Bike Hire in Saarland

The Saarland, a tiny province in the far west of Germany on the Luxembourg/French border, is a good place to sample both German cycle touring and start a cycle trip beyond its borders:
The River Saar with its towpath offers a connection north to Trier in the Moselle valley, and south via Saar Coal Mine Canal to reach the Vosges and Strasbourg.
The Saarlorlux Cycle Route connects Luxembourg, Metz, Saarbrücken and Trier and crosses parts of Lorraine, Luxembourg and Saarland.
The Saarland Provincial Tourist Office has a website in English with information about cycle routes and a list of Bed and Bike accommodation where cyclists are made especially welcome.
Saarbrücken has excellent rail connections to Paris and Frankfurt and even an airport with some international flights.
For once there is no shortage of bicycle hire outlets.
The provincial tourist office also has a list of bike hire facilities in German (http://www.tourismus.saarland.de/urlaubsfinder/aktivurlaub/1474_DEU_tzs.php) which may well be more up to date than this one.

Saarlouis

Fahrrad Schwarz
Bahnhofstr.16
66740 Saarlouis-Fraulautern
Tel. 06831/80472
open: daily 9:00 - 12:00 und 14:00 - 19:00, Saturdays until 14:00
Bicycle rental, sale, repair, service, spare parts and accessories

Diakonisches Werk an der Saar Fahrrad-Service-Station Saarlouis
This church backed organisation offers work to the unemployed and training to those without an apprenticeship. The bikes will not be new, but reconditioned. They will be reliable and none the worse for this.
Donatusstr. 13
66740 Saarlouis-Roden
Tel. +49 (0)6831/87592
Open: daily 8:00 – 16:00,
Fridays until 14.30
Bike rental, no repairs, guaranteed secondhand bikes for sale
Bicycles can be delivered from the Saarlouis railway station to your holiday start point.
Office/workshop on the railway station
open: daily 8:00 - 17:00
Friday until 18:00


Völklingen

STADT-RAD - Fahrradverleih
The above mentioned Diakonisches Werk an der Saar, the city of Völklingen and the provincial government set up a bicycle rental service in July 2006. This can be found very near the railway station in Völklingen in the GLOBUS Passage, Rathausstraße. It is open from Monday to Friday: 10:00 - 16:00
Tel.: +49 (0) 68 98 / 50 31 74 or 29 62 32
Prices:
Basic Charge: 3 Euro/day, each day afterwards 1 Euro,
Weekends (Friday-Monday): 5 Euro
Bike deposit: 20 Euro

Homburg (Saar)

STADTRAD
Kirchenstr. 7
66424 Homburg (Saar)
Tel.: +49 (0)6841/ 31 88
Web Site: www.stadtrad-homburg.de/ (in German)
This bike shop offers repair, service, new bike sales in addition to a bicycle rental service.
Open: Monday - Friday 10:00 - 18:30
Saturday 10:00 - 14:00

Schwalbach

Zweirad Schellhase, Hauptstr. 194, 66773 Schwalbach
Tel.: 06834/52079 Fax: 06834/51684, eMail: info@zweirad-schellhase.de
http://www.zweirad-schellhase.de/ (in German)
This bike shop offers repair, service, new bike sales in addition to a bicycle rental service.
Open: Monday - Friday 08:30 - 12:00 14:00 - 18:30
Saturday 08:30 - 14:00
November - February closed Wednesday afternoons

Mettlach

U. Hoffmann Fahrräder, Bicycles Service, Rental
Von Boch-Liebig Str. 5
66693 Mettlach
Tel.: +49 (0)6864/303
Fax: +49 (0)6864/594

Nennig (Moselle valley)

Verkehrsverein Nennig e.V. (Tourist Office in Perl-Nennig)
Bübinger Straße 5
D-66706 Nennig
Tel.: +(49) (0)6866 · 1439
Fax: +(49) (0)6866 · 1278
eMail: info(at)nennig.de
Website: www.Nennig.de (in German)
Bicycle hire 10 Euro per day with a reduction after three days.
Open: April to October: Monday - Friday: 10:00 - 12:00 nnd 14:00 - 16:00
November to March:
Monday and Tuesday: 10:00 - 12:00
Wednesday - Friday: 14:00 - 16:00 Uhr

Saarbrücken

Fahrradfachhandel Schulz + Schade,
Vorstadtstr. 45,
66117 Saarbrücken, Tel.: +49(0)681-52676,
Internet: www.schulz-schade.de
This bicycle shop offers electrobikes in addition to a number of touring bikes.

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.

Strasbourg Station in winter

We have recently been to the South of France for a snow shoeing/walking holiday with the Space-Between organisation and took advantage of the excellent Prem offers from the French Railways (SNCF) to travel between Strasbourg and Nice by overnight train. The city is not that far from Mannheim/Heidelberg and offers a number of convenient trains to travel into France, rather than travelling via Paris. Strasbourg station, although magnificent in the German manner, is a cold place to have to wait for one's train to be announced. For some unknown reason SNCF only announces the departure platform of its trains about 20 minutes before the train departs, so one stays within the station building squinting at video screens. In winter and this year is a cold one, it can be a cold wait by the main entrance, unless one goes to Hall Nord which is at the northern end of the station. This hall has automatic closing doors, a better newspaper and book shop, a couple of good coffee/snack bars and a heated ticket office where one can wait until the train is announced. Strasbourg station in addition offers bike parking and bicycle hire.

Accommodation for cycle tourists

Having written a number of books on cycle touring we are well aware of the problems of both finding and recommending accommodation, or as our American friends say, accommodations. We prefer the quaint old inn, or a good B&B not only because price plays a role, but also if we stop in a chain hotel they are good value for money, but whether one stops overnight in Memphis, Tennessee or Berlin, Germany they are basically the same. Trying to find these from a city's tourist office list can be difficult. In Germany one can use the Bett und Bike information put out by the ADFC, the German Cycle Club, but elsewhere it is not always easy, so I was pleased to come across a website put out by a German travel book publisher giving information about the hotels that their authors have used in almost 30 years of travelling: www.michael-mueller-verlag.de/hotel/index.html. The website can help one find an interesting place to stay.

Punctures

We went out on 11th November for a short run into Mannheim to show an American friend how to reach the railway station and the pleasantest route across the town. On the way home the Dahon suffered a puncture in the rear tyre. As the regular reader of this blog knows I am a great devotee of folding bikes. We both own two small wheeled folding bicycles: a Brompton and a Dahon. Both get used more than our full sized "cumbersomes" and so suffer from punctures more often and invariably in the rear tyre. (A good example of Murphy's Law.) Removing the rear tyre is always more difficult and more oily because of the Dahon's derailleur and the Brompton's chain tensioner.
For some reason unknown other people's punctures are a source of great amusement (schadenfreude?) to others. When we lived in a block of flats I used to retreat to our cellar rather than repair the bike in front of the building to reduce the number of times I had to answer the question, "Got a puncture, then?" said with a knowing smirk. I don't have this problem any more now that we moved to a small house, but it is still a fiddly job replacing an inner tube. Schwalbe does offer a special puncture proof tyre, but not unfortunately for small wheels. When we were in Britain a year or so ago I picked up a packet of anti-puncture tapes. This fits between the tyre and the inner tube. Now I have had a puncture at home I have fitted one of these. I will report on how I go on.

The recession?

Europe is officially in recession. I just wish someone would tell my fellow shoppers in the Rhein Neckar Centre in Viernheim, so that on the occasions when we go by car we could find a convenient parking space. Today my wife observed a couple with two overflowing shopping trolleys coming out of "Toys R Us" in the RNZ. We needed to buy a new bathroom lamp in Bauhaus, our local DIY store today, but it was too full to shop in comfort. We will wait until Monday or Tuesday.
We saw our first Father Christmas dummy swinging from a balcony today!

The Bierathlon

Although Viernheim does not normally feature in lists of great sporting ventures like the Olympic Games, marathons in cities like Berlin, London or New York, or even the Iron Man triathlon in Hawaii, the town has developed a new sport over the last four years: The Bierathlon. It is a 6km jog for two runners who carry a crate of beer (12 330ml bottles of Welde Pils - an excellent local beer) between them and have to drink this in the start and finish zone. They need to empty the bottles in the crate before crossing the finish line. Whether they both drink 2 litres is not laid down but there are penalty points for full bottles. There are prizes for male, female, mixed teams and for the best fancy dress. This year's winners achieved times of about half an hour. The event is a mixture of Karneval, Halloween and sport. There is a party afterwards which goes on to the early hours. It is obviously not a serious event though the mixed prize this year was taken by a pair of experienced triathlon competitors from Ladenburg. One could of course handicap trained athletes by replacing the Pils by a higher strength Bock or even Doppelbock.

Another advantage of cycling

We wanted to do our bit today to help Germany out of the impending Wirtsschaftsrezession (economic recession) and reduce our electricity bills. We've been thinking about buying a new freezer, because our chest freezer was already about 10 years old when we got married just over 20 years ago. It is time to invest in an A+ freezer. It was fine and sunny this morning, so we cycled into the industrial estate where the local electrical dealer has his shop. We had no trouble parking. Not needing to search for a parking place saves an amazing amount of time and frustration. We bought a deep freeze and arranged to have it delivered. It would have been a bit big to fit over the Brompton's front wheel.
Afterwards we decided to go to a nearby large electronics supermarket to look at cheap and cheerful DVD players. Our old one has been on the blink for six months or so. Again we could park outside without raising the heartbeat rate. Admittedly we did not buy anything large: The box containing the player we bought fitted in the front bag of the Brompton, no trouble at all and was held in by an elasticated net with hooks we picked up in a motor bike shop some years ago. We were not however moving a ton or so of steel around to carry us two and a small box.

The advantages of the moral high ground

One of the problems of being a cyclist is that one really does occupy the moral high ground. This. of course, means that the various members of the cycling community feel that they can cycle through red lights, down one way streets the wrong way and on pavements. Unfortunately this is plain daft, because it gives us as cyclists a poor image and could get some poor cyclist flattened or some pedestrian injured. It is better that one enjoys the moral high ground and endeavours to obey the traffic laws, even though they are at times stupid. One should not expect any reward. Virtue is its own reward, surely?
However sometimes being a cyclist pays off in unexpected ways. Today for example I took the bike towing a trailer full of old paint tins and more aggressive cleaning agents to Viernheim's rubbish/garbage collection depot. Once a month in addition to having three bins: Bio, paper and the remainder with bottle banks all over town, we can take "dangerous" chemicals to the depot. I arrived and joined a queue of three or four cars and stood waiting to get rid of my trailer full. The dustbin man (garbage collector) directing traffic pointed to me and beckoned me forward. I assume because the others in the queue could sit in the warmth and listen to their radio whereas I needed to stand, I was allowed to jump the queue. Five minutes later I was away with an empty trailer. Wonderful.

Other countries, other problems!

We live in Germany and so do not suffer from the problems faced by cyclists in the UK, i.e. rabid motorists, pedestrians. A recent comment in the excellent AtoB Magazine (www.atob.org.uk) by a Dutch lady was "Only the mad people still ride bicycles in Britain." Germany is well equipped with cycleways that are not a foot wide painted strip down the side of the road. The cycleways do not come up to Dutch standards but in contrast to the UK, Germany is cycling heaven with 40,000km of cycle touring routes and excellent routes in towns and cities. We can cycle the 10-12km into the centre of Mannheim in about 30 minutes or the 20 or km to Heidelberg in somewhat over an hour following a mixture of quiet roads and motor free cycleways. There is one problem especially during rush hours: other cyclists. The folk who cycle these routes every day do not take prisoners and do not find it necessary to use a bell or even call out. One is ambling along enjoying the autumn sun and is suddenly almost shoved out the way by a muscular commuter on a mountain bike who shoots past us closer than either of us finds comfortable. There is an answer to this. We went cycling this summer along the Romantic Road with Experience Plus an American touring cycling company, as guides not as customers. We found out that their customers call out "Cyclist left passing"as they come up behind to pass and they wait until it is convenient for all parties that they pass. It makes for much more pleasant cycling.

Eight-hundred barbecues and 1636 cooks

We have over the years eaten picnics in some odd places. We could not always choose where to sit when we were researching the Swiss cycle touring guide, for example and so our picnic spots were many and varied: a bus shelter in a major city in the rain and road side picnic table with a view of the Eiger as examples. However we have never cooked and eaten lunch on the steps of a town hall along with several hundred others. One of the local radio stations Radio Regenbogen (Rainbow Radio) has been issuing challenges to each of the smaller towns hereabout at 07:07 each morning: One particular community needed to produce 1000 bras; another needed to recreate the Oktoberfest including Japanese tourists taking photographs; another needed to recreate the story of the Princess and the pea with a hundred mattresses and a young woman in princess gear. In each case it is important that several hundred or even a thousand people turn up. If the town wins the bet a community organisation wins a few thousand € to buy something new.
Yesterday Viernheim was challenged to have a grill party with at least 500 barbecues and each with two cooks. In addition a cook from a restaurant with at least one star should be present. (He came from a Mannheim restaurant, having heard the challenge on the radio.) This should be in place by 12:00. We found a dusty grill in the greenhouse and managed as well to find an ancient bag of charcoal briquettes. These were popped in the bike trailer and we cycled to the Apostelplatz in front of the town hall. We remembered to take some matches and some food:  four sausages, a pepper and two tomatoes. The square was full: Gas grills, electric grills, charcoal grills, and some bright spark had bought about two hundred disposable picnic grills. The town's butchers supplied sausages and the bakers rolls. We found room almost on the steps of the town hall and set up the grill. With a bit of trouble we got the grill to fire up and made lunch. Viernheim to be honest fought dirty and the kids at various schools and kindergartens were brought to the event or in the case of the secondary schools the kids were given a couple of hours off, various companies gave their employees a couple of hours off. This meant that the 1000 visitor limit was soon exceeded. At 12:00 the DJs from the morning programme arrived and agreed that we had met their challenge. One of the kindergartens will get 3000 € to buy a canopy for over its play area. We all ate our lunch and then put the still glowing charcoal briquettes in a bin, supervised by a member of the junior section of the volunteer fire brigade who had great fun spraying them with water from time to before we left for home to wash our smoke impregnated clothing. 

Cycling in Edinburgh

Earlier this summer we spent a few days near Edinburgh with a friend we’ve cycled with occasionally in Germany. Her new home is in a small coastal town where an old harbour area is being redeveloped and cycleways are beginning to be included in street plans. As usual we had stuck a couple of bikes in the back of our vehicle so after a fortifying Scots breakfast we all three sallied forth to the nearby Ocean Terminal shopping centre to scope out the cycling facilities. Neil and I are fairly used to cycling in traffic and at first there was a reasonable cycleway. We sandwiched the more nervous A between us and despite a rather dodgy junction and a narrow busy section we made it unscathed to Ocean Terminal where we did find some cycle stands. It was gratifying to find OUR Swiss Cycling Guide (ISBN 978-1-85284-526-1 available from all good bookshops) on the shelves of the bookstore there. We located another short section of bike route leading away from the Britannia and returned home partly on roads and partly on (fairly deserted) footpaths. The threatened rain then arrived. We enjoyed a cosy afternoon sitting with A watching the seagulls as they dived and swirled in the winds outside.
Next day we headed along various of the ‘rails to trails’ routes, now through dense woodlands, now high over house roof lines and with new bridges to carry us over busy intersections. Our goal was the National Gallery of Modern Art, high above us on a river bluff. The only course downhill involved a steep grade with steps which we walked our bikes down without a problem. Then over a footbridge and up a narrow steep trail where the bikes had to be carried. Fortunately all three of us are relatively stalwart but we were glad to reach the NGMA and make spaghetti of the bikes and a bike stand. Lunch called rather than culture so we rushed to the restaurant. As usual in such places, the food was interesting and wholesome whilst the other clientele, probably retired headmistresses and ladies who lunch provided suitable background. Outside the herbaceous borders were a dream of blues and whites, alliums and irises which most gardeners would envy. We found a return route avoiding the valley crossing using quiet roads.
This outing was a great improvement over the previous day’s ride, though to be fair it is difficult to see how a cycle route could be accommodated between the Firth of Forth on one side and a busy road on the other. A shared pedestrian/cycleway would be the only possibility. These are quite usual in many continental countries but are disliked it seems in the UK, probably a few aggressive cyclists and walkers who feel threatened spoiling a solution for everyone.
A was so buoyed up by the whole experience that she went and ordered a Brompton folding bike immediately afterwards. Fine we said, we’ll cycle to the shop (biketrax), for we had been within a mile of the city centre on the bike trail. This was deemed too hazardous. Our grey hairs multiplied after the downtown trip by car. A is a good driver but the traffic in the city centre is something fierce. The Brompton has now arrived and despite the awesome weather this summer has already provided hours of enjoyment. A too has discovered that such machines are better than dogs or babies as a talking point, everyone wants to know what it is, where she got it and how it folds. She is still in the honeymoon phase where she is delighted to give a demo, whereas we’d be wealthy if we had a pound for every time we’ve played bicycle origami. Our Bromptons are still the bikes we grab as we set off for town and we ride them most days. Finally we are beginning to read more and more transport chiefs, town mayors and others advocating cycling for health and saving money and praising folding bikes like Bromptons in conjunction with public transport. Useful link: http://www.edinburghguide.com/edinburghguidebook/transport/edinburghcycling

Cycling in Munich

We spent ten days shepherding or at least helping to shepherd seventeen North American cyclists along the Romantic Road and returned home via Munich. There is normally a good rail link between Füssen, the end of the Romantic Road and Munich, but it seems to our fate that part of the route is under reconstruction. It was true this time and was true the last time. There was a bus connection between Füssen and Obermarktdorf.
The cyclist arrives in Munich and wants to see the sights of Munich without his bike. Munich is a typical big city and leaving a valuable bike anywhere is not a good idea. The Hauptbahnhof, central station offers no facilities for bicycle parking. This is madness of course, but since when has a shortly to be privatised industry worked in a sensible manner? You can take it with you, but the Deutsches Museum, the Hofbräuhaus or even the much more ethnic Augustiner Beer Hall don't like you taking a bike in their hallowed rooms.
One cure might be to nip into the Radius Tours Bike Rental enclosure opposite Platform/Track 32 and hire a bike. You can then leave your expensive light tourer there and take off on a three gear bike, which is a lot less attractive to the light fingered. Radius Tours offer a wide range of tours in Munich and Southern Bavaria in addition to hiring out bikes.

Bike riding in Bolton

A few weeks ago we were in Britain during National Bike Week and so accessed information about events in our nearest town, Bolton in northwest England. We rushed back from friends in the Lake District so that C (our hostess) and I could join in a 5 mile cycle ride for ladies, led by Bolton’s cycling officer. Her remit was to work with adults at risk of developing heart disease and other problems and who also were likely to find it hard to cope with price rises in fuel and transport. To this end she had been running courses to persuade folks to take up cycling by providing both bikes and classes.
Our friend C came to cycling late and has few obvious buddies to cycle with locally so we thought the ladies’ ride might be a good idea. C took her Brompton and I used my Dahon Speed TR, veteran of our Swiss seasons (See “Cycle Touring in Switzerland” by Judith and Neil Forsyth, publ. by Cicerone Press). The afternoon was overcast with a threat of rain but all three of us were very disappointed that we were the only ones who had turned up. Nevertheless we went ahead on a quite sporting route, mostly along quiet trails through the Middlebrook valley. C found the rate of acceleration a bit much at times, since she still finds rapid gear changing a problem but she persevered. The route links together paths through parks, past derelict works and out between golf courses to Horwich and the Rebock stadium, so there’s lots of greenery and fresh air. There are only a few roads to negotiate, almost all very quiet. At the end of the tour C looked at the major crossing of two lane highways in front of a giant Tesco store and turned pale. ‘I’ll have to walk this’ she said. However as we pointed out the pedestrian lights these turned green and she swung onto the bike and pedalled across. One road down, one to go and we all managed again with the aid of the lights.
Both C and I were pleased we’d made the effort and discovered a bit of Bolton we’d previously bypassed by car. C was more confident and hopes to meet up with the cycling instructor again to build confidence riding on roads. Our poor cycling instructor was not so happy with her experiences since the ‘mass ride’ had attracted comparatively few people but the weather had been extremely wet. She said a great difficulty is to get people who’ve actually enjoyed the courses to continue to ride. The problems cited included perceived danger, which is not always the same as the actual risks involved, plus exposure to ridicule from friends and family many of whom view cycling as either childish or somehow letting the side down. This is extremely sad and very silly, especially when the media is full of reports of obesity, the value of exercise and fuel poverty. A bike does cost money for sure, needs some maintenance and won’t automatically reduce weight. The costs however vis a vis car transport are tiny. We find a bike ride a day reduces stress and does make a meal and a beer taste good when we’re home and dry.

French B&Bs

We have recently spent more time sitting behind the wheel of the car than we would prefer, but even though we are retired we do not have all the time in the world. While we were in Britain we noticed that there has been considerable comment about the price of holidays in Euroland largely due to the nose dive of the value pound in Euros over the last few months. However there are ways round the prices for accommodation: Youth Hostels and Bed and Breakfast. We will write about the latter this time.
If you know roughly where you are going log onto the Gites de France web site shown above and search in the appropriate departmente to find those B&Bs that are registered in the area you wish to go to. You can also pick up B&Bs as you move around by looking for Chambre d'hote. You can obviously also ring the proprietors up. Do you need to book beforehand? Probably yes in the holiday months of July and August. You are likely to find yourself stopping in anything from a suburban semi through farms to manor houses. The rooms cost between 50 and 80 Euros for two people in a double room with breakfast. The real savings come when you also take advantage of Table d'hote which is 3 or 4 course home cooked evening meal plus an aperitif and a quarter L of wine, taken with your hosts. This will cost you between 15 and 20 Euros per person.
Two places we can recommend are:
La vigneronne de Marie in Boujan sur Libron near Beziers on the Canal du Midi in the south. (7 rue de la Poste, 34760 Boujan sur Libron, T: +33 04 67 37 71 69, dominique.vieren@orange.fr).
La Clairièrie de Mancenans, 9 rue principale, 252 Mancenans in the Doubs Valley west of Belfort. T: 0381927806. Excellent food, a swimming pool.
The only slight disadvantage is that to enjoy these places you will need a little French. The more you have the better.

The Neckar

Down the Neckar
One of the great joys of cycling in Germany is the large number of routes alongside rivers. The Rhine and the Danube spring to mind but there are many other less known streams like the Neckar, the Main, the Ahr and a host of tributaries which run into the drainage pattern. On navigable rivers like the Elbe and the Mosel old towpaths where horses once pulled rafts or barges upstream and which now serve as service routes to the locks and power stations, form the basis of many bike routes. Their surfaces vary from almost motorway standard tarmac to desperate sections of loose sand or pebbles. Generally however they are well maintained and accessible to walkers, inline skaters and cyclists. Mostly the recommended signposted routes avoid traffic laden highways, apart from short sections through towns. Railways and road links also use these valleys so sometimes one has to ride with the drone of motorways or use level crossings over the railways. However we’ve found that cyclists are always taken care of with bridges, tunnels or provision in galleries under the concrete arches, not so romantic perhaps but relatively safe.
The Neckar river rises on the eastern flanks of the Black Forest, not far from the Danube in fact, than cuts around the northern edge of the hills and turns west through Stuttgart before flowing into the Rhine in Mannheim. Downstream of Stuttgart the Neckar valley is attractive with incised meanders cut into the Rhine valley hills, with more open basins occupied by farmland and small towns. One of our earliest ventures was to cycle out from home on our touring bikes one morning and use the Neckar valley as the start of our journey over the St Bernardino Pass. Fifteen years ago, the route was a bit patchy with some gaps and signposting quality was very mixed. When our local ADFC proposed a day trip from Mosbach, about halfway between Heidelberg and Stuttgart, we thought it a good chance to refresh our memories of the Neckar route. We joined a 10-man strong group on an S-bahn (local train) to a village near Mosbach. For us it was a virtually free journey as our senior citizens tickets covered the journey and there’s no charge for bikes on these trains. Both bike compartments were full, and on our return journey from Heidelberg we counted 18 bikes at our end of the train.
We detrained at Neckar-Elz, high above Mosbach and set off by careering satisfactorily downhill against the tide of churchgoers walking slowly upwards. Mosbach is a delightful ancient town, lots of narrow alleys, crooked half-timbered houses and a Town Hall in an old church building. It was too early for coffee so we headed off through fields and allotments, under heavy clouds to reach the Neckar cycleway, starting on the left bank (taken from flow direction). This is now named the Neckar-Alb Radweg and links into the eastern Black Forest scarplands we’d used on our earlier trip over the Alps. The valley narrowed between dark wooded hills, which suddenly blurred over as a threatened rain showers pelted down, forcing us to stop and don jackets. Sensible Neil also added his ‘Rainlegs’ and kept dry whilst I suffered wet knees for about 30 minutes although the shower soon passed. We were pleased to find that the signposting was excellent, on a mix of surfaced farmer’s roads through fields interspersed with good gravel trails close to the river. Although we were travelling downstream the paths rose slightly here and there, giving short freewheel opportunities which we all enjoyed as we swept through tiny Guttenbach. Over the bridge to the right bank in Neckargerach gave us good views of the castle as we reached a ferry point in Zwingenberg. Here the sacrosanct lunchtime forced an unexpected stop. Just then heavens opened in earnest, fortunately just by an ‘Imbis’ - a roadside pull up offering food and drink. Later we chugged over the chain ferry - 1€ per bike or person and met a great line of oldtimer Mercedes SL cars complete with enthusiasts, awaiting their turn on the four vehicle ferry. A short steep climb and reunion with the rest of the party at a rustic inn followed before we were off on another curving gravel run through the beech, chestnut and coniferous woods of the sandstone Odenwald. This bright red sandstone was used to build Heidelberg’s Schloss plus many bridges and other works in all the little towns. By now improving weather had enticed other cyclists and walkers out of their Sunday torpor and we shared the route in a good natured way.
We wound gently up and around the meanders past Eberbach and the teardrop-shaped loop by Hirschorn, where yet another pink painted Schloss lies above thetown. We were relieved that former rough climbs needed to cross rail tunnel entrances had been considerably improved. A short vertical section into Neckargemünd led us to a pleasant hostelry with views over the Neckar where various Radlers (shandies), beers, coffees were downed with enjoyment. We savoured pieces of rhubarb tart while some tucked into Schnitzel and Fries or the even more ethnic Handkäse mit Musik - a homemade type of cheese accompanied by onions, tasty if not socially correct! Afterwards we gathered our bikes together and fairly whizzed along the final section, across the Neckar bridge to the right bank and along a busy road. Soon a cycleway appeared and we shot through the almost deserted centre of Ziegelhausen before rejoining the road. The last run into Heidelberg was somewhat nerve racking, at least by German standards being beset by parked cars, tourists, traffic lights - all the usual hazards of urban cycling. We reached the station in fine style, however with time to buy an English Sunday paper before flinging our bikes into the waiting train. After thanks and farewells we descended in Ladenburg and cycled home through the fields, arriving conveniently as the first drops of rain fell. We had completed 92 km, our first major tour of the season. Excellent day out, good company and a reminder that German river routes are improving all the time. The transport links worked wonderfully, as ever. Other countries, please copy!