Skip to main content

/Day 83 /02-06-22 /Mainz-Remagen

Yesterday evening I had a dinner of aspargus and a schnitzel Wiener art…and as I was still hungry after,  Ice cream with chocolat milk, not sauce…my German needs improvement. I woke up early as it would be a another long ride of 140 K. When I packed I noticed my second battery was not charged. As it was a flat ride I should be able to cover the distance on 1 battery but my range anxiety was stronger than myself….I put my second battery in the charger and went in search for breakfast whilst the battery would load enough to satisfy my anxiety…..

At 8.30, 1 hour later then planned but after a nice breakfast, I left Mainz. Today it  would be about following the Rhine, the weather would be great , the cycle path signposted and Loreley waiting for me…To get out of Mainz I passed an Industrial zone and some highways….but soon I was cycling along the Rhine. 

There is much more traffic on the Rhine compared to the Danube ; a lot of river cruise boats, but also a lot of cargo ships. The cruise boats modern and big,…A lot of cyclists on the road as well, often big groups on a cruise-cycle tour. Besides boats, cyclists a lot of castles. Every Rhine village has it’s castle, some big, some small…I think I passed around 30 castles.











In the afternoon I passed Koblenz, a rather big town  at the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine. I cycled briefly through the city center, which had a modern look (the town was mostly rebuild after WWII), I probably missed the nice parts of the city but Koblenz didn’t appeal to me. The Ehrenbreitstein fortress overlooking the Rhine, Mosel and Koblenz is though impressive. Getting out the city took a long ride along busy road roads, highways and cycling through industrial zones…I finally returned to the cycle path along the Rhine for the rest of the day.


In the afternoon I followed the left shore of the Rhine. At one moment I took a wrong road and cycled 10 kilometers through an almost non-existing path..Black Horse felt as he was on a trail in the Balkan.I was able to get back to society to find me on a busy road where I was not expected to cycle. After 2 kilometres riding on the shoulder of the road I was able to leave the semi-highway and reconnect with the normal cycling path…pfff…

On my way to the camping I was tempted to take a hotelroom in one of the many hotels. I did not, the camping was nice , the weather still fine and the camping pizzeria-restaurant was operational. I setup camp, had a Radler (or 2) and  had a shower. At least 6 other cyclists camping at site. One of them is a German guy from Augsburg who is cycling towards Norway with a 12 year old retriever in a trailer. I passed the guy along the road but then he was not that talkative, in the evening he was in a better mood.

Tomorrow will be my last day in Germany. I have booked a camping site in Remersdaal. The camping restaurant has been elected in 2022 as the best Camping restaurant in Belgium…..not sure how big the camping-restaurant scene is…..I will be hungry, 130 kilometers and 1300 meters of climbing….

Lessons learned :
  • Flies and mosquitoes taste all the same.
  • The Rhine cycle path is nice then the Danube’s.
  • There are a lot of pizzeria in Germany.



Comments

  1. Liliane vanlee6/2/22, 9:19 PM

    Weeral een mooie dag gehad, je verhaal over de Rijn en de kastelen doet mij denken aan onze eerste reis met onze eerste auto en jij en jp erbij.
    Nu kom je echt dicht bij het thuisfront.
    Nog prettige dagen met hopelijk goed weer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leentje Vanlee6/2/22, 10:31 PM

    Another nice day, except for the flat battery anxiety 🙃! Loved the photos and the views! You're getting closer to the end of your trip... enjoy your last moments!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lieve meirsman6/3/22, 8:24 AM

    weer heel mooie foto's waar ik altijd van geniet, dit was een streek die ik ook ken, geniet van je laatste dagen op terugweg naar huis en laat ons ook nog wat mee genieten.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

/Day 84 /03 -06-22 /Remagen-Remersdaal

I was awake by 5.30 thanks to many birds making a lot of noice. I stayed in bed until 7.00 and was ready to go by 8.00. In Remagen I bought breakfast at the bakery and cycled afterwards the last kilometers along the Rhine.I also passed the remnants of the Remagen bridge which was was captured intact by the allies during WWII and scene for heavy battle as the Germans tried to destroy the bridge, which  it eventually did.  Leaving the Rhine required some climbing to get out of the Rhine Valley. A short but steep climb brought me in a different landscape. Big fields, low rolling hills…Most of the day this would be the landscape, not  to bad but also nothing extra-ordinary. The cycle path often ran parallel to quite busy roads which spoiled somewhat the fun.  In the afternoon I cycled though Aachen. I had never been to Aachen before and the  city center  looked very pleasant. The icecream was also of reasonable quality, no Amerena and Malaga this time but yoghu...
4 comments
Read more

//Day 66 /16-05-22 /Doboj-Banja Luka

As I enjoyed cycling in Bosnia the last week I looked at the possibility to extend my path through Bosnia rather then to head to Croatia. The challenge that cycling the north of Bosnia or return to the coast would require some serious climbing. After some study work on Komoot I found a feasible route direction North allowing me to cycle two additional days in Bosnia. Today I would head to Banja Luka. Bosnia ( full name : Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)) also includes the Republika Srpska, which is home of the Serbs living in BiH, and established as part of the Dayton agreements of 1995. Although Sarajevo is the capital of BiH, Banja Luka is the defacto capital of the Republika Srpska and Bosnian Serbs. The day after I will cycle to the city Dubica at the Croatian-BiH frontier through the National park Kozare. Both days will require  some climbing, today some 1600 meters, the day after 1200 with one climb to 800 meters, but all manageable… I plotted a route following small roads and pa...
3 comments
Read more

/Day 86 /05 -06-22 /Halle-Gent (Home)

Pip the home-rabbit didn’t kill me. At least not yet, but I probably will as result of sleep deprivation. I learned the hard way that rabbits are nocturnal animals, during the night the Pip made a lot of noise drinking and scratching…Today a good rabbit is a rabbit in combination with prunes… After breakfast I left Hannah, Alec and Oscar around 9.00 and cycled to Dilbeek to pick up Maarten and Inge who would join me cycling to Gent. On the way to Dilbeek another friend, Jurriaan, informed me that he would join as well. For my last TBBCA cycling day the weather gods have foreseen most of the day rain  but eventually it was only the last 20 K that I needed to cycle in the rain. Not to to bad.  Thanks to Maarten leading the way we soon arrived in Schellebelle to say hello to another friend, Nico to have some refreshments and chocolate waffles….The last 20 K I cycled along the Schelde to home…I took the scenic route through the city center… and surprised the kids with my arrival…....
8 comments
Read more