Day 8 Boppard to Mainz

Day 8 Thursday9th June

The B&B in which we stayed was a model of cottage industry. On display (as part of the furnishings) was a variety of jams, preserves, wines, paintings, plants – they did it all. It was a quiet space but compared to most places was tired and worn. We departed with a friendly wave (and no purchases) into an overcast morning. The day promised a delight through the narrow valley (for the Rhine) with small ancient villages and castles. The track along the river was mostly good but you are cramped next the the road and railway, each begging for attention. At about 10.30 we arrived at the town of St Goars where Lia had some work done on her bike – just to get the gears properly aligned. There was a house there with a date of 1350 which made the 1600's house look young. The highlight of the day were the many castles and St Goars had the largest although like most along the river at least in part ruins. It seems the French came along in the late 1700's and destroyed many of them.

Having a leisurely morning by mid-afternoon we had only travelled 45km and set our sights on at least 65km before finding a bed. Unfortunately when we arrived at our intended destination there was nothing suitable so we road into the evening to the city of Mainz (a total of 90km for the day) where we fell dead-tired into the first hotel we found.

Day 7

Wednesday 8^th of June

Pitter patter on the windows at night and a little bit of thunder. We woke to overcast weather and some soft morning rain. We were in no hurry so took our time with the morning rituals and breakfast, we were well looked after by our hostess. We left at 9am with our rain jackets on but there was no need to put on rain pants as really it not that heavy more a light drizzle, and even then it did not drizzle that long.

By early afternoon blue skies came out and we had mainly sunshine again. We continue our cycle south along the Rhine and manage well finding the tracks without the use of a map (when all goes wrong the is the GPS). As Graeme mentioned the scenery along the way has changed and we are now seeing gorgeous villages, green hills, wonderful historic buildings and here and there a castle! For our morning tea stop (coffee and hot chocolade) we like to stop at the local bakery where some also have a little corner where you can have a hot drink as well as buying the lovely fresh pastries! We meandered through a village Andernach and saw historic remains of the town wall. Then pushed the bike onto the small city of Koblenz the place where the Mosel meets the Rhine, also a great place full of history. We found a great Indian restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious curry! We were the only customers at that time and got all the VIP treatment as the owner was most impressed that us Aussies were cycling such a long way (we kept telling him that it was not all the way from Australia but that did not matter to him). From Koblenz we went onto Boppard where we have bedded down for the night at a Pension (a bit ordinary and dumpy but hey, that is how it goes sometimes!).

People you meet along the way: Locals are always very helpful to a lost traveller, sometimes so much so that they tend to get us more lost as they strike up this rapid conversation in German which has us at the end rather confused. Best thing is to thank them, use the direction pointed and then find your own way. The meetings of fellow cyclists along the path, we met a very friendly and helpful Dutch couple on day 3 and they explained how the Rhine Rad path worked and what signs to follow. It was an enjoyable exchange of information. They were keen to learn more about using GPS map reading as they were carrying 1.5kg worth of maps!

Day 6

Day 6 June 7, 2011

I thought the last night was bad but was nothing compared to the hot noisy room we 'rested' in Cologne. The hotel was near the railway and you couldn't leave a window open but it was a hot and humid night so we had a noisy little fan struggling to keep us cool. Needless to say neither of us was in a particular good mood this morning. We left early without “fruhstuk” preferring to drop in to the local supermarket and pick up some breakfast for on the way. After about half an hour we stopped on the water front just south of the city and had some bread and yoghurt. It felt much better than sitting in the hotel room. It was an exceptionally pleasant ride from for much of the way from Cologne to Bonn (a distance of about 35km on bike) following cycle paths along the banks of the river. There were many beautiful parks and grand buildings. One low light was an major industrial area with what appeared to be a power station (maybe nuclear). We rode straight through Bonn with neither of us feeling like a detour to the city centre.

Soon after leaving Bonn the river valley begins to narrow with the first of the famous Rhine valley castles appears after about 10km. The river has now begun to straighten and our path is also more direct with no more meanders. By mid afternoon both of us were looking forward to finding accommodation for the night. We ended up stopping at Bad Breisig at about 2.45pm having ridden around 74km in the day. After unpacking we went to the local spa baths and soaked the afternoon away. For the first time we have cooking facilities so made our own pasta and salad meal before an ice cream sitting on the river bank in the cool of the evening.

Day 4

We are awoken at around 5.30 to the sound of thunder followed soon by pouring rain.  Rolling over we try from more sleep but the rain keeps coming.  At breakfast the talk turnsto the weather and the host says she will check the internet for us.  She returns saying that scattered showers are expected all day.  The rain continued at this time.  While we had a pleasant host,  the optioin of spending an extra day did not appeal.  AS we spoke the rain became lighter and we returned to our room and packed.  A little rain was not going to put us off.  Bt the time we had finished packing the rain had stopped and we headed off.  It just got better and with the wind behind us we made good speed.. By morning tea we had travelled about 30km and felt we had earned our treats. 

We continued south a bit away from the Rhine, preferring to stay in the countryside as this part of the river is dominated by big industry.  Tomorrow we head back toward the river and by evening shouldbe in Cologne.  From then on we will follow the cycle track along the river.  Tonight we stay in a town calll Willich located just south fo the city of Krefeld.  We manafed around 82km today  and whilst we have very sore bums all-in-all we are handling the challenges of the ride very well and with each day we are becoming fitter.  Chou for now.

Day 3

4 June 2011'

As Graeme and I do alternate days to write this blog, I now add my day to this writing.

Day 3, Breakfast at Jan and Mariette Kastelijn's was as good as the fabulous dinner the night before. It certainly is Jan's passion to look after guests. Jan quit his job as Zoo-ologist and researcher to pursue his passion of waiting on others. He runs a B&B through 'Friends of Cyclist' and has a lounge room restaurant business. We very much enjoyed our stay with this couple but also looked forward to moving on as being so thoroughly waited upon and playing the guest role is not what we enjoy for too long. Anyhow with a full stomach and lunch (all the left over breakfast foods were packed up for us) tucked in our panniers we left at 8.30 am. The first hour was cycling along a dyke and thank goodness the wind was not that strong as yet! From Adelst it was direction Nijmegen and soon after, whilst riding through a beautiful forest, we crossed the border (non-existent these days) into Germany. It was very hot and humid today which meant lots of drinks. Unfortunately we did not time our morning coffee break very well as the place Graeme suggested was on a busy road and not to my liking and if only I knew that that place was the last for a very long time, I would not have been so fussy! In Kleve we had a short stop for a late lunch with a friend of ours who is there at present caring for his family. From Kleve onto Grieth, a wonderful historic town located on the Rhine but as there was no accommodation available for us that night we cycled onto Willens and stayed there for the night. Dinner at a local restaurant where a most friendly frauline (in traditional German dress) served at our table. With her tiny little ability to understand Dutch and my tine little ability to understand German we managed to order our meals and drinks.

We cycled 65km today.

Day 2

Like all days today started with  breakfast.  Having breakfast at someone else's place is normally exiting as you never know what you will get but in Holland everyone has much the same for breakfast.  Luckily we enjoy old cheeses and hagelslag (chocolade sprinkel) on bread as that is universal here.  We left around 9am and as we planned cycling of around 50km we had a fairly leisurely ride.  The morning was a repeat of yesterday, sunny with a wind of the north east.  We planned the cycle as much as we could through forrested areas as we made our way to Rennen for lunch.  The town provided our first few of the Rhine or should I say the Neider Rhine as the main river has split in several branches at this stage.  The town of Rennen was interesting being a place which was severely damaged during WW2 when the allied forces liberated Holland (think of the movie a Bridge to Far).  We ended up taking a ferry across the river to eat our lunch by this time the wind had strenghtened and the last fifteen km where into a strong head wind.  We stayed at a place called Andelst which is about 17km from Nijmegen which is near the German border.  The host is fantastic and has fed us a full four course dinner!!!!!!  We sit enjoying a cup of tea before bed.  Cycled 58km today.

Our first day

2 June 2011 Spokes and Lycra,

Our first day on the bike, and what a stunning day it was!! In Holland it was a public holiday (Ascension day) and most people were out and about. The brother we had been staying with left with his family for a long weekend camping holiday and we took the opportunity to start our cycle trip to Budapest. The gods were with us as the sun shone the whole day, with a light breeze mainly behind us, it was a most pleasant day for cycling. We left at 8am and after the compulsory departure photo's we were on our way. Within 45 min at Hem pond our first ferry crossing for the day, that had us near Amsterdam and with Graeme's brilliant sense of direction and the help of his GPS we managed to pass Amsterdam without getting lost. Past Amsterdam time for morning coffee and after that onwards towards Zeist. We cycled along fields with grazing cows, along the river the Vecht and de Loosdrechtse plassen (large lake) which was great as due to the beautiful weather there were boats of all shapes, sizes and colours floating on the water, it was a fantastic sight! We also cycled through some Forrest (very small but still very nice), saw windmills and wildflowers growing along side the roads, heard birds, smelled farms and just had a joyous days filling all our senses with sounds, sights and smells! After doing approx 80 km we arrived in Zeist and found without any difficulties our guest house. We have become a member of the organisation called: 'Friends of cyclists' and for a small contribution you receive a bed and breakfast. So, here we are in a beautiful home with a most hospitable and friendly hosts sitting in a comfortable and spacious room. We are about to find our way to a restaurant for dinner and will most likely crash early tonight! Breakfast will be served by 7.30am after which we ride to a place before Nijmegen. It is likely to be a shorter distance tomorrow, which is good as we need to ease into this cycling business. In summary a fabulous riding day, leaving us with sunburnt faces, arms and legs and a bit of a sore bum (hopefully that part will settle in soon I hope)! We cycled 85km today.