Europe 2023 from Frankfurt
| Category | Type | Name/Conf/Description | Notes | Cost | Origin | Destination | Kms | To Date | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-04-11: Planning | |||||||||
| Tip | Accommodation Resource | Le Camping Sauvage Aires de Service - France: An aire is a low cost or free private camping area in France. Often, they are run by the local town council. They are usually parking lots and not suitable for tents. | Principal Rules (from https://rural-camping.com/france/wild-camping.htm):
This is most popular in wild country and is practised in particular by hikers and cyclists. For specific restrictions per National Park or Regional Park, see Le camping sauvage website (in French).In most areas (including many parks) visitors can pitch their bivouac or light tent in any suitable location on public land subject to the general rules concerning coastal areas, listed natural sites, historic monuments, and explicit local restrictions (notably a sign indicating no camping). Bivouacking is generally a one-night stop, and is implicitly authorised between the hours of 7 p.m and 9 a.m, though local bylaws may specify slightly different times. Campers are required to leave nothing behind when they leave. Local restrictions may well apply in summer with regard to fires. It is safe to say that making an open fire when wild camping in dry areas in France in summer is implicitly forbidden. Wild camping on private land with the owner's permission is not subject to time limitations. | 0 | |||||
| Tip | Accommodation Resource | Wild Camping in Switzerland Is wild camping allowed? | Wild camping is generally tolerated in Switzerland above the treeline, with some restrictions. Wild camping is definitely not allowed in protected areas nature preserves, game rest zones, hunting grounds or Swiss National Park. Check the signs posted at the entrance to the nature area. There may be additional restrictions by the canton, city or mountain resort. So best to ask at the local tourist information office. Generally, you are expected to use a Bivouac bag, not a tent. Make sure to leave no trace, packing out all trash and human waste. On private land, you are expected to get permission from the farmer. This is common practice and we’ve done it before. We saw wild campers on one of our hikes, so we asked at the local hut and they gave us permission. So we came back the next weekend and camped. In principle, according to the Civil Code, forests and pastures are accessible to everyone. However, restrictions may apply depending on the canton or commune. In addition, free camping in certain protected areas is expressly prohibited or not possible due to entry bans. These include the Swiss National Park, the federal hunting ban areas, many nature reserves and the wildlife rest areas (during the protection period). Otherwise, a single overnight stay of a small number of people in the mountains above the tree line is usually unproblematic – if it is done considerately. | 0 | |||||
| Tip | Accommodation Resource | Open Camping | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Accommodation Resource | Tyrol Camping | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Switzerland Mobility Cycle Routes | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Switzerland Mobility Graubünden Route 6 | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Innradweg | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Furstenbruck Tierfeancastel bypass route | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Switzerland Mobility Home Page | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Switzerland Mobility - Cycling in Switzerland | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Careful Pointing! Point with forefinger and middle finger together | Try not to use your pointer finger to show the number one. Pointing your forefinger at someone or something in France is very rude. It's just like Americans using their middle finger. Try very hard not to point with your forefinger. It's very offensive.To point at something, use your thumb or use your forefinger and middle finger together. Have you ever seen a flight attendant point out the emergency exits on an airplane? He or she uses the forefinger and middle finger, never just a forefinger. They certainly don't want to risk offending passengers! | 0 | |||||
| Tip | General Info | Cimeditine for Shingles Cimetidine (brand name Tagamet) can be used to treat shingles early. | Cimetidine, sold under the brand name Tagamet among others, is a histamine H2 receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production. It is mainly used in the treatment of heartburn and peptic ulcers. -- Does cimetidine help shingles? It was proved that the efficacy of the Herpes zoster treatment by cimetidine is inversely proportional to the time of the disease duration. The authors suggest to use cimetidine in the treatment of Herpes zoster virus infections even during the prodromal period. -- The course of shingles can be divided into three stages: Prodrome (early symptoms stage) – one to four days prior to rash appearing. Infectious rash (acute stage) – seven to ten days duration. Resolution (healing stage) – two to four weeks duration. The rash is usually painful, itchy, or tingly. These symptoms may precede rash onset by several days. Some people may also have headache, photophobia (sensitivity to bright light), and malaise in the prodromal phase. The rash develops into clusters of vesicles. Cimetidine seems to be available to purchase in Europe. | 0 | |||||
| Tip | General Info | Distance Options Cycle distances based on options | Part 1:
Optional side trip(s) on Bodensee-Konigsee Radweg: Add 0 - 490km:
Routes we likely won't use:
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| Tip | Handy | Weather Links | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | Cycle Travel Site from Laura | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | My German City Look up what's special about each city | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | Bike Store: Herrmanns Radhaus 2 Treburer Str. 24, 64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf, Germany\n Open M, T, W am, R, F, S am | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | Bike Store: Stadler Borsigallee 23, 60388 Frankfurt am Main, Germany\n Open M, T, W, R, F, S | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | Bike Store: Radhaus Walldorf Kelsterbacher Str. 69, 64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf, Germany\n Open M, T, R, F, S | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | Bike Store: Fahrrad Küchler Westendstraße 36 -38, 64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf, Germany\n Open T, W, R, F, S | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | MoveYourHome Moving and Cartons\n Mörfelder Landstraße 6\n60598 Frankfurt am Main | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | MASH storage MASH GmbH Kurier- und Transportservice\n An den Sportplätzen 8, 64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf, Germany\n 49 6105 4558880 | Our warehouse is located in the immediate vicinity of Frankfurt amMain Airport. There are inexpensive options for interim storage orpermanent storage available to you at any time. It is also possible toset up a pool warehouse for products or spare parts. Our warehouse hastwo truck and one van ramp. Of course, our warehouse is heatedfrost-free in winter. Please contact us, we will be happy to determineyour needs with you. | 0 | |||||
| Tip | Handy | Storebox Frankfurt Offenbacher Landstraße 416-418, 60599 Frankfurt am Main | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | LagerBox Hanauer Landstraße 314\n60314 Frankfurt | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Other | Atuvos tags 1: Rhonda bicycle\n 2: Brent bicycle\n 3: Rhonda stuff box\n 4: Brent stuff box | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Reminder | Confirm ride to airport Tannis and Michel have both indicated they can probably take us | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Reminder | Test VOIP Numbers Do I want/need a virtual phone number on this trip? | Need to buy/subscribe to one of their phone numbers to use: - Dingtone (France and Austria, other Europe. Can't seem to get one of these - maybe when I'm there? Canada is $5/mo) - OnOff (France $13/mo and Austria $17/mo, other Europe. Canada is $5/mo) - TalkU (France and Austria, other Europe. Exactly the same as Dingtone?) - Numero (Austria - €5/mo, other Europe) TextNow (1-587-206-5456) - probably just won't work at all, but try anyway | 0 | |||||
| Tip | Reminder | How I planned this time Take Along:\n
| Create spreadsheet:
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| Tip | Reminder | VOTE! Special Ballots will be mailed to Ira on May 1st | 1. Review the package and the instructions Make sure that you have received: A Special Ballot A Ballot Envelope (Envelope A) A Return Envelope (Envelope B) A Special Ballot Declaration A list of authorized identification Instructions for how to complete your Special Ballot 2. Write in the name of the candidate or the registered political party that you wish to vote for – on the ballot, legibly, in pencil or pen. Special Ballots are a write-in ballot. They do not contain the names of the candidates running in your electoral division. Elections Alberta will post the list of candidates as their nomination papers are accepted. It is recommended that electors wait until nominations close, so they are aware of all candidates that are running before completing their ballot. 3. Seal your ballot. Put your ballot in the grey Ballot Envelope (A) and seal the envelope.Do not put anything else inside of this envelope. 4. Complete your special ballot declaration. Review the declaration form, making sure that your name, address and other information on the form is correct. Review the declaration statement and sign and date the form. If there are any errors, please call 1-877-422-8683. 5. Make a copy of your identification Include a copy of your Alberta Driver’s License or Identification Card with your name and current physical address showing, or two pieces of identification, both with your name and one piece showing your current physical address. 6. Prepare your package for return mailing Put your Ballot Envelope (A), Special Ballot Declaration, and a copy of your identification into the purple Return Envelope (B).Seal the envelope. 7. Mail or return the envelope to the returning office – so that it is received before 8:00 pm on Election Day. When your Special Ballot package is received at the returning office, an election officer will open it to confirm that you have signed the declaration and sent in a copy of your identification. Once these documents are confirmed, your ballot envelope will be placed in the ballot box, and you will have successfully voted by mail. | 0 | |||||
| Tip | Reminder | Pay VISA How to... | Auto-payments set up from Tangerine for $1500/ea on Apr 25 and May 25 $3000 in EQ Bank account for additional If more than that is needed, pay from Andwa Scotia and pay back upon return | 0 | |||||
| Tip | Travel Resource | Switzerland Mobility Busses and Trains | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Travel Resource | Bikes on SNCF Trains | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Travel Resource | Deutschland Ticket Smartphone app, \"Dein Deutschlandticket\" - new app to buy and cancel subscription. | Developer says passengers will be able to view a timetable for the whole of Germany with real-time data in the app. | 0 | |||||
| Tip | Travel Resource | Route Plan Saved on Dropbox - log-in to find link | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Travel Resource | Air Canada Bicycle Policies | Bicycles must not exceed the following limits*:
Bicycles are subject to a fee of $50.00 CA/US (plus applicable taxes) for carriage on Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights, as well as on Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz. The fee applies to one-way flights and for each way of travel on round-trip and multi-segment flights. No other baggage fees apply to bicycles. Packing instructions Sports equipment bags and cases can’t contain clothing or other personal items. They must be used only to carry sports equipment. The bicycle must be placed - with handlebars fixed sideways and pedals removed - in a rigid and/or hard-shell container** specifically designed for shipping or in a bicycle suitcase (in the case of collapsible bicycles). - Tires must be partially deflated. - If packaged differently, the bicycle may be refused for carriage. | 0 | |||||
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| 2023-04-12: Fly to Frankfurt | |||||||||
| Tip | Reminder | Tannis picking up at 8:30AM | 0 | ||||||
| Travel | Flight | Edmonton to Frankfurt | AC 170: YEG-YYZ: 13:40-19:23 AC 842: YYZ-FRA: 21:20-11:10 (April 13 arrive) Cost is for two people, round trip, not including bicycles. | 3215.14 | YEG | FRA | |||
| Note: Our usual packing configuration - cardboard bike boxes from a bike store, and LARGE moving boxes. The U-Haul one is the exact dimensions to be the maximum size an airline will take before it is deemed \"oversize\". We have one ATUVOS tracker stashed inside each box - let's hope everything arrives, as planned, in Frankfurt tomorrow morning. Note: We were up and ready early this morning. Tannis showed up early to drive us. The boxes went easily into her truck. Traffic and road conditions were fine. Our check-in agent was a woman from Berlin who was very excited about our trip. The oversized luggage woman was crabby as usual but very fast and efficient. \n\n We were checked in and ready for security by 9:30am, which was when I expected we would just be arriving at the airport. We now have a long wait for our plane!! \n\n The ATUVOS trackers are working fine so far but the one for my bike started reporting low battery just as we got here. Dang it.
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| 2023-04-13: Arrive Frankfurt | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Mörfelden-Walldorf - START | Check-in: 15:00, out: 11:00. Self check-in with Lockbox Can come earlier - e-mail Aurora (through AirBnB) to let her know when we're leaving the airport Free cancellation before 3:00 p.m. on Apr. 12. Cancel before check-in at 3:00 p.m. on Apr. 13 for a partial refund. There is a bus from the airport that stops nearby. Close to the bakery Schäfer (Vitrolles Ring) you can drive to the airport, to the S-Bahn station and from there arrive. In front of the house, the bus 67, which comes from the S-Bahn station, stops Timetable see www.rmv.de Breakfast: Bäckerei Schäfer, Alpenring 2 Opening hours: Mon-Fri 06: 00-18:00 Sat06: 00-17: 00Sun 08.00-17.30 cheap breakfasthttps://www.schaefer-dein-baecker.de/node/675 Shopping:
In the evening and on Sundays, get drinks/snacks, etc.: in the kiosk Uththaman next door, around the corner next to the doner shopOpening hours: daily 07.00 to 22.00 Eating Out:
Waste disposal: all waste bins are located on the left in front of the house entrance: residual waste (grey bins), paper (blue bins), plastic/plastic (yellow bins), organic waste (brown bins) is separatedOrganic waste is collected in the round can with a green lid, which is on the window sillThe paper trash can is in the storage compartment Umbrellas:2 umbrellas can be found in the storage room Wash:There's a new washer and dryer in the basement. (Bosch). Washing powder etc. is on the washing machine.In the basement is also my tumble dryer (see photo, the high stand in the middle)Another tumble dryer is located in the storage room in the apartment incl. 2 expanders to secure it on the balconyTool: | 524.96 | Mörfelden-Walldorf | ||||
| Tip | Accommodation Resource | Waldcamping Frankfurt Option if AirBnB goes tits up | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Confirm box storage at AirBnB AirBnB host says we can leave boxes in her basement. Confirm ahead of time. | Plan A: Leave stuff in boxes and take an XL taxi to AirBnB Plan B: Unpack and load. Put boxes into temp airport storage. Ride to AirBnB. S-Bahn back to airport for boxes. | 0 | |||||
| Tip | General Info | Arrival and check-in Our flight lands at 11:10. Check-in for AirBnB is 15:00. The check-in and check-out times can be handled very flexibly if the apartment was not rented the day before. | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | S-Bahn Station Walldorf(Hess) This is our nearest S-Bahn station | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Reminder | Check for box seller Remember to check if we can buy boxes at the airport | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Reminder | How to get to AirBnB? If the weather is too crappy for riding, what are our other options? | 0 | ||||||
| Travel | Vehicle | Großraum Taxi to AirBnB | Cost includes tip plus €10 premium for large vehicle. Alejandro and Main numbers in WhatsApp | 81 | Frankfurt airport | Walldorf Airbnb | |||
| Note: Our ATUVOS trackers worked fine to track our luggage from Edmonton to Toronto and then to Frankfurt. \n\n Our luggage all arrived, and with no damage to speak of. \n\n At the Frankfurt airport we wanted to get a taxi to our Airbnb since it was cold and drizzly and that would be the easiest way to get all of the stuff over there. Only small taxis were around but Brent asked the traffic director guy who phoned Großraum Taxi (+49 171 6512652) for us. The taxi arrived within five minutes and we fit all the stuff in easily. They charge a €10 premium for the large vehicle and regular taxi rates beyond that. \n\n At our Airbnb, our host had offered to let us leave our boxes in the locked garage so I was prepared to label them as ‘do not discard - we’ll return for them at the end of June’ but when we got there she actually made room in her locked storage unit for our boxes. The bikes are parked in her garage though.
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| 2023-04-14: Walldorf and Mörfelden | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Mörfelden-Walldorf - START again | |||||||
| Activity | Cycle | Look around Mörfelden | 0 | 8 | 8 | 2595 | |||
| Activity | Hike | Fog walk and recon in Walldorf | 0 | 7 | 15 | 2595 | |||
| Travel | Flight | Edmonton-Calgary-Paris-Montpellier | Westjet canceled flights | 0 | Edmonton | Montpellier | |||
| Note: We went to bed at about 8pm local last night, quite exhausted. Woke up at 7am local and there was ground fog - one of my favorite things. Woke up The Brent and went for a lovely foggy walk. Note: We did a test ride today to check the bike assembly and Brent’s injured ankle. We did an easy 8km round to Mörfelden to have a look at the sights - the half-timbered buildings, the Goldener Apfel and the Wasserturm. The bikes checked out with a couple of tweaks and Brent’s ankle seems to be ok so far but he’ll need to take it easy for a while yet. One of the tweaks was that Brent needed different ‘toe baskets’ as the ones he brought are too short. After being soundly mocked at three bike stores (because toe baskets are so ten-years-ago), the fellow at the last store did find some in a bin of odds and ends, so… yay!\n\n After we got back to Walldorf, we left the bikes and walked up to the self-storage place to see if they sell packing boxes as Laura will need one at the end of the tour. They did not, but we found a post office slash gift store that sells a kleiner karton for €5 that will do the job. Yay! We also walked to the bike stores in town to inquire about a bike box for Laura. The fellow at the store doesn’t speak much English, and was appalled at my attempts at Deutsch, so he wanted us to go away until tomorrow so there would be someone there who speaks English. I persevered and convinced him ‘wir versuchen’ and tried again. He then said that he would unpack a bike that day and we could come back tomorrow after 10am to get a box for Laura. Yay!
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| 2023-04-15: Luggage test and Laura’s boxes | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Mörfelden-Walldorf - START again | |||||||
| Activity | Cycle | Part way to the airport | 0 | 14 | 29 | 2595 | |||
| Activity | Hike | Around Walldorf | 0 | 4 | 33 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today we loaded all of the luggage onto the bikes and went for the obligatory awkward first ride. We went a little way up the bike path towards Mörfelden, then turned around and rode partway to the Frankfurt airport. Walldorf is the perfect place to start or end a tour if you want to ride straight to, or from, the airport. \n\n In the photo of Brent in my rear-view mirror, you can see one of my favorite things about his touring configuration: in place of one of the front panniers, he has instead a cooler box that we can use to store some provisions, including beer! Yay!\n\n After the test ride we walked over to the post office and bought a packing box for Laura, and then went to the bike store and picked up the bike box that we arranged yesterday. It is quite a small box so we will have to check it asap at the end of the trip in case it will not work for Laura’s bike.
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| 2023-04-16: Ride to Königstädten and Nauheim | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Mörfelden-Walldorf - START again | |||||||
| Activity | Cycle | Small ride west of Mörfelden | 0 | 27 | 60 | 2595 | |||
Note: Some words about some gear choices: \n
We rode today from Walldorf down to Mörfelden, then west to Königstädten and Nauheim. Brent is learning how far he can push his ankle and he’s doing well. We will probably take it a little easier on the start of the tour than we would if there was no injury to content with but nothing that will really affect the tour. Yay!
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| 2023-04-17: Train to Offenburg | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Apartment in Offenburg | Host: Margit Check-in 16:00, out 11:00 Has kitchen, washer, WiFi Free cancellation before 4:00 p.m. on Apr. 16. After that, the reservation is non-refundable. | 89.12 | Offenburg | ||||
| Travel | Train | Train to Offenburg | Price for two humans and two bicycles 11:25-12:19: RE 4565 to Mannheim 13:23-14:05: EC 9 to Baden-Baden 14:31-14:56: RE 4729 to Offenburg | 116.37 | Walldorf(Hess) | Offenburg | |||
| Note: It took us three separate trains to get from Walldorf to Offenburg today, with connections in Mannheim and Baden-Baden. The first and last trains were the super-easy, roll-on, roll-off trains were used to in Germany but the middle train was kind of awful. We had to reserve sites for the bikes, which should have been my first clue. We spoke to a nice fella named Simon at the platform for the second train. He told us which carriages were for bikes and then when the train got here he ran to one of the carriages and we ran behind. He pointed at a carriage and said that’s one so we pushed our bikes up the awful steep narrow stairs onto the train as he yelled back that the spots were assigned and he didn’t know if those would be our spots. Well dang. To heck with it, I thought, I’ll check our ticket AFTER we’re on the train. Well… lo… we were actually in the right spots! It was almost a miracle. We didn’t care for the second train ride. The train simply wasn’t laid out for bicycles. It’s a wonder they even allow bikes on those trains. That being said, though, it wasn’t the worst we’ve ever had. I’m looking at you, France and Hungary. \n\n The forecast was for rain when we got to Offenburg today but it held off long enough for us to get a bite and have a look around. It’s a nice little town, although I don’t think I’d make a point to come back. \n\n Tomorrow we start riding for real. Yay!
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| 2023-04-18: Long way to Sand | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Eurocamping Sand | Cost includes €1 for wifi | 36 | Sand | ||||
| Activity | Cycle | Long way to Sand | 0 | 31 | 91 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We rode the long way to Sand today, heading east into the ‘foothills’ and then north through vineyard and cherry blossom-covered hills, then west to the campground at Sand. We had some cloud and breeze today but no rain at all. At this campingplatz there is no zeltplatz - all the sites are assigned. That’s unusual for Germany in our experience. We expect to see it more in France. \n\n When the campingplatz bistro opens we look forward to enjoying some flammkuchen! Guido made that for us last summer and we look forward to trying it again, although I’m sure it will be made with much less love than Guido’s.
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| 2023-04-19: Strasbourg via Goldscheuer | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping de Strasbourg | 37 | Strasbourg | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Strasbourg via Goldscheuer | 0 | 37 | 128 | 2595 | |||
| Note: The new sleeping pads that I bought last fall came with a slow leak. Dang. \n\n Although it’s not the end of the world for me to wake up every couple hours to pump it back up, it’s definitely not ideal. I can’t spend ten weeks doing that. \n\n Brent tried to find the leak, but without being able to hold it under water the leak is not revealing itself. I may have to just buy a new pad in Strasbourg… Note: For reasons of weather and gear malfunction (my leaky sleeping pad) we decided to head straight to Strasbourg instead of heading north to Achernsee. And when I say ‘straight’ to Strasbourg, I mean via Goldscheuer because Brent requested a ride of approx 30km instead of the direct route of 20km. Going direct would have meant going through Kehl, and providing lots of joke fodder about going to Kehl in a Kampbasket. Ah well. You win some you lose some. \n\n The first town along the way was Willstätt and it was a particularly charming town so we both took copious photos. The first six photos in this post are all from Willstätt. Then there’s one from Eschau France, and one from along the EV15 canal. The last add-on one shows a complete outfit of warm clothing that I’ve never brought to Europe before… and I’m happy to have all of it!\n\n We’re in France earlier than expected much to the dismay of our brains which were just getting used to German. Ah well… c’est pas grave!
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| 2023-04-20: Day in Strasbourg | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Couch Surf | Sandrine and Jean-Marie | 0 | Strasbourg | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | Garden-Strasbourg-Garden | 0 | 20 | 148 | 2595 | |||
Note: In 2015 we took a train to Strasbourg and rode immediately to Kehl. We never had a look around here, but now we finally did. La Petite France is really beautiful and the whole city is really interesting. I’m glad we finally got to see it. :)
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| 2023-04-21: Molsheim | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Molsheim Municipal Camping | 20 | Molsheim | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | Ride to Molsheim | 0 | 33 | 181 | 2595 | |||
| Note: I heard about a website called ‘Welcome to my Garden’ where slow travelers can camp in the yard of participants. I contacted a place in Strasbourg and last night we camped in the garden of Jean-Marie and Sandrine. \n\n This morning we woke up to ground fog, and left early to let Jean-Marie and Sandrine get on with their day. He is a doctor and she is a civil servant who works with other cities to form partnerships between them and Strasbourg to develop co-projects, for example, sustainable city projects. \n\n In addition to camping in their yard, they let us both take a shower and fed us an amazing meal and local wine. What a great experience! Note: We had an unfruitful detour in search of a DHL this morning to try and send my broken sleeping pad home. We’ll keep trying to find a DHL. Too bad the route was uninspiring though. We should have just gone north the Strasbourg and joined onto the EV5 there. Once we joined the EV5 after the fruitless detour, we finally found first coffee (and croissant) and very pleasant and scenic riding. \n\n Molsheim looked to be a very pretty little town, and when we got here it did not disappoint. The campground is uninspiring, however, at under €13 total, a steal of a deal, so you won’t hear us complaining! Note: We walked into town and had dinner at Notre Idée Fixe and then took a walking tour of the old town using a brochure from the campground. \n\n
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| 2023-04-22: Ride through Alsace to Valff | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Airbnb in Valff | Cost is for two nights | 147.99 | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | Alsace to Valff | 0 | 38 | 219 | 2595 | |||
| Note: There is a lot of rain forecast for tomorrow so I found us a little Airbnb in a town called Valff, outside of Obernai, which is on the EV5, SW of Strasbourg. We’re supposed to be heading in a generally north direction, but we have some extra days and the weather looked better this way, so we decided to do a bonus out-and-back the ‘wrong’ way on the EV5. \n\n Anyway, Jean-Marie (the garden host from two nights ago) is from Alsace, and is passionate about it so he had some recommendations for where to go. Instead of going straight from Molsheim to Obernai on EV5, we took his recommendation to go from Molsheim to Rosheim, then take the \"Voie verte\" which takes you to the quarry of Saint Nabor. He also suggested a short visit of Boersch and Otrott before heading to Obernai. \n\n Instead of staying in the ‘Voie Verte’ the whole way, I sketched out a route using cycle.travel (my new favorite app) that took us from Rosheim to Boersch and Ottrott before rejoining the ‘Voie Verte’ to Saint Nabor. As a result of that decision, we rode a HOUG (Hill of Unreasonable Grade) into Ottrott. By the time we left there I was pretty pooped and we just didn’t have it in us to go all the way up to the quarry, although we did get within a km. The last bit was just too steep. But it was a great ride. \n\n Then on to Obernai to spend the afternoon as we couldn’t check in to our AirBnB until 5:00. The forecast was for rain all afternoon but that did not materialize and we had a great afternoon in beautiful and interesting Obernai, including late lunch at La Cour de Mémé (grandma’s yard). \n\n Enroute to Valff, we detoured briefly at Niedernai to have a look at Château de Landsberg. It seems to be in a state of disrepair and probably not being used for anything. We couldn’t get a good look at it because of the wall around it, but Brent took a couple of decent shots by holding his camera up above the wall so we did get to see a little. \n\n Finally we arrived in Valff after a very challenging 38km. Checked into the AirBnB, started a laundry, and then came the rain. I’m so glad it held off for us!
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| 2023-04-23: Rest/rain day in Valff | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Airbnb in Valff again | |||||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Saverne | 0 | 50 | 269 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We are taking a day in Valff to rest, and do a little laundry and bicycle maintenance. Valff is a tiny town outside of Obernai and our Airbnb is delightfully quirky with on-site chickens. Our host doesn’t speak English and I’ve discovered that my German has now outstripped my French. Alsace is a very German French place, so the host and I communicate mostly with German. Actually I think I’m speaking something more like Freutsch because I’m using French words in my German sentences when I know them. \n\n Our host gave us a little pack of six eggs from her chickens when we got here. What a treat! We bought petit pain yesterday so we had scrambled fresh eggs and petit pain for breakfast. \n\n When we leave here tomorrow we’ll be heading directly up towards Luxembourg, which we’re looking forward to seeing before our May 3 date in Trier to meet my long-lost cousin, Sylke. Note: It was a beautiful day today… no rain except first and last thing. Our laundry dried nicely so we took advantage of the day and went for a walk around town. I liked the vending machine that sells spätzle.
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| 2023-04-24: Saverne | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Hotel | Maison dans un cadre de verdure | 75 | Saverne | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | Walff to Saverne | 0 | 51 | 320 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Our longest day so far this trip - 51km. Brent’s ankle seems to be doing well so we’re happy. \n\n We had a lot of angry skies today, and as the day went on, more and more rain. We enjoyed ‘second breakfast’ in Molsheim where there was a small market and carnival going on. It cleared off a little after we checked in to our Gîte, so we were able to go for a walk into the Saverne old town. \n\n This is our first time staying in a Gîte. It is sort of like the old style of BnB where the host welcomed you, shares some local food and info, and, in the morning, actually provides breakfast. Valerie gave us a beer and turned mine into a Picon Beer, which is an Alsatian treat.
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| 2023-04-25: Gondrexange | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Les Mouettes | 27 | Gondrexange | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Gondrexange | 0 | 46 | 366 | 2595 | |||
| Note: The ride to Gondrexange today was supposed to be about 41km but because of a couple of wrong turns it ended up being more like 46. \n\n We started off in light rain and followed the canal west of Saverne. The highlight of the day for both of us was the old canal beyond the current canal - it was beautiful and interesting. We rode through a lot of rain to the top of the hills that separate Alsace from Lorraine and I foolishly thought we were done with rain for the day. Oh no. We had plenty of rain the rest of the way, and for a thankfully brief time, some hail that seemed to really have it in for my nose. \n\n Along the old canal we found an abandoned restaurant that is now guarded by a pair of grumpy old garden gnomes. \n\n As you can tell from the photo, Nemo didn’t seem to mind the climbing or the weather. \n\n Since it’s supposed to be clear this evening, with a little rain overnight and then clear tomorrow, we have opted to camp instead of renting one of the trailers at Camping Les Mouettes. I hope it’s not a decision we regret.
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| 2023-04-26: Harskirchen | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Cœur de Alsace | 27 | Harskirchen | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Harskirchen | 0 | 40 | 406 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Last night and today we’re finally experiencing one of our favorite things about France- hearing cuckoo birds! The first time we heard them, in 2015, we realized that neither of us knew that cuckoo clocks were based on a real bird. \n\n We had a cold cold night camping but not too much rain and it wasn’t raining when we got up, so that was good. It was cold and foggy, though, and neither of us was really… feeling it. We had a long coffee in the local boulangerie and got down to the riding. \n\n The ride today was pretty much entirely beside a canal, which is a little boring, but easy peasy riding. Except for the bridge. This is our second time encountering a bridge that requires us to push the bikes up a set of stairs (and control the bikes coming down a set of stairs on the far side). Oh well. We had practice for it in 2015. Mittersheim was a complete bust for finding second coffee, but they do have a great picnic area near the canal so we enjoyed snacks off the bike. \n\n It turned out to be a great day for riding, and the campground at Harskirchen has one of the best zeltplatzes we’ve encountered. It has a ‘caravan’ set up specifically for the use of cycle travelers. We saw this once before in 2019, and it’s such a lovely service they provide. We can hang out, relax, and cook in the caravan. The zeltplatz itself is on a small peninsula off the campground. It’s very very nice.
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| 2023-04-27: Saarbrücken | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Hotel | City-Hotel Kaiserhof | Cost is for two nights. Bikes went in the cellar. Check out at 9am on Saturday to get bikes. | 212.41 | Saarbrücken | ||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Saarbrücken | 0 | 51 | 457 | 2595 | |||
| Note: It was cold camping again last night but no rain at all and we had a great breakfast at the campingplatz. It was a beautiful day for riding, but another day of following a canal, which isn’t very interesting. \n\n At Herbitzheim we were stopped by a poorly-signed path closure. The info tried to provide detour instructions but they were woefully inadequate, as were the ‘deviation’ signs. It was cycle.travel to the rescue and I was able to sketch out a custom detour that added, at most, one kilometer of riding. It took us through Weidesheim, and then we rejoined the canal, and the EV5, at Wittring. \n\n We are now back in Germany, and I am happy about it. My German is not great, but it is stronger than my French. Plus, we’re happy to be back in a place where restaurants open before 7pm!\n\n We did an adhoc laundry in the shower and are going to have beer and snacks in the room tonight. Tomorrow we’ll be having a rain day, and hopefully send the broken sleeping pad back to Canada.
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| 2023-04-28: Rain Day in Saarbrücken | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Hotel | City-Hotel Kaiserhof again | |||||||
| Note: The weather forecasts are changing constantly these days, but we decided to believe the one that said it would rain all day today and we took a hotel for two nights in Saarbrücken. \n\n I’m glad we did - it’s very soggy here today! Tomorrow is supposed to be dry and we’ll be back on our way. \n\n We saw a bit of Saarbrücken today, and achieved our goal of shipping some stuff home, including the broken sleeping pad, some maps that we won’t be using, and an SD card with backups of our photos so far.
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| 2023-04-29: Merzig | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Kanu Club Merzig | 36 | Merzig | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Merzig | 0 | 48 | 505 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We rode today to Merzig, following the Saar river. It was very industrial and less interesting than other places we’ve been. The Alsace portion of the EV5 is much much nicer. We are looking forward to reaching the Mosel and seeing Trier, and doing a day trip to Luxembourg city. \n\n Along the way today, Brent found a genuine message in a bottle by the river. We got super excited to o open it and read it but it was just a scribble. What a waste of a message in a bottle!
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| 2023-04-30: Konz | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Konz Saarmündung | 27 | Konz | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Konz - the long way | 0 | 61 | 566 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We were planning to go to Saarburg today, which would be a short-ish ride of 36km. I suggested that we could, if we were feeling ambitious, ride about 54 instead and go all the way through to the Mosel, and then west on the Mosel to the nearest campground. Either way we’ll reach Trier in just a few kilometers tomorrow. \n\n I looked up Saarburg to see if there was anything worth stopping to see there, and HOLY SNAP - the place looked really pretty so we decided we’d better at least stop for a look around and probably stay there. \n\n It’s a long weekend so most things are closed down. We were fortunate to find an open ice cream shop in Mettlach when I accidentally took us across the river from our route. \n\n We were still riding along the Saar today, but it was prettier and more interesting than the last couple of days. At one point the Saar takes a long trip to the west and then turns around and comes all the way back east. At the very end, where the river turns back, Brent spotted a mystery thing way up on the hill. Turned out it was the Treetop Walk Saarschleife, which seems to be a sky walk similar to the one they put in at the Columbia Icefield. \n\n Anyway, we reached Saarburg, and to my dismay, the only route to the campground would take us through a tunnel, which I wasn’t keen on. It was early so we decided to have a look around town before trying to get to the campground. Saarburg was even MORE BEAUTIFUL than the pictures I’d seen! It’s definitely a tourist destination, so it was very busy, but well worth the stop. It reminded me a little of Mont St Michel, and it reminded Brent a little of Rovinj (Croatia). \n\n We grabbed lunch at one of the many restaurants open there today (yay) and then I suggested eschewing the campingplatz beyond the tunnel and riding on to the Mosel. It was only about 2:30pm, so we had lots of time to make the extra 20km. \n\n When I plotted the route, we realized that we had to take a ferry to get across the Mosel to get to the campground. I looked up the ferry and the website said it runs until 8pm on Sundays and holidays, so no problem - off we went. \n\n When we reached the ferry dock, however, it appeared that the ferry had stopped for the day. The sign said it stopped running at 4:50 - much earlier than the 8pm the website said. But we were there at 4:30 so it should still have been running. It was not. After humming and hawing about what to do, and having horrible visions of stealth camping somewhere, I found a campground a few kms east at Konz. We decided to go for it. It’s not really a cycle/tent friendly place, but we managed to eke out a small plot. One thing that was interesting is that they have a self-check-in kiosk to terrorize Brent (who much prefers dealing with humans). The entire ride was close to 61km. Our longest yet on h this trip, but I’m sitting on a patio drinking a beer now so I think I’ll get over it.
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| 2023-05-01: Trier (Labour Day (FR, DE, CH, AT)) | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingpark Treviris | Cost is for three nights | 95.5 | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Trier then back to campground | 0 | 16 | 582 | 2595 | |||
| Activity | Sight See | Trier Amphitheater | 12 | 0 | 582 | 2595 | |||
| Note: For the second day in a row now I’ve decided that I didn’t care for The campingplatz we were at. \n\n The night before last we were at a Kanu Club that had a zeltplatz full of car campers who were loud and took up so much space with their vehicles and mondo tents. \n\n Last night we were at the campingplatz in Konz, and they’re not really set up for tents but they did have a small place for us. What I didn’t like is that they are automated, so there’s no person working there to ask questions. They charge a deposit for using electricity- their instructions say you can use it by waving your card key over the card reader on the outlet box, which would be totally fine, except… there are no outlets with card readers - there are essentially no outlets at all. I tried to ask the Biergarten staff, but they don’t know anything about how the campground operates so… hopefully we get a refund on Brent’s €5 that he paid to use the facilities. I did find showers with card readers. \n\n I hope this isn’t a trend on the Mosel. \n\n We rode a short 7km to the campingplatz at Trier. \n\n Just before Campingplatz Treviris, there is a Wohnmobile campground that we thought was it. We rode in. It looked awful for tenting. Then I realized we were in the wrong place, and our place was right next door! \n\n We hustled on over to the right place. They let us check in early so we can set up and go to town without all of our gear. They have coffees, and daily bread delivery. They have the biggest, most beautiful zeltplatz I’ve ever seen, with tables, chairs, benches and covered gazebos. \n\nYay!! I’m so relieved, especially since we’ll be here for three nights! Note: We got to Trier first thing this morning so we set up camp and then went to check out the oldest city in Germany, aka Second Rome, aka Trier. The city has nine unesco sites, and it is really something!\n\n We started at Porta Nigra and walked through the old town. We saw the Basilica and Dom, and walked past the Kaiserthermin, which we will return for another day. We had a good long look at the Amphitheater, which was fascinating. Note: There ended up being a number of cycle tourists in the campingplatz tonight. Kirsten from Germany, a young single woman from the Netherlands and a couple from the Netherlands. They all spoke English and we had a really fun evening schmoozing with them. Especially Brent - he gets so excited to talk about cycle touring with cycle tourists. \n\n First he went for a walk to get us beers. He was gone for about an hour searching endlessly for beers and returning to the campingplatz empty handed. Then he discovered that they sell beers AT the campingplatz. Haha!\n\n I didn’t get a photo of the cycle tourists, but I did get a photo of Brent with his spoils, and one of the sun shining on a tower behind our tent.
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| 2023-05-02: Luxembourg day trip | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingpark Treviris again | |||||||
| Travel | Train | Luxembourg day trip | 17 | Trier | Luxembourg | ||||
| Note: We took the train to Luxembourg today. We’d heard that it’s a beautiful city, so even though we didn’t have time to cycle there, we really wanted to go. So, we put the bikes into a bike parking lot in Trier and off we went. Luxembourg did not disappoint. With the city being over a thousand years old and build on the top of cliffs, the views of the city and its fortifications were stunning. \n\n We had first coffee in Trier near the Hbf. Our first stop on arriving in Luxembourg was the tourist info office where we got a couple of walking tour maps. Then we had second coffee and Brent studied the maps. Then he led us on a walking tour of Luxembourg, which was fantastic. Then we had Asian lunch (I had sushi and Asahi while Brent had dim sum and Tsing Tao). Not long after we had second beer and then we made our way to the gare to catch our train back to Trier.
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| 2023-05-03: Trier - Cousine Sylke | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingpark Treviris again | |||||||
| Activity | Other | Visit with Cousine Sylke Tentative plan to meet in Trier on May 3rd (she has Wednesdays off). Keep her apprised ahead if we will (or won't) be there. | 0 | 0 | 582 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Everyone has their own unique things that they consider‘required’ to bring on a light-packing trip. One of ours is to bring small spoons to eat yogurt with in the morning. Enjoy the pic of our small spoons full of yummy Rahmyogurt!\n\n Today we went back into Trier, this time to meet my ‘long-lost Cousine’ (from my Laggai side), Sylke, and her husband, Alfred. We had a long coffee visit with them, then we visited the Dom and the Basilica. The Dom (Saint Peter's Cathedral) was built in the early fourth century and is the oldest church in Germany. The Basilica (Aula Palatina - Konstantinbasilika) was built around the same time and is basically just one enormous room. It was built to be an impressive throne room for Emperor Constantine, and it is certainly impressive. The contrast between the Catholic and the Protestant churches is interesting. \n\n After we parted ways with Sylke and Alfred, Brent and I visited the Kaiserthermen, which we missed on Monday. It was super interesting. I love ancient ruins almost as much as I love medieval architecture. \n\n Tomorrow morning we will leave to continue our journey along the Mosel.
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| 2023-05-04: Neumagen-Dhron | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Neumagen-Dhron | 30 | Neumagen-Dhron | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Neumagen-Dhron | 0 | 45 | 627 | 2595 | |||
| Note: The original plan for today was to ride 45km to Neumagen-Dhron. Then I got ambitious and thought maybe we’d ride 56km to Wintrich. It was a beautiful day for riding - in fact, it was the first day on this tour that my arms and legs saw the sunlight. \n\n Anyway, when we got to Neumagen-Dhron, I thought the town was so pretty and interesting that I didn’t want to leave, so we’re staying here, per the original plan after all.
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| 2023-05-05: Wolf | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Mosel Camping Wolf | 30 | Wolf | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Wolf | 0 | 41 | 668 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We’re camping at Wolf tonight but the highlight of the day was Bernkastel. It had the best old town we’ve seen so far on this trip, and one of my favorites ever so far. We never did get a really good shot of Burg Landshut because of the angle of the sun, but it was still neat to see. \n\n Riding along the Mosel is flat and beautiful. I’m sure that when the vineyards are further along in the season it will be spectacular. For now, though, they’re just big fields of sticks. Note: The forecast today was for no rain but that proved to be wrong. It started to sprinkle as we reached our campingplatz. Expecting it to be short-lived, we decided to wait it out, which was a bit of a mistake. We had an absolute downpour for a while. So, we had to console ourselves with a glass of local wine. When we got a brief respite from the rain (according to AccuWeather) we raced out and set up our tent before the rain started again.
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| 2023-05-06: Brutig | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Brutig | 21 | Brutig | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Brutig | 0 | 48 | 716 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We had a 'place to stop and have a look' today only a few kms from our campingplatz. We stopped in Traben-Trarbach where we enjoyed first coffee at the old town council tavern, which was beautiful and interesting, including the old English bathroom fixtures. \n\n Brent enjoyed the St Nicholas Church with its addition that spans a creek and I was fascinated by a house that seems to be completely overrun with vines… except the doorway is very well kept so you know it’s not abandoned. Note: We woke up to an extremely wet tent from rain and dew. Along the way we were fascinated by the vineyards, including:\n - little rail cars that the vin keeper can use to ride up the steep vineyard hills\n - some lumpy hills that look less than ideal for growing anything, and yet, a vineyard \n - multi-colored vineyard hills\n\n Before our campingplatz we had to take a ferry across the river. Thankfully this ferry was actually running (unlike the one when we first left the Saar). At Campingplatz Brutig we are enjoying ’first beer’ while our tent dries.
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| 2023-05-07: Koblenz | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Gülser Moselbogen | 36 | Koblenz | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Koblenz | 0 | 52 | 768 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Almost every town along the Mosel is pretty but some seem to have been earmarked as particularly special. They attract so many tourists! Trier was one. Also Bernkastel, and today, we discovered Cochem. We didn’t spend a lot of time there exploring - just spent long enough to take some photos of this lovely place. Note: Gondorf was another pretty little town that we passed through. It was too pretty not to give it its own post. Note: Our last day of cycling along the Mosel was spectacular. In addition to Cochem and Gondolf we passed through other pretty towns and more interesting countryside and vineyards. Tomorrow we’ll pass through the Koblenz old town and then start heading down the Mittel Rhein, which we did before in 2017, but it was so spectacular we don’t mind the repeat! Note: When we got to the outskirts of Koblenz today we had to decide whether we would stop here or continue on to Lützel, which is where we stayed in 2017 with Laura. \n\n The forecast didn’t call for any rain, but there were some dark clouds and lots of thunder so we decided to stop for the day. We pitched our tent really really fast to beat the rain that didn’t come, then did a laundry and had dinner and beers. \n\n At about 7pm, I left Brent at the restaurant and came back to the tent because it was getting cold. Within about ten minutes the sky opened up and it has been pouring since - mostly heavy, but with an occasional pause. AccuWeather has been great for letting me know when it would ease up so I could run out to the loo. \n\n It’s supposed to stop in the night so hopefully we can pack up normally and have a nice ride tomorrow.
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| 2023-05-08: Sankt Goar | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Loreley Blick | 30 | Sankt Goar | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Sankt Goar | 0 | 48 | 816 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We rode to the very end of the Mosel today and visited the Koblenz old town. We discovered that my theory that the name Koblenz has something to do with ‘confluence’ was right. Yay me!\n\n We had lunch in Boppard, and while it had been cool and cloudy all day there had been no rain. Until we were heading for Sankt Goar where we’re camping tonight. Thankfully it didn’t last so we’re taking advantage of an opportunity to dry out the tent (that we packed up wet this morning) before moving in.
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| 2023-05-09: Bacharach | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Gemütlich in Bacharach | 126.23 | Bacharach | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Bacharach | 0 | 14 | 830 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We have a very short riding day today to Bacharach where we’ve booked into an Airbnb to stay out of the heavy rain forecast for tonight, so we started the day by backtracking slightly into Sankt Goar for a more thorough look. It is a very small town, but well worth the look if you’ve got the time. Note: It’s easy to see why Bacharach is called the World’s Prettiest Town. We visited here in 2017, and are back again on this tour. We had more time to spend today since we hardly did any riding (14km). The rain held off while we explored this beautiful place.
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| 2023-05-10: Bad Münster | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Nahe-Alsenz-Eck | 28 | Bad Münster | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Bad Münster | 0 | 40 | 870 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today we left the Rhein for a brief side trip to Bad Kreuznach. Since Bad Kreuznach does not have a place for tent camping, we’re camping in Bad Münster, just a few km past Bad Kreuznach. \n\n As we got close to Bad Kreuznach, some really dark angry clouds came up and we decided to race on to Bad Münster to get the tent set up before any significant rain started. Even if the tent gets rained on, it’s nice to at least start out on dry ground. It turned out that we only got a few drops of rain, so we managed a thorough walk-around of Bad Münster, and tomorrow, on our way back to the Rhein, we will do an exploration of Bad Kreuznach. \n\n One thing we found interesting along the way were some large wall-like structures being built. We surmised that they were ’living walls’ that would grow plants, as we’ve seen such things before. As fate would have it, we had a conversation with a random cyclist along the way and she told us that they are, in fact, designed to remove salt from the water. The water, which is salty in this area, is pumped up to the top, and on its journey through the wood on the way down, the salt is removed. Very interesting. \n\n The campingplatz at Bad Münster, Nahe-Alsenz-Eck, is one of the nicest we’ve ever stayed at. It’s incredibly scenic, and tranquil - no highways or trains or hoards of geese. The sanitary building is great and the showers are the best camping showers I’ve ever seen by far. The Nahe Radweg, to be honest, isn’t the nicest, but this place makes up for it. Highly recommend.
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| 2023-05-11: Heidenfahrt | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Inselrhein | 36 | Heidenfahrt | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Heidenfahrt | 0 | 39 | 909 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today we’re heading back to the Rhein, but stopping in Bad Kreuznach first. It has a famous bridge, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of few remaining bridges with buildings on them. Note: On the Nahe Radweg there is a small section where cyclists must dismount for the safety of the crossing Würfelnatter (water snakes). The cyclists we saw go through mostly abided by this. :)\n\n At our noon break we found a cool little abandoned shack that looks like it was some kind of concession in the past. \n\n We are camping at Inselrhein tonight. It is not the worst campground we’ve ever stayed in but it’s the worst in a long time. The zeltplatz is amazingly lumpy - there’s not a flat, smooth or soft spot to be found. The sanitary buildings are run down shacks and there’s no toilet paper - not even empty toilet paper holders. We carry our own toilet paper anyway because… France… but still. And it’s one of the most expensive places we’ve camped (the awesome site we were at last night was one of the cheapest). \n\n This has been our wettest tour ever. The beginning of the Loire tour in 2019 was wet but after a week it cleared. We keep waiting for it to clear, and it keeps on not clearing. Our own fault for touring in April and May, I guess. \n\n Last summer, after we experienced a leaky tent in BC, Brent scotch-guarded our tent. That’s been holding pretty good but a couple of nights ago when we had the vigorous rain, we did get some breakthrough drops. So we’ve taken to stashing my backpack cover and towel in the upper mesh to catch drops before they hit us on the face. \n\n We’ve had a few campsites now that are just covered in goose poo. Can’t blame the campsites for that… or for the rain. I’m surprised the Canada Geese at this site are not concerned with us at all - even with their goslings around. They just ignore us. So not like geese at home!!
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| 2023-05-12: Biebesheim | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campinggemeinschaft Rheinblick | 17 | Biebesheim | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Biebesheim | 0 | 61 | 970 | 2595 | |||
| Note: It was a wet morning and we had a fast, miserable start. No bakery or coffee and no sheltered place to sit, so Brent tilted a tall table to remove some of the rain and we had snacks out of the cooler box before starting out. \n\n Along the way we were looking for a bakery. The one my mapping program said would be in the next town was permanently closed so we were aimlessly searching when Brent suddenly said he smelled a bakery. Yeah right, I thought. Well, off he went around the corner and lo… a bakery. I will never doubt Brent’s bakery-sniffing skills again. \n\n We’re riding our Montague folding bikes on this tour. It’s our second tour with them. On our first tour with them, we had endless flats. We replaced the tires after the tour and Brent figured that would fix the problem with so many flats. I’m very pleased to report that Brent was right. So far we haven’t had a single flat. \n\n The day was cloudy, and sometimes windy, but there was hardly any rain at all. This section of the Rhein, south of the Rhein Gorge, is km after km of… boring. I was thrilled to repeat the Rhein Gorge. Less thrilled to be repeating this section. I think we’ll leave the Rhein tomorrow and start angling directly towards Heidelberg. \n\n We got to the campground at Biebesheim, and in spite of a dicey start (the whole place was locked and the attendant nowhere to be found), it has turned out great. Super-affordable, a covered shelter, a really lovely green zeltplatz, and even an assigned indoor outlet for us to use.
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| 2023-05-13: Hemsbach | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Wiesensee | 44 | Hemsbach | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Hemsbach | 0 | 32 | 1002 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We had a short day today riding direct towards Heidelberg. There’s only one campground in between Biebesheim and Heidelberg. We could have gone all the way to Heidelberg, about 67km, but the campground is beyond the city and by the time we got there all I would want to do is go to the campground and not have a look around Heidelberg. So, we cut the journey in half and we’re camping here at Hemsbach. The campground has laundry, and good showers, so we have the chance to get everything nice and clean. \n\n We talked to some really nice guys last night at our campground. One fellow urged us not to go to Heidelberg via Mannheim. I had told him we weren’t, but he misunderstood me and dug out a map to show us a route direct to Heidelberg to urge us to do that instead. He was showing us a route following some forest roads, which I’m not keen on (I want to see the villages). I showed him the route that cycle.travel had sketched out for us and he liked it a lot - he was pleasantly surprised by it. We rode it today and it was very nice. I’m sure much nicer than going via Mannheim. \n\n A cool bonus along the way today was at Bensheim. They were having a fair of sorts for their emergency services. It was really cool - they had good displays set up and demos, including a car-rolling device , and a fire hose that the kids could use to water down a fake house fire. They were selling brats and beer, so we had lunch there.
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| 2023-05-14: Heidelberg | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Heidelberg | 36 | Heidelberg | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Heidelberg | 0 | 31 | 1033 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We had another short ride today and made it to the Neckar! It’s only a few days now until we meet up with Claudia and Guido. We can’t wait!!\n\n We had a nice stop in Heidelberg today - our arrival point for the Neckar. Heidelberg has an old bridge and a Schloss to look at and we liked looking at them. Note: We started the day today with a dry tent and fly - it should be a great day! But then there were problems. \n\n First off, Brent had a flat tire. A teeny tiny piece of wire. \n\n Then I had problems with my left clip. I’ve been having problems for a few days. Yesterday Brent helped me loosen the clip on one side of the left pedal. One was working fine, but the other one was getting harder and harder to disengage. Problematic when one wants to get off the bicycle and not fall over. Anyway, he tried to help me loosen the clip on one side of the pedal, but it didn’t really seem to help. Today I was having problems again and we talked about my maybe buying new clip pedals here. I thought that it wouldn’t be long before I couldn’t unclip and would fall over, which can be pretty dangerous, especially if it happens in traffic, but I didn’t think it would be today. I thought wrong. \n\n As we rode it got harder and harder for me to unclip. I was trying to clip in only on the good side of the pedal, but for whatever reason, it was the bad side of the pedal that I kept getting. We were headed up a lightly-trafficked street in a small town when I needed to dismount and… couldn’t get my foot out. As I went over I said shitshit but that didn’t help at all and over I went. \n\n After I fell, Brent took a brush and brushed out debris from the pedal and then lubricated it. I took the brush and was going to brush out the clip on my shoe when I discovered the actual problem. It wasn’t my pedal at all - it was the clip on the shoe that was torqued around into a bad position. Brent straightened it out and it’s been fine since. But we’ll keep an eye on it. \n\n The scenery riding to Heidelberg on the Neckar was lovely with lots of vineyards, and although we’ve only gone a few kms on the Neckar itself it is beautiful with lush green hills and charming villages. \n\n We’re camped at Camping Heidelberg, which is a few kms out of town. It’s a simple campingplatz but one thing we’re enjoying is they have some loaner chairs to sit on! Set-up beer in style, baybee!!
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| 2023-05-15: Neckargerach | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Neckargerach | 36 | Neckargerach | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Neckargerach | 0 | 42 | 1075 | 2595 | |||
| Note: A lot of our riding today was in forest with dirt or gravel trail. We were about ready for a break when Brent spotted a picnic table to the left. We had discovered a cool little collection of individual picnic sites in various states of order. There was one where the grass had been recently mowed and others that seemed like they hadn’t been used in a long time. We had our snack in one with a really cool little tree-tritus-covered table and chairs. Note: Our target for today was Mörtelstein but we cut the day short and camped at Neckargarach. The riding was nice - lots of forest and a few castles and small villages. There are a few places on this route where the grade is a little much for me so I’ve had to get off and push. \n\n In mid-afternoon, it rained on us for a while, and around 2:30pm I needed a meal. We discovered Fahrrad Cafe Haaf in Neckargarach and had a really good meal including a fantastic salad. As we were finishing up, the wind started and it was pretty… enthusiastic. I, on the other hand, was not. I suggested stopping in Neckargarach for the night instead of doing the whole whopping 6.5km to Mörtelstein. We’ll add that onto our ride tomorrow, which was going to be a short one anyway.
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| 2023-05-16: Neckarsulm | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Reisachmühle | Cost is for two nights | 69 | Neckarsulm | ||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Neckarsulm | 0 | 42 | 1117 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today we had an unexpected Umleitung (detour). We were merrily riding along the river when we were diverted wayyyy up a hill to the town of Mörtelstein, then up more hill, then finally back down to the river. \n\n Brent says it was good practice for the Black Forest and for Switzerland. I’m just happy that, unlike the detour earlier in this trip, it was very well-signed. \n\n In the first photo you can see where we were supposed to ride (red line) and where we did ride (yellow line). In the second photo you can see the elevation profile for the detour. Note: We had a short ride again today to Neckarsulm. To my shock and dismay it is nowhere near as charming as Ulm. We’ll be here for two nights - Claudia and Guido will arrive here tomorrow!! Yay!!\n\n We had several hours of rain in the early morning and into the time when we would normally be packing up. We waited it out but man was it damp!!\n\n Although the clouds threatened us all day we hardly had any rain. When we got to the campingplatz at Neckarsulm, we were directed to the small zeltplatz beside the sanitary building because the main zeltplatz had standing water in it. Oof. I’m glad they had the small/secondary zeltplatz!!
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| 2023-05-17: Meet Claudia and Guido in Neckarsulm | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Reisachmühle again | |||||||
| Activity | Cycle | Excursion to Neuenstadt am Kocher | 0 | 39 | 1156 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today as we await Claudia and Guido we took an excursion through the countryside, including a visit to Schloss Presteneck in Neuenstadt am Kocher. \n\n On the way back we had a short rest break in a guy’s yard that is set up for cycle visitors. How lovely!\n\n Soon we will meet up with the Laggais and ride with them for four days to Oberndorf! Note: Today Guido and Claudia traveled by train from Oberndorf to come meet us in Neckarsulm. We met them at their guesthouse and had a Radler then we went for dinner at Weingut Holzapfel. Apparently, if you have a vineyard you can run an unlicensed restaurant as long as the only alcohol you serve is what you produce at your vineyard. The food is all homemade and very affordable. We had a great meal and visit and will start our ride together tomorrow.
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| 2023-05-18: Marbach - Ascension Day (FR, DE, CH, AT) | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Marbach AirBnB | 100.88 | Marbach am Neckar | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Marbach | 0 | 58 | 1214 | 2595 | |||
| Note: After passing by several Vaterstag opportunities for beer, we finally got close enough to the end of our ride for me to feel like I could have a beer without losing too much steam. At Freiberg am Neckar we saw a lively Biergarten and went on in. A German band was playing, and lots of happy people were enjoying the music, some beer, and some radish-based food. \n\n We enjoyed some music, beer, and radish-based food, as is only right and proper. Note: Today is Ascension Day, which makes it a stat holiday, but in Germany it is also Vaterstag (Father’s Day). Apparently there is a tradition of groups of men riding bicycles and drinking through the day. We saw a number of groups of men, and a few brats and beer stands set up through the day. \n\n We had a couple of unfortunate incidents today with broken gear. First of all, my platypus sprung a leak while it was on the floor in Guido and Claudia’s guesthouse. It didn’t leak there too much, thank goodness, but I am a little lost without it. I carry two 1-litre Nalgenes so I still have water, but I’m used to having it much more convenient. I will try to replace it asap. \n\n Then, after we had a lovely ice cream and coffee break, the collar on Guido’s seat post broke and we did not have a screw of the appropriate size to fix it. Guido rode with his seat all the way down for a few kms and said he would ask after a screw at the next settlement we came to. I thought that was a long shot, but no word of a lie, at the VERY FIRST house we came to, the couple actually loaned him a whole new collar on the promise that he would mail it back when we’re done our ride. Laura will know what I mean when I say this makes him ‘Miracle Guido’. \n\n We had a brief sight-seeing stop at a lovely little town called Lauffen. I thought their town wall was particularly interesting - I like how the wall and the houses seem to blend into one another. \n\n In Marbach, Brent and I have an Airbnb for the night. It’s been a while since we’ve had a warm and dry roof over our heads so we’re not going out this evening - we’re staying in to do chores. Drying this, washing that, stretching those… etc, etc…
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| 2023-05-19: Esslingen | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Esslingen Airbnb | 104.25 | Esslingen | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Esslingen | 0 | 46 | 1260 | 2595 | |||
Note: We had a really great, relatively short ride to Esslingen today, including a break at a natural spring (Auquell-Brunnen). Esslingen is a really beautiful town, and we had dinner, wine and a lovely walk-around with Guido and Claudia. Our AirBnB is just outside the old town in a really neat neighborhood near the old castle.
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| 2023-05-20: Bühl | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Couch Surf | Guido’s friend | 0 | ||||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Bühl | 0 | 62 | 1322 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We went through Tubingen near the end of our ride today. It’s a beautiful place with an amazing Altstadt, enjoyed by many many (many) people. Note: Another wonderful day of riding, and a day that was actually WARM!! Tonight we’re staying in an empty apartment owned by a friend of Guido. So nice.
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| 2023-05-21: Oberndorf (Alberta Election) | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Couch Surf | Laggai House | 0 | Oberndorf am Neckar | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Oberndorf | 0 | 62 | 1384 | 2595 | |||
| Tip | General Info | Vote by Mail Instructions are on the \"Planning\" date of DAMDetails | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | General Info | Alberta NDP Candidates Confirm that Arcand-Paul is our guy | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Handy | Alberta Elections Candidates Brent & Rhonda are in Edmonton West Henday. Candidates (as of 2023/03/27):\n Green: Kristina Howard\n NDP: Brooks Arcand-Paul\n UCP: Slava Cravcenco | 0 | ||||||
| Note: We started our climb through the Black Forest today, riding to the Laggai house in Oberndorf. It was very nice riding, and beautiful scenery, but it also kicked my butt pretty hard. From Rottenburg to Horb was difficult with a lot of election gain and loss, but it was the section from Horb to Sulz where I bonked. Thankfully everyone was very patient with me. We took a long break at a water sport park and then we rode the last 10km. I may have suffered a bit for that section but then we got to the Laggai house where I had a shower and a beer and made a miraculous recovery. \n\n We will take a day off tomorrow to visit in Oberndorf before we continue on our way on Tuesday. On Tuesday we ride to Villingen - more climbing. Then we head straight west to Simonswald - more climbing. Then we go down to Freiburg the next day.
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| 2023-05-22: Oberndorf | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Couch Surf | Laggai House again | |||||||
| Note: Alberta is having its election soon and we are away. We requested our absentee ballots far im advance of our trip, but they wouldn’t be mailed out until May 1st, and by then we’d be gone. Thankfully, we had a confirmed stop in Onerndorf and my cousin, Ira, let us have our ballots mailed to her address. We picked them up from her last night and today we priority send to Alberta. \n\n My other cousin, Claudia, cuts hair so she gave us much-needed trims this morning. As a bonus she drew an ‘R’ on the side of my head but most of my hair is too grey to see the ‘R’ clearly. \n\n First stop of the day - post office. There were two choices to send - €7 or €69. Yikes! The €7 option takes a week so we are taking our chances that our votes will reach Alberta on time to be counted. Note: We drove today with Guido, Claudia, Erik and Bodo to a place where you can do a short hike to a viewpoint for the Hohenzollern Castle. What a crazy place to put a castle - on the very top of an old volcano. Note: Last year we camped in Guido and Trudis’ back yard. This year - we’re back again! If they’re not careful they’ll never get rid of us. ;) Note: After we got back to Oberndorf we had a visit with Ira. We started on the balcony but when a thunderstorm came up we quickly retreated to under the balcony where we would be safe from the thunderstorm and I would be safe from the Bodo dander.
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| 2023-05-23: Villingen | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Couch Surf | Guido’s friend Wolfram | 0 | Villingen | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Villingen | 0 | 51 | 1435 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We had a GREAT ride today to Villingen-Schweningen, escorted first by Guido and Claudia, then by just Claudia, then by Wolfram. The weather was very good in spite of the forecasted rain. It just didn’t happen. Wolfram took us to the official/tourist source of the Neckar, and then to the real source of the Neckar. He then took us on a quick tour of Villingen, which had a nice old town and very complete original town wall. \n\n When we arrived at Wolfram’s home, his girlfriend , Karin, was there already. We got settled in, enjoyed a wonderful barbecue dinner and then drinks and visit in the living room. Brent and Wolfram bonded over Bicycle Fanatic stuff, with Brent taking test drives on at least two of Wolfram’s many bicycles.\n\n I had problems again today with my left clip. We stopped a couple of times and Brent tweaked my shoe clip but it didn’t seem to solve the problem so he completely removed the clip from my left shoe. Wolfram has potentially fixed the left clip problem - we’ll see how I do with it tomorrow.
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| 2023-05-24: Camping Schwarzwaldhorn | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Schwarzwaldhorn | 55 | Simonswald | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Simonswald | 0 | 54 | 1489 | 2595 | |||
| Note: I used cycle.travel to sketch a route over the Black Forest for today. We stayed at Wolfram’s last night, though, and he had a better idea about how to do the first part of our day. It added several kilometers to our total, but eliminated a large hill. We went south toward Donaueschingen, and then over to Wolterdingen to get into the Breg river valley. We followed the Breg to Vöhrenbach where Wolfram left us to finish the day without him. We are really happy to have been able to ride with him, and also to avoid the unnecessary climb… we needed our strength for the next stage of the ride!!\n\n Wolfram’s fix for my clippies seems to have done the trick. I am no longer having problems clipping in and out. Yay!! Note: The journey from Furtwangen to Simonswald is not one that I would recommend. It’s marked as cycle routes but with a max grade of 24%, and no small dose of those high grades, it is too steep up, and too steep down, to enjoy. I ended up pushing for over 2km up, and on the way down I was riding my brakes so hard that they almost disintegrated. Even Brent pushed for a good part of the way up!! \n\n As we went over the spine of the Black Forest, we encountered a group of French cyclists - they passed us on their way up, and then we saw them again on their way back. We didn’t see any of them pushing, even though I think the grade was about 24% for them when we saw them the second time. They are made of sterner stuff than me!!\n\n When we got to Simonswald, the campingplatz was easy to find and very nice. The town is lovely and we walked back to have dinner. We like it here but would try to find a different way to get here next time!!
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| 2023-05-25: Arrive Freiburg | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Hirzberg | 45 | ||||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Freiburg | 0 | 30 | 1519 | 2595 | |||
| Tip | General Info | Cycle excursions recommended by Bärbel Kaiserstuhl one day and Titisee and Black Forest the other day, part by train | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Reminder | Contact Robert Suggest a place to meet | 0 | ||||||
| Note: It’s a long weekend in Germany coming up. We’ve never had trouble finding camping on a long weekend before…… \n\n So we showed up at Camping Hirzberg today and they only have one pitch and only for two nights. Problem is, Laura is set to arrive here on Saturday so we need three nights, and for the last one, we need for an extra person and tent. Eek! \n\n We set up at Hirzberg but they were closing down for midday so they said we could set up then but come back later to pay. That worked out well because we thought we might take two nights, but ended up booking just the one. \n\n I googled all of the nearby campgrounds - there are a lot in the vicinity of Freiburg, and set about figuring out where we were going to go. I found one campground really near to Hirzberg, Campingplatz am Möslepark, and Brent and I walked over there. They have a zeltplatz, so right away we thought it would probably work out. We made a reservation for us for the next THREE nights (why take chances on a long weekend of being locked out of a place to stay on the Sunday), and for Laura for two nights. \n\n On to the next problem. Laura was planning on staying at the campground at Mannheim Strand, buuuut… you guessed it. Long weekend. It is full. We are trying to sort out a solution as we speak. She flies out tomorrow!! Note: In between trying to sort out our camping SNAFU, we went into Freiburg Altstadt for a look around. \n\n It is a very nice city, with a large and interesting Altstadt. We enjoyed learning the history of the two remaining towers (built in the 13th century). It is a very bicycle-friendly city as well. The only problem is…. Holy smokes the people!! Zillions of bicycles whooshing past. Pedestrians EVERYWHERE. And cars winding their way through it all. Maybe it’s not as bad when there isn’t a long weekend coming up but I think it’s probably pretty normal for the city to be really chaotic.
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| 2023-05-26: Freiburg campground move - Laura arrives | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz am Möslepark | Cost for three nights | 150 | Freiburg | ||||
| Activity | Cycle | Around Campground change, Kirchzarten, collect Laura | 0 | 25 | 1544 | 2595 | |||
| Tip | General Info | Laura arrives Frankfurt 11AM | 0 | ||||||
| Note: Laura changed her train so that she would come all the way to Freiburg today rather than overnighting in Mannheim. She arrives at 20:12. \n\n So, Brent and I had a task to get her a campsite for tonight. Since the site we were on at Hirzberg was available for tonight, we stayed set up there and walked over to Möslepark to add a night to her reservation there, thinking that if we couldn’t get her in there, we could give her our spot there for tonight and stay at Hirzberg ourselves for a second night. \n\n Mission accomplished - there was no problem adding tonight to her reservation but since she arrives so late, and the zeltplatz is so small, I have drawn a ‘footprint’ for her beside our tent with my panniers. \n\n We will shop for breakfast groceries for tomorrow and then escort Laura from the train to the campingplatz this evening since she expects to o be very tired. She says she hardly slept on the plane. That’s ok. We’re here, now, until Monday. Lots of time for her to get her wheels under her. \n Note: Just for something to do this afternoon while we await Laura’s arrival, we rode about 7km east to Kirchzarten where we had lunch and beer, and picked up tomorrow’s breakfast at the grocery store. \n\n At lunch time the biggest wasp we’ve ever seen came past and tried to get a drink of my beer. You can’t really tell from the photo but he was about 1.5” long!
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| 2023-05-27: Chore day in Freiburg | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz am Möslepark again | |||||||
| Activity | Cycle | To and from the Altstadt | 0 | 7 | 1551 | 2595 | |||
| Tip | General Info | Laura's arrival ICE 75, 16:15 | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Reminder | Cousin Robert Making a four-day trip, including Freiburg on the 27th. We will meet someplace in the Altstadt - a place of their choosing, or I find a place on the 25th or 26th and message him. | 0 | ||||||
| Tip | Reminder | Lunch with Robert 14:00 or 14:30 for lunch | 0 | ||||||
| Note: Laura changed her trains to arrive in Freiburg last night because the campingplatz in Mannheim was full. She was due to arrive at 20:15. \n\n Brent and I rode into town and found an Eis shop near the Hbf to wait for her. Brent had a banana split WITH bananas in it this time. Eight years ago, when we were in Germany, Brent had a banana split but they told him AFTER they brought it to him that they had no bananas. So… I guess it was just a split?\n\n She arrived a little late due to train delays and was super tired. She’d hardly slept on her flight. So we escorted her to the campingplatz so she wouldn’t have to worry about navigating a strange city while sleep deprived. \n\n We now have a couple days in Freiburg before we carry on our journey. Note: A little Bike maintenance for Laura’s bike - the derailleur hanger got bent during customs inspection. :(\n\n Also added some flower stickers to my ugly camp shoes. Laura brought them from Canada to improve the shoes. Note: After chores we went into Freiburg. We walked around in the throngs of long-weekend visitors, visited the Münster Cathedral, watched children play with toy sailboats in the tiny canals, and had a Lange Rote Sausage.
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| 2023-05-28: Bad Krozingen - Whit Sunday (FR, DE) | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz am Möslepark again | |||||||
| Activity | Cycle | Bad Krozingen side trip | 0 | 42 | 1593 | 2595 | |||
| Note: All tours have a beginning, a middle, and an end. At the start of our tour, Brent and I took a few days to adjust to the time change and get used to riding - loaded and unloaded. \n\n Now that Laura is here, there is a second beginning as she goes through the adjustments that we did. \n\n We did an unloaded practice ride, 42km, to Bad Krozingen. No crazy elevation. We saw some vineyards and some pleasant but unremarkable towns. Laura’s bike needed a little more tweaking but Laura seems to be doing great. I’m envious of her ability to adjust the o the time change. \n Note: Laura was wondering why her luggage was so heavy. Then she discovered she accidentally brought her enormous U-Lock along accidentally. Oops. Hahahahaha!!\n\n After we had dinner we went for a walk to a small pond near the campingplatz. There is a frog protection area nearby and we saw a zillion tadpoles in the pond. In the photo, every black dot is a tadpole! How cool!!
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| 2023-05-29: Riegel - Whit Monday (FR, DE, CH, AT) | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Müller-See Camping | 30 | ||||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Riegel | 0 | 34 | 1627 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Enroute today we stopped in Emmendingen for a look around. It’s a nice town, but chock full of so many holiday revelers. Note: We had a nice, uneventful ride to Müller-See today, and it was mostly downhill… but tempered by a strong headwind for the last part of the ride. \n\n At the campingplatz, the man gave us a map showing where we were to go to pitch. Then, a woman came past and said she knew the way to the zeltplatz and we could just follow her, so, naturally, we did. After we got there and decided where on the awful gravelly zeltplatz we would pitch, one of my brain cells finally kicked in and said, I don’t think this is the place the guy highlighted on the map. I had a look at the map, and sure enough, there was a separate zelt area the other way that, in spite of being super windy, was much more appealing with nice soft grass to pitch on and some trees. \n\n After we got set up, we went back to pay. The guy did not recognize us at all, and didn’t understand what we were there for. Finally I got him to understand that we were there to pay him. He charged us €30 for the three of us, no ID, no forms, and no receipt. We probably could have gotten away with just not paying at all. Unusual. \n\n We walked back into town to have a look around. Riegel is a pleasant little town. I’m hoping that after the end of the holiday weekend things will calm down a little though. Note: We are camped at the end of Poseidonweg at the campingplatz, which seems kind of appropriate, since we’re still not entirely sure we’re supposed to be here. \n\n Laura’s derailleur continues to give her trouble so Brent tweaked it again and his angry mechanic gave his stamp of approval. Hopefully she’ll stop having so many problems with it. Curse those customs inspector guys!!\n\n There are some really cool trees here. We found out that they are sycamore trees. Sonofagun. \n\n It has been crazy windy at the campingplatz. It was a little windy in town but out here… there’s been a gale force or two. It’s bad enough that Brent and I have had to modify how we open our vestibules. The forecast says the wind will die down and the wind for tomorrow should be a tailwind for us. Wouldn’t THAT be nice.
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| 2023-05-30: Hochstetten | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Münsterblick | 48 | Hochstetten | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Hochstetten | 0 | 36 | 1663 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today we rode through the Kaiserstuhl area, and visited a few villages. Our first stop was Endingen, which was recommended by cousin Bärbel. It was a very nice little village and we happily had coffee and treats from the local Bäckerei. Note: Moving on from Endingen, we had a lovely ride to Burkheim, including enjoying a stolen cherry along the way. \n\n Burkheim was also recommended by cousin Bärbel, and it was our favorite place today. Its narrow roads clinging to the side of a steep hill make everything fascinating. Note: After Burkheim, we decided to visit one more village, even though it didn’t come with a Bärbel recommendation - Achkarren. \n\n From a distance we could see a cute little town nestled up in a valley, but my GPS said we had reached Achkarren down below at what was little more than a train station. Brent noticed a sign pointing up to the town in the valley, so up we went to have a look. It was very small, and I thought that the coolest thing about it was that it was surrounded by vineyards. Note: Breisach am Rhein was our last stop before the campingplatz. We really only went into town to buy me a bicycle chain and to get some groceries but the town was lovely and we also had lunch. Note: Camping Münsterblick is right in the center of town in Hochstetten. Hochstetten is a tiny town, probably a bedroom community for Breisach. The zeltplatz is very nice and we pitched by the chicken carving. We went for a walk in town and enjoyed finding the old fridge converted to a tiny library of ‘cool books’. \n\n At camp, Brent put a new chain on my bike. Yay!
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| 2023-05-31: Bamlach | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Lug Ins Land | 43 | Bamlach | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Bamlach | 0 | 50 | 1713 | 2595 | |||
| Tip | General Info | Prepaid Data SIM Card Wiki - Switzerland | 0 | ||||||
| Note: Today was very different from yesterday. Yesterday was all about looking at all the great stuff we encountered. Today was really just about the ride. It was our second day of pure tailwind, and nothing really remarkable about it. It was originally supposed to be a 40km day, but with the tailwind and lack of gawking around stops, we went 50 instead, which will make tomorrow a little easier. It was supposed to be a 60km day but now cut down to about 50km. \n\n At Bellingen, we are camped at Campingplatz Lug Ins Land. It was a climb up at the end, and it was stinkin’ hot at the same time. But the campingplatz is AWESOME. Our camping fees included access to the swimming pool. The laundry machines are cheap, so we took advantage of those. They have a nice little cafe where we had snacks and beers. The sanitary building is new and really fancy, and there are brand new covered picnic tables up above the zelt spots. Highly recommend this campground. \n\n We are very near to where Brent and I started riding in mid-April (Alsace) and very near to where Laura joined us (Freiburg) so they’re both accusing me of leading them in circles. Hahaha! It reminds me of our tour in 2017 which was uphill the whole way.
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| 2023-06-01: Murg | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Naturcamping & Kanuverleih | 27 | Murg | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Murg | 0 | 70 | 1783 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today was a tough day for me. I felt barfy most of the day, I think from the sun and heat. It was cold and rainy for so long and now it’s hot and I haven’t had time to adjust. \n\n We had a stop at St. Veitskappelle, which is a cool little chapel carved into a cliff. Brent and Laura went up to check it out but I did not - my barfy self didn’t feel like climbing bonus stairs. Brent said it was similar to the places we saw in Cappadoccia carved into the fairy chimneys. He also said it was like a Montezuma Castle chapel. I can see both from his photos. \n\n It was a day of contrasts as far as sights. Villages and cities. Wild river, forest and hills, and big industrial… things. I enjoyed it very much. \n\n Because we rode farther than planned yesterday, we had a shorter day riding, and thank goodness we did. I had planned for us to stay at Zeltplatz Schwörstadt. They have a good website, they’re listed on OpenCamping, in cycle.travel, Maps.me and Google maps. Buuuuuut… they don’t exist. We found the address but no campingplatz. We could have camped at the local Kanu Club, but it was just a field with no bathrooms or anything. We could have camped at the local Biergarten, but it was just a field with no bathrooms or anything. \n\n So we rode some bonus kms, for a grand total of 70km, to the next campingplatz, Naturcamping & Kanuverleih. Thankfully it worked out. It is also a Kanu Club, but it’s really nice and we even got a locker with an outlet in it for charging our studs. \n
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| 2023-06-02: Reinach | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Waldhort Reinach | 50 | Waldhort | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Reinach | 0 | 52 | 1835 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today was not what we expected nor what we have been planning for months and months. I have been checking the weather forecast and for the last couple of days they’ve been calling for rain in the Alps. Forecasts can, and do, change, but this morning was sort of a decision point as we were set to start heading south into Switzerland. This morning the forecast was the worst I’ve seen, calling for several days of rain and thunderstorms along our intended route. \n\n We had a ‘family meeting’, so to speak, about it. To my relief, Laura felt as I did that several days of rain and thunderstorms in the Alps was not our idea of a good time. We examined the forecast for the coming week to ten days and found a blanket of rain over the whole area. We could flee to France, Belgium or Germany north of Frankfurt. \n\n We decided to ride back to Basel and take a day to decide what we would do, and hi h May involve taking a train somewhere. We’re camped south of the city; and for now the plan is to cycle into France and head toward Strasbourg. Which, of course, plays right into my evil plot to lead Laura and Brent in circles. \n\n The ride today was very nice, and included several kilometers of rerun. Good thing it was nice rerun. Unfortunately today, Laura took a spill on her bike. Same cause as me a couple weeks ago - had to stop and couldn’t clip out. Brent loosened her pedal so hopefully it doesn’t happen again. Not being able to clip out is really scary. \n\n There we another Canadian at the campingplatz last night named Jim. He asked us if we’d seen the beautiful covered bridge that was just behind us. For whatever reason we had missed it, but since we backtracked today we got to see it. It is called Holzbrücke Bad Säckingen and it is really beautiful.
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| 2023-06-03: Mulhouse | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping de L’Ill | Cost is for two nights | 52 | Mulhouse | ||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Mulhouse | 0 | 53 | 1888 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today was… one of those days. We rode into Basel, which was sheer pandemonium with pedestrians, bicycles, cars and trams. There seriously wasn’t a street we could take that didn’t have trams, and I just about got creamed by one. The best thing we saw in Basel was the Rathaus, and that’s what most of today’s photos are from. \n\n After Basel, we had a good 30+ km of monotonous verdant canal. It was nice for the first five kilometers but then I was over it. \n\n We reached Mulhouse and went to the Carrefour, Brent and Laura went in to grocery up because it’s Saturday and the stores will be closed tomorrow and after choosing all of our groceries, were turned away for not having a membership. That was quite alarming so we decided to head off to the campingplatz to get set up and then deal with the grocery problem. I’m glad we did because the campingplatz had not been approved to open yet this year so we had to ride another ten kilometers to the next campingplatz. The good thing is that Brent spotted an Aldi enroute to the closed campingplatz and we were at least able to grocery up. \n\n Enroute to the next campingplatz we ended up taking a gravel shortcut of some description and it was so bumpy that my phone mount broke off of my bike. Thankfully I got to the phone before it got broken but now I don’t have a way to follow a gps track. \n\n We’re in the next campingplatz west of Mulhouse, trying to sort out where we’re going to go. We’re contemplating EV5 north then my adhoc route to Frankfurt, trying EV15, or taking a train to Rotterdam or Venlo and riding to Frankfurt from there. \n\n We’ll most likely book into this campingplatz, Camping de L’Ill, for another night so we can make an informed decision. I’ve been looking into campgrounds and Laura has been looking into trains.
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| 2023-06-04: Mulhouse research and decision day | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping de L’Ill again | |||||||
| Note: We took a research and decision day in Mulhouse. With the plan changing we are not going to Switzerland and we needed to figure out where we WERE going. We considered various riding options and several train-then-ride options, all of which would have us finish in Frankfurt. We looked at trains to Amsterdam, Brussels and more, but trains to far away were just too awful. I sketched out a route mostly in France, but Laura really wanted to go to Dijon, which made the route just a little too long so we’ve booked a train for tomorrow to Besançon and we will ride from there. \n\n When we weren’t researching and deciding, we had a nice walk around Mulhouse.
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| 2023-06-05: Fraisans | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping des Forges | 20 | Fraisans | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Fraisans | 0 | 42 | 1930 | 2595 | |||
| Travel | Train | To Besançon | 76 | Mulhouse | Besançon | ||||
| Note: Took train(s) to Besançon Note: Belfort Connection: A very nice easy train day. Both trains were roll-on… no crazy lifting. Getting to the platform in Mulhouse was a tiny elevator for Brent and me, and stairs for Laura with her longer touring bike. \n\n On the train, the bikes sat on the floor and we removed the baggage. We dutifully put ‘hospital bracelets’ on our bikes, as required, although I don’t think it was really necessary - the conductors didn’t check for them. \n\n At Belfort, our next train platform was not posted. We weren’t sure if we’d get lucky and use the same platform or if we’d have to switch platforms. Finally I asked a staffer, in French. He understood me, and answered in French, and I understood. Yay! And we used the same platform- double yay!!\n\n On the second train, our bikes had to hang from the hangers, but at least we know better than we did in 2015 and we removed the luggage first. \n\n For both trains, we disembarked at their terminus so we had lots of time to get all of our gear off, and for the connection we had forty minutes. Note: The scenery and villages flying by today on the train were beautiful and I kind of wished we had ridden that section. \n\n Besançon is a beautiful city. We had lunch and a quick look around, but we had 25km to ride so we had to keep it short. \n\n Past Besançon we got more of the lovely green hills, so that was nice. Note: We were going to ride 25km to Osselle after the train today, but, for the third time since Laura joined us, we ran into a campingplatz that is either closed or nonexistent. This is getting less amusing. \n\n So we rode an extra 12 or 13km to Fraisans, and, thankfully, found the campingplatz open, if more than rustic. We rode about 40km starting from Besançon, starting AFTER 14:30, which is about my least favorite thing to do but the riding was good and the scenery was stunning.
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| 2023-06-06: St. Jean de Losne | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping les Harlequins | 22 | St. Jean de Losne | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To St. Jean de Losne | 0 | 54 | 1984 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Our campground last might had no electricity but at first break today we found an awesome little place to stop that had outlets! The universe, and the town of Audelange, provide… Note: To all of our relief, today’s campground exists and is in operation. As a bonus, it was pleasant, affordable, has free showers, has toilet seats and toilet paper, has a restaurant/pub, and washer and dryer. \n\n The registration lady even met us at the entrance with ice cold water and three glasses. We’re in heaven.
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| 2023-06-07: Bragny | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping de Bragny-sur-Saône | 31 | Bragny-sur-Saône | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | Ride to Bragny-sur-Saône | 0 | 46 | 2030 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We had a great day today weather-wise albeit pretty hot in the afternoon. Laura is not feeling well so she is relegated to consuming only ginger ale until further notice. \n\n The plan was a 54km ride to Sassenay, but we realized that following the EV6 added a number of kilometers compared to my cycle.travel route. We’re staying on EV6 because my phone holder broke a few days ago which makes it hard to follow a track. Following EV signs is just easier. \n\n Anyway, I want to get to Beaune asap because there are a few bike shops there and I want to get a new phone holder. Plus we have some rain days coming up, and getting to Beaune a day early gets us to Dijon a day early, and maybe we’ll take a rain day in Dijon. I looked at whether we could go cross-country to Beaune, and, very fortunately, we CAN, but it meant stopping early (at Bragny) today, which is better for Laura. \n\n The first photo in this series is one of my most common views when I tour with Brent and Laura - the two of them climbing a hill ahead of me. The photo of Brent demonstrates his noticing skills… he is so good at noticing. In this photo he has noticed a place for us to get drinking water.
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| 2023-06-08: Beaune - Corpus Christi (DE, CH, AT) | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Les Cent Vignes | 30 | Beaune | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Beaune | 0 | 35 | 2065 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We went through Verdun yesterday. It is at the confluence of the Doubs and the Saône with the Petit Doubs tossed in for fun. It’s really beautiful but we didn’t get any photos of the view across the Doubs looking at Verdun. \n\n This morning we backtracked and had a croissant and coffee in Verdun and then backtracked a little more to get some photos of the view. \n\n Thankfully the lighting was just as stunning as yesterday afternoon. Note: A few days ago my iPhone mount broke and we haven’t been able to use the phone to follow GPS tracks. \n\n For a couple of days we followed EV6, so we just followed the signage. \n\n Today we went cross-country - no signed cycle route to be had, so I used my iPhone on its holster around my neck to try and follow a route. It was… less than ideal. \n\n There have been no bike stores so far- either none to be found, or none open. Bike stores are all closed on Mondays in France (which is also common elsewhere), and then we were just in small towns that didn’t have bike stores. \n\n The countryside was WONDERFUL - we weren’t sure what to expect going cross-country, but it was just really great. \n\n I had searched for bike stores in Beaune, and made us a dramatically shorter route to Beaune to give me time to hit the bike stores and try to get a new phone mount. The first store was a phantom but we wasted about a half hour looking for it. \n\n We then went into the Centre Ville of Beaune in search of lunch, which we found. It’s a beautiful town full of wine bars (we are in Burgundy, after all). \n\n I stopped in at the tourist office and asked about a Magasin du Velo (bike store). The young man directed me to a rental shop, Active Tours/Bourgogne Vélo Evasion. I was skeptical and asked him to confirm it was a store. He said yes, and it was the only one in town. I was still skeptical. Googling it seemed to confirm it was a rental place, not a store. \n\n Anyway, after lunch, we made our way over to a store that Laura had found on Google. It was not far from the rental place anyway. They did exist, but they did not sell any phone mounting things. \n\n In desperation, we went over to the rental place, which was clearly a rental place. I asked for a phone mount thingy. My French was so bad that the lady just said she didn’t understand what I was asking for. With a bit of charades, she understood, and she showed me a slightly used phone mount and said she could sell it to me for €10. I’ve seen them in stores (before mine broke, obviously) for €40. SOLD!!! We’re back in the cycle.travel track following business. Note: We had a brief visit to Beaune, enroute to Dijon.
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| 2023-06-09: Dijon | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping du Lac Kir | 18 | Dijon | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To, and around, Dijon | 0 | 48 | 2113 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We woke up to a balloon over the campingplatz this morning Note: We started the day with a baguette, since Brent has gotten the words croissant and baguette mixed up in his head and ordered us three baguettes (instead of croissants). Oops. But the baguettes were very good. \n\n We had another great day of riding through the Burgundy countryside today. Endless vineyards, now with leaves on them (instead of just sticks like at the start of our trip). It was a busy day on the vineyards - lots and lots of vehicles, farm equipment and workers. At one point I had a really cool yellow spider come sit on my bike for a visit. Note: The plan for Laura’s portion of this tour was to go through the Alps - Switzerland and Austria, and have a visit to Innsbruck. None of that is happening. The weather forecast for our dates looked awful so we changed direction and headed into France. We’re having a great time, but it’s not what Laura came here for. \n\n One thing that she did ask for is to go to Dijon. She is a mustard fanatic so it seems like the thing to do. Today was Dijon Day and it was fantastic! Laura wanted to see Palais des Ducs, Rue des Forges, Église Notre Dame and Église Saint-Michel. We saw all those things and more. Laura found le Moutarderie. Dijon has an AMAZING Altstadt and I am an Altstadt junkie so it was a great day.
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| 2023-06-10: Pontailler-sur-Saône | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | La Chanoie | 25 | Pontailler-sur-Saône | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Pontailler-sur-Saône | 0 | 41 | 2154 | 2595 | |||
Note: It rained a little overnight in Dijon and threatened rain when we got up. Through a great day of riding through the vineyard-less hills, we got only a few raindrops on us and when we arrived at the campingplatz in the early afternoon, it was bright and sunny. We’re doing some chores, especially Brent, who accumulated a small ‘Honey Do’ list throughout the day. He put a stitch in my helmet strap, fixed my Nemo flag that broke today, lubed our chains and tweaked Laura’s chain.
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| 2023-06-11: Villegusien-le-Lac | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping du Lac | 21 | Villegusien-le-Lac | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Villegusien-le-Lac | 0 | 64 | 2218 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today was not my best day. \n\n Yesterday afternoon I had a strange sinus event followed by a headache, just on the right side of my head. I have atypical migraines, so I don’t know… maybe it was one of them??\n\n I woke up this morning feeling mostly better but really wiped out. I was glad that our 54km ride was along a canal. Although we’d be climbing all day, it would be a gently grade. \n\n Riding felt just really hard today. I don’t know how else to describe it… I just really struggled, especially with any kind of noticeable climb. Laura and Brent were very patient with me. \n\n When we were about 40km in, some thunderstorm clouds showed up and started threatening. The forecast said we would get some heavy rain right away. We kept our snack break short and started high-tailing it to Dommarien, where we were planning to stay. Thankfully the rain did not come. We arrived in Dommarien, annnnnd… for the fourth time in two weeks - no campground. This one was permanently closed. Brent took a spin around town to see if we were missing something, while Laura and I used our technology to discover that the Dommarien campingplatz is permanently closed. \n\n I was exhausted, and not keen for more riding, especially since the thunderheads looked really close. I found a hotel through Booking.com up ahead at Villegusien-le-Lac, about 6km up ahead, but then we noticed that there is also a campingplatz there. In spite of the threatening clouds, we decided to head to the campingplatz. It was a bit further than town. \n\n We got to the campingplatz around 15:30, and the office was closed until 16:30 but we were happy to see that you could choose your own pitch, set up, and come back to register after they opened. With Not-So-Accu-Weather saying rain in nine minutes, we set up in record time. It is 17:00 now and we’re sitting at the campground pub having a beer. Still no rain and the sky looks much friendlier. \n\n The campingplatz is really nice with a sparkling Sanitary building. I was amused by their washer and dryer with huge chains and locks on them.
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| 2023-06-12: Bannes | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Hautoreille | 20 | Bannes | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Bannes | 0 | 35 | 2253 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Bannes: Today was a much better day for me, and thank goodness for that because we had some killer climbs today. I think I may have had another atypical migraine - I get migraines without the pain so they can be hard to recognize. But that’s my best guess. \n\n Anyway, we had a relatively short but hilly ride today. We left the canal fairly early and climbed up and then up to Langres where we got onto the EV19 route. Langres is Avery nice town. We had lunch and got groceries and had a look around. I thought Cathédrale Saint-Mammès was particularly interesting. \n\n When we got to our campground, Hautoreille, it looked closed and abandoned. Fortunately it was just the entrance that was closed and abandoned, and with a 2km detour we found the proper entrance. \n
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| 2023-06-13: Choiseul | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Saint-Nicolas | 18 | Choiseul | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Choiseul | 0 | 45 | 2298 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Damphal: One of my favorite things about campingplatzes in Europe is the morning bread delivery. Almost every campingplatz offers a service where you can order bread the day before and it shows up around 8:00 or 9:00 the next day. \n\n We had croissants and yogurt for breakfast, as usual, at our campingplatz, and then set out for one of the hardest days I’ve done touring. We only rode 45km but a lot of it was uphill, a lot of it was on a rough surface, and a lot of it was riding into a gegenwind. In fact, a lot of it was uphill on a rough surface and into a gegenwind. I felt like o had to fight for every single meter. It was not a good day for me. \n\n A couple of good things, though…\n\n At one of the towns we went through we found a fromagerie so we got some local fromage, which is AMAZING!\n\n We took a short break on a bridge and Brent got a great pic of a bullfrog with his cheeks puffed out in mid-croak. \n\n And a bad thing… part of our day was spent on a tar and gravel road. I had my favorite long-sleeved merino shirt strapped onto my tailbox for it to dry and a tar-covered rock got on it. The shirt might be ruined but I’ll carry it home in case I can figure out a way to get the tar out. Note: When we reached our campingplatz it didn’t seem like much of a place at all. I was scared that we’d have to ride on to another place, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to do that. My legs had been jelly for the last 20km. But it turned out to be a wonderful and surprising place. \n\n The campingplatz is called Camping Saint-Nicolas and it’s in a tiny village called Choiseul. It’s on the property of a couple who, we think, mostly farm but run a small campground catering mostly to Dutch people. There was no one around when we got in around 14:30 but there was a sign that said they’d reopen at 15:00 so we sat at the table to wait. There was a small trail leading to registration but we couldn’t see anything. There was one couple there with a camper and that was it! At 15:00 Brent walked up the path to where registration was supposed to be and found that the place was, in fact, a going concern. We had beers, a home-cooked Dutch meal, and one of the nicest tent pitches ever in their lush, tree-covered property. \n\n Not long after we checked in, another couple of cycle tourists (Dutch) rolled in, and while we were having dinner, a guy from England rolled in. A most unusual campground, but the best reward for how hard I worked today. \n\n The next two days were each supposed to be 63km days, including the enduring gegenwind tomorrow. I have to say I am less than impressed with EV19. We spent way too much time today on bad surfaces and sharing roads with cars. There hasn’t been much to see, and I can’t find many (or any) restaurants or grocery stores along the route for the next couple of days. It sounds perfectly wretched. So I looked into changing our route to Nancy. We’re going to take one extra day, and take a different route with campingplatzes that are closer (two 45km-ish days and one 50km-ish day), and has more restaurants and grocery stores on it. I solidly do not recommend the Langres end of EV19. \n
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| 2023-06-14: La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping \"L'Arc en Ciel\" | 29 | La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois | 0 | 43 | 2341 | 2595 | |||
| Note: As planned we left EV19 this morning and went cross-country to a different route to Nancy. Even though it is not an actual cycle route, what we rode today was better than the last couple of days on EV19, and will provide better amenities than EV19 until we get to Nancy. \n\n There was a headwind today, but a little lighter than yesterday, the surfaces were smoother and the uphill grades lower, so I did not get my ass handed to me like I did yesterday. \n\n The campground here at La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois is nice. The sanitaire is a little rustic and there are few campers. Maybe more will roll in later. We’ll see.
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| 2023-06-15: Bayon | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Municipal du Passe Temps | 25 | Bayon | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Bayon | 0 | 50 | 2391 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Today we finished our cross-country journey to a well-traveled bike route that goes to Nancy, and, ultimately to Luxembourg. We had a couple of tough climbs, which you can see on what Brent calls the ‘ugly lines’ on the elevation profile. \n\n One thing that entertained us about last night’s campground was the blue table and chairs with the fringe-y blue umbrella. \n\n At the end of the ride, we stopped at an Aldi and Brent bought ice cream bars that had to be eaten before we left the parking lot (obviously, since we don’t have a freezer to race them home to). \n\n When we realized how close we were to Luxembourg we started thinking about changing the remainder of our plan to ride to Luxembourg and then train to Frankfurt. Note: Brent carries a Lego mechanic with a really angry looking face. It’s one of his talismans, and he Carrie’s it on every bike ride. \n\n We got a couple of photos recently of the angry mechanic helping with some bike repair. The first pic is of the angry mechanic giving Brent’s shredded tire a dirty look and the second one is the angry mechanic helping Brent to tweak Laura’s brake. \n
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| 2023-06-16: Nancy | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Nancy | Check-in between 15:00 and 17:00 | 91.5 | Nancy | ||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Nancy | 0 | 37 | 2428 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We had a nice easy ride along the canal for the first part of our day today. Frank and Bob showed up to show us their cygnets. Yay for Frank and Bob having a family!\n\n When we reached the outskirts of Nancy we left the canal and rode a bunch of up and down and up and down. I was thrilled with the bike lanes in Nancy - it’s so great to get around even when the roads are busy. \n\n I think Brent and Laura are starting a new tradition. They went to the Carrefour to get a drink for Laura and came back with a box of ice cream bars, that, of course, had to be eaten immediately. \n\n We decided to stay in an Airbnb tonight instead of climbing the insane hill up to the campground on the SW end of Nancy. Note: We had a good look around Nancy before heading to our AirBnB. Laura had chosen some places for us to visit and it was stunning. \n\n Photos:\n - Lunch stop\n - Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Annonciation \n - Place d'Alliance \n - Place Stanislas x2\n - Porte Héré x2\n - Place de la Carrière x2\n - Palais des ducs de Lorraine\n - Craffe Gate x2 (my favorite)
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| 2023-06-17: Corny-sur-Moselle | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Le Paquis | 27 | Corny-sur-Moselle | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Corny-sur-Moselle | 0 | 53 | 2481 | 2595 | |||
| Note: We left our AirBnB this morning and followed the Meurth river to its confluence with the Moselle, and then continued along the Moselle. It was easy canal riding pretty much all day. The Moselle is braided in this area and makes some lovely map art. \n\n We had a REALLY great coffee stop in Custines at Arts et Délices thanks to Brent’s noticing skills. Then we stopped for lunch in Maidières, which was crazy busy just off the bike path due to a large town market. We struggled through the market mobs to find a restaurant further into town and had a nice lunch. \n\n We’re camped at Le Paquis in Corny, on schedule to reach Luxembourg the day after tomorrow.
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| 2023-06-18: Thionville | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Municipal Thionville | 19 | Thionville | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To Thionville | 0 | 49 | 2530 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Cyclists' Oasis: Not long after we had first break at a random bench on the side of the trail, near La Maxe, we encountered the most wonderful cyclists’ oasis we’ve ever seen. There is a canteen, scores of tables and chairs, a vending machine full of cycling essentials, and strings of flags with little misters built in so you can stand under and get a light misting of water on your poor hot head. Note: Another ride along the canal today. Very easy riding but also kind of monotonous. \n\n We got a good look at Quand l'Aqueduc traversait la Moselle, which was really cool. \n\n Frank and Bob stopped in. Their kids have turned white!\n\n We had lunch at a Kebab restaurant - again. We have eaten at a lot of these on this trip. They have good food, good prices, and better opening hours than most traditional French places. \n\n We’re camping at Thionville tonight but they don’t open until 16:00, and we’ve read that the manager gets pretty annoyed if people go in early… so, poor us, we have to have a beer down by the river while we wait. \n\n I am really struggling with the heat. Since we started getting hot days I’ve been getting dizzy and nauseated every afternoon. I have had worsening problems with heat since I got heat stroke in 2015. I had planned this trip to avoid hot hot days, and for the most part I succeeded (a little too well for the first few weeks) but I really need a way to manage my exposure to heat without getting sick.
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| 2023-06-19: Luxembourg | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Camping Bon Accueil Alzingen | Cost for two nights | 70 | Luxembourg | ||||
| Activity | Cycle | Ride to Luxembourg | 0 | 38 | 2568 | 2595 | |||
| Note: Rodemack: Before heading to Luxembourg today I was looking for bakeries and grocery stores along the way. When I looked at Rodeneck I saw a bakery, but also an icon for Anciennes Fortifications. I thought that might be interesting to stop for a look so we did. It was spectacular!! \n\n Brent and Laura climbed up everything that was climbable. I did not because I’m struggling so much with the heat. I stayed down below and took pictures from there. Note: Alzingen: Today was our biggest climb day since Black Forest day with a total climb of almost 400m. Thankfully, unlike Black Forest day, the climbs were spread out over our 38 total kilometers. With my problems with the heat, it was still a very hard day for me. \n\n Along the way we got a closer look at the Centrale nucléaire de Cattenom than we would have liked, plus we saw some kind of UFO thing. \n\n The good news is that Brent and I can now say we cycled to Luxembourg. Earlier in this trip we had to make up some time so we only visited Luxembourg via train from Trier. \n
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| 2023-06-20: Luxembourg | |||||||||
| Note: The Beaver Bag is done. I will use it to ride for our last day (tomorrow). \n\n I have been having problems with heat exhaustion for about a week, so while Brent and Laura have gone into Luxembourg city today, I’m staying at the campingplatz and taking it easy. \n\n One of the things I had to do to occupy myself was to pull the badges off the Beaver Bag. I’ll keep the badges, but once we reach Trier tomorrow, the bag itself is going in the bin. \n\n Bye bye, old friend. I will miss you.
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| 2023-06-21: Trier | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Campingplatz Treviris | 33 | Trier | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | To and around Trier | 0 | 15 | 2583 | 2595 | |||
| Travel | Train | To Trier | 35 | Luxembourg | Trier | ||||
| Note: This morning held a little more excitement than we would like. The couple camping near us started their camp stove on the grass. The stove then broke and started itself on fire and could not be extinguished. Brent and Laura realized that, if it was left alone, the fuel can would explode. The couple were not doing anything to extinguish it, so Brent and Laura rushed in with water and pliers, tried to extinguish it, and switched off the fuel source, saving all our asses. Brent gave his insulated gloves to the guy in case of a repeat, and the couple then used their stove to make coffee at the picnic table, which is where they should have been to start. \n\n Today was supposed to be a 60km ride from Luxembourg to Trier - our last day of riding. Because of my heat exhaustion, however, we rode a short way to a town called Berchem, took a train from there to Luxembourg city, then to Trier. \n\n We’re at the same campingplatz in Trier that we stayed in before, and we took Laura in to Trier for a good look at this beautiful city. Brent and I mostly saw stuff we saw already the first time, although we did make it into the Liebefrauenkirche, which we didn’t see last time.
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| 2023-06-22: Train to Frankfurt | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Camp | Waldcamping Frankfurt | 51 | Walldorf | |||||
| Activity | Cycle | Trier and Walldorf | 0 | 12 | 2595 | 2595 | |||
| Travel | Train | Trier to Frankfurt | 12:33 departure Trier | 130 | Trier | Frankfurt Airport | |||
| Note: Low “Lambert” is coming for us as we try to take a train from Trier to Frankfurt via Mannheim. Supposed to be camping tonight - AirBnB not available until tomorrow. Wish us luck!\n\n https://www.breakinglatest.news/health/weather-in-germany-heavy-thunderstorms-threaten-here-tornadoes-possible/\n\n We have been watching the forecasts as they vacillated between light rain and heavy rain since yesterday. We only had a little rain overnight and otherwise nice but muggy weather. We left the campingplatz this morning, had a long coffee in Trier, walked around, shopped, and looked at the Karl Marx statue. Then, Laura got a notice from Deutsch Bahn that a low weather system that has been named “Lambert” is moving across Germany and may wreak some havoc with the train service. It may also wreak some havoc with our day, and our travel plans. We’ll see what happens… Note: The weather held through our train rides today but they’re calling for the storm to hit between this evening and tomorrow evening. We got to the Frankfurt airport train station, and it was an adventure to find our way out, and then to find our way to a bike path with all of the construction. We were going to ride about 15km to a campingplatz east of Mörfelden but the clouds were so threatening that we decided to take a chance on Waldcamping Frankfurt, which is on the NW end of Walldorf, and much closer. I haven’t been able to confirm that it actually exists, though, so it wasn’t on my choices for tonight. \n\n When we got to the campingplatz we had to phone someone to ask to camp. The clouds were really threatening by that point and we didn’t know how long the proprietor would take to show up. Thankfully she showed up quickly and we just barely got the tents set up when a thunderstorm hit. It lasted ten or fifteen minutes, then cleared off and we went for Thai dinner down the street. I feel REALLY fortunate that we got in to the campingplatz when we did and that we didn’t get caught in the thunderstorm!!
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| 2023-06-23: Frankfurt | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Mörfelden-Walldorf - END | 2/3 of the first two nights, and full amount of third night. | 391 | Mörfelden-Walldorf | ||||
| Tip | General Info | Boxes in Frankfurt Reddit rando says Stadler (large store) always has boxes | 0 | ||||||
| Note: We had little rain over night, and got up today to lovely weather. Lambert is taking out his anger elsewhere in Germany… in fact, elsewhere in Hessen state (Kassel). We’re fortunate that we didn’t get what they got while we were in our tents - huge hailstones, flooding and fallen trees. :(\n\n When we were in Luxembourg, I got a weird bug bite. It started off as just a black dot but then, as the days went on, started to swell and get red. Brent is worried about infection, so he opened a claim ticket with our insurance today and shipped me off to a walk-in clinic. The doctor put some special brown goo and a bandaid on it and told me not to worry - it’ll be gone by Sunday. Brent had also speculated that the black dot was a bug’s head. Thankfully the doctor debunked that theory. \n\n We got into our Airbnb early - about 13:15 (instead of 15:00) and our host, Aurora was so excited to see us again and hear about our trip. She’s so great. \n\n While we were waiting for me to see a doctor (I was told to go away and come back at 11:00), we visited a couple of bike stores and managed to find Laura a box that is a more appropriate size for her enormous bike. Yay!\n\n This evening, Brent and Laura are putting bikes into boxes. I’m being very helpful by staying out of the way. But I am very pleased that Laura is using the picture guide that I made for how to disassemble my bike.
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| 2023-06-24: Frankfurt | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Mörfelden-Walldorf - END again | |||||||
| Note: Today is the one-year anniversary of leaving my project, so I celebrated with a beer to say EFF JOHANNA. \n\n We got rid of some beloved old gear that reached its end-of-life on this trip, including the cooler box (which was already old and on its way out, but also picked up some kind of stink at the end of this trip), our helmets, and the Beaver Bag. Brent’s helmet is eight years old and has a hole in it. It is no longer safe but he’s been continuing to use it because he likes it so much. Laura finally did what I couldn’t - convinced him to replace it. My helmet is still good, but I don’t want it so I’m leaving it at the AirBnB to be used with their loaner bicycles. \n\n Our tent is also finished, to my utter dismay. We’re not leaving it here, though. We’re taking it back in case we decide we want to limp it through another night, or possibly try to repair it.
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| 2023-06-25: Laura flies home | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Bed and Breakfast | Mörfelden-Walldorf - END again | |||||||
Note: Today Laura left to go back to Calgary. Alejandro from Großraum Taxi showed up a little early, 9:45, and whisked her off. Brent and I finished packing and are spending the day in the apartment hiding from the heat. Bleah.
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| 2023-06-26: Canceled Flight | |||||||||
| Accommodation | Hotel | Mercure Eschborn Helfmann Park | Provided by Air Canada | 0 | Frankfurt | ||||
| Tip | General Info | Airport Taxi Service | +17808907070 Call for taxi when we reach airport | 0 | |||||
| Travel | Flight | Frankfurt to Edmonton | AC 849: FRA-YYC: 13:30-14:55 AC 8144: YYC-YEG: 20:00-20:52 Cost included in flight to Frankfurt | 0 | FRA | YEG | |||
| Note: Our lovely Großraum Taxi driver, Alejandro, showed up right on time and whisked us to the airport. \n\n I’m wearing my tailbox as a replacement Beaver Bag for now. I got this specific tailbox many years ago because it had straps to use it as a day pack and never used it as such… until now. Better late than never. \n\n Checking in with our bikes and boxes was extremely easy and it looks like everything is heading for our plane (including us). The flight is oversold and they’re looking for volunteers to take a delay in exchange for an ‘attractive bonus’. Yeah, no, Air Canada… it would have to be a VERY attractive bonus, and I really don’t trust you to make good on it anyway, sooooo…. Note: Airplane Reboot: An hour after departure time and we’re sitting on the tarmac in Frankfurt while they reboot our airplane. Literally - they’re powering it down and back up again to try and fix a problem. This does not instill confidence… Note: Canceled flight: Traveling with the bikes is always challenging. Transport to (and from) the airport is a challenge. Just moving around hauling two bike boxes and two moving boxes is challenging. \n\n So, after sitting on the tarmac for 3 hours, just to have our flight ultimately canceled, filled me with dread. When I’ve had flights canceled in the past, I’ve always had to collect my luggage and then bring it back for the rescheduled flight. The thought of having to navigate through the night hauling all the enormous boxes just would not be tenable, so even if they have us a hotel room, I didn’t think I would leave the airport until the rescheduled flight. \n\n I cannot express how relieved I was to learn that they would hold the luggage overnight and put us up in a hotel. \n\n We had a chaotic journey through the airport trying to find Air Canada customer service, but once we found the right place it was relatively easy. There was a guy handing out vouchers and who also took us all to shuttle busses to take us to the hotel. \n\n The hotel included dinner and breakfast. But… well, dinner was at 8:30pm (yikes) and breakfast is at 6:00. Our shuttle leaves to take us back to the airport at 5:30, so I guess there’s no breakfast. Oh well. At least we didn’t have to collect the luggage!!\n\n We had met a Calgarian woman, Bernice, in the waiting lounge, who then ended up being my neighbor across the aisle on the plane. She also ended up being our hotel room neighbor. So we had a drink with her and a German couple, also from the canceled flight, and then had the 8:30 dinner with Bernice.\n\n Since our new flight to Calgary leaves early tomorrow morning, we’ll arrive in Calgary much earlier than our original flight. But, our replacement flight to Edmonton time hasn’t changed. It still leaves Calgary at 8:00pm so, unless we can change that flight, we’ll have an 11-hour layover in Calgary. BRUTAL.
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| 2023-06-27: Return to Edmonton | |||||||||
| Travel | Flight | Frankfurt to Edmonton | AC 2149 FRA 08:00 - YYC 09:10 AC 8138 YYC 16:30 - YEG 17:20 | 0 | Frankfurt | Edmonton | |||
| Note: Left the hotel at 5:30AM. Unfortunately our free breakfast at the hotel started at 6:00AM. Rode the bus with 296 of our closest friends back to the airport. Then stood in a mob with them checking in then rode with them as a mob on the bus back to our plane, then boarded with them as a mob back onto the plane. \n\n Thankfully we had an uneventful flight back to Canada. Our arrival time in Calgary was 9:00 and our connecting flight to Edmonton was supposed to be at 20:00. We asked about switching to an earlier flight and they were able to get us on something leaving at 16:30. It was still a hideously long layover so we walked to Tim Hortons and had a visit with my friend Cindy.
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