Week 1

After an emotional farewell we set off on our long adventure at 09:00. The weather was perfect and the ride was more or less uneventful, after all we had done this ride in 2006 and there really isn't anything new we hadn't seen before.
For a first day the kms were long and with the hills in-between we were pretty much tired when we arrived at the camping. We were not in the mood for cooking so ended up just getting curry worst and washing it down with a few beers.
The camping here is OK but we really were too tired to care so after a hot shower we crawled in our sleeping bags and slept. Overall it was a great first day.

     
1- Outside our door ready for our grand adventure.
2- Intering Germany after Vaals in Holland.
3- One of the many castles we passed during our first day.
4- Liblar see camping, we stayed here in the fall of 2006.

Thursday 29 April
Liblar see to Remagen 59kms

We got on the road a bit late today mainly because of the kms from our first day. The weather was great to begin with but got very sticky by the end of the day. The cycling route along the Rhine was great even going between the heavy industry it was still a pleasure to ride.
A note of warning, riding on the east side of the river is not recommended, its rough and has some short but very steep hills.
The camping at Remagen is very good but as I write this its 19:00 and its beginning to drizzle.

1- On the road heading towards the Rhine.
2- The cycling paths are well signposted in Germany.
3- The great river Rhine the industrial highway of Germany.
4- Taking a break in one of the many parks on the Rhine.
5- One of the many cruise boats on the river, this one stayed with us for most of the day. 

1- The day got very warm in the afternoon, which means rain in the forecast.
2- In Koblenz we saw this Chinese restaurant boat.
3- Captain Nemo's boat :-)
4/5- One of the many pretty German villages we passed today.

1/2- Monique chilling with a cold one, and our camp.

Friday 30 April
Remagen to Trechtings-hausen 104kms

Quite an uneventful day, very good weather not too hot or cold and only a slight headwind. We've cycled here before and know the area so just took a few pictures of the places we missed before.
Cycling paths around here are silk smooth.
As I write this it's 20:00 and with the dark clouds comes the drizzle again.

1- Cycling path just after Remagen.
2- Cycling through the Loreley, where the Rhine cuts through some hills after Koblens.
3/4- One of the many castles along the Loreley.
5- Giant coocoo clock outside a shop in one of the villages on the Rhine.

Saturday 1 May
Trechtings-hausen to Oppenheim 65kms

We woke up to rain today so took till 10:00 to get underway. When we got near Mainz we tried to contact our friends there but embarrassingly I had written the number wrong so when we didn't get a reply we continued on, sorry guys.
A few kms further we stopped at a gas station and checked out a map which had camping but found out there were none for quite a while so we planned to look for a room. Than a few kms further we ran into this couple cycling who were interested at what we were doing and when they heard we were looking for a camping they said they'd seen one at Oppenheim across the river. Sure enough when we got there we saw it, it wasn't on the map because it was a private camping.
When we got there the nice people allowed us to stay for the night, which was great. Highly recommend this place.

1- Breaking camp in Trechtings-hausen.
2- Mini cruise boat on the Rhine.
3- Best buy we made for this tour, the Thermarest seats.
4- One of the many fine German beers we've tried so far.
5- Enjoying some more of this exceptional beer in the tent ;-)

Sunday 2 May
Oppenheim to Speyer 102kms

What a day today, it started out great, sunny with a bit of a head wind but it just got really bad towards the end.
The wind picked up, it started to rain and we ended up going into Mannheim in the worst possible area, I mean this area was really rough and we couldn't wait to get the hell out of there.
We crossed the river into Ludwigshaven and continued on that side.
The camping at Speyer was not good at all so we decided to get a room but the only one we could find was a time machine back to the 70's and it had been smoked in for many years.
We were lucky to get a couple hours sleep each.

1/2- Some of the wildlife we see most mornings while on tour.
3- Most of this day was spent cycling along this really nice cycling paths.
4- Everyone was helping this guy pull his jeep from the river where he backed up a bit too far. I was also able to help by advising them to unhook the boat trailer which was really stuck. By the time we left he had at the jeep free.
5- The high tech bridge of the small ferry ;-)

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