Winnershsaint
Guru
A friend and colleague of mine is planning to cycle next summer from Basel to Rotterdam, roughly following the course of the Rhine northwards. This year he flew with his bike to Barcelona with the intention of cycling back to Cherbourg. In reality his ambitions were unrealistic not because he is deficient as a cyclist but more because his inability to plan. He ended up cycling only between Narbonne via Carcassonne along the Canal du Midi to Toulouse in two legs, before resorting to rail travel. He seriously underestimated distances and the terrain.
I have said that I would help plan a route between the the above cities. Therein lies a difficulty.Looking at it the first part of the ride would appear to favour going north, actually in France towards Strasbourg. Finding suitable routes is much easier a lot of France, like the UK is covered by streetview so it is possible to see where you are mapping. Unfortunately where the planned route enters Germany streetview is not available. I am not familiar with the road system in Germany so am after some advice as to which categories of roads to avoid. Also Ride with GPS seems to do a lot of auto-routing along the Rhine. It is not clear whether these are actual roads or cyclepaths etc. I wonder if anyone is able to shed any light on this.
I have said that I would help plan a route between the the above cities. Therein lies a difficulty.Looking at it the first part of the ride would appear to favour going north, actually in France towards Strasbourg. Finding suitable routes is much easier a lot of France, like the UK is covered by streetview so it is possible to see where you are mapping. Unfortunately where the planned route enters Germany streetview is not available. I am not familiar with the road system in Germany so am after some advice as to which categories of roads to avoid. Also Ride with GPS seems to do a lot of auto-routing along the Rhine. It is not clear whether these are actual roads or cyclepaths etc. I wonder if anyone is able to shed any light on this.