the floor above, "I haven't got an en-suite..." she wailed. We both wailed. Especially as we then saw the sign that said "Breakfast 6€ per person". This was a cheap hotel at 39€ but I thought that was just because it would be quirky or on a busy main road, I didn't realise we didn't have an en-suite or breakfast!
Oh well, we would make the best of it - we were both desperate for a shower! So I went back to my garret, picked up both panniers and brought them down into the shower, returning to the garret for the towels I had forgotten. I stepped into the shower fully clothed as usual but this time also with my cycling sandals on as they were very sandy sandals. The wringing out of clothing was awkward in such a small space, plus getting dressed again and attempting to keep bare feet from the sand deposited on the shower floor by my panniers, but I managed it and emerged feeling human again. As Pippa pointed out, we've made sure that these hotels have space for our bikes - we ought not to forget to ask if they have en-suites too!
...cont
OP
OP
Auntie Helen
Ich bin Powerfrau!
- Location
- 47906 Kempen, Germany
...cont
After chilling out for a while Pippa and I ventured out to find an internet cafe. We know there won't be one tomorrow in Spay (a teeny tiny village just downstream from Boppard) so we would make the most of the opportunity to check our train times, etc. It was starting to rain as we stepped out of the hotel (having stopped whilst we were in the hotel having our showers) and neither of us had our waterproof coats (which were dripping wet) so we just walked briskly and told each other it would stop raining soon enough.
I asked a passer-by, a young chap, if he knew where there was an internet cafe. He said it was complicated to explain but he would show us, and then proceeded to lead us half a mile through the centre of Mainz. He was talking about the weather (clearly someone has told him this is what you talk about with English people) and admitted to knowing a bit of English but not much. He left us after indicating the road down which the internet cafe lived - what a very nice and friendly chappie!
So here I am at the cafe, maniacally checking that the hotels for the next two days have en-suites (it appears so!) and working out the final train times for our return trip on Monday.
After chilling out for a while Pippa and I ventured out to find an internet cafe. We know there won't be one tomorrow in Spay (a teeny tiny village just downstream from Boppard) so we would make the most of the opportunity to check our train times, etc. It was starting to rain as we stepped out of the hotel (having stopped whilst we were in the hotel having our showers) and neither of us had our waterproof coats (which were dripping wet) so we just walked briskly and told each other it would stop raining soon enough.
I asked a passer-by, a young chap, if he knew where there was an internet cafe. He said it was complicated to explain but he would show us, and then proceeded to lead us half a mile through the centre of Mainz. He was talking about the weather (clearly someone has told him this is what you talk about with English people) and admitted to knowing a bit of English but not much. He left us after indicating the road down which the internet cafe lived - what a very nice and friendly chappie!
So here I am at the cafe, maniacally checking that the hotels for the next two days have en-suites (it appears so!) and working out the final train times for our return trip on Monday.
OP
OP
Auntie Helen
Ich bin Powerfrau!
- Location
- 47906 Kempen, Germany
Er no, no cycling up a hill after so many miles young man! Pippa said something rude at this point which I shall not type as I am too polite.mike e said:
We have taken loadsa photos but can't upload them at the moment. You will have to await our return on Tuesday for photo delights!
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Great write up.............
- Location
- The TerrorVortex
Sounds like fun (apart from the rain!).
I must do more cycling in Germany. But first I must learn German...
I must do more cycling in Germany. But first I must learn German...
Still having a great time...
, perhaps if you were both to cycle in bikini's tomorrow...
1. Not so much of an issue when you get wet
2. May attract the attention and help of "dishy" german male cyclists
Are all these people you meet and talk to speaking german or english or both I guess. How's Pippa's german?
, perhaps if you were both to cycle in bikini's tomorrow...1. Not so much of an issue when you get wet
2. May attract the attention and help of "dishy" german male cyclists
Are all these people you meet and talk to speaking german or english or both I guess. How's Pippa's german?
Andy in Sig
Vice President in Exile
- Location
- Sigmaringen, Germany
When you go up the Rhine there's an excellent place for lunch in Bacharach just along from the Post Office. It might even be called the Alte Post. In any event you go through an opening in the wall and you can eat in a nice, rustical courtyard. Don't forget to try the local Riesling when you do your overnighter in Rhine valley!
OP
OP
Auntie Helen
Ich bin Powerfrau!
- Location
- 47906 Kempen, Germany
We stopped for lunch at St Goar overlooking Loreley. Pippa has been trying the local wines, I am still teetotal! Just writing up the next two days now...
OP
OP
Auntie Helen
Ich bin Powerfrau!
- Location
- 47906 Kempen, Germany
Day 8 - Saturday 5th September - Mainz to Spay
Distance: 53.41 miles; time: 5 hours 02 minutes; calories: 3226
Well Mainz hasn't really hit the spot. No doubt it's a nice enough place, but when you're in a tiny room with no loo above a cuban bar with singing till 4am, it doesn't help with a good night's sleep. Both Pippa and I woke up several times in the night, apparently, so we were glad to get back on the road after our breakfasts of bananas and M&Ms. We rolled out of Mainz at 7:30am, having wiped the dried sand off our bikes first.
The route around the back of Mainz was fairly difficult to follow as it dipped on and off various roads. The routefinding wasn't helped by the fact that in several places people were setting up stands for events so there was scaffolding all over the path. Presumably some kind of weekend festival - almost certainly wine, being as we are in the Rheingau wine region. The paths were rough and we had more of the dreaded sandy stuff again, although fortunately in the dry it's not so bad. Our GPS courses were also a bit variable at this point - I had downloaded two Rhine routes from the internet but they weren't the official routes (which I couldn't find) and they proved to be a guide only over the next two days.
We arrived in Eltville feeling a bit fed up with our overall speed and the route. A sign for Frühstück (breakfast!) caught our eye and we stopped, thinking we could top up our rather random breakfasts several hours earlier. Outside the cafe was an HP Velotechnic Skorpion recumbent trike, which was a bit of a surprise. We went into the cafe, ordered our bread and egg and tea, and settled back to enjoy a break.
We realised the chap at the next table was wearing cycling shoes so I asked him if it were his recumbent trike. It was, and I said that I had a Trice outside (I noticed that I pronounced 'Trice' in the German manner which sounded a bit odd!) which he went and looked at, and we had a long old chat about recumbents in general. He's not actually too keen on his Skorpion, he says it's very heavy (25kg unladen) and it cost a fortune (5,000€, it has a Rohloff hub). He says it's also not good on hills. We chatted for ages, then he gave us some advice on our route along to Mainz, he admired Pippa's bike and off we went, having spent much longer than we originally planned.
I was keeping an eye out for the singer Andreas Scholl, who lives in the next village to Eltville, but didn't spot him as we trundled our way along the cobbles back to the Rhine Radweg. We quickly found ourselves at a closed bit of cycle path with diversion signs through an underpass under a motorway. The signs ran out pretty quickly but we used our common sense to follow local roads to Rüdesheim, avoiding getting swept onto the motorway at a couple of points. At least on asphalted roads we could increase our speed.
In Geisenheim we were cycling along the ever-narrowing pavement which had previously been a shared cycle path when a chap shouted to me to get in the road, "pavements are for pedestrians!" Not normally in Germany, you tend to get shouted at by car drivers to get on the pavement, but we did as requested and got onto the road.
At Rüdesheim we took the ferry across the Rhine to Bingen for 2,50€. We got a good view of the Niederwald Monument and its cablecar (I went up there last October). We disembarked in Bingen and found that the cycle path was much better here, with better signage and usually a better surface.
We were both keen to make up some of the time we had lost over the beginning of the journey; despite setting out at 7:30 rather than our more typical 9:30 we hadn't achieved very many more miles than normal by 11am. So we pedalled hard and zoomed along beside the Rhine.
At one point we were overtaken by two fit chaps in lycra. We conferred briefly and agreed to try to catch them up, so off we went, pedalling hard... and had to stop after about two miles to take off our waterproof jackets as we were overheating. We'd nearly caught the chaps too!
The route alongside the Rhine was very pretty with a different castle around each corner, sometimes three to four in view at once. We were going at a very good speed, a rolling average of probably 15 miles an hour, but had stopped for a brief photo opportunity (of a monument to Marshall Blücher who was important in the Battle of Waterloo, with a nice castle in view behind it) when a huge bunch of cycle-tourists on mountain bikes came past us. Pippa and I both agreed that we couldn't let mountain-bikers stay ahead so we set off in hot pursuit. Pippa, down on the drops, got past them fairly quickly; it was harder work for me, but I made it in due course, although two of them then sat on my back wheel and tried to re-take me, one saying "Schneller! Schneller!" to me. So I went schneller and left 'em behind. I rounded a corner to see Pippa standing beside her bike looking forlornly at it. Puncture. Three miles from our lunch spot in St Goar!
So out came the tools and she began the fun job of wrestling her narrow, sporty, kevlar tyres off the rim. She got the tyre off eventually, we found the puncture, checked the tyre in the corresponding place for any glass or stones (couldn't find anything), she put a new tube in and then started replacing the tyre. Which was difficult. Very difficult. After 15 minutes she finally got the tyre on after significant wielding of tyre levers and Anglo-Saxon.
Out came her brand new pump which is a mini track pump and really rather neat. But for some reason the tyre wouldn't inflate. We both had a bad feeling that all the tyre lever wielding might have pinched the tube, and so it proved when she took the tyre off again - two little holes in the inner tube. She was down to her last tube so I repaired the other two whilst she fitted the second replacement tube. This time the end of the tyre lever snapped off and disappeared inside the tyre so she had to take it off again to remove the little plastic widget, which fortunately came out. When the tyre was back on (easier this time, now she'd got the hang of it), it pumped up well and both my tube repairs were holding well, if not looking too elegant (the patches were a bit big really but they were the smallest in the kit). Throughout this time loads of cyclists had passed us but none stopped to help - obviously we looked too competent.
Right, off we went again, Pippa a bit gingerly till she was sure the tyre was OK, but it was all fine. Three miles later we stopped in St Goar looking across at Loreley. The sun was shining, lovely!
I had some Zwiebelsuppe which I love, and Pippa had a rather fine salad.
Argh! Rain! Lots of it!
We moved inside as a huge black cloud came over and threw rain all over the region. Please, no more rain! Both Pippa and I were fed up with rain, having had two rainy days previously - we neither of us wanted to cycle in more of it, especially as I now had a cold. So we waited it out, relieved to see blue skies further up the valley and that the raincloud was blowing away from us.
Once the rain stopped we got cracking, desperate to get to our evening destination before more wet stuff. Pippa changed down a cog a bit too enthusiastically and her chain dropped off. Never mind, she got it back on easily enough, off we went.
We had fifteen miles to our destination, the little village of Spay where we had pre-booked a hotel, and we had the bit between our teeth now. We went through Boppard at which point I had a brief celebration - my previous cycle tour had ended at Boppard so I had now joined up my Mosel and Main River tours through the Rhine. A sense of achievement for me!
As we were leaving Boppard we rounded a corner and there was a sudden steep hill (this happens quite a bit on the cycle paths). I saw it coming, changed down gear in time and made it up, rounding the corner at the top. I heard a shriek from Pippa which I assumed was the traditional shriek we both emitted when seeing a hill (we don't like hills!) She took a long time to arrive round the corner, however, and when she did get there she was laughing. Apparently she'd changed down to the granny ring a bit quickly, the chain had come off, she'd kept pedalling and then had a clipless moment and fallen over on the bike still clipped in. She picked herself up uninjured and walked up the hill. I am most disappointed I didn't get to see/photograph this event!
The final stretch from Boppard to Spay was a really fast path with more castles and some lovely views, this really was an excellently scenic part of the route. We arrived in Spay and found our hotel which looked very attractive. They gave us a key to the Fahrradgarage (bike garage) and we opened it to discover a huge double garage with about eight bikes in it (for hire from the hotel) and a whole series of tools and other bike stuff. So we cleaned the sand off the bikes using my tissues (I've bought zillions of 'em for my cold), then used some bike cleaner on the bikes, I put some silicone grease on my suspension elastomer, Pippa used the track pump to put her tyres up from 40psi to 90psi, and she even tried out the German cyclist's favourite bike accessory - a sheepskin saddle cover.
...cont
Distance: 53.41 miles; time: 5 hours 02 minutes; calories: 3226
Well Mainz hasn't really hit the spot. No doubt it's a nice enough place, but when you're in a tiny room with no loo above a cuban bar with singing till 4am, it doesn't help with a good night's sleep. Both Pippa and I woke up several times in the night, apparently, so we were glad to get back on the road after our breakfasts of bananas and M&Ms. We rolled out of Mainz at 7:30am, having wiped the dried sand off our bikes first.
The route around the back of Mainz was fairly difficult to follow as it dipped on and off various roads. The routefinding wasn't helped by the fact that in several places people were setting up stands for events so there was scaffolding all over the path. Presumably some kind of weekend festival - almost certainly wine, being as we are in the Rheingau wine region. The paths were rough and we had more of the dreaded sandy stuff again, although fortunately in the dry it's not so bad. Our GPS courses were also a bit variable at this point - I had downloaded two Rhine routes from the internet but they weren't the official routes (which I couldn't find) and they proved to be a guide only over the next two days.
We arrived in Eltville feeling a bit fed up with our overall speed and the route. A sign for Frühstück (breakfast!) caught our eye and we stopped, thinking we could top up our rather random breakfasts several hours earlier. Outside the cafe was an HP Velotechnic Skorpion recumbent trike, which was a bit of a surprise. We went into the cafe, ordered our bread and egg and tea, and settled back to enjoy a break.
We realised the chap at the next table was wearing cycling shoes so I asked him if it were his recumbent trike. It was, and I said that I had a Trice outside (I noticed that I pronounced 'Trice' in the German manner which sounded a bit odd!) which he went and looked at, and we had a long old chat about recumbents in general. He's not actually too keen on his Skorpion, he says it's very heavy (25kg unladen) and it cost a fortune (5,000€, it has a Rohloff hub). He says it's also not good on hills. We chatted for ages, then he gave us some advice on our route along to Mainz, he admired Pippa's bike and off we went, having spent much longer than we originally planned.
I was keeping an eye out for the singer Andreas Scholl, who lives in the next village to Eltville, but didn't spot him as we trundled our way along the cobbles back to the Rhine Radweg. We quickly found ourselves at a closed bit of cycle path with diversion signs through an underpass under a motorway. The signs ran out pretty quickly but we used our common sense to follow local roads to Rüdesheim, avoiding getting swept onto the motorway at a couple of points. At least on asphalted roads we could increase our speed.
In Geisenheim we were cycling along the ever-narrowing pavement which had previously been a shared cycle path when a chap shouted to me to get in the road, "pavements are for pedestrians!" Not normally in Germany, you tend to get shouted at by car drivers to get on the pavement, but we did as requested and got onto the road.
At Rüdesheim we took the ferry across the Rhine to Bingen for 2,50€. We got a good view of the Niederwald Monument and its cablecar (I went up there last October). We disembarked in Bingen and found that the cycle path was much better here, with better signage and usually a better surface.
We were both keen to make up some of the time we had lost over the beginning of the journey; despite setting out at 7:30 rather than our more typical 9:30 we hadn't achieved very many more miles than normal by 11am. So we pedalled hard and zoomed along beside the Rhine.
At one point we were overtaken by two fit chaps in lycra. We conferred briefly and agreed to try to catch them up, so off we went, pedalling hard... and had to stop after about two miles to take off our waterproof jackets as we were overheating. We'd nearly caught the chaps too!
The route alongside the Rhine was very pretty with a different castle around each corner, sometimes three to four in view at once. We were going at a very good speed, a rolling average of probably 15 miles an hour, but had stopped for a brief photo opportunity (of a monument to Marshall Blücher who was important in the Battle of Waterloo, with a nice castle in view behind it) when a huge bunch of cycle-tourists on mountain bikes came past us. Pippa and I both agreed that we couldn't let mountain-bikers stay ahead so we set off in hot pursuit. Pippa, down on the drops, got past them fairly quickly; it was harder work for me, but I made it in due course, although two of them then sat on my back wheel and tried to re-take me, one saying "Schneller! Schneller!" to me. So I went schneller and left 'em behind. I rounded a corner to see Pippa standing beside her bike looking forlornly at it. Puncture. Three miles from our lunch spot in St Goar!
So out came the tools and she began the fun job of wrestling her narrow, sporty, kevlar tyres off the rim. She got the tyre off eventually, we found the puncture, checked the tyre in the corresponding place for any glass or stones (couldn't find anything), she put a new tube in and then started replacing the tyre. Which was difficult. Very difficult. After 15 minutes she finally got the tyre on after significant wielding of tyre levers and Anglo-Saxon.
Out came her brand new pump which is a mini track pump and really rather neat. But for some reason the tyre wouldn't inflate. We both had a bad feeling that all the tyre lever wielding might have pinched the tube, and so it proved when she took the tyre off again - two little holes in the inner tube. She was down to her last tube so I repaired the other two whilst she fitted the second replacement tube. This time the end of the tyre lever snapped off and disappeared inside the tyre so she had to take it off again to remove the little plastic widget, which fortunately came out. When the tyre was back on (easier this time, now she'd got the hang of it), it pumped up well and both my tube repairs were holding well, if not looking too elegant (the patches were a bit big really but they were the smallest in the kit). Throughout this time loads of cyclists had passed us but none stopped to help - obviously we looked too competent.
Right, off we went again, Pippa a bit gingerly till she was sure the tyre was OK, but it was all fine. Three miles later we stopped in St Goar looking across at Loreley. The sun was shining, lovely!
I had some Zwiebelsuppe which I love, and Pippa had a rather fine salad.
Argh! Rain! Lots of it!
We moved inside as a huge black cloud came over and threw rain all over the region. Please, no more rain! Both Pippa and I were fed up with rain, having had two rainy days previously - we neither of us wanted to cycle in more of it, especially as I now had a cold. So we waited it out, relieved to see blue skies further up the valley and that the raincloud was blowing away from us.
Once the rain stopped we got cracking, desperate to get to our evening destination before more wet stuff. Pippa changed down a cog a bit too enthusiastically and her chain dropped off. Never mind, she got it back on easily enough, off we went.
We had fifteen miles to our destination, the little village of Spay where we had pre-booked a hotel, and we had the bit between our teeth now. We went through Boppard at which point I had a brief celebration - my previous cycle tour had ended at Boppard so I had now joined up my Mosel and Main River tours through the Rhine. A sense of achievement for me!
As we were leaving Boppard we rounded a corner and there was a sudden steep hill (this happens quite a bit on the cycle paths). I saw it coming, changed down gear in time and made it up, rounding the corner at the top. I heard a shriek from Pippa which I assumed was the traditional shriek we both emitted when seeing a hill (we don't like hills!) She took a long time to arrive round the corner, however, and when she did get there she was laughing. Apparently she'd changed down to the granny ring a bit quickly, the chain had come off, she'd kept pedalling and then had a clipless moment and fallen over on the bike still clipped in. She picked herself up uninjured and walked up the hill. I am most disappointed I didn't get to see/photograph this event!
The final stretch from Boppard to Spay was a really fast path with more castles and some lovely views, this really was an excellently scenic part of the route. We arrived in Spay and found our hotel which looked very attractive. They gave us a key to the Fahrradgarage (bike garage) and we opened it to discover a huge double garage with about eight bikes in it (for hire from the hotel) and a whole series of tools and other bike stuff. So we cleaned the sand off the bikes using my tissues (I've bought zillions of 'em for my cold), then used some bike cleaner on the bikes, I put some silicone grease on my suspension elastomer, Pippa used the track pump to put her tyres up from 40psi to 90psi, and she even tried out the German cyclist's favourite bike accessory - a sheepskin saddle cover.
...cont
OP
OP
Auntie Helen
Ich bin Powerfrau!
- Location
- 47906 Kempen, Germany
...cont
The hotel rooms were excellent and we went straight downstairs before showers for some Apfelstrudel mit Eis and a cup of tea. Just wonderful! We then had our shower/washing clothes thing, then went down for dinner. We both chose Spargelcremesuppe (as we're in Germany) and then I had a fab pork with Pommes meal and Pippa had Pfifferlinge mit Semmerknödel. Yummy! The proprietress of the hotel came and talked to us and was extremely friendly - she gave me a cup of tea to take up to my room because of my cold, and included a second cup of Sri Lankan tea for colds. Germans tend to have lots of different tea varieties which supposedly help with various ailments - no doubt there's a tea for people with a sore left thumb. Anyway, I drank most of the Sri Lankan tea (which was very hot - spicy hot) and then went to sleep in the very comfortable room. Definitely the best hotel yet!
The hotel rooms were excellent and we went straight downstairs before showers for some Apfelstrudel mit Eis and a cup of tea. Just wonderful! We then had our shower/washing clothes thing, then went down for dinner. We both chose Spargelcremesuppe (as we're in Germany) and then I had a fab pork with Pommes meal and Pippa had Pfifferlinge mit Semmerknödel. Yummy! The proprietress of the hotel came and talked to us and was extremely friendly - she gave me a cup of tea to take up to my room because of my cold, and included a second cup of Sri Lankan tea for colds. Germans tend to have lots of different tea varieties which supposedly help with various ailments - no doubt there's a tea for people with a sore left thumb. Anyway, I drank most of the Sri Lankan tea (which was very hot - spicy hot) and then went to sleep in the very comfortable room. Definitely the best hotel yet!
OP
OP
Auntie Helen
Ich bin Powerfrau!
- Location
- 47906 Kempen, Germany
Day 9 - Sunday 6th September - Spay to Bonn
Distance: 51.91 miles; time: 5 hours 06 minutes; calories: 3183
Best breakfast yet! We certainly like the Flair Hotel Alte Posthof in Spay, definitely one to choose if you're ever in that part of the world!
We had allowed ourselves a bit of a lie-in and leisurely breakfast as we only had fifty miles to go today. We left at 9:15 with reasonable skies although quite a chill in the air. We both put on our armwarmers and kept them on all day.
We approached Koblenz through the woodland path in which I remember getting lost last time, with me cycling under various barriers which clearly aren't designed to keep recumbent tricyclists out, and then hit Koblenz itself, which could be renamed Cobble-enz. They have cobbled all the pedestrian/cycling areas which keeps the speed down of cyclist but really got on Pippa's nerves. The cycle route to Deutsches Eck (where the Mosel/Moselle flows into the Rhine) was closed off for building work so we had to lift the bikes up eight steps to get there by an alternative, cobbly route. We took the obligatory photograph in front of the huge statue of some German Kaiser, then headed for the bridge over the Mosel. I had to stop as the cobbles had shaken my mirrors loose and I had to renew the gaffer tape which has held them in position very well so far.
After the crossed the Mosel and carried on up the Rhine the path was variable. It was usually asphalt or inset bricks but tree roots had lifted it in places so it could be pretty bumpy. Being a Sunday lots of Germans were out and about so there was more traffic than normal, much of it slow and pootling.
We stopped for a cup of tea after twenty miles in Weißenturm; I was reminded of the strangeness of some German toilets which contain a little shelf so you can study your previous day's food intake. They seem to be phasing them out but you still find them in odd old-fashioned places like our tea stop!
We continued on. I realised that I had today seen my first unscooped poops - the previous seven days of German cycling have seen loads of dogs but never any dog mess. Clearly the Rhine north of Koblenz is downmarket!
We passed a rather sweet Beagle which peered at me in a nonplussed fashion. I could see it staring at me in my mirrors as I moved away, about 200 metres. As which point I heard Pippa's shout and saw the dog had started to run after me. It was on a very long lead and was racing along, so I stopped the trike and stood up to say hello to it (and catch it for the owner), but as soon as I stood up I clearly became uninteresting and it turned back of its own accord. I wanted to give it a pat!
The route wended around a bit under a road on stilts and at this point I caught up with two racing whippets on racer bikes (you usually see tourers in Germany, these were some of the first drop bar bikes we'd seen). I thought these two were women but Pippa assures me they were young boys. Anyway, I caught up with them and one saw me and I heard him/her say something to the companion. I saw Pippa had come up behind me so I waved her past to race them, I knew she'd want to! Off she sped, passing them, down on the drops, and they kicked back to try to pass her again, which they did eventually manage (she had two panniers on her bike, of course). I was doing my best to keep up but couldn't get my trike above 20mph, I think it's the weight of the panniers and all the food I've been eating. Pippa managed to do 26mph in her racing mode!
We stopped in Bad Breisig, one of my favourite little towns, for lunch in a pizzeria as drops of rain were beginning to fall. Oh no, rain! The cloud looked fairly small and in fact went away pretty quickly and we were left with mostly clear skies, although it still wasn't that warm.
Our speed increased over the last 15 miles as we were ready to reach our destination and the cycle path was much better.
Seen on the ride today:
3 tandems
1 recumbent trike (delta, not tadpole)
1 recumbent bike
1 red squirrel (saw two yesterday)
A recumbent tricycle tandem by Hase. How on EARTH do they get that round some of the cycle path obstructions????
We arrived at our hotel in Bonn which looked rather seedy. Uh oh. But the receptionist was super-friendly, helped us carry our bikes down into the Keller which was the secure Fahrradgarage, she then chatted to us about local beer, restaurants and told us where to find the internet cafe. The rooms were actually very nice and we both had excellent hot showers and our last experience of washing our clothes in the shower, hurrah!
We plan to leave tomorrow probably by 8:30am to give us a leisurely ride to Köln (Cologne) where we will get the train to Mönchengladbach, then another train to Venlo, then a Dutch train to Rotterdam. We'll cycle from Rotterdam to Hoek van Holland where our overnight ferry awaits us. Tuesday morning will see us enjoying a Manningtree Station Breakfast with our menfolk before Pippa gets the train back to London...
Distance: 51.91 miles; time: 5 hours 06 minutes; calories: 3183
Best breakfast yet! We certainly like the Flair Hotel Alte Posthof in Spay, definitely one to choose if you're ever in that part of the world!
We had allowed ourselves a bit of a lie-in and leisurely breakfast as we only had fifty miles to go today. We left at 9:15 with reasonable skies although quite a chill in the air. We both put on our armwarmers and kept them on all day.
We approached Koblenz through the woodland path in which I remember getting lost last time, with me cycling under various barriers which clearly aren't designed to keep recumbent tricyclists out, and then hit Koblenz itself, which could be renamed Cobble-enz. They have cobbled all the pedestrian/cycling areas which keeps the speed down of cyclist but really got on Pippa's nerves. The cycle route to Deutsches Eck (where the Mosel/Moselle flows into the Rhine) was closed off for building work so we had to lift the bikes up eight steps to get there by an alternative, cobbly route. We took the obligatory photograph in front of the huge statue of some German Kaiser, then headed for the bridge over the Mosel. I had to stop as the cobbles had shaken my mirrors loose and I had to renew the gaffer tape which has held them in position very well so far.
After the crossed the Mosel and carried on up the Rhine the path was variable. It was usually asphalt or inset bricks but tree roots had lifted it in places so it could be pretty bumpy. Being a Sunday lots of Germans were out and about so there was more traffic than normal, much of it slow and pootling.
We stopped for a cup of tea after twenty miles in Weißenturm; I was reminded of the strangeness of some German toilets which contain a little shelf so you can study your previous day's food intake. They seem to be phasing them out but you still find them in odd old-fashioned places like our tea stop!
We continued on. I realised that I had today seen my first unscooped poops - the previous seven days of German cycling have seen loads of dogs but never any dog mess. Clearly the Rhine north of Koblenz is downmarket!
We passed a rather sweet Beagle which peered at me in a nonplussed fashion. I could see it staring at me in my mirrors as I moved away, about 200 metres. As which point I heard Pippa's shout and saw the dog had started to run after me. It was on a very long lead and was racing along, so I stopped the trike and stood up to say hello to it (and catch it for the owner), but as soon as I stood up I clearly became uninteresting and it turned back of its own accord. I wanted to give it a pat!
The route wended around a bit under a road on stilts and at this point I caught up with two racing whippets on racer bikes (you usually see tourers in Germany, these were some of the first drop bar bikes we'd seen). I thought these two were women but Pippa assures me they were young boys. Anyway, I caught up with them and one saw me and I heard him/her say something to the companion. I saw Pippa had come up behind me so I waved her past to race them, I knew she'd want to! Off she sped, passing them, down on the drops, and they kicked back to try to pass her again, which they did eventually manage (she had two panniers on her bike, of course). I was doing my best to keep up but couldn't get my trike above 20mph, I think it's the weight of the panniers and all the food I've been eating. Pippa managed to do 26mph in her racing mode!
We stopped in Bad Breisig, one of my favourite little towns, for lunch in a pizzeria as drops of rain were beginning to fall. Oh no, rain! The cloud looked fairly small and in fact went away pretty quickly and we were left with mostly clear skies, although it still wasn't that warm.
Our speed increased over the last 15 miles as we were ready to reach our destination and the cycle path was much better.
Seen on the ride today:
3 tandems
1 recumbent trike (delta, not tadpole)
1 recumbent bike
1 red squirrel (saw two yesterday)
A recumbent tricycle tandem by Hase. How on EARTH do they get that round some of the cycle path obstructions????
We arrived at our hotel in Bonn which looked rather seedy. Uh oh. But the receptionist was super-friendly, helped us carry our bikes down into the Keller which was the secure Fahrradgarage, she then chatted to us about local beer, restaurants and told us where to find the internet cafe. The rooms were actually very nice and we both had excellent hot showers and our last experience of washing our clothes in the shower, hurrah!
We plan to leave tomorrow probably by 8:30am to give us a leisurely ride to Köln (Cologne) where we will get the train to Mönchengladbach, then another train to Venlo, then a Dutch train to Rotterdam. We'll cycle from Rotterdam to Hoek van Holland where our overnight ferry awaits us. Tuesday morning will see us enjoying a Manningtree Station Breakfast with our menfolk before Pippa gets the train back to London...
