The ride from Neuplotz to Speyer was very mellow, mostly along paved bike paths and quiet lanes. Temps were rising over the day, but it was not unbearable. At one of our breaks along the ride, I noticed more wear on the rear tire, and decided it should be replaced. Fortunately we were headed toward a city big enough to have bike shops.
We'd reserved a room at a Bette und Bike hotel on the edge of the old city, and the clerk there called around for us to try and locate a Schwalbe Marathon in 20x1.50 size. She found some 20" Marathons, but not in the 1.50 width. After showering, we set off into the downtown area to see what we could turn up. First shop we went to had a 1.35, so I asked them to put that on the front and move the front tire, still with plenty of life in it, to the rear. The remainder of our riding should be mostly on pavement, so I'm hoping the slightly narrower tire on the front will manage. We grabbed some lunch and did a few errands while they worked, and picked up the bike freshly shod and ready to ride back to the hotel.
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| statue of a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela (the route is called Jakobsweg in Germany) |
As we planned the next day's ride, we realized that we were close to the old city of Heidelberg, and learned there is a good cycling route there. We made a hotel reservation in Heidelberg's old city. In the morning we visited the UNESCO-listed cathedral in Speyer (dates from the 11th century, largest Norman cathedral in Europe) and stopped at the tourist office to pick up a map for the bike route to Heidelberg. The route-finding was tricky without the detailed Bikeline maps we usually have, but after a few missed turns along the way we made it. Riding through the city traffic in Heidelberg was challenging, but we found our hotel, right in the center of the old city.
After cleaning up and grabbing some lunch, we took a funicular up to the old castle above the city. It's been a series of castles since the 14th century, with extensive remodeling and additions over the ensuing centuries. As a result, it's a hodgepodge of styles from medieval to renaissance.
A highlight is the world's largest wooden wine barrel: 58,000 gallons, built in 1751.
Heidelberg is a seriously jumping tourist town, and the old city is packed with restaurants, bars, and gelato shops.
Here and there a few people were watching the world cup.
Next morning we headed off down the Neckar River bike route toward Mannheim, with Worms am Rhein our ultimate destination for the day. Once again we were navigating without our usual detailed maps. After a few false turns finding our way out of Heidelberg, we were rolling steadily alongside the Neckar. At Ladenburg we took a small ferry across the river, then continued downstream.
Mannheim is a large industrial city, but the bike paths kept us along the river so there was no tricky navigating or traffic to contend with. At Mannheim the Neckar flows into the Rhein and we were back following it. Next to a small ferry across a slough near the port area of Mannheim we stopped for a snack at what turned out to be a fairly elegant restaurant. Fortunately we were able to locate a table outside, with the owners, and enjoyed salads heavily laden with fresh chanterelles.
We asked if the mushrooms were local and were told they come from Bosnia (at least, I think that's what she said: my German is not that good). From there it was only about 15 km more until we crossed the Rhein to the historic city of Worms. There is another large 10th century cathedral here, and also the remnants of what once was a large Jewish community, which lived in Worms continuously from the 11th century until the 20th. In the cathedral there is this section of stone from the original 11th century synagogue.
The synagogue was destroyed most recently in the 1930s, but rebuilt around 1960.
