Pedalling for a Purpose

After my day away from pedalling, I've finally reunited with my bike named Myrle. We've become very close over the past couple of weeks travelling together from Australia and now cycling the Rhine. Myrle is named after a human Myrle. Myrle (the human) and I first met on a motorcycle ride in Myanmar and, at the time, he was in his early 80s - although ageless to his travelling companions. His age was not about to stop his love of travel and adventure, and so very inspiring for me when I was thinking about this trip. Myrle (not the bike) is a great human and someone I'm proud to call a friend. I was off by 7.30am today and the legs were quick to complain after a day off. I weaved across the Rhine, and then back until I had left Switzerland for the final time. I was now back in Germany. As I reached the halfway point on a bridge dividing both countries, I saw a tourist cruise boat for the first time - the type that tours up and down the navigatable Rhine, and the tour my wife,...

Firstly the big news ... Joel Wicki is the new “Schwingen King” of Switzerland. The 25-year-old triumphed in this weekend's national wrestling championships. The winner of the kid's downhill carting is as yet undetermined. I slept in this morning before heading out to explore Basel on my rest day. Basel is a city of amazing galleries and museums and I was looking forward to seeing a few. The Kunstmuseum Basel began life as a private art collection in the 16th century. Interestingly, the museum has one of the most significant Picasso collections in Europe - in 1967, a local art collector, who owned two of Picasso's works, fell on hard times and needed to sell his collection that was on loan to the Kunstmuseum at the time.  The good folk of Basel were in uproar and took to the streets to collect donations and lobby the city to purchase the works.  8.4 million Swiss francs sealed the deal. Picasso was so impressed with the citizen's passion, he donated a further 4 painti...

Arrived in Basel! I'll get to my trip report shortly but first ... Ever heard of Schwingen? Neither had I until today.  It's Swiss folk wrestling locally called Hosenlupf. It is so popular that I arrived in Basel to a national competition underway. My first inkling something was going down in Basel town was hundreds of mobile homes and caravans parked up, and streams of people coming from all directions to a stadium to watch this national sport. A bypasser explained the intricacies of the sport and suggested I should go and watch. However, tickets were sold out to the 48,000 people attending. I also didn't want to fall for the oldest tourist trip in the 'attractions' book ... call the hapless tourist into the arena, pit him against the reigning Swiss champion, and 'play wrestle' at the tourist's expense. The crowds love it ... and it is funny until someone loses an eye! Fun fact: wrestlers wear schwingerhosen.   Back to today's trip report! In the en...

Not the most auspicious start this morning. It rained consistently all night stopping for a short reprieve at around 5.30am. I had most things inside the tent packed so I quietly moved my gear to a nearby shelter to both finish packing undercover in case the the rain returned, and to lessen any noise I might make while others slept. Great plan ... or so I thought. When I returned for the final load, a ground tarp that can make a 'crinkly' noise when lifted, did so, and I saw a head pop out from the last night's late arrivals tent. If looks could kill - his, not mine. A steady stream of words came from his mouth and it was certainly louder than my wayward tarp. As I didn't speak his mother tongue I did my best to interpret. I'm fairly certain he said, "Please forgive my ignorance and lack of consideration for others for leaving my car headlights shining on everyone's tents while I set up mine; and for hammering in tent pegs far longer than necessary; and usi...

This would be my longest distance in one day ever by non-motorised means - 72 km. Yay me! I do need to point out that I'm not a 'cyclist'. Yep, rode when I was a child and have ridden every now and then, but never really got into it. I don't own a stitch of lycra (although I'm a pushover for padded shorts!). Fitness-wise I'm feeling stronger every day although I'll take a day off in Basel so as not to tempt fate and overwork an old body! My training regime for preparing for the ride was Wait Training (not to be confused with Weight Training) - 'wait' until you start riding to get fit. Not quite true but near enough. I got away at 7.15am this morning, partly because I knew I had a long day ahead but mainly because I love the solitude of the early hours. Also riding when it's cooler has obvious benefits. The first part of the ride wasn't near the lake - I actually didn't see Lake Constance that morning until an hour into the ride. That firs...

After finishing my blog yesterday I was joined at my shared table by a guy eating chocolate ice cream from a bucket. I immediately liked him even though I didn't see an extra spoon! This was Alois. He shared his time with me even though he had a one-hour drive home in the dark if he lingered. We covered a wide range of topics however his love of his country and his hometown of Briel/Brigets stood out. I'd passed within a few kilometres of Alois's hometown on my first day and didn't know it. I also met Gosia from Poland who has been to Perth a few times and is heading there again soon. I convinced her that while Perth is OK, Brisbane is the centre of the universe. A great end to my day. Thank you Alois and Gosia! The benefit of travelling solo is that someone will make time to talk. In pairs, I believe people tend to stay away as they think they're interrupting. So many people have stopped and asked about my trip, offered advice and safe travels, and even offered to ...

I started out Day Three with a clicking noise from the front wheel that seemed to go away after an hour or so. I'm no mechanical genius, but doing nothing fixed it ... just saying! Also, my Hammerhead Karoo GPS unit seems to want to continually go on pause while riding ... cold early starts may not be its thing. Again, after about an hour it seems to right itself.  The ride through Bad Ragaz at 8.00am was otherwise uneventful. The backstreets were just as impressive as the town centre. I depart this town very envious of its inhabitants.     After a short ride on quiet country roads, I came back to the Rhine where I left yesterday. There is a drought in Europe, and Switzerland is not immune. Rivers and lakes here are at record low levels generally and the Rhine is no exception. It still is an impressive river. The river's backdrop of mountains looked great in the early light.   I'm feeling very Swiss. Having mastered 'Guete Morge' (Good Morning) I've now truncate...

A tough day with climbing at the start of the day ... much better than the end of the day I guess. Once this day has been conquered, the rest of the ride to the sea is generally flat or declining.  There will be hills but nothing like my last 9 km yesterday to reach my campingplatz at Carrera, just beyond Ilanz, or the climbs today.  I tried to make an early start however I seemed to be the only person awake at the campsite so etiquette dictated that I should wait for a more reasonable hour. I quietly roll up my sleeping bag and mattress, then waited and waited ... then some more. Mountain air must be good for your sleep! I finally headed away at 8.30am.   Within the first 60 minutes of starting my ride I had 3 groups of Swiss motorcycle police pass me - a total of 15 officers, then one group of 6 military police motorcyclists. None saw through my disguise with all blissfully riding by ... red faces in the barracks tonight.     The roads were so easy to ride on ...