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Here I have reproduced the blog I kept while I was on my self-supported European bike tour from Amsterdam to Switzerland and the travelling I did before and after. The original is kept on my blog at http://henrythehorrible.blogspot.com.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 11:05 AM
I've just arrived in Mainz and found a random wireless signal. Here is the post from last night (I might be able to do today's if there's wireless near the hostel - I haven't arrived there yet):
Saturday (Bonn->Koblenz), 50mi
I don’t have an internet connection now, so I’m not sure when this will post. Anyway, I woke up today in Bonn with the sun streaming in my hotel window. I rode my bike around Bonn and snapped a few pictures and also went lunch shopping (meat, cheese, chocolate – meat is a new addition as my lunches up until today consisted of Chocolate and Cheese). I hit the road with partly sunny skies and as the day wore on it became totally sunny. A beautiful day of riding. I also seem to have left the heavy industry behind with the lowlands. The towns along the Rhine today were very nice and hills have started to rise up along the sides of the river, reminding me a bit of New England.
I arrived at my destination in Koblenz around 4 or 5 and attempted to locate the youth hostel. The guidebook showed it right across the river from Koblenz near the fortress way up on the cliff. It took some to figure out that the hostel is *in* the fortress on the cliff. Well, cliff fortresses are always designed to be difficult to get to. I wasn’t too thrilled. So I made my way up there and got lost several times. I had to walk the bike plus trailer in several sections because it was so steep. Eventually I made to the fort, paid the entrance fee, and proceeded to the hostel. The parking lot was totally full and I knew I shouldn’t even bother to go inside because it was clearly completely booked. I went inside anyway and, yep, it was completely booked. So, I made the exciting descent back down and found a 28 euro a night hotel at the bottom of the cliff. There I ate dinner and had a few beers and then turned in for the night.
The pictorial:
The route. Interactive.
A view out my hotel window into the streets of Bonn.
The statue of Beethoven in Bonn. This was his home town afterall.
Me and the bike on the Rhein.
The famous bombed out bridge at Remagen. It allowed American passage to Germany during WWII and it took the Nazis several attempts to destroy it.
A fairytale castle along the Rhein.
Lunch at an ancient tollhouse and WWI memorial in Andernach.
The Koblenz Nazi fortress (Ehrenbreitstein - originally built by the Prussians) where the booked youth hostel was located.
Monday, October 15, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 3:11 AM
I'm back in that square in Mainz with the random wireless signal to post this before I take off for the day. I'm freezing my ass off, but it looks like it'll be another gorgeous day once the sun warms things up.
Sunday (Koblenz->Mainz), 65mi
Again, no internet connection so hopefully I’ll post this tomorrow.
Today was another long day, but the weather was great with not a cloud in the sky. It was a bit cold in morning, but this didn’t bother me as I had a new riding friend! He was a crazy German on a recumbent that I had met in the hotel we stayed in. We ate breakfast together and conversed in broken Germenglish. He was probably 50, lived in the country outside Koln, and despised working. He didn’t own a car and, as far as I could tell, spent all his time riding around Germany on a recumbent. Anyway, he accompanied me 25km to the south to the town of Boppart where he departed for the mountains. I didn’t feel comfortable asking him for picture and he had mirrors so I couldn’t take a picture from the back like I did of the carpenter crack man. Oh well. From there I rode mostly along the Rhine past cliffs, castles, and quaint medieval towns. So far, this has probably been the best part of the Rhine.
I arrived in Mainz around 5pm and spent some time in the main square posting the previous day’s blog. At that point I was starving so I found the hostel, showered, and headed out for something to eat. I ate a massive plate of donner kebab but was still quite hungry so I came back here and devoured a whole chocolate bar. Looks like I’ll have to go shopping again tomorrow.
The last bit of news is that I’ve finished my first guidebook (Rotterdam to Mainz). Hooray! The guidebook said it was about 405mi, my total mileage was about 395mi. Next, I start on Mainz to Basel (Switzerland). It should only take me five (long) days so I’m running ahead of schedule. I think I might stay an extra night in Strasbourg (especially if it’s raining, as it may be in the middle of the week). It’s supposed to be a nice town. Tomorrow I make for Mannheim or Ludwigshafen. They’re both across the Rhine from each other so I have to decide which to stay in.
PS. Holy shit, I just left my wallet at the kebab place in town. Luckily the guy saw it and put it behind the counter. I had to ride all the way back to town. That was scary.
Pictures:
The route. Google Maps.
A beautiful morning on the Rhein.
A castle with town below.
An old tollhouse in the middle of the river.
Having lunch about 30km from Mainz.
An old building in Mainz.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
# posted by Tripp : 3:28 AM
Right across from the hostel is the "International" Mannhiem-Heidelberg Film Festival. Of course they have an internet connection for all those fancy, Mac-loving artists...
Monday (Mainz->Mannheim), 65mi
I couldn’t find any free internet in Mannheim so I’m writing this Tuesday morning and will hopefully post it later today.
Monday was much longer than it should have been. I got lost in the morning when I went to chase down a ruined castle I saw from a distance. I probably added a good 20km to the journey. It should have only been a 75km day, but it turned into another 100km+ day. The weather was great again though, despite it being a bit chilly in the morning.
As soon as I got out of Mainz I found myself in the German wine country with the vineyards crawling up along the hills away from the Rhein. At one point I think I was setting off those automatic shotguns that scare off the birds (no bullets of course). It took some time to figure out why there were loud bangs wherever I rode my bike through the vineyard.
The rest of the day was not as exciting and I ran into some more industry and the terrain flattened out again. I did cross through the town of Worms (where the Treaty of Worms was signed) and was hoping it would be a cool, medieval place. But, unfortunately, there was lots of construction and most of it had been destroyed during WWII, so there wasn’t a whole lot to see. I didn’t take too many pictures through the rest of the day. The town of Ludwigshafen, which is right across the Rhein from Mannheim, is the home base of the chemical company BASF. You can imagine what arriving in Ludwigshafen would look like. (In fact, you can because I took a picture of it). I then crossed the bridge into Mannheim and eventually located the youth hostel, ate a pile of pad thai and a donner yufka, and then hit the sack.
One strange thing that I have noticed so far traveling through Germany is that there are very few young people. There seem to be lots of children of age 16 and younger and then people over, say, 45. I have no idea where everyone in between is. The only places I have seen people my age appear to be in the university towns (like Bonn and Mannheim) and the very large towns (like Dusseldorf and Cologne). Also, there are hordes and hordes of geriatrics wandering around aimlessly, especially on the weekends. They come on their tour buses and then slowly wander directly into my path staring up at the sky. Again and again and again. I need a cow catcher that self deploys when it senses adults wearing diapers. Anyway, Germany is full of old people.
The day’s pictures:
The route. Interactive.
Another great day along the Rhien.
Riding through the vineyards.
The castle tower that got me lost. At least there wasn't anyone else there and entrance was free.
A view out one of the windows into the wine country (near the town of Nierstein).
Every cyclist's worst nightmare - a glass recycling facility. There was broken glass everywhere. It's hard to tell, but there were piles all along the road and bits all over the place. Although...I can't imagine a more satisfying job than smashing things made out of glass all day.
The statue of Martin Luther, etc. in Worms. Here is where he was questioned and stuck to his guns. This is also where he apparently spoke the famous lines during the Diet of Worms, "Here I stand. There is nothing that can be done. May god help me. Amen."
The beautiful view of Ludwigshafen's BASF horizon. I'm sure they've done wonderful things for the Rhein.
# posted by Tripp : 1:51 PM
Tuesday (Mannhiem->Karlsruhe), 60mi
Well, it's 8pm here and I'm sitting in a square somewhere in Karlsruhe. It's a pretty big town with a nice palace and tons of shops (if you like that sort of thing - the Europeans certainly do). I barely have a signal so I might not be able to upload pictures, but we'll see.
Today's ride was not so exciting as the terrain has gotten pretty flat again and I was mostly in the woods without being able to see the Rhein. However, I did get lost once and ended up in a farmer's field (again) for a while. The weather was great though. I really have been lucky.
I stopped in a pretty cool town called Speyer which had a nice old section. There was massive cathedral that looks like it was recently rebuilt with all the old sections of a previous cathedral that had been destroyed. There are some pics below.
Seeing as I don't have much to report, I guess I'll talk about the bike. So far, it's been great. The dérailleur hanger got a bit bent on the plane ride over so I had to adjust the dérailleur, but it works fine now. Also, the largest front chainring got busted on the flight over so it's a bit bent. However, I've only used the gear once and it was way too scary with the trailer, so no matter. Umm, that's about it for today. Although, I must say that it is getting difficult not being able to have a conversation with anyone (the Germans barely speak any English, unlike the Dutch).
Pictures:
The route. Interactive.
Another ferry crossing today...
Inside the Speyer cathedral. The largest Romanesque church in the world.
Outside the Speyer cathedral.
There I am out in front.
The Rhein at last...
Lunchtime in Worth-am-Rheins.
The palace at Karlsruhe.