Pedalling for a Purpose

I wake up at the camping ground knowing this is the final day of my ride from Oberalppass in Switzerland, including a walk to Lake Toma - the source of the Rhine, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland. It will be a quick ride ... just 3 km. I'll then ride towards Amsterdam in preparation for my flight home. Unfortunately I've planned too well. I planned a contingency of 7 additional days for this trip. This was to account for any mechanical or health issues. If I didn't add these on to the trip, and something did occur, then the only solution would be to catch a train on some days.  For me, this wasn't an option as I wanted to ride each and every kilometre of the Rhine. The problem I now have is that I can't get an earlier flight back home ... all flights are absolutely full ... more demand than supply. I've tried even flying from Frankfurt, London and Paris - no joy. So this morning at 8.00am I cycled down to the pier at the Hook of Holland and tipped the water I...

The ride out of Wijk Bij Duurstede was very easy being such a small town. I circumnavigated my moated castle one more time ... no marauding invaders, so rode on. Today's ride would be a mixed feeling. The ride itself was very pleasant from a scenic beauty perspective. The drought here doesn't seem to have had the same impact as elsewhere so the greens seemed greener and the smells fresher. The ride generally overlooked farmlands with some incursions into villages. However, it wasn't until I reached the outskirts of Rotterdam (80 km) before I hit a dedicated bike path. Most of the ride would be along shared roads on dikes. Normally not too much of a challenge however with moderate traffic, your senses were always on alert. The concentration needed was quite draining. The first 'attraction' I came to today was a huge lock in which I saw two large barges and a smaller vessel all being 'lowered' as they made their way downstream.  This lock was an engineering ma...

After a day off in Arnhem, I was ready to ride again. I've found that the day after a rest day is usually a hard day's ride! Partially because my body needs to get back into cycling mode, and partially because I walk too much on the rest day and my legs are in 'what the ... ' mode! Hydration, I think, is the key. Apparently, alcohol dehydrates ... Today was just a tremendous ride! I've missed the forests and trees over the past few riding days that have either been along the Rhine itself, or through farming country.  Even the riding a couple of days ago, through nature conservation areas, was relatively sparsely treed compared to today. Many of today's images are of paths in forests (apologies)! While there were a couple of quick stops in small villages, 'attractions' were few so it really was just about the scenic ride today. The ride out of Arnhem was very quick and set the scene for the day as I followed a very good path through parks, eventually comi...

A quiet start today for my last rest day before finishing my ride at Hook of Holland. Arnhem is a great stopover town closely connected to a significant World War II historical event - Operation Market Garden. Thousands of mainly British and Polish troops were parachuted behind enemy lines to try and open up a headway for other allied troops to drive forward into the Ruhr and Germany. It's the inspiration for the iconic movie, A Bridge Too Far, where the taking of a bridge in Arnhem itself was critical to the Allies plan. Being ex-military myself, I headed to said bridge. The original was destroyed during the war however the replacement has been named after John Frost, the British Officer commanding the paratroopers trying to secure the bridge for the Allied advance. The reinforcements never came.  The local population have never forgotten those who fought and gave their lives in the liberation of their homeland, and the sense of remembrance remains very strong. Many homes in Arnhe...

So what I thought was a kid's sideshow alley was just a precursor for the main event ... a techno music festival ... just 50 metres from my room. I thought about joining the crowd, who seemed to be enjoying the spectacle (probably the musicians' parents), however, techno isn't real music, and their repertoire of 3 songs, played over and over, spoiled the magic. 11.34pm, 11.35pm, 11.36pm ... 12.02am - where is the rain, thunder and lightning now? 12.25am - surely someone has called the Mayor of Orsoy! 12.45am - hold my beer! Finally, all went quiet around 1.02am and I got to use my pillow! My body clock woke me around 6.30am and I'd arranged breakfast for 8.00am. The hotel didn't normally serve breakfast until 9.00am on a Sunday, however, they made an exception just for me! At 8.00am breakfast was served ... it was a feast ... I actually thought another half dozen people were joining me.  I felt so guilty not being able to put a dent into all the offerings ... then t...

I was having breakfast at the hotel today as there didn't seem a lot of choices in the first hour or so of the ride. It was steadily raining outside, I'd had a terrible sleep inside a sauna of a room (the air-conditioning was very ineffective!), and my body just felt off. I realised that I hadn't really had a day off the bike altogether since Basel. On my last 2 'rest days' I had to retrace 70 kms and 28 kms respectively that were lost through spoke issues. I did think about extending my stay by a day in Dusseldorf, however, I just headed up to my room after breakfast and slept for another 2 hours. Check-out times here are a very courteous noon! By 10.30am I was on the road to Duisburg some 32 km away - the shortest leg of the trip. As I ride out of the city I see one lonely tent set up in a huge park (probably illegally) however with a beautiful backdrop and the Rhine out of the front door!   Today is Rhine Clean Up Day, which seems similar to Clean Up Australia Da...

The promise of rain most of the day had me anticipating an interesting ride.  I'd passed through a few light showers over the past few weeks however nothing like what was expected. Spoiler Alert: I didn't get rained on! The bike route into Bonn yesterday and the exit out of town today were both easy and scenic. The bike paths follow the river through a very small industrial section, otherwise parkland.     I received a WhatsApp message this morning from David, whom I'd met on the road a couple of days ago. He was in Cologne and heading to Dusseldorf where he would be staying for 2 days. My target today was Cologne, however, if the weather wasn't too bad, and both bike and body held together, I might reassess in Cologne and maybe head towards  Dusseldorf. Either way, I was confident of catching up with David for a beer and dinner at some point. My big concern beyond the weather was Myrle (bike Myrle, not human Myrle) not breaking another spoke. I rode far more gently ...

My rest day started with a leisurely 25-minute train trip back to Sinzig, and another leisurely 2-hour cycle ride back to Bonn. Drizzling rain when I started the trip, but ending in sunshine ... a nice ride before breakfast.  The detour from the Eurovelo route out of Sinzig is a bit challenging ... if you try to use the rerouting function on your GPS! Follow the green cycle markers and you can't go wrong - but keep an eye out for them, miss one and you could be in for a fun morning. This detour probably adds 3-4 km to your trip but a really nice ride through town and farmlands. Not too far away was Remargen. a very beautiful town with money, or certainly enough of it to craft a beautiful waterfront with wide paving with cafes and restaurants overlooking a nice section of the Rhine, and another postcard view of a small village across the water. The beauty of the landscapes over the past 3 days has been unsurpassed in terms of historical feel. If you replaced motor vehicles with hors...

Off to the local bakery first up, then it's towards Bonn today. Following the route out of Koblenz, I head over the Moselle River before going through some industrial areas and turning towards the Rhine again. At one stage I go through a beautiful wooded area with trees hanging over the path providing a great shade cover ... if only this could last ... it lasted all of 80 metres!     The path out of Koblenz is ordinary. It's all bitumen but uneven and potholed - I'd rather be on the compacted gravel! I also had the nervousness of my spoke breaking two days ago. This roadway wasn't helping.  I travel through a few small villages and back streets which is a nice change away from the river itself.  As I get nearer to Andernach the pathways seem to be improving. The city of Andernach itself is quite a tidy town! It has walled fortifications that are very prominent as you ride through the streets and bike paths.   As I look across the Rhine I see more terraced vineya...