A 4 month bike tour thru Europe 2014
Highlights of my day by day journal of a 4 month bike tour thru Europe
Four months is looong time, day by day, so, for easier downloading/reading the journal has been split into months:
May Stuttgart to Děčín ‑ via Paris & Berlin
June Litoměřice to Postjona
July Postjona to Armentières ‑ via Stuttgart & Paris
August Armentières to London ‑ via Brussels & Amsterdam
This journal is also available ‑ with lot's more images & detail ‑ on the really interesting, if somewhat old‑school, idosyncratic Crazy Guy On a Bike collection of bike touring journals
Part 1 of 2014 Europe journal
Stuttgart
Distance : 24 km
Total Distance : 24 km
I bought myself a bike!
A Riese and Müller Charger e‑bike. The mid-mounted Bosch electric motor doesn't replace pedalling effort, it just adds power proportional to the effort made by the rider (at least up to 25 km/h cos the bike is speed limited to 25 km/h). The bike has a couple of intriguing options that will be interesting to test in a touring environment. The first is a NuVinci continuously variable rear hub transmission, the workings of which totally elude me, and the other is a Gates Carbon Drive rather than the usual bike chain.
Something that may be problematic is the 90 days in 180 days time limit for Schengen visas. If I'm having a good time and if the money is holding out then it's possible that I might want to stay longer than 90 days. It seems that there are ways around, immigration agreements with Netherlands and Denmark allows Australians to spend an additional 90 days in these countries at the end of a tour which in theory at least allows 180 days in 180 days.
As to where I intend to ride, about the only fixed points are starting in Germany so I can visit my daughter who is currently living in Berlin and heading to Paris to meet up with a friend for a few days unrestrained hedonism and much later (in August) a nice bike/boat cruise into Amsterdam. Let's just see where I roll eh?
Stuttgart to Eberbach
Distance : 131 km
Total Distance : 155 km
A ton on the first day? Yep, e‑bikes work well...
First full day on the bike and I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself and, of course, the bike. Being the initial extended experience on the bike I found myself making small adjustments to my riding style. An inappropriate gear selection seemed to really suck down battery power while a sudden burst of pedalling power did likewise. In short, relaxing preserved the best balance of power consumption by the motor/transmission. Actually not all that different from riding a trike, change gears early and often while keeping a steady cadence.
The Neckar bike route is incredibly scenic, mostly following the river bank closely between towering walls of forest and/or terraced vineyards, with picturesque towns dotted along the way. The path is mostly on dedicated bikeways with a bit of (easy) on‑road and a small section of dirt. The general elevation was downward with one or two sharp climbs. Anyway, the day, and the kms, just zipped by and early arvo I saw the 100 come up on the bike computer, I was pretty surprised. While my legs felt fine, I knew I may pay a price later so I called it quits at the next town. Eberbach is almost a visual cliché half‑timbered buildings, incredibly decorated exteriors, distinctive church steeples and all the rest of it, but it's also a very friendly little place.
Eberbach to Mannheim
Distance : 75 km
Total Distance : 230 km
An earlyish start riding along the riverbank most of the morning. A very relaxing ride, even if the path was a mess of water puddles and mud. The Radweg offered multiple options on both sides of the river, a bit confusing at times, especially around Heidelberg. Naturally I paused in Heidelberg, along with crowds of others, the buses were lined nose to tail for 500 metres or so. Even so, Heidelberg had plenty to offer and bikes are allowed almost everywhere so a gentle circuit of the old town and a midmorning coffee made for an enjoyable interlude. If things were a bit confused going into town, it was even more so leaving. After a couple of false starts, I could see the bike path but I just couldn't find an entry point so I opted to go down a flight of stairs ‑ not so easy with a laden bike, but do‑able.
The path to Mannheim was pretty straight forward, again following the Neckar, but about 5kms out of town the first rain squall hit and almost straight away the wind came. I don't mind riding in the rain, but rain and wind cut visibility to nothing and the pavement was pretty slippery too. Time to call it quits for the day. As I rode thru town looking for a place to stay I noticed I was riding along Rheinpromenade so it seems that I have left the Neckar bike path for the Rhine bike path.
Mannheim to Germersheim
Distance : 67 km
Total Distance : 297 km
This is the Rhine bike route?
I saw the river twice, once while negotiating a bit of very slippery muddy singletrack during a rain squall when I thought I would end up in the river and again when I crossed the bridge into Germersheim.
If it sounds like I'm grumbling, well it's cos I am. A shortish ride but one of those rides, you know those days when the wind is strong and blustery, when no matter which direction you turn it's into a headwind; when the rain is heavy enough to sting and there's no shelter to be found; when off‑road paths become quagmires, when tree branches not only litter the path but come crashing down on top of you, when sometimes there are more way signs than probably warranted while at junctions offering multiple options the signs are less than helpful. Well today I had one of those rides.
As it's a Sunday and the day of rest is taken seriously in these parts ‑ I couldn't find a coffee anywhere! ‑ I'd planned ahead and booked a place to stay in Germersheim, which seems a nice little place but on a wet Sunday arvo, there's not that much in the way of diversion ‑ the old fortress is impressive tho ‑ so I whiled away the late afternoon in a café with a rather nice hefeweissbier watching F1 motor racing.
Germersheim to Seltz
Distance : 69 km
Total Distance : 366 km
A fairly short riding day today, tho I covered a reasonable territory in that time. Today there was heaps more blue sky and way less wind, but when the rain came, it came by the bucket full. At one point the route went thru a riverside gravel works and with almost zero visibility in the rain and plenty of heavy vehicles around I sought shelter until the squall passed, to get to the point, one of the workers gave me coffee and a quick, probably verboten, tour of the gravel loader. Nothing like bike touring is there?
I saw a lot more of the Rhine today, especially on the French bit of the path. Tho there are a plethora of route options on both sides of the river so the reason that there doesn't seem much river in my Rhine bike path may well merely be my choice of options. Still it was nice to see the river, and the river traffic. The size of some of the vessels, both passenger and work, is unbelievable. As is the speed of the water, and presumably the strength of the current.
Mid‑afternoon, after a particularly long downpour and with an ever darkening sky, I decided to stop and dry out so I stopped in one of the tiny places that dot the route, Seltz. Seltz has about 3000 inhabitants, a few shops and that's about it, oh, and a (good) pizzeria.
Seltz to Strasbourg
Distance : 71 km
Total Distance : 437 km
I've just done a big U turn just to avoid a hill or two between here and Stuttgart. Ah well! The route today was ever so gently uphill, so gentle that it really wasn't noticeable. I left Seltz earlyish cos I was told that bad weather was expected mid‑day. Well, I arrived in Strasbourg to find a reasonably sunny day after a quick ride, mostly right on the river bank, with only a couple of minor navigational hiccups and I was really surprised when I checked the odometer, sure didn't seem like that many k's.
When the route strayed from the river it went thru small towns/villages with Germanic names but were quite obviously French. Much of the route was on‑road, there were either really good bike only lanes or the road was right on the river and so used only by fishermen or gravel trucks but thankfully I missed these monsters.
Route signage wasn't as good as earlier but with the simple expedient of keeping water to my left I was in Strasbourg before I knew it. It's a nice place, a bit of a mixture ‑ the European parliament is here for example and it seems to be simultaneously a source of pride and derision &8209; it has a huge student population together with a very obvious 'minorities' populations. And for cyclists, it seems that cyclists are free to ride almost everywhere and cycle lanes dot the city, as do humongous bike parking lots. In fact, according to Google, Strasbourg rates ninth in the international index of the most cycle friendly cities.
Strasbourg to Barr
Distance : 56 km
Total Distance : 493 km
Strasbourg is the centre of the Route des Vins D'Alsace so guess what I will be doing over the next few days? Yep, pootling along the Alsace Wine Route.
A relatively late start from Strasbourg and I found myself amongst a veritable crowd of cyclists, obvious students, Mums & Dad) with kids of all ages in every sort of kid carrier from backpacks and trailers to Christina style kid transporter bikes, besuited business types and lots of shoppers (judging from the enormous shopping bags being carried). I let the crowd carry me and I saw the crooked streets and houses of Petite France, the Cathedral and the Palais Rohan in an impromptu cycle tour of Strasbourg. When I was ready I simply picked up the very well signed wine route and following disused canals I was soon into that nice countryside. A very easy 56 k's; mostly flat, mostly off‑road bike path thru idyllic rural scenery with neat as pin little villages every few k's. Mostly sunshine too. What more could I ask for the first day of my little 'wine route' interlude?
As I rode into the lower slopes of some vine covered hills big black clouds suddenly appeared and a few heavy drops of rain splashed down and after riding in the rain over the past few days I didn't want to repeat the experience so I called it quits at the next town ‑ Barr. (Apparently it's pronounced 'Bark')
Barr to Kayserberg
Distance : 54 km
Total Distance : 547 km
I sure got a workout today? A short ride with plenty of hills, including a couple of grinders ‑ you know the sort, you just change down as far as you can, keep the pedals turning over, think of England and grind your way to the top. Of course, there were a couple of fabulous descents too, I hit 63.9 km h on one, which is about 8 times faster than I went up the other side (and on a loaded touring bike, probably stupid.:.:. )
The route went through vineyards overshadowed by steep, forested hills with castles perched on craggy peaks and lower down the slopes, fairy tale villages each with a character of their own, and as impossible as it might seem, each succeeding village more enchanting than the previous one a couple of k's back. The camera got a workout too, the villages were so picturesque that I made lots of stops, did lots of walking.
As I'd had plenty of exercise, I indulged with a Flammekueche for lunch ‑ hard to describe, but it's a rectangular pizza sort of thing, covered with fromage blanc, thin‑sliced onions and lardons. Really, really good, tho probably not something I should tell my cardiologist about. Anyway, During lunch I was told about a very good riesling produced in a nearby town, so guess what I did after lunch? Yes, I went off to do some wine tasting.
The nearby town was Kayserberg and tho Riquewihr was pretty spectacular, Kayserberg, following the pattern of the day, was even prettier and even more crowded with tourists. Cos I wanted to taste wine, I decided that I shouldn't ride any further so I stopped in Kayserberg.
Luckenwalde
Distance : 58 km
Total Distance : 720 km
OK, OK, the sharp amongst you will have noted the total k's have jumped from 547 in the previous post to 720 here... no I didn't ride 173 km in a day, rather I've skipped my visits to both Paris and Berlin, suffice to say I had a magic time in both places ‑ plus 173 kms worth of incidental riding while travelling by train for the most part. But today it was back on the bike, back on the odyssey
Started reasonably early cos I always find leaving a large city quite daunting, but, although it took forever to get out of Berlin, it was a straight forward ride (didn't get lost once which must be something of a first for me). Most of the Berlin part was along on-road cycle paths but once clear of the major urban area, the path was mostly off‑road, tho as I got further away from the city I was more likely to find myself on minor roads.
The day was sunny, warm but not hot, there was a nice breeze too and a lot of the route was through trees. Being a Sunday what little traffic there was, wasn't rushing. And the whole way was almost flat. The k's just whizzed by. Of course, being a Sunday also meant that there were very few shops and/or cafés open and so finding somewhere for the mid‑morning coffee took until midday. Not long afterwards I discovered the Flaeming‑Skateweg an amazing 230 km network of paths for skaters, and, of course, cyclists. Cos it's a skate path it's as smooth as the baby's proverbial. I followed the skate path into a quiet little town, Luckenwalde, with a very wide pedestrian street that was lined with trees and well patronised eis cafés. Everyone was really friendly so even tho it was quite early I decided to stop for the day. And the sour cherry eis was fabulous!
Luckenwalde to Lutherstadt Wittenberg
Distance : 62 km
Total Distance : 782 km
OK, OK, the sharp amongst you will have noted the total k's have jumped from 547 in the previous post to 720 here... no I didn't ride 173 km in a day, rather I've skipped my visits to both Paris and Berlin, suffice to say I had a magic time in both places ‑ plus 173 kms worth of incidental riding while travelling by train for the most part. But today it was back on the bike, back on the odyssey
Another great morning on the bike. I had more troubles leaving tiny little Luckenwalde than I did leaving Berlin ‑ I took a short cut and as usual ended up riding a whole lot further than if I'd just stuck to the signposted route. I soon picked up the skate path and followed it almost all the way to Wittenburg. Again, a really good surface and today there was a slight but perceptible downwards trend so the k's just flew by.
I stopped for coffee at a path side farm in Naundorf that had a little sign offering ice cream, coffee, cake and rooms. Turned out to be an ostrich farm, there were 18 tiny birds, their predecessors were on display as wurst and salami. At Naundorf I left the skate path behind and after an appalling bit of road thru Zahna, it was so rough I sought out the patched bits cos they were easier to ride on, the route took unpaved forest tracks until almost into Wittenberg. It was incredibly peaceful, and pretty too.
I spent an interesting afternoon, along with heaps of others strolling the streets of the old town and checking out Luther's house and Cranach's as well. All the important sites are under renovation, surrounded by scaffolding, covered in white plastic, the 500 year anniversary of the theses incident will be in 2017. I saw a zillion other touring cyclists too before I realised that the Elbe bike path ran right thru town, as I've opted to head towards Prague that s the way I'll leave here on the morrow.
Lutherstadt Wittenberg to Torgau
Distance : 73 km
Total Distance : 855 km
It seems I'm following 'the Routes to Luther' as well as the Elbe Radweg, which may account for the number of cyclists about, even on a day as rainy as it was today. Not much actual river involved in the route, most of the morning was thru fen lands and it's all broad acre farming. Quite a lot of small towns/villages along the way, mostly lived in rather than picturesque ‑ tho all incredibly ordered and all having flowers everywhere. The route seemed to wander all over, I'm sure I rode a few big loops.
I arrived in Torgau early in the afternoon, looking for somewhere to dry out and have coffee, the coffee morphed into beer and the market square looked spectacular and everyone seemed friendly so I thought that I'd stop for the day. Turned out lots of other cyclists made the same choice. A hotel, right on the square offered not only a dry, secure, place for bikes but tools and other bits'n bobs to keep cyclists rolling, so guess where I called it quits for the day? Best of all, they offer gargantuan sized meals.
Torgau has links with Luther, the beautiful Schloß Hartenfels was a power base for the Reformation and the town has literally hundreds of fifteenth century buildings (and a section of original fifteenth century cobblestone pavement ‑ I wouldn't want to walk it, let alone ride it). It's also where the Russian and American armies met in 1945.
May have been a wet day, but it was a pretty good one.
Torgau to Riesa
Distance : 52 km
Total Distance : 907 km
Awoke to drizzling rain and I pondered whether to ride today or not. In a long line of dubious decisions I opted to ride. Probably shoulda stayed... the drizzle was unremitting so after just a couple of k's I was like a drowned rat. To keep weight down I have my light wet weather gear with me, it's more shower‑proof than water‑proof.
In a succinct word, the route this morning was crap. Lots of unpaved dirt, actually, mud, and where it wasn't slippery mud it was rocky, lots of small, sharp, dark rocks. Signage was a bit how's your father too. With the rain, visibility wasn't great but what I saw looked like more of the same as yesterday, plenty of vast grain fields, plenty of just planted corn fields.
Still I wasn't the only cyclist out and about, I saw plenty of people I'd seen yesterday. I teamed up with a German couple at a particularly perplexing junction and we rode together for some 15 k's before we came to a large‑ish town, Riesa. I decided that enough was enough and so we parted company. I crossed the river and then braved a couple of very busy roundabouts ‑ cos the bike path ended abruptly ‑ and soon found a hotel. Again, I wasn't alone, I joined a small queue of cyclists who also had opted to stop for the day.
A scene for you to picture: the hotel reception was flat out dealing with a surge of cyclists and on learning I spoke only English, the receptionist called someone else who spoke better English than she to look after me. A young Balinese girl who spoke with a broad Oz accent appeared, goodness knows what other English speakers make of her English. At least she was able to tell me that tomorrow's weather should be better than today's.
After drying out I went for a walk, Riesa is very different. No cute buildings or other 'touristy' things (tho there is a pasta museum here), this is a working town, a huge grain silo in the middle of town, a steelworks somewhere near by, row on row of apartment buildings and such‑like.
Riesa to Dresden
Distance : 58 km
Total Distance : 965 km
Well I knew there'd be a plus to stopping early yesterday, over a meal last night I chatted to some of the other sodden cyclists and we agreed to ride together today (at least as far as Meißen). When we all left, the hotel gave us all a disposable poncho as it was still drizzling. We looked a sight, they caught all the wind and ballooned around us so we looked like so many 'Michelin men'. But they ‑ sort of ‑ did their job. Almost straight on leaving Riesa, the bike path was under repair and a diversion thru the worksite was literally a sea of mud, and, naturally a sharp, heavy shower made things even worse. That tho was the worst of it, things got way better after that.
Plenty of river today, most of the track was right on the river, and in Meissen, it was actually in the river ‑ high water levels meant a small amount of water across the bike path. Most of the route was really smooth but there were a few bumpy patches, river stones by virtue of being rounded by water, don't make very good cobblestones.
Meißen came up very quickly, it's a very picturesque place, which is no doubt why there were lots and lots of tourists there. The others were staying in Meißen, so after an introductory bike tour of the old town together, and a (cakeless) morning coffee, we parted company and I rode another 25 kms to Dresden.
I rode along parts of the Saxon Wine Route. Small vineyards, terraced with stone, rising up very steep slopes. The river and the valley narrow dramatically, it's very pretty. On a clear day it'd be beautiful.
Dresden came up quickly and before I knew it, I'd reached the old town. Like many European cities, Dresden has been totally rebuilt after being destroyed in the '39‑'45 war. It's an impressive place as an afternoons' sightseeing illustrated. It's almost hard to reconcile the inhumanity and absolute devastation of the contentious Allied air raids and the fire‑storm they caused in February 1945 with the attractive, friendly place that Dresden appears to be.
Dresden to Děčín
Distance : 68 km
Total Distance : 1033 km
I'm in Děčcín, Czech Republic, and apparently it's the lowest situated town in the country (altitude 135 metres).
You know what this means don't you?
Yes, from here everywhere is up hill!
And yes, I've started at the end yet again.
An easy start on a cool, sunny morning. The path was good and as it was for almost the whole journey, flat and right on waters edge. Being a Saturday, there were plenty of joggers, skaters, walkers, and, of course, cyclists out and about. Things got a bit crowded from time to time, especially where a 'junk' market straddled the path. The whole way until the frontier, there were literally hundreds of people enjoying a nice Saturday morning on the path, after entering the Czech Republic, the numbers reduced a little. But I'm getting ahead of myself again.
There were so many people using the bike path, that when it crosses the river at Königstein, the little ferry was overwhelmed, it took about 20 minutes to cross, the crossing itself taking only a couple of minutes, the rest was just waiting in the queue as the ferry shuttled backwards and forwards (against a very strong current) carrying heaps of cyclists in both directions while the queue never seemed to diminish.
A couple of climbs, mostly short and sharp, but a long, steep climb into Bad Schandau was hard work, the route was on-road and the road was so narrow that when a vehicle came, there wasn't room for both car and cyclist so cyclists had to stop cycling and balance on a mini verge while the car squeezed past. A couple of times this involved a pair of cars, one reversing...
A great morning ride; really scenic, fine but cool weather and lots of friendly good humoured people about. And an afternoon sightseeing in a pretty little town ‑ a rather nice castle too. What more could you ask for?
Jump to Part 2 of my 2014 Europe journal