An interesting blog

We mentioned Jean-Jacques' and Domenique's B&B in a short blog on French B&Bs last year (2008) on July 6. They run an excellent establishment near Beziers in the South of France not far from the Canal du Midi. They have just set up a new blog in French about what is on in Beziers with some superb photographs (www.vdm34.unblog.fr). It is well worth checking out if you are intending to visit this fascinating area.

Bicycle Rental in Hamburg

This list has been edited and is now available in the "Cycling in Europe" blog of 28 June 2013.

Bike Hire in Berlin

Berlin is a great place for cyclists. It is as flat as the proverbial pancake and has an extensive bike lane system. Riders have access to 620 km of bike paths including approx. 150 km mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km off-road bicycle routes, 60 km of bike lanes on the roads, 70 km of shared bus lanes which are also open to cyclists, 100 km of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km of marked bike lanes on the pavements. Riders are allowed to carry their bicycles on suburban trains, underground trains and trams. There were about 400,000 trips daily accounting for 12% of total traffic in 2007.
In addition Berlin is a major tourist attraction. The city has a large number of bike hire companies. Several of the hire companies offer guided tours as well. From what I can see the majority of bike hire shops only have German websites. Just use Google Translator to get a rough and ready translation. We edited this page on 30 August 2012 and removed broken links and added a few more hire shops.

Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) offers its Call A Bike (www.callabike.de) bike rental service. Pick up a bike or leave it locked to a traffic sign or bike rack at major railway stations or within 30 yards of major street intersections. The fee is 8 Eurocents a minute, up to 15 euros for 24 hours. Seven days is 60 euros. The bikes are city bikes and not suitable for touring.

Alex rent a bike  Alex rent a bike
Alte Schönhauser Straße 31
10119 Berlin
Ecke Weinmeisterstrasse
U-Bahn Station Weinmeisterstrasse
Tel: +49 (0)176 - 670 92 856
info@alex-rent-a-bike.de http://www.alex-rent-a-bike.de/
Opening Times:
Mo - Su 08:00 - 22:00
(Modified 22 March 2013)

Aspire Cycling (Road bike specialist)
This company delivers your bike to your hotel, B&B, crash pad etc.It offers Canyon Carbon Frame Endurance CF bikes. They also offer guided tours.
http://aspirecycling.com/
info@aspirecycling.com
T: +49 173 7457479


Christoph Beck (Folding bike specialist)
www.faltrad-direktor.de
Goethestr. 79
10623 Berlin-Charlottenburg
Tel. (030) 31 80 60 10
Opening Times:
Tu., Th., Fr. 16.16 - 19.19
We 11.11 - 13.13 and 16.16 - 19.19
Sa. 11.11 - 13.13 
When necessary also longer, and at any time when you make an appointment. How pleased Christoph would be to have an appointment at 06:00 I don't know.

BERLIN BIKE TOUR
Bornholmer Straße 75, 10439 Berlin
Telefon: 030/60 9494 98
www.berlinbiketour.eu
Opening Times
April - September
Mo - Fr
9.30 - 18.00
Sa & Su
9.30 - 14.00
Opening Times
October - March
Mo - Su
09.30 - 11.00
15.00 - 16.00

Fahrrad.Frank
http://www.fahrradfrank.de/
Torstraße 220
10115 Berlin - Mitte (Corner Novalisstr)
Tel. (030) 285 99 750
Opening Times (Summer):
Mo - Fr 10:00 - 20:00
Sa 10:00 - 18:00

Fahrradcenter Friedrichshain
http://www.fc-friedrichshain.de/fahrradverleih.html
Warschauer Str. 55 A
10243 Berlin-Friedrichshain
Tel. (030) 291 07 41
Opening Times :
Mo - Fr 10:00 - 18:30
Sa 9:00 - 13:00

Fahrradbox Berlin
www.fahrradbox.com
Konstanzer Str. 55
10707 Berlin
Tel. (030) 891 18 96
Opening Times:
Mo - Fr 10:00 - 18:30
Sa 10:00 - 14:00

Fahrradservice & Country Bar in Berlin

http://www.fahrradservice.bplaced.net/index.html

Friedrichstraße 129 / Ecke Claire-Waldoffstr.2, 10117 Berlin 

Telefon: 030 447 66 66    Mobil: 0179 992 40 39

Fax: 030 447 66 66

E-mail: Fahrradservice@aol.com

Bikes for rent and country music. an odd mixture but probably quite amusing.

Fahrradstation
Reservation hotline: (0) 180 510 80 00
Events: (030) 20 45 45 00
www.fahrradstation.com

Berlin-Mitte 1
Auguststr. 29 a
10119 Berlin-Mitte
Tel.: (030) 28 59 96 61                                                                          

Berlin-Mitte 2
Friedrichstr. 95
Eingang Dorotheenstr. 30
10117 Berlin-Mitte
Tel.: (030) 28 38 48 48                                                                  

Berlin-Mitte 3
Leipziger Str. 56
10117 Berlin-Mitte
Tel.: (030) 66 64 91 80                                   

Berlin-Charlottenburg
Goethestr. 46
10625 Berlin-Charlottenburg
Tel.: (030) 93 95 27 57                                

Berlin-Kreuzberg
Bergmannstr. 9
10961 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Tel.: (030) 215 15 66                                   

Berlin-Pankow
Kollwitzstr. 77
10435 Berlin-Pankow
Tel.: (030) 93 95 81 30      


Fahrradverleih Bugs
www.fahrradverleih-bugs.de
Rudowerstr. 80-81
12524 Berlin-Altglienicke
Tel. (030) 75 63 4009
Opening Times:
Mo - So: 9:00 - 19:00

Fat Tire Bike Tours Berlin
www.fattirebiketoursberlin.com
Panoramastraße 1a
10178 Berlin
Tel. (030) 24 04 79 91
Opening Times:
Mo - So 9:30 - 18:00 (Winter)
Mo - So 9:30 - 20:00 (Summer)

Lila Bike
www.berlin-citytours-by-bike.de
Schönhauser Allee 41 (opposite Konopkes / near the junction with Eberswalder Str. / Kastanienallee / Danziger Str.)
10435 Berlin
Tel.: (030) 42093446
0176 61124909
Opening Times:
Summer 15. March bis 1. November: 10.00 - 20.00
Winter 1. November bis 15. March: 11.00 - 18.00

next bike
Zimmerstr. 95-100
10117 Berlin-Mitte
Tel.: (0)152 289 90 264
www.nextbike.de
Opening Times:
Apr - Oct
Daily 10:00 - 20:00 Uhr
Nov - March: Check when the shop is open.

Pedalkraft
www.pedalkraftberlin.de
Skalitzer Str. 69
10997 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Tel. (030) 618 77 72
Opening Times:
Mo - Fr 10:00 - 19:00
Sa 10:00 - 14:00

Pedal-Power 1
www.pedalpower.de
Pfarrstr. 115
10317 Berlin-Lichtenberg
Tel. (030) 55 15 32 70
Opening Times:
Mo - Fr 10:00 - 18:30
Sa 10:00 - 13:00
Tandems available.

Pedal-Power 2
www.pedalpower.de
Großbeerenstr. 53
10965 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Tel. (030) 55 15 32 70
Opening Times:
Mo - Fr 10:00 - 18:30
Sa 10:00 - 13:00

Tandems available.

Pino Touren
http://www.pinotouren.de/rennrad-vermietung-berlin-engine/rennrad-details-berlin (in German)
Sigmaringener Str 26
Berlin
Road bikes.

Prenzlberger Orange Bikes
http://www.orange-bikes.de/prenzlberger-orange-bikes/fahrradverleih/english/Kollwitzstr. 35
10405 Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg
Tel. 0163 892 64 27
Opening Times (April - October):
Mo - So 12:00 - 18:00

Radlager
Dieffenbachstr.35
10967 Berlin
tel: 030/ 69519772
www.radlager-berlin.de
Recycles cycles, but since I regularly undertake tours on a 25 year old bike, I would gladly hire from here.

Rentabike-Berlin.de
www.rentabike-berlin.de
Friedrichstrasse 210
10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Tel.: 030 24 03 78 65
Fax.: 030 24 03 78 66
Opening Times:
Mo - So 9:00 - 20:00
Sa 9:00 - 1600


Regenbogenfabrik
www.regenbogenfabrik.de
Lausitzer Str. 22
10999 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Tel. (030) 69 57 95 22
Opening Times:
Mo - So 9:00 - 21:00
Recycled older bikes. No reservation possible, but once you have a bike you can extend your hire period by ringing up.

Spinning Wheelz GbR
Torstr.70
10119 Berlin-Mitte
Tel.: (030) 24 03 83 45
http://www.wheelz.de/wheelz-bicycle-service/rent-a-bike.htmlhttp://www.wheelz.de/wheelz-bicycle-service/rent-a-bike.html
Opening Times:
Mo - Fr  9.30 - 19.00
Sa 10.00 - 14.00          

Stadt und Rad
Hardenbergplatz 9-11
10623 Berlin-Chalottenburg
Tel.: (030) 68 83 62 17
www.StadtUndRad.de
Opening Times:
Mo - Su
(1.03-30.03) 9:30 - 18:00
(16.04-30.09) 9:30 - 20:00
(1.10-30.11) 9:30 - 18:00
and on public holidays

Take a bike
http://www.takeabike.de/tab_html/tab_engl/home2_engl.html
Neustädtische Kirchstr. 8 (near the US Embassy)
10117 Berlin-Mitte
Tel. (030) 20 65 47 30
Opening Times:
Mo - So 9:30 - 19:00

Fahrradbox Berlin
http://www.fahrradbox.com
Konstanzer Str. 55
10707 Berlin
Telephone 030 / 89 11 89 6   -  Telefax 030 / 88 91 26 55
eMail:   mail [ at ] fahrradbox [ dot ] com   ! 
Opening Times: 
Mo - Fr: 10 - 18:30   -   Sa: 10 - 14 

Bike Hire in Munich

One thing is surely missing in Munich is somewhere to lock up one's bike safely near the Hauptbahnhof (Main railway station), but there are plenty of companies offering bike hire:
Radius Tour and Bikes
Arnulfstraße 3 (inside the Main Train Station)
80335 München
Tel.+49 (0)89 59 61 13
Fax:+49 (0)89 59 47 14
http://www.radiustours.com/
A friendly bunch of characters, well worth supporting.

Radeldiscount GbR
Benediktbeurerstraße 20-22
81379 München
Tel.+49 (0)89 724 23 51
Fax:+49 (0)89 724 34 35

Radeldiscount GbR
Trappentreustraße 10
80339 München
Tel.+49 (0)89 50 62 85

Radsport Huber
Friedrich-Eckard-Straße 56
81929 München
Tel.+49 (0)89 93 93 06 70
Fax:+49 (0)89 93 93 06 71

Alpintours
Ismaningerstraße 68
81675 München
Tel.+49 (0)89 54 27 88 0
Fax:+49 (0)89 54 29 01 18

Bike Hire in Frankfurt am Main

Sometime ago we were asked to help someone find a bicycle hire company in Frankfurt am Main. The questioner wanted to cycle round the Riesling Route (a route suggested by Judith and I: Mainz - Rhine Valley - Koblenz - Moselle Valley - Trier - Metz - Nancy - Strasbourg - Karlsruhe - Mainz). I contacted the tourist office and at that time I had great difficulty finding anything at all apart from DB German Railways city bike scheme: Call a Bike which offers very distinctive city bikes that one can pick up anywhere in the city and drop them off elsewhere paying only for the time one uses them. They are not much use for cycle touring, but are ideal if you wish to explore Frankfurt’s miles of cycle routes.
Since then we have kept our eye on the market and several new more companies have come to light offering bikes more suited to the touring cyclist:

Die Radprofis. Kai Hundertmarck und Theo Intra
Westerbachstraße 273
65936 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: +49 (0) 69 / 34 27 80
www.intra-radsport.de

Hex Hex Fahrradladen
Owner: Berthold Gentzler
Gutleutstraße 156
60327 Frankfurt am Main
Tel.: +49 (0) 69 / 23 34 44
Fax: +49 (0) 69 / 23 34 94
www.hexhex-fahrraeder.de

Fahrrad Station Frankfurt
Inhaber: Susanne Sitzius
Ginnheimer Landstrasse 133
60431 Frankfurt am Main
Tel: 069/95114061
info@fahrradstation-frankfurt.de
www.fahrradstation-frankfurt.de

GoetheRad - Fahrradverleih am Goethturm
Sachsenhäuser Landwehrweg 1
60599 Frankfurt am Main - Sachsenhausen-Nord
Tel: +49 (0) 176/50 52 85 99
goetherad@googlemail.com
https://sites.google.com/site/goetherad/Home
Open Wednesday to Sunday from 2PM to 6PM 

You can of course also hire bikes from the above by the day.

I don’t know if all of these organisations can speak English, but I expect so.

If you are going to cycle for a week or so, it is worth taking your favourite saddle and click pedals if you use them.