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Eurovelo 15 - Day 16 - Rudesheim to Koblenz

Day done!

I started this morning by catching the train from Koblenz back to Rudesheim - a one-hour trip. When you stare out a window, on a train, for an hour, you start to wonder if your GPS is accurate ... it seems a lot longer than 70 km! I checked my GPS and Google Maps at least a dozen times on the trip ... yes, 70 km... I should get back to Koblenz today!

I arrived back at Rudesheim at 9.00am and was on the ferry heading across the river to Bingen by 9.10. I'd be riding the left bank of the Rhine today it seems. 

After leaving Bingen, the path weaves through a shaded forest setting alongside the Rhine. In fact, the Rhine will be visible most of the day for perhaps the first time in the entire ride so far. I pass old churches, again seemingly very well maintained. Looking across the Rhine, small towns dot the river bank every few kilometres. Above the towns, on the slopes of the hills, acres of vineyards are like a patchwork taking on varying hues of greens and browns.
 

 
 
It's so hard to pick a best day of riding however today would certainly be up there. The paths were excellent, and really well connected and signposted. The villages and towns were lively and had a charming look that matched with the seemingly dozens of castles that dotted the Middle Rhine. Historically, what this region must have experienced ... wow!

The castles dot both sides of the Rhine. Some seem, at least from the outside, well maintained - with some opened up as hotels and restaurants. Others look quite derelict with bracing in place to hold pieces of history together. All look impressive. The villages look similar in period! If you went back to the 1700s you might notice little difference ... except the cars driving through town. The town of Bacharach is a great example of this setting ... a castle on top of a hill is the backdrop to the town, and the shops and houses in the foreground look like a movie scene set in medieval times!
 

 

 
I stop for morning tea in a hotel across from the infamous Loreley rock, which legend has as a beautiful woman becoming a siren, and drawing hapless boats onto the rocks and destruction. I watched as a cruise boat passed the rock .... nothing happened so I rode on.
 
 
I hadn't eaten for about 30 minutes so decided to look around the town of Boppard, and then find something to eat. Again, every corner you come around is a picture postcard. Beautiful ... if it wasn't for the rows of tourist buses disembarking hordes of tourists (yes, I'm also a tourist ... I get the irony of what I'm saying!). Out of Boppard, you turn down towards the river, while the highway alongside which I've been riding most of the morning (although generally quiet) veers away ... so it becomes truly silent. Nice.

Not too long after I can see Marksburg castle across on the other bank. We visited it in 2019 ... impressive as far as castles go!
 
 
With about 10 km to go before I was back in Koblenz, I caught up with another fully loaded rider - Dave from North Carolina. The second North Carolinian (yes, again I checked and that's what they are called!) I've met on the trip. I first noticed the back of his t-shirt - The Lou Memorial Ride. Lou (no surname given) was a friend to many, and who organised cycling rides for friends, and Dave was Lou's best friend. They were supposed to do this ride from Bregenz in Austria, where Lou's son lives, through to Amsterdam, along the Rhine most of the way. The pandemic put the trip on hold, and before it could happen, Lou passed away from cancer. So Dave and his friends decided to do the ride together as a memorial to Lou and scatter his ashes along the trip. Dave was the only rider left.  Some never left the shores of the USA, others caught COVID on the trip and headed home early, and the second-to-last person left a few days before with a health scare requiring specialist assistance. Dave was now left to carry out what a group of Lou's friends had started. We ride together into the city determined to find a pub and have to beer to Lou.

In the quieter moments of our short ride together I couldn't help but reflect on the burden that must be felt by Dave. It was one that Dave seemed not only to accept but also embrace. Lou must have been a great bloke but Dave is a legend.
 
Thanks for reading.
 
I'm doing this ride to raise funds for Blue Dragon Children's Foundation. I'm self-supported so all donations go directly to Blue Dragon. If you can give please do at ... https://au-bluedragon.givecloud.co/fundraisers/pedalling-for-a-purpose. Alternatively, go to Blue Dragon's website at bluedragon.org

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