Europe 2023 from Frankfurt

Trip List Calendar

2023-05-11 : Heidenfahrt
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Heidenfahrt
$0.00 39.00 39.00
Today we’re heading back to the Rhein, but stopping in Bad Kreuznach first. It has a famous bridge, the Alte Nahebrücke, which is one of few remaining bridges with buildings on them.
On the Nahe Radweg there is a small section where cyclists must dismount for the safety of the crossing Würfelnatter (water snakes). The cyclists we saw go through mostly abided by this. :)

At our noon break we found a cool little abandoned shack that looks like it was some kind of concession in the past.

We are camping at Inselrhein tonight. It is not the worst campground we’ve ever stayed in but it’s the worst in a long time. The zeltplatz is amazingly lumpy - there’s not a flat, smooth or soft spot to be found. The sanitary buildings are run down shacks and there’s no toilet paper - not even empty toilet paper holders. We carry our own toilet paper anyway because… France… but still. And it’s one of the most expensive places we’ve camped (the awesome site we were at last night was one of the cheapest).

This has been our wettest tour ever. The beginning of the Loire tour in 2019 was wet but after a week it cleared. We keep waiting for it to clear, and it keeps on not clearing. Our own fault for touring in April and May, I guess.

Last summer, after we experienced a leaky tent in BC, Brent scotch-guarded our tent. That’s been holding pretty good but a couple of nights ago when we had the vigorous rain, we did get some breakthrough drops. So we’ve taken to stashing my backpack cover and towel in the upper mesh to catch drops before they hit us on the face.

We’ve had a few campsites now that are just covered in goose poo. Can’t blame the campsites for that… or for the rain. I’m surprised the Canada Geese at this site are not concerned with us at all - even with their goslings around. They just ignore us. So not like geese at home!!


2023-05-12 : Biebesheim
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Biebesheim
$0.00 61.00 100.00
It was a wet morning and we had a fast, miserable start. No bakery or coffee and no sheltered place to sit, so Brent tilted a tall table to remove some of the rain and we had snacks out of the cooler box before starting out.

Along the way we were looking for a bakery. The one my mapping program said would be in the next town was permanently closed so we were aimlessly searching when Brent suddenly said he smelled a bakery. Yeah right, I thought. Well, off he went around the corner and lo… a bakery. I will never doubt Brent’s bakery-sniffing skills again.

We’re riding our Montague folding bikes on this tour. It’s our second tour with them. On our first tour with them, we had endless flats. We replaced the tires after the tour and Brent figured that would fix the problem with so many flats. I’m very pleased to report that Brent was right. So far we haven’t had a single flat.

The day was cloudy, and sometimes windy, but there was hardly any rain at all. This section of the Rhein, south of the Rhein Gorge, is km after km of… boring. I was thrilled to repeat the Rhein Gorge. Less thrilled to be repeating this section. I think we’ll leave the Rhein tomorrow and start angling directly towards Heidelberg.

We got to the campground at Biebesheim, and in spite of a dicey start (the whole place was locked and the attendant nowhere to be found), it has turned out great. Super-affordable, a covered shelter, a really lovely green zeltplatz, and even an assigned indoor outlet for us to use.


2023-05-13 : Hemsbach
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Hemsbach
$0.00 32.00 132.00
We had a short day today riding direct towards Heidelberg. There’s only one campground in between Biebesheim and Heidelberg. We could have gone all the way to Heidelberg, about 67km, but the campground is beyond the city and by the time we got there all I would want to do is go to the campground and not have a look around Heidelberg. So, we cut the journey in half and we’re camping here at Hemsbach. The campground has laundry, and good showers, so we have the chance to get everything nice and clean.

We talked to some really nice guys last night at our campground. One fellow urged us not to go to Heidelberg via Mannheim. I had told him we weren’t, but he misunderstood me and dug out a map to show us a route direct to Heidelberg to urge us to do that instead. He was showing us a route following some forest roads, which I’m not keen on (I want to see the villages). I showed him the route that cycle.travel had sketched out for us and he liked it a lot - he was pleasantly surprised by it. We rode it today and it was very nice. I’m sure much nicer than going via Mannheim.

A cool bonus along the way today was at Bensheim. They were having a fair of sorts for their emergency services. It was really cool - they had good displays set up and demos, including a car-rolling device , and a fire hose that the kids could use to water down a fake house fire. They were selling brats and beer, so we had lunch there.


2023-05-14 : Heidelberg
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Heidelberg
$0.00 31.00 163.00
We had another short ride today and made it to the Neckar! It’s only a few days now until we meet up with Claudia and Guido. We can’t wait!!

We had a nice stop in Heidelberg today - our arrival point for the Neckar. Heidelberg has an old bridge and a Schloss to look at and we liked looking at them.
We started the day today with a dry tent and fly - it should be a great day! But then there were problems.

First off, Brent had a flat tire. A teeny tiny piece of wire.

Then I had problems with my left clip. I’ve been having problems for a few days. Yesterday Brent helped me loosen the clip on one side of the left pedal. One was working fine, but the other one was getting harder and harder to disengage. Problematic when one wants to get off the bicycle and not fall over. Anyway, he tried to help me loosen the clip on one side of the pedal, but it didn’t really seem to help. Today I was having problems again and we talked about my maybe buying new clip pedals here. I thought that it wouldn’t be long before I couldn’t unclip and would fall over, which can be pretty dangerous, especially if it happens in traffic, but I didn’t think it would be today. I thought wrong.

As we rode it got harder and harder for me to unclip. I was trying to clip in only on the good side of the pedal, but for whatever reason, it was the bad side of the pedal that I kept getting. We were headed up a lightly-trafficked street in a small town when I needed to dismount and… couldn’t get my foot out. As I went over I said shitshit but that didn’t help at all and over I went.

After I fell, Brent took a brush and brushed out debris from the pedal and then lubricated it. I took the brush and was going to brush out the clip on my shoe when I discovered the actual problem. It wasn’t my pedal at all - it was the clip on the shoe that was torqued around into a bad position. Brent straightened it out and it’s been fine since. But we’ll keep an eye on it.

The scenery riding to Heidelberg on the Neckar was lovely with lots of vineyards, and although we’ve only gone a few kms on the Neckar itself it is beautiful with lush green hills and charming villages.

We’re camped at Camping Heidelberg, which is a few kms out of town. It’s a simple campingplatz but one thing we’re enjoying is they have some loaner chairs to sit on! Set-up beer in style, baybee!!


2023-05-15 : Neckargerach
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Neckargerach
$0.00 42.00 205.00
A lot of our riding today was in forest with dirt or gravel trail. We were about ready for a break when Brent spotted a picnic table to the left. We had discovered a cool little collection of individual picnic sites in various states of order. There was one where the grass had been recently mowed and others that seemed like they hadn’t been used in a long time. We had our snack in one with a really cool little tree-tritus-covered table and chairs.
Our target for today was Mörtelstein but we cut the day short and camped at Neckargarach. The riding was nice - lots of forest and a few castles and small villages. There are a few places on this route where the grade is a little much for me so I’ve had to get off and push.

In mid-afternoon, it rained on us for a while, and around 2:30pm I needed a meal. We discovered Fahrrad Cafe Haaf in Neckargarach and had a really good meal including a fantastic salad. As we were finishing up, the wind started and it was pretty… enthusiastic. I, on the other hand, was not. I suggested stopping in Neckargarach for the night instead of doing the whole whopping 6.5km to Mörtelstein. We’ll add that onto our ride tomorrow, which was going to be a short one anyway.


2023-05-16 : Neckarsulm
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Neckarsulm
$0.00 42.00 247.00
Today we had an unexpected Umleitung (detour). We were merrily riding along the river when we were diverted wayyyy up a hill to the town of Mörtelstein, then up more hill, then finally back down to the river.

Brent says it was good practice for the Black Forest and for Switzerland. I’m just happy that, unlike the detour earlier in this trip, it was very well-signed.

In the first photo you can see where we were supposed to ride (red line) and where we did ride (yellow line). In the second photo you can see the elevation profile for the detour.
We had a short ride again today to Neckarsulm. To my shock and dismay it is nowhere near as charming as Ulm. We’ll be here for two nights - Claudia and Guido will arrive here tomorrow!! Yay!!

We had several hours of rain in the early morning and into the time when we would normally be packing up. We waited it out but man was it damp!!

Although the clouds threatened us all day we hardly had any rain. When we got to the campingplatz at Neckarsulm, we were directed to the small zeltplatz beside the sanitary building because the main zeltplatz had standing water in it. Oof. I’m glad they had the small/secondary zeltplatz!!


2023-05-17 : Meet Claudia and Guido in Neckarsulm
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle Excursion to Neuenstadt am Kocher
$0.00 39.00 286.00
Today as we await Claudia and Guido we took an excursion through the countryside, including a visit to Schloss Presteneck in Neuenstadt am Kocher.

On the way back we had a short rest break in a guy’s yard that is set up for cycle visitors. How lovely!

Soon we will meet up with the Laggais and ride with them for four days to Oberndorf!
Today Guido and Claudia traveled by train from Oberndorf to come meet us in Neckarsulm. We met them at their guesthouse and had a Radler then we went for dinner at Weingut Holzapfel. Apparently, if you have a vineyard you can run an unlicensed restaurant as long as the only alcohol you serve is what you produce at your vineyard. The food is all homemade and very affordable. We had a great meal and visit and will start our ride together tomorrow.


2023-05-18 : Marbach - Ascension Day (FR, DE, CH, AT)
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Marbach
$0.00 58.00 344.00
After passing by several Vaterstag opportunities for beer, we finally got close enough to the end of our ride for me to feel like I could have a beer without losing too much steam. At Freiberg am Neckar we saw a lively Biergarten and went on in. A German band was playing, and lots of happy people were enjoying the music, some beer, and some radish-based food.

We enjoyed some music, beer, and radish-based food, as is only right and proper.
Today is Ascension Day, which makes it a stat holiday, but in Germany it is also Vaterstag (Father’s Day). Apparently there is a tradition of groups of men riding bicycles and drinking through the day. We saw a number of groups of men, and a few brats and beer stands set up through the day.

We had a couple of unfortunate incidents today with broken gear. First of all, my platypus sprung a leak while it was on the floor in Guido and Claudia’s guesthouse. It didn’t leak there too much, thank goodness, but I am a little lost without it. I carry two 1-litre Nalgenes so I still have water, but I’m used to having it much more convenient. I will try to replace it asap.

Then, after we had a lovely ice cream and coffee break, the collar on Guido’s seat post broke and we did not have a screw of the appropriate size to fix it. Guido rode with his seat all the way down for a few kms and said he would ask after a screw at the next settlement we came to. I thought that was a long shot, but no word of a lie, at the VERY FIRST house we came to, the couple actually loaned him a whole new collar on the promise that he would mail it back when we’re done our ride. Laura will know what I mean when I say this makes him ‘Miracle Guido’.

We had a brief sight-seeing stop at a lovely little town called Lauffen. I thought their town wall was particularly interesting - I like how the wall and the houses seem to blend into one another.

In Marbach, Brent and I have an Airbnb for the night. It’s been a while since we’ve had a warm and dry roof over our heads so we’re not going out this evening - we’re staying in to do chores. Drying this, washing that, stretching those… etc, etc…


2023-05-19 : Esslingen
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Esslingen
$0.00 46.00 390.00
We had a really great, relatively short ride to Esslingen today, including a break at a natural spring (Auquell-Brunnen). Esslingen is a really beautiful town, and we had dinner, wine and a lovely walk-around with Guido and Claudia. Our AirBnB is just outside the old town in a really neat neighborhood near the old castle.


2023-05-20 : Bühl
Category Type Name Description Service Provider Cost Kms To Date Total
Activity Cycle To Bühl
$0.00 62.00 452.00
We went through Tubingen near the end of our ride today. It’s a beautiful place with an amazing Altstadt, enjoyed by many many (many) people.
Another wonderful day of riding, and a day that was actually WARM!! Tonight we’re staying in an empty apartment owned by a friend of Guido. So nice.


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