From Zell to Traben-Trarbach

While in Zell we decided that we were moving too fast.  Even though 50 km isn't much, we were blasting through too quickly and not taking enough time to explore.

We departed Zell with a goal of only about 25 km, to Traben-Trarbach.  Along the way we stopped to explore the old town of Punderich.

The old ferry house, from 1621

There are many small ferries across the Mosel.  Here's one arriving in Puderich with cycle tourists.

Later in the day we took a smaller ferry from Enkirch to Kovenig.  When we arrived at the landing the ferry operator was on his lunch break.  But fortunately for us there was a little cart by the path selling smoked fish sandwiches.  Ellen had trout, mine was mackerel, and they were delicious.

This ferry only carried pedestrians and bikes. Our tandem plus four other bikes, and the six passengers, filled it up.

We arrived in Traben-Trarbach with time to check into the excellent Hotel Central, shower and walk around the town.  A wonderful hotel with great hosts.  When we left in the morning the proprietor gave us a small bottle of wine as a gift.

Continuing up the Mosel: Burg Eltz and Zell

Technical difficulties over the last couple of days have kept me offline, but now I'm back with lots to share.

We took a day off the bike in Treis so we could hike to the nearby castle Burg Eltz, which has been in existence and owned by the same family for 900 years.  We were told it was a reasonable walk from Treis.  I punched it into Google Maps for walking directions and off we went.  The route took us across the river and then a little ways down the main road before turning uphill.  When we arrived at the spot to turn off, there was a barricade across, but we could see a faint trail heading uphill so we gave it a try.  We started climbing steep and crumbling steps, but before long we were in heavy brush and unable to continue.  

We retreated back to the town of Karden (just across the river from Treis), found the correct trail, and off we went.  It was a strenuous climb through forests, then rolling through farmland (wheat and corn), and finally a steep descent and reclimb to the castle.

Looking down on Karden and Treis (across the river)

The castle tour was fascinating; unfortunately as is common no photos were permitted inside.  But the outside is pretty cool.  

The castle sits at the top of a promontory mostly surrounded by a deep ravine: very defensible.  Our hike to and from the castle was 10 miles.

Next day we got back on the bike to continue up the Mosel to Zell (50 km for the day).  The cycling in this part of the Mosel is wonderful.  Most of the time we are on lovely paved paths along the river.  Every few kilometers there is a town to check out (or stop for a snack).  

At one point we saw a critter cross the path: dark brown and looked like a weasel or pine marten (which aren't in Germany, but similar size and look).  We called ahead and reserved a room at the Schloss Hotel in Zell, which is in an old castle dating from the 1500s.  Plumbing and electrical have been updated.

To our surprise there was a  sign by the stairs left of the hotel entrance indicating the old Zell synagogue.  The hotel clerk gave us a key and we were able to see what's left of the former Jewish community in Zell, which was in existence from the middle ages until 1938.  The room contains a few artifacts: a fragment of Torah, some books and a couple of yarmulkes and tallit.

Zell is ground zero for the Mosel wine industry.  There are more wine bars than restaurants.  There were major fires in the mid 1800s that burned much of the town so there aren't many old buildings (our hotel is one of the only survivors).  We had dinner in Zell in a Vietnamese restaurant.  Go figure.

On to Koblenz, then heading up the Mosel

After our epic ride to from Mainz to Bacharach, we had a relatively easy day to Koblenz.  We spent a little time in the morning walking around Bacharach.  It's a lovely small tourist town with many buildings dating to the sixteenth century.  Some old ruins and castles above town but we didn't want to take the time to hike up to them.  

Views from our hotel room

[Non-cyclists may want to skip this paragraph.]  Once we started riding in the morning I was having some trouble with shifting: the rear derailleur often felt like it was between gears.  I couldn't think of any reason it would have gone out of adjustment over night, but I was having  trouble coming up with an alternative explanation.  In the small town of Boppard we stopped and I found a bike shop just a couple of blocks off the cycling route.  The owner came outside with a small repair stand, I took off the panniers, and he started going up and down through the gears.  He explained to me that the components on the bike are an incorrect mix of road and mountain bike parts, so I shouldn't expect it to work.  (I know that's not the issue.)   He fiddled with the barrel adjuster a bit, checked the alignment of the rear derailleur, and then had another idea.  All the rain riding the day before had introduced some dirt into the cable (which is exposed beneath the bottom tube for a couple of feet in the center where the cable disconnect (for bike disassembly) is.  He put some oil into the cable housing ends, worked the cable back and forth a bit, and although not perfect that helped things immensely.  Now, a day later, it's better but not perfect.  I'm going to work on it a little more before our next riding day.

Since it was now after 1 pm, Ellen snagged a couple of bananas at a shop, and back onto the trail we  went.  This is a lovely stretch of the Rhine.  Much of the riding was on a bike path paralleling the road, so it wasn't as quiet and peaceful as some places, but still beautiful.  

Castle on a little island in the river

There were a large number of cycle tourists along the path, and as we got closer to Koblenz it moved away from the roads and we had very pleasant riding on an unpaved path through woods.  Before Koblenz we stopped for an excellent kuchen with rhubarb at a little biergarten alongside the path.

Koblenz is laid out like a peninsula, with the Rhine on one side and the Mosel on the other two.  As we rode into the city along the Rhine we found ourselves in a very crowded park area along the river.  Weaving a loaded tandem through packed pedestrian traffic is a challenge for me, frightening for Ellen. 

Navigating to the hotel on some busy city streets was a challenge (we do not like riding in city traffic), but we made it.  53 km for the day.

We had a to shower and change very quickly.  One of the key pieces of gear missing from our lost backpacks was the Bikeline map book for the Mosel, in English.  Ellen had ordered a copy to a bookstore in Koblenz; we had about an hour to pick it up before they closed (stores are not open on Sunday).  We hustled over, picked up the book, and then hit other stores in the area to replace some other important items: sunscreen and other toiletries, a small headlamp, charging cables for the phone, Kindle, and one for my Lumix camera (I did not expect to find the last).  By the time we finished it was well after 7 and we were tired and famished.  We found a great German restaurant on the way back to the hotel and ate too much.

Next day we set off from Koblenz up the Mosel River.  Getting out of the city and across the Mosel was relatively straightforward (thanks: Google Nav).  The river crossing was on a very narrow bike path built onto a railroad bridge; there was not enough width for two bikes with panniers to pass so we had to stop a few times on the way across.  Once across the Mosel we had mostly straightforward riding through several small towns, bike paths through the vineyards, and eventually on a wide path paralleling the river.  

Roses at the edge of the vineyard

We'd planned for this to be short day as we want to explore some sights in this region, and rain was in the forecast. The first town we checked out, Hatzenport, was a little too sleepy, so we continued on another 12 km to Treis.  About 40 km for the day.  There was a little spitting rain, but not enough to put on jackets.  We found a very nice little place in the center (Pension Am Markt).  There is a small town fair going on down by the river: carnival rides for the kids, beer for the adults, and all pretty low key.  After stopping for glasses of local Riesling we walked up into the hills above the town.  Although the center has some oldish buildings most of the town is relatively new with lovely modern homes and very landscaped yards.

And a bright note: I had an email today from Lufthansa that they found our missing backpacks, flew them to Frankfurt, and will be delivering them to our hotel there.

Biking at last

We had a late start from Mainz today.  I finally connected with someone at the consulate (a good thing), but then spent a long time filling out forms online and trying to schedule an appointment for when we return there (all productive, but time consuming).  Ellen spent a long time on the phone with Lufthansa.  It's starting to look likely that our backpacks and their contents are history.  We may be attending the wedding in Ireland in our bike clothes (just kidding).  Sadly, I had packed a beautiful Irish tweed sportscoat inherited from my dad.  A major bummer to lose that one.

It was after noon by the time we were rolling from the hotel.  Navigating our way through the city streets, and adjusting to the feel of the fully loaded tandem, were a bit of an adventure but all ok.  Mainz is gearing up for a celebration over the weekend so the area by the river was packed with carnival rides and booths, making for some tricky riding.  We were happy to cross the Rhine and start heading north on a bike path.

Waving goodbye to Mainz (across the river)

As we worked with our way up the Rhine, we ran into a couple of construction detours that put us on city streets, but drivers were polite and patient.  By Winkel we had to take small ferry across to pick up the main cycle route on the west bank of the river.  

As we waited for the ferry we were watching dark clouds build ahead of us and soon we were riding through a thunderstorm.  After a quick stop to put on rain shells we were rolling again.  A few km before Bingen it started to really dump: had we been in the car the wipers would have been on high speed.  We pulled over in a small village where a fair was going on, found a bit of roof to duck under, watched the rain pour down around us, and chilled in both literal and figurative senses.  We thought about stopping but there were no accommodations available nearby.  When the rain lightened up a bit we got back on the bike.  After a few km we were back on nice bike paths near the river.  Passed several campgrounds full of RVs (which tend to be smaller here), and rode through some long flooded areas solely on faith where the water on the bike path was literally up to our shoes on the pedals.  Even though we only went 52 km today it was an epic ride.

It was 7 pm by the time we rolled into Bacharach where we'd reserved a room at the Hotel Am Markt.  I spent a long time wiping the dirt and grit off the bike and lubing the chain.  We only had a few minutes to walk around before a nice dinner including an excellent local Riesling: dry and crisp.

View from our hotel room in Bacharach

A delayed start from Mainz

It's taking a little longer than expected to get the bike tour started....

Flights (Medford-Denver, Denver-Frankfurt) were fine.  Our flight out of Medford was full, and we were in the last boarding group, so we followed the gate agent's advice and checked our two small backpacks (the larger suitcases with the tandem and bike gear were already checked).  Naturally the two backpacks (containing non-bike clothes, toiletries, bike map books, misc other gear and wedding clothes) didn't show up in Frankfurt.  We waited two hours in the line for Lufthansa baggage service to put in a claim, then took a local train 30 minutes from the airport to Mainz.  Our hotel is right across from the train station, so easy to wheel the bike suitcases over.

Since arriving Tuesday we've spent literally hours on the phone (mostly on hold, of course) trying to run down our bags, with no success.  We do know they made it to Denver and were transferred to Lufthansa there, but nothing past that point.  

Wednesday we reassembled the bike and picked up a few things.  And at some point Dan managed to lose his passport.  Trying to get someone at the local consulate is pretty much impossible: I've called and emailed but so far zero response other than one person who told me they are very busy and I shouldn't expect anything soon.  I will continue to work on this, online and over the phone, over the coming weeks, but we decided it was foolish to stick around waiting for the Godot of the State Department to respond: we're going to start touring tomorrow and hope for the best.

Today (Thursday) we went shopping: replaced Ellen's bike jerseys and gloves (which were in her missing backpack), the first of the Bikeline bike map books (I won't get started without their detailed information), toiletries, and a couple of other necessary clothing items.  We've walked all over Mainz locating gear (it took three bike shops before we found bike gloves for Ellen).  Some of the bike and other clothing is still missing: we'll continue to replace as needed along the way.

We've already stayed in Mainz one night longer than planned.  When the missing backpacks show up, the hotel will hold them until our return at the end of July.  Tomorrow (Friday) we'll wheel north along the Rhine toward Koblenz.

How the Bike Friday tandem packs

 At the airport in Medford waiting for our flight, and thought I'd share a couple of pictures of the two suitcases.  They contain the tandem, helmets, bike shoes, panniers, handlebar bag and rear trunk, all our bike clothing and misc spare parts.  In another day we should be in Mainz putting everything back together.

First two pics show the bike, next two with the additional gear added.  When we weighed the suitcases at the airport each was just under the 50 pound limit.

Getting ready for the summer 2022 cycling trip

We're preparing for another cycling tour in Europe.  

Our niece Shannon is getting married in Ireland in early August so we figured, as long as we have to travel all that way, we might as well have a little vacation too.  Because we enjoyed bike touring in Germany so much in 2018 we are planning a repeat visit.  

We fly to Frankfurt on June 20 and will stay at our favorite hotel nearby in Mainz to reassemble the bike and get everything ready.  Our plan is to head north on the Rhine from Mainz to Koblenz, then west on the Mosel to (probably) Metz, France.  After that our plans are less defined.  We intend to return down the Mosel a bit (maybe to Trier, Germany), then work our way northish following the borders between Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany, maybe as far as Maastricht in the Netherlands.  Then we'll head east toward Dusseldorf and return south along the Rhine to Mainz. 

After returning to Mainz around the end of July we'll ship the bike home, and plan to take a series of trains (plus one ferry) to Dublin and on to the wedding near Wicklow, Ireland.

Preparing for the ride yesterday, in Ashland.