Sunday August 18th
Cycle: 105.21km // 6h09m // 17.1
Our first real day of cycling in Germany was fairly uneventful, quite long, and followed the Rhine river west and north (leaving major cities is never that much fun). To keep things interesting, we tried to stop every 20km or so. The first stop was for espresso in the little tourist town of Eltville. I'm not sure what the attraction was here, but on and off rain kept us from investigating further. Plus, we were eager to cover some distance on our first riding day... we pressed on. Bike routes out of Frankfurt were plentiful, and a little confusing because of this. Directions from locals (who all seem to speak some English) made finding the Rhine Route fairly straight forward. We cycled the east coast of the Rhine for about 80km before jumping on a tiny ferry that took us to the west coast (transit time 5 mins). We continued cycling up the west side until we tired and found a small /cheap campsite (with wifi!). Jenn had a happy hour bratwurst (Germany= sausage), and we both had a Bietburger. This beer was exceedingly light, but after a long hot day of cycling was very thirst quenching and hit the spot. Today's
impressions include the smell of the Rhine, the presence of Ortlieb panniers, and the realization that we've now slept next to train, plane, and boat highways.
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| Germans know a thing or two about pastries... this thing is huge, and delicious |
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| Jenn enjoying her German pastry of the day. Next time: chocolate flavour. |
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| Urban Rhine Route. Barges would become a regular site over the next couple days of cycling. |
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| As would elaborate graffiti |
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| Even locals have to scratch their heads when figuring out the proper route out of Frankfurt! |
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| Its not just the legs. The arms get a work out on one of the Rhine overpasses. |
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| What goes up, must come down... all 100+ lbs of it. |
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| When you order coffee, you will get a tiny little cup, just like this one. I dont look convinced. |
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| Castles, vineyards, and the glorious Rhine. |
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| And in the next river bend, again |
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| A light beer never tasted so good! We arrived at the campsite, and made it no further than the patio outside reception. |
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| The view from our tent tonight. A castle dominating one of the hills surrounding Oberwesel, part of a UNESCO world heritage site. |
