Be informed

We are now back safely from our journey from Rotterdam to Basel along the Rhine. In all it has taken us 15 days. There are some general things to say about the journey before I describe some of the more personal elements of the journey – who we met and the places we visited (intentionally and unintentionally).

Firstly, the Rhine is an awesome river – long, powerful, wide and omnipresent. The human efforts to harnesss it and hold it back when it gets swollen are all there to be seen. They are equally awesome.

Secondly, the route is well signposted; however, good navigation skills are essential. There are countless detours (Umleitung), partly caused by the ongoing work on the banks and paths. There are also many industrial obstacles, not least aggregate wharfs (Kieswerke). Sometimes the path is through the site, others not. Moreover, navigating cities – particularly Utrecht – is challenging. We hit Utrecht at peak time (1700) and it was pandemonium. The signs are there, but not always obviously so. We had two pairs of eyes working for us and still missed them.

Thirdly, and particularly in the Netherlands, there are many of people willing to help. We enjoyed many unsolicited (and solicited) offers of help. We received lots of useful local knowledge as a result.

Fourthly, the surface is variable. There is plenty of asphalt, but there is also plenty of

Rhine route – sandy surface

shingle, gravel and sand. The sand is a particularly difficult surface in the rain as we experienced in the section from Breisach to Bad Bellingen (30 km north from Basel). Not only was it soft to ride on, but equally, the sand was loose and attached itself in volume to our bags and the tandem. This is not good for the machine.

Fifthly, there is plenty of accommodation along the route. We camped on 11 nights and took a room  in a hotel or house for the remaining four. Prices ranged from 10-19 Euros for the campsites and 50-140 Euros for the hotels. I’ll have more to say about the accommodation later.

Sixthly, one has the choice of two paths one on either bank. There are many ferries in the absence of bridges to get across. Particularly in the southern sections, this means crossing from one country into another; for example, Germany into France and vice versa. However, where there is a bad path on one side, there may be a better one on the other (though it may be not adjacent to the river).

Ferry crossing – Bingen to Ruedesheim

Penultimately, some of the more tourist oriented parts are very busy at the weekend in the summer. That said, the second half of August was optimal, particulary with respect to accommodation, weather and hours of daylight.

Finally, guides. We started the whole thing with John Powell’s book, Cycling the Rhine Route: Bicycle Touring Along the Historic Rhine River published in 2000. We relied, however, on 2 of the three guides called Rhein Radweg, published by Bikeline (Esterbauer Verlag, 2012). They are written in German but the maps are excellent – indispensible, actually). They are available in the UK, but also at bookshops in towns along the route.

I spent some of the weekend preparing the tandem for the journey. We now have a cycle computer attached, bags and lights. Lights are a bit of a problem because most come with fittings that do not account for luggage. One has to adapt the fittings to attach them to a part of the bicycle that is not obscured by the panniers and and other luggage attached to the rear and front racks. Why is this?

As for the route, we take the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam and then the ride is approximately along the Rhine. Beyond that we have no plans. The maps below represent roughly the route.

I’ve circled in red the places of note…click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

Section 1: Rotterdam east towards Duisburg
Section 2: Duisburg south towards Köln
Section 3: Köln towards Koblenz
Section 4: Koblenz towards Wiesbaden and Mainz
Section 5: Mainz towards Worm, Mannheim and Heidelberg
Section 6: Karlsruhe towards Strasbourg
Section 7	Not clear yet whether we continue along the Rhine to Basel or whether   we brave the Black Forest.

The tour starts in just over one week. The weekend just gone gave us our first opportunity to take the the tandem out for a decent ride. 55 km along a series of different terrains, including the old railway track from Shoreham to Henfield (now the Downs Link); B road from Henfield to Ditchling; a reasonable climb up Ditchling Beacon and then into Brighton through Hollingbury.

Some new accessories purchased. The tent was erected for the first time and we are nearly ready to go.

Yesterday I brought it from Gargrave where it was assembled to Hove where it will start its journey to Munich. It is pictured here with me prior to being loaded into the van. However, prior to doing so, I stayed overnight in Malham and visited a rather dank but spectacular Malham Tarn. Recommended.I’ve uploaded a few pictures below.

	Limestone pavement, Malham Cove
Self portrait on limestone pavement
	At the base of Malham Cove on the bank of the river. Climbers can be seen in the background.
Malham Tarn on a bleak Monday morning

In order to get the requisite dose of Vitamin D, this summer’s holiday is an extended tandem ride along the Rhine to Munich. Plans are well afoot. Yesterday we went to try a tandem at JD Tandems up in Gargrave in North Yorkshire. It is a long way to go to test drive a machine, but such is the specialised nature of tandem building, it is necessary, and as it turns out, worth it.

JD Tandems, in the first instance, discuss the specification and tandeming before pointing customers in the direction of nearby (7 miles) Malham up the Aire Valley. It is a long time since I have been in that area, but the contemplative visit to the nearby Barn House Cafe reminded me just how delightful the cycling experience is, even if the weather is cool.

The tandem is now ordered and will be ready to pick up in a few weeks’ time. The expurgated specification is as follows:

18/14” Orbit Routier Sport in black; GP5 grips & bar ends on the front; 170 cranks front & rear 28/38/48; 1.75” Marathon tyres; 40 hole wheels front & rear

18 October 2010

Cyclists always expect at some time to come off their bicycles. Particularly tricky times are autumn (leaves) and winter (ice). It is autumn now, but I came a cropper on Thursday evening last on engine oil on an internal road at the University of Sussex. I ended up in Casualty, but fortunately no broken bones (see bruises, though).