Master this Technology.

Saturday (Freiburg->Basel, Switzerland), 50mi

I've successfully reached my final destination. It was freezing (literally) when I got started, but it turned into the perfect day to finish my trip. The wind was at my back and the sky was clear and sunny.

The first thing I did this morning was go to the local bike shop to acquire a spoke nipple. The guy had one there and I found a sunny parking lot to repair my rear wheel in. It looks like the nipple had been broken for a day or two and only last night did the spoke pop out of the hole. Anyway, I replaced the spoke and the wheel was back to normal. I then hit the road and made for Switzerland.

Not a whole lot exciting happened that I can think of. Because the wind was coming from behind I cruised faster than most days. I also was probably about 10lbs lighter due to the stuff I sent back home yesterday. This part of the Rhine seems to be just a river which was nice - no factories and no barges. It was shallow and noisy, but still just as wide. Eventually I came to Basel which is a beautiful city. I found the hostel and secured a bed pronto. I wanted to celebrate tonight but couldn't find the right establishment. Perhaps in Milan...

Well, after just over 700 miles in the saddle I must say that it was really fun. I'm not sure what the next trip will be, but maybe the Nile?


The route and the interactive route.


The broken nipple next to its spoke. The head was sheared right off and I later found it sitting in the spoke hole on the rim.


Here I am trying to show how cold it is with my breath. You can't really see, but it was damn cold. Everything was covered in frost!


Repairing the wheel in the parking lot of an Aldi Sud. I got some weird looks.


Saying goodbye to the vineyards of the Black Forest.


Lunch on the Rhine.


Infiltrating the Swiss border. At least they actually have border guards - not that they do anything. I just walked my bike through.


Basel, Switzerland!

Just arrived in Basel, Switzerland. Below is my blog for yesterday. I'm going to be hungry after this so I'll probably go check out the town and then come back later to do the blog for today. Enjoy.

Friday (Breisach->Freiburg), 20mi

Today I made the short journey to Freiburg. It was an easy trip, but it was freezing and my left knee is hurting pretty badly. First it was the right and that seems to have fixed itself, but now it’s the left. I just have one long trip left to Basel, Switzerland tomorrow though and then I can rest.

Anyway, I got to Freiburg and checked into the only hostel that had any room left. It’s about 3km outside of town, but not too far. I headed back in to town with a load of stuff to send home, grabbed a quick Nordsee fish sandwich, and headed to the post office. It only ended up costing 13.00 euros for a 3kg package back to the states. Not bad. I then wandered around to have a look at the city. Freiburg is an ancient town and has been capital of the southern end of the Black Forest forever. It has this bizarre system of mini canals that was originally used for refuse disposal and apparently they still work today. The little canals run right down the middle of all the main streets and people toss in cigarette butts and other small bits of garbage. I’m not really sure where they go. Then I happened on an indoor market called the Markethalle where I bought a noodle dinner and perused the goods. Then I ate another Nordsee fish sandwich. After that I made for the "Rick Steve's" recommended microbrewery (Brauerihaus Freierling), drank many delicious brews (2.5 liters to be exact), and witnessed a hysterical "rock'n'roll" band called "Soundedge". I very stealthily took a single picture as I left – hopefully it came out so the hilarity can be witnessed by all.

Then I ate a yufka donner and came back to the hostel. On the way back I broke a spoke nipple while riding along. I’ve never seen this before. Oh well, hopefully the local bike shop will have a nipple so I can repair my wheel. Otherwise I’ll be riding with 31 of 32 spokes, no big deal. Hahaha.

Currently I’m sitting in the basement of the youth hostel writing this. There’s no internet so I’m not sure when it will post. There are many drunken Germans here having a great time. Germans are so funny.


The route and the interactive route.


Cold, misty morning on the Rhine.


The Freiburg cathedral which took something like 300 years to complete. Notice everyone's favorite architectural feature - the flying buttress.


There used to be a large castle around the Black Forest hills above Freiburg. Naturally the castle was destroyed, but the Germans built this weird metal/wood tower that had a great view.


A view from the tower of Freiburg and the cathedral below.


And there I am on the tower with the Black Forest behind.


A typical street in Freiburg.


Aahh, the "Soundedge" photo. It's a bit dark, but there's no way I was going to use the flash. It's hard to tell, but the band members were Howie Mandell on the squeezebox, Bill Clinton on the acoustic guitar and vocals, Les Claypool's lesser-talented brother on the bass, and Charles Bronson on lead guitar.

Finished the post below and updated the commentary. Check it.

Thursday (Strasbourg, France->Breisach-am-Rhein, Germany), 50mi

Well, I've found an internet connection just down the road from the hostel I'm staying in. So I'm sitting on the Rhine, watching the sun go down and writing this blog. Not bad.

I woke this morning and got right out to take in a bit more of Strasbourg. It really is a lovely city. I was a little worried when I first came in because I got lost in the industrial section, but the old part of the town is pretty cool. I took a bunch of pictures...

Today was a little shorter, but the quality of the route did improve. There were some more hills and quaint little towns and not so much heavy industry. The weather was generally overcast and there were a few rain squalls, but I didn't have to put on the wet weather gear. Also, there wasn't any wind today which was really nice.

I spent the first half of the day following the Rhone-Rhine Canal - that's why my path looks so straight on the map. It was nice, but eventually got a little boring. After going over a major hydroelectric dam I was back in Germany following the Rhine and the Grande Canal d'Alsace. I ventured through some old ruins and eventually made it to Breisach. I got one of the "leader" rooms in the hostel which means it has only one other bed and its own bathroom. It's also insulated from the zillions of kids that are running around. Anyway, I went out and ate a currywurst and then had a big plate of donner.

I could make Basel tomorrow, but then my tour would be over. I think I'm going to take a quick jaunt east to the town of Freiburg which supposed to be really nice. I'll spend the night there and then make for Basel on Saturday. Sunday or Monday I'll take a train from Basel to Milan and then meet up with Charles in Verbania on Tuesday.

The evidence...


The route and the interactive route.


Looking out of the hostel window in Strasbourg.


The old cathedral in Strasbourg.


The "Petit France" part of Strasbourg.


The bike path along the Rhone-Rhine Canal. Not too bad...


Alone along the Grande Canal d'Alsace. It was very peaceful today.


The difficult passage back into Germany. Man those border guards are tough.


Eating lunch and waiting out a rain squall.


The Lindburg ruins. Unfortunately all the posted historical info was in French or German so I really couldn't tell ya the significance. I think it was a Benedictine monastery at one point. However, no tourists and no entrance fee. I had it all to myself.


"King of the castle. King of the castle."


The medieval town of Breisach as I arrived.

Wednesday (Karlsruhe->Strasbourg, France), 65mi

I'm actually sitting at a desk with wireless internet typing this! This is probably the nicest hostel I've ever been in. It's right in downtown Strasbourg (Ciarus - http://www.ciarus.com). It was just starting to drizzle a bit (I think my luck is up with the nice weather) and I was getting frustrated because I couldn't find the place, and then a sign for it appeared. I'm pretty excited it's so nice because last night I was stuck in a boiling hot room with two Turkish men, one of whom snored really loudly. I didn't sleep much, so this empty, clean room is much appreciated.

Today was another long one at 65 miles. I had a head wind most of the day which really sucked. It was mostly overcast and I could definitely see the front moving in. Luckily it never rained on me because that would make things miserable. I think tomorrow will be partly cloudy, but no rain. We shall see.

Not a whole lot to report otherwise. It was sort of a boring slog through small towns and long the canals. Strasbourg is certainly the most exciting thing of the day. Tomorrow I'll probably take some pictures as it's already getting dark here. The only other news (that you may have guessed) is that I've been biking in France all day! I passed over in just the first 15km or so of the journey. Here's the evidence:


The route and the interactive route.


Another ferried river crossing. These are pretty fun...


Hunh-hunh-hunh. I have infiltrated zee heavily-guardED French borDER.


The last of the sunny weather...


I had a little crash on this slippery granite curb. Not a big deal, but one of the trailer hitches popped off. The lady in the house behind the bike came out, gave me a dirty look, and then closed the brown gates to her driveway in my face. Screw you too!


A nice shot of some of the bike path through a park outside Strasbourg.

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.

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.

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.