Bicycles, Tandems and Recumbent Trikes on Trains in Germany and Neighbouring Countries Part 3: Long Distance Daytime Services

Accompanied Bicycle, Tandem and Trike Transport on Long Distance Daytime German Trains
 

Rail services in Germany are divided into two groups: Long distance (Fernverkehr) - non subsidized and regional trains (Nahverkehr) - local services provided by an operator and subsidized by a regional transport authority but ultimately by the provincial government. The long distance services are there to make a profit. Both types of service cooperate. Your journey might involve travelling on both long distance and regional services.  Both types of service have in some cases the capacity to carry bicycles and even tandems and trikes.

Deutsche Bahn (DB) Long Distance Services  Deutsche Bahn operates by far the majority of long distance passenger trains in Germany (https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml). It is a state-owned operator that makes a profit on its long distance routes. Only a small proportion of these services offer bicycle transport. It appears to us that the ideal passenger is seen as someone who carries one credit card (rather than two) and MacBook Air. DB long distance services use two types of train: the high speed Inter City Express (ICE) and the slightly slower and cheaper InterCity/EuroCity  trains (IC/EC). One of the five ICE classes will take a limited number of "normal" bicycles (in a cubby hole) as do many of the IC/EC trains. In the German conditions of carriage we discovered a surprising sentence (translated into English): 

"Special types of bicycles (e.g. tandem, recumbent) are not permitted on all long-distance trains that carry bicycles for reasons of capacity. You can obtain further information from all DB sales outlets." 

Next time we are in Mannheim and the ticket hall on the Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) is not over full, we will chat to the staff to see what this sentence actually means. We will report back here when we have more information. I have checked with the ADFC, the German cycling club, the partner of DB in matters cycle transport, but I have yet to have a reply and I am not holding my breath. 

Basically tandems and special designs (trikes, quads, trailers) are not normally transported by DB, but there is at least one deceitful exception. In the days when I used to commute by train to Frankfurt, I met a family who had a Hase Pino, a tandem which is a cross between a recumbent and an upright. I asked the mother about putting the tandem on an Inter City train and was assured that the wheelbase was short enough to fit the bike in a single bike slot. Railway employees had never noticed it was a tandem. The latest models are demountable and can be divided before transport. A number of other tandem models are sold with couplings allowing dismounting. Whether the divided bike then counts as luggage in the same way as a folding bike? We don't know.

Flix Train (https://www.flixtrain.de/) offers a limited number of daytime connections in both directions between:
Köln (Cologne) - Düsseldorf - Duisburg - Essen - Dortmund - Bielefeld* - Hannover - Berlin Spandau - Berlin Hbf - Berlin Südkreuz
*At present trains only stop in Bielefeld when travelling towards Berlin. 
Köln (Cologne) - Düsseldorf - Duisburg - Essen - Gelsenkirchen - Münster – Osnabrück - Hamburg

These trains are cheaper than the DB trains, but are slower than the high speed ICEs. With their tandem or trike the happy trike or tandem rider is not welcome on these trains. "Normal" bicycles are carried, but to quote the company's conditions of carriage: 

 

"Bicycles must be of a standard size, without additional attachments, and may not exceed 20 kg (45 lbs). We recommend that you book your bicycle slot early due to limited capacity." 

Bicycles, Tandems and Recumbent Trikes on Trains in Germany and Neighbouring Countries Part 2: Joining and Changing Trains

If you wish to travel by train within Germany with your bicycles and/or tricycles and you have a choice of stations you can start from or need to change at, then either check out the station/s beforehand, if you can,  and/or download the Bahnhof live app. In Bahnhof live fill out the name of the station/s and the relevant page/s should appear. Click on Austattung and you will be shown a list of facilities. Look for the green barrier free wheelchair logo (Stufenfreier Zugang)  and Aufzüge (lifts/elevators) to be sure you don't have to carry your steed up or down flights of steps. There can be a lot of stairs, as this photograph of a station in Ludwigshafen shows. Just to explain the lift/elevator was temporarily out of order:

To further illustrate this approach: If you compare Augsburg and Munich (München) HbF - main stations with the app. Augsburg does not have barrier free access, but Munich does. It is much easier to change platforms in Munich. Things should improve in Augsburg in 2024!
It is recommended you should remove the bags before you load the bikes on the train. Don't do it until shortly before your train arrives. Some of the lifts/elevators are very narrow and your bikes with panniers are quite wide, so pop the bikes in these one forward one backward, so each pannier faces a front wheel.

Once on the platform check where the bike carriage (car) will stop. On bigger stations there will be diagrams showing the order of the carriages on a train. More often than not on local and regional trains the bike space is at one end of the train marked by bicycle logos on the side of the carriages. A WORD TO THE WISE (and the UNWISE) DON'T RIDE YOUR BIKE ON THE STATION, ON THE PLATFORM OR THE CONCOURSE. YOU CAN BE FINED 50€ ON THE SPOT. 

Take the bags off the bikes/tandems/trikes shortly before the arrival of the train. Depending on how easy it is to move and fold your trike do it before you pop on the train.  Unless the train is starting at your station, you may only have between two and four minutes to load the bikes/tandems/trikes. When the train arrives there may be a tsunami of people getting off the train. Let them off. If there is also another tsunami of travellers trying to get on the train, then politely but firmly make sure you can get on. Make sure you can get the other bikes in your party on the train and make sure you have got all your bags from the platform. Leaving the bar bag behind with your camera, passports and tickets could quite spoil your day.
Once you are all on the train: If you have booked a slot or slots look for yours and pop the bike in it. If you are on a local or regional train look for the conductor and check that it's OK for you to load your bikes/tandems/trikes. Obviously if you can do this before the train leaves it is better to do so, but if the train is coming from elsewhere you have two or four minutes to get your gear on the train, so after the motto it is easier to get forgiven than get permission, load your bikes. In any case do not block the entrances and exits. A bungee or a strap to keep bicycles from falling over is a good wheeze. It is usual for cyclists to help other cyclists, so muck in and don't let the side down. You may well be asked where you intend to depart the train so that bikes that will be first off are at the outside of the heap.

You should always try to travel outside the weekday rush hours, after nine am and before three in the afternoon. Unfortunately regional trains can also be busy on summer weekends. There are limits to the number of bikes that can be carried. It is the conductor's decision to let you stay on the train, so be polite. You have no rights, no say in the matter. Good Luck! 
We must stress that conductor/guards have the final say. We once chatted to a German conductor/guard in Wissembourg just south of French-German border. He told us that at Wissembourg Station he once had over 50 bicycles in his Diesel two car set with a maximum capacity of 2 x 12 bicycles. It was a Wednesday, a popular day for pensioners from the Ludwigshafen-Mannheim conurbation to cross over into the wine growing areas of the Rhineland-Palatinate and Alsace to cycle or hike. (Why Wednesday? The word is that Dr.'s surgeries are closed in the afternoon and so there is little to do.😎😎) The passengers refused to take their bikes off the train. The service to Neustadt an der Weinstraße is an hourly service and they all wanted to get home for their tea in time. He instructed the driver to leave; rang the railway police in Germany; the train crossed the border; stopped at the first halt and waited until the railway police who are also border guards arrived to reduce the number of bicycles on the train to safe levels.

Bicycles, Tandems and Recumbent Trikes on Trains in Germany and Neighbouring Countries Part 1. Overnight sleeper trains

Rail services in Germany are divided into two groups: Long distance (Fernverkehr) - non subsidized provided by an operator and regional trains (Nahverkehr) - local services provided by an operator and subsidized by a regional transport authority but ultimately by the provincial government. The long distance services are there to make a profit. If these services don't pay their way they will sooner or later no longer appear in the timetables. All of these services co-operate to some extent. Deutsche Bahn (DB) long distance trains mesh together with the various regional services as if they were only one operator. Journeys involving travel on both long distance DB services and regional services can be booked on the DB website (https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml). Both long distance and regional services can have capacity to carry bicycles and even tandems and trikes.

However although the DB website shows other companies' night train operations, it is necessary in the case of Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress, BTE and Urlaubs-Express to book using the company websites shown. After a period of decline overnight trains offering sleeping accommodation are returning to the rails in Germany.

Sleeper Services  

Services at present (Summer 2020) are restricted. 

Deutsche Bahn (DB) Deutsche Bahn operates the majority of long distance passenger trains in Germany (https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml), but although the operator does run some overnight trains in Germany, it no longer offers sleeper train services. Its rolling stock was sold off to among others Austrian Railways (ÖBB). The DB daytime services will be covered in another chapter. 

Austrian Railways (ÖBB) operates long distance sleeper trains in Europe (https://www.nightjet.com/en/) under the name "nightjet". The site offers a download showing the routes taken (shorturl.at/clETU). ÖBB took over some of the DB rolling stock when DB stopped operating sleeper trains. One can travel with a bicycle, tandem or trike on the following ÖBB overnight trains. The slots need to be reserved:

• NJ 466 Vienna - Linz - Zurich 
• NJ 467 Zurich - Linz - Vienna
• NJ 490 Vienna - Linz - Hanover - Hamburg
• NJ 491 Hamburg - Hanover - Linz - Vienna
• NJ 40420 Innsbruck - Munich - Hamburg
• NJ 40491 Hamburg - Munich - Innsbruck

"For recumbents, tandems or bicycle trailers, two spaces must be booked. These can only transported  in special luggage compartments."  
(My translation of an email from ÖBB in German.) 

It's not many train pairs but it is a start. It strikes me to charge for two slots is a more sensible solution than a blanket "NO!". I suspect many train operating companies have issues with bicycles.
In addition the nightjet trains running between Hamburg and Zurich in both directions (NJ 401 and NJ 40470) will take a limited number of "normal" bicycles but nothing larger. These  slots need to be reserved.

Unfortunately this photograph (© ÖBB, reproduced with permission) does not show the luxurious accommodation for bicycles and the like, but bicycles travell in carpeted comfort under the Deutsche Bahn flag.

Interior of the bicycle storage space on a DB sleeper train

  





































Although the ÖBB Nightjet trains can be booked using the DB website, my feeling is that it is better to book using the ÖBB website. It is also advisable to book as early as possible as these trains are popular and the number of cut price tickets is capped.

Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress The private Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress runs overnight twice weekly in each direction in summer from and to Westerland, Sylt via Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich to Salzburg. (https://www.nachtexpress.de in German. Use a translator program.) The Alpen-Sylt-Night Express is made up of 10 couchette carriages (including a special carriage for people with disabilities or reduced mobility) with sufficient room for baggage. A train team  is present on board  for information and service. The list of baggage carried is long and comprehensive: 

Prams, Strollers // yes and free of charge

Wheelchair // yes and free of charge
Rollator (wheeled walking frame)// yes and free of charge
Kiteboard // yes and for a fee
Surfboard // yes and for a fee
Stand Up Paddle Boards// yes, if it is in a bag and for a fee
Foldable canoes // yes and for a fee
Sunshades / beach umbrellas of normal size // yes and for a fee
Bicycle // yes, as long as space is available and for a fee

At present only bicycles can be transported, because of problems of limited space and access through narrow doors. The operator intends to offer a bigger baggage car allowing transport of tandems from September. It still doesn't look good for trike transport, although it might be possible to transport folding trikes. If you are interested in travelling on this train write to the operator in English enclosing details of your folded trike/trikes.

Urlaubs-Express (https://urlaubs-express.de/ in English and German) is run by Trains4you a private charter train group. The car carrying trains run once a week in each direction. Bicycles and tandems can be transported at present in lockers or lashed to supports on the vehicle carriers. Trikes could be secured in the same way and carried on the vehicle carrying rolling stock. This means that bicycles etc can only be transported between the start and end of the journey. However, the company is considering putting bicycles in compartments in one or more passenger carriages which would mean that cyclists with bicycles could join and leave the train at intermediate stations. The company's trains are listed on the DB website, but one needs to book using the Urlaubs-Express website. Beware if using the DB website when travelling von Munich, for example the DB website suggests taking a DB train from Munich Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) and changing in Augsburg whereas as can be seen below the train starts in Munich East station. This year the company is running services between:

Düsseldorf - Innsbruck (- Verona) - Düsseldorf. The service to Verona has been cancelled this year, but it is planned to run it again in 2021.

Düsseldorf (Vehicle loading/unloading) – Köln (Cologne) – Koblenz – Frankfurt/M – München (Munich) – Kufstein – Wörgl – Innsbruck ((Vehicle loading/unloading) (– Bozen (Bolzano) – Verona) until 17 September 2020. Outward Journey: Friday Night/Saturday, Return Saturday Night /Sunday

Düsseldorf - Villach - Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf Hbf (Vehicle loading/unloading) - Cologne - Koblenz - Frankfurt/M - Munich East - Salzburg - Bischofshofen - Bad Gastein -  Mallnitz-Obervellach -  Villach (Vehicle loading/unloading). Outward Journey: Sunday Night/Monday, Return Journey: Monday Night/Tuesday

Hamburg - Innsbruck - (Verona) - Innsbruck - Hamburg
Hamburg-Altona (Vehicle loading/unloading) - Hamburg Hbf - Lüneburg - Hanover Hbf - Göttingen - Fulda - Munich East - Kufstein - Innsbruck Hbf (Vehicle loading/unloading). The service to Verona has been cancelled this year, but it is hoped to run it again in 2021: Bolzano/Bozen - Verona P.N. (Vehicle loading/unloading) 
Hamburg - Villach - Hamburg
Hamburg-Altona (Vehicle loading/unloading) - Hamburg Hbf - Lüneburg - Hanover Hbf - Göttingen - Fulda - Munich East - Salzburg - Bischofshofen - Bad Gastein -  Mallnitz-Obervellach -  Villach (Vehicle loading/unloading) on various dates.
Hamburg – Munich – Hamburg
Hamburg-Altona (vehicle loading/unloading) - Hamburg Hbf - Lüneburg - Hannover Hbf - Göttingen - Würzburg Hbf - Augsburg Hbf - Munich East (vehicle loading/unloading)   

 

Bahntouristikexpress BTE (https://bahntouristikexpress.de/autoreisezug-en.html in Danish, English and German) runs a car sleeper train service directly from Hamburg Altona to Lörrach on the German-Swiss border near Basel in summer most nights of the week. It is not clear whether the company will transport accompanying bicycles, tandems or trikes. We have written to the company, but have yet to receive a reply.

 

A new couchette train from Sylt and Hamburg to Munich and Salzburg

OeBB Austrian Railways have reinvigorated the overnight sleeper train train market in Europe and other operators are putting a toe in the water.

Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress The private Alpen-Sylt-Nachtexpress runs overnight twice weekly in each direction in summer from and to Westerland, Sylt via Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich to Salzburg. (https://www.nachtexpress.de in German. Use a translator app.) The Alpen-Sylt-Night Express is made up of 10 couchette carriages (including a special carriage for people with disabilities or reduced mobility) and the locomotive with sufficient room for baggage. The train team  is present on board  for information and service. I suspect the trains may well take tandems and trikes. The list of baggage carried is long and comprehensive:

Prams, Strollers // yes and free of charge
Wheelchair // yes and free of charge
Rollator (wheeled walking frame)// yes and free of charge
Kiteboard // yes and for a fee
Surfboard // yes and for a fee
Stand Up Paddle Boards// yes, if it is in a bag and for a fee
Foldable canoes // yes and for a fee
Sunshades / beach umbrellas of normal size // yes and for a fee
Bicycle // yes, as long as space is available and for a fee

Just to make sure I will drop the operator a line to enquire and report back. 

A word we need in English

We bought two recumbent trikes recently. I now realise there is no word in English to describe a human-powered vehicle. We do talk about "bikes" but this is inexact. A bicycle by definition is a two wheeled vehicle. "Bike" is an informal way of saying "bicycle". Other European languages have words for human-powered vehicles. The French use "vélo"; the Dutch and people in the Rhineland use "fiets"; the Swiss Germans use "Velo", probably to show they are not Germans and the Danes use "cykel". Quite why there is no general english word is hard to decide. The Brits did invent the modern diamond framed bicycle, but it wasn't only bicycles. There were three and four wheeled human-powered vehicles being built in the 1880's.

Reserving tandem and recumbent trike slots on trains in Europe.

I have spent some time recently investigating accompanied recumbent trike transport by train in Germany. Deutsche Bahn (DB) the main long-distance train operator in Germany does not carry these vehicles on their long-distance trains (Fernverkehr). It is possible though I suspect difficult to transport these on some regional and local trains ((Nahverkehr), but reservations are not possible. If one is unlucky and the train is full, that's it you wait for the next one, or the next but one, or…

I contacted all of the companies running long-distance trains in Germany and was overjoyed to receive a positive answer from ÖBB Austrian Railways. The company runs Nightjet sleeper and couchette trains across Europe. One can travel with tandem or trike on the following trains:

• NJ 466 Vienna - Linz - Zurich 
• NJ 467 Zurich - Linz - Vienna
• NJ 490 Vienna - Linz - Hanover - Hamburg
• NJ 491 Hamburg - Hanover - Linz - Vienna
• NJ 40420 Innsbruck - Munich - Hamburg
• NJ 40491 Hamburg - Munich - Innsbruck

"For recumbents, tandems or bicycle trailers, two spaces must be booked. These can only transported  in special luggage compartments." 
(My translation of an email from ÖBB in German.) 

It's not many train pairs but it is a start. It strikes me to charge for two slots is a more sensible solution than a blanket "NO!". I suspect many train operating companies have issues with bicycles.

In Germany Car Parking Slots are for Cars only

I was amused yesterday to read in the Südhessen Morgen, our local daily paper, that the body representing owners of rented properties in Germany had issued a statement stating that if one rents a property with a designated marked car slot, this slot should only be used to park a motor car that is roadworthy and licenced. I take it that the slots mentioned are in covered parking areas which are often found adjacent to apartment blocks. It should not be used to store bicycles or drink crates. This would  break the terms of the rental contract. Quite what one does if does not own a motor vehicle, but does own the (n+1) ideal number of bicycles has not been explained. Presumably one fills the bicycle room in the cellar. 

One cannot also use a car parking slot in a  city centre to house one or more bicycles even if one feeds the parking meter. These slots too are for cars alone. You may however stand your bike parallel to the direction of traffic on the road adjacent to the pavement in a manner similar to motor cars, as long as it is not verboten under the road traffic regulations. I doubt however whether this is to be recommended as car parking and space on the road is a major source of irritation in Germany. You are likely at best on your return to find your steed has been picked up and thrown in a hedge or down an alleyway.

Third Party Liability Insurance when Touring by Bicycle in Germany

Now that the lockdown in the UK is being loosened, holidays abroad have become feasible. Germany is an excellent place to cycle with 1000s of kilometre cycle routes, reasonably priced accommodation and dining. Something to bear in mind while planning a German tour is that the majority of Germans have taken out a Haftpflichtversicherung - a third party liability insurance that covers claims against the holder for damage to person or property and the legal costs arising. An accident to third parties can be eye-wateringly expensive in Germany. It's an excellent wheeze to have a third party liability insurance yourself. If you don't and you damage somebody else's property or person in Germany, the injured party's insurance will be talking to my learned friend quicker than you can say knife. We have a liability insurance policy from our (German) bank. 

This type of insurance does not seem to be usual as such in the UK, but cover is often provided under other insurance policies, for example, travel insurance policies may cover you for accidents that may happen while you are abroad, but it's better to check before you leave home. Members of Cycling UK have third party insurance that will guard against claims made by others for any accidental damage or injury caused by you or your bike. With third party liability insurance, you are covered for any claims made against you for damage or injury. Cycling UK members are automatically covered up to £10 million by this policy. Electric pedal bikes are also included.

E-bike battery transport by air

It may well be some time before long distance travel by air becomes affordable again. When that day arrives, there will still be a problem with battery transport for accompanied e-bikes or e-trikes. E-bike/trike batteries count as dangerous goods for transport by air. It is impossible for normal souls to forward their bike or trike batteries in passenger aircraft. This means if you wish to cycle on faraway foreign shores, you will have to leave the comfort of electrical support against headwinds or hills on your own bicycle or tricycle behind. If you usually ride a bicycle it is easy to hire e-bikes in Europe, but e-trikes? It's difficult to hire a trike in Europe let alone an e-trike. Maybe one can hire batteries, but this too seems very difficult. One cure for the problem of transport by air is to pack the battery in a B&W Outdoor Case Model 6040 and send it by courier, for example DHL or FedEx to an address at your destination. These cases are certified for transport by land, sea and air. (www.b-w-international.com)  The website has lists of dealers worldwide.

The usual disclaimer. I have not used this case. I have just read a description and corresponded with B&W International.  The company has not paid me in any shape or form to publish this note.

Breakdown services for cyclists

Motorists often join motor clubs to ensure breakdown assistance or they take out breakdown insurance. Only recently did I find out that similar insurance policies are available for cyclists. It’s a good idea. A moments daydreaming and a pothole can lead to a bent or broken frame or wheel. When commuting this is probably not a serious problem as you can lug your bike to the next bike shop and have it repaired but if you are half way up an Alp and you need to be at the airport at six o’clock the next morning it is a completely different kettle of fish. If you are considering a European tour when the present excitement dies down it’s definitely worth buying one of these policies.

In general the insurance companies offer the following services, but as ever it pays to read the small print of the policy:

• A hotline emergency number open 24/7.
• In the event of a bicycle failure: onward and return journey service, rental bicycle service, breakdown and accident assistance, salvage, removal, bicycle transport service, bicycle storage, bicycle customs clearance and scrapping (abroad) and help with bicycle repair.
• In the event of illness or accident: overnight service, visit to the sick, return of children, bicycle return transport, patient return transport
• In the event of an unforeseen interruption of travel abroad: return travel service, help in the event of bankruptcy of the tour operator
• In case of emergencies: Immediate help in the event of loss of means of payment, document service, workshop service, key service

The following clubs and a company offer breakdown insurance. This list is probably not comprehensive.

Country - organisation	Breakdown Service	Cost	Comment
UK - Environmental Transport Association https://www.eta.co.uk/	Cycle Rescue Cover	£24 annually	Europe wide
Germany - Allgeminer Deutscher Fahrrad Club (ADFC) https://www.adfc.de (in German)	ADFC-Pannenhilfe	Free to members	Limited to Germany.
Germany - Allgeminer Deutscher Fahrrad Club (ADFC) https://www.adfc.de (in German)	ADFC Pannenhilfe PLUS	11.90€ for a single person annually 19.90€  for each member of family annually. Only members can join the scheme.	Europe wide
Germany - Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) https://www.vcd.org/startseite/ (in German)	Plus Fahrrad-Schutzbrief	9€ annually for members.	Europe wide
Germany - ROLAND Schutzbrief-Versicherung-AG 50664 Köln https://www.roland-schutzbrief.de/privatkunden_1/fahrrad_schutzbrief/fahrradschutzbrief.html (in German)	Fahrrad-Schutzbrief	19.90€ for a single person annually 29.90€  for each member of family annually. Open to all.	Europe wide. It is the same policy as the one offeredby the VCD
Luxembourg - Automobile Club Luxembourg https://www.acl.lu/en-us/assistance-avantages/assistances-membres/nos-assistances-assurances/nos-assistances/acl-bike-assistance	Bike Assistance	25€ annually	Assistance within the Duchy of Luxembourg up to a distance of 50km outside the border

Why don't cyclists stick together?

In the past we spent a fair amount of time cycling around the Alps. We noticed that if a motorcyclist sees a fellow candidate for the emergency room on a motor bike on a quiet road up high in the Alps, she or they give the other a cheery wave, without checking whether the other is riding an inferior motorbike or a moped. If cyclists meet the first thing many of them will do is to check what kind of bike the other/s are riding. There appears to be a division into:

• road bikes,
  
• touring bikes,
  
• MTBs,
  
• commuters including folding bikes and e-bikes
• day trippers
  

Cyclists then basically greet people on the same type of bike. We in the past have had enjoyed seeing the looks on the faces of road men as we panted our way over the odd Swiss Pass on our Brompton folding bikes. There was no sign of recognition that we were fellow cyclists. This kind of snobbishness is typical for cyclists. Fine, the last thing you need on a busy city street in Amsterdam, Cambridge, Copenhagen or London is a greeting, but on a lonely road it is a friendly act.

There may well be an inverse snobbery as well. If I understood the history of the Kalmit Klappradklub in Maikammer, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany correctly, this came into being  when various local citizens were choked off by the basically wealthier ones among them boasting about their 27 and more geared super lightweight carbon fibre titanium mountain bikes. They planned and organised a race up the road to Kalmit the highest peak in the Palatinate Forest from Maikammer, Rhineland Palatinate on Klappräder the cheap single geared mass produced bicycle with 20" wheels. The race up Kalmit is an annual event where variously costumed riders set off up the 400m climb over 6km to the summit. It's great fun and I can recommend a visit on the first weekend in September. There are some keeny beanies who make it up the hill in respectable times, but the costumed majority take their time. A whole sport has now developed racing single gear Klappräder on various circuits.

Then there are at least three topics that divide cyclists:

• Helmet wearing. Some of our fellow cyclists count the number of photographs showing helmet wearing or bare headed cyclists in club magazines and complain about propaganda for or against helmet wearing. Personally if I want to wear a helmet fine! If I don't, it is to quote the Germans "my beer", my decision. However I suspect if you want to found a new cycling club section then put forward a motion at a British cycling club's AGM that in future helmets must be worn on club runs. This only applies to the UK and Australia. In the USA helmets are worn without question. Odd actually, in the time of Covid-19 many groups in the USA feel that wearing face masks is somehow unmanly but every American cyclist I know wears a helmet when cycling without question. I suspect one is more likely to pick up a Corona virus when unmasked in a group than suffering serious head injuries when cycling helmetless.
  
• Trailers It would appear that some of the cycling community feel that towing a trailer is letting the side down. I don't know why. I have yet to come across it.
  
• E-bicycles. According to some of our cycling brethren if you ride a pedelec you are a traitor to the cause of zero energy transport along the lines of "e-bikers are not real cyclists!". This does conveniently overlook the energy needed to produce bicycles from ores or scrap metal. Then there is the suspicion that e-bikers are actually riding mopeds and are not exerting themselves sufficiently, or should that be suffering enough. We have joined the group of assisted cyclists. In my case after major heart surgery I suspect it would not be good for me to slog my way up hills. However normally we cycle on minimal assistance and I do not notice any difference when I turn the motor on at the lowest setting. When we hit a steep bit I push up the power.

Obviously although mud spattered mountain bikers with or without e-power, road racing types on a club run, commuters, families with children on cargo bikes, tourists, etc. etc. have different interests and aims, most of us are interested in safe cycling, adequate facilities, clean air and good investment by governments in cycling. If we speak with a joint voice we might have chance of being heard over the motor lobby and can convince politicians in spite of their longing to be photographed in hiviz waistcoats and a hard hat next to an incredibly expensive highway moving a traffic jam a few kilometres from one side of a town to the other.

You can still visit SPEZI online

Although the organisers of SPEZI the Special Bike Show in Germersheim suggested that their online presentation - a partial replacement for the show - would shut down at the end of May. This has yet to happen. If it does happen as promised you can still check the catalogue of the show at www.specialbikesshow.com and link to the exhibitors' websites.

Using a bike pannier as a shopping trolley: the B&W International B3 Bike Bag.

Normal pannier bags are great on a bike or trike, but they do have one major disadvantage.  Once they leave the bike you will need to carry up to two panniers using a thin strap that cuts off the circulation in your fingers. Cyclists' rooms in the five star hotel de luxe or youth hostel are always a long way away from the entrance up two or three flights of stairs in another time zone and by the time you get to the room you have numb hands and claw-like fingers. I realise that one can attach a carrying strap and sling them over the shoulder, but the panniers get mucky and wet. Carrying them then can lead to domestic strife. We once went by bicycle to the Mannheimer Maimarkt (a regional Ideal Home/travel/DIY/agricultural show). I carried a pannier bag over my shoulder in the halls to transport  pamphlets and anything else we could scrounge. When we returned to the bikes I realised that the inner, wheel-side of the bag was very dirty. The panniers were used several times a week and had picked up greasy road dirt. This had transferred to my shirt. I was not a happy camper. I was not popular with her indoors either. 
I am impressed with the B&W International B3 Bag. This is a pannier bag equipped with two wheels and a telescopic handle. It would solve the hotel/hostel baggage problem when touring. We would probably use it primarily as a shopping trolley. It can be filled in the supermarket and then attached directly to the bike/trike.  It weighs about 4lb for a closed volume of 35L. This is about 1lb heavier than two Ortlieb Backroller Bags (40L volume). However this extra weight will not make much difference to the total weight of you, your bike/trike and the contents of the bag.

A disclaimer I have not used this bag. I have just read a description and looked at specifications.  The company has not paid me in any shape or form to publish this note. The photographs are reproduced by permission of B&W International.

Pop up Cycle Tracks

It has been suggested that air pollution is a multiplier for Covid-19 (1) . The internal combustion engine is a major contributor to air pollution in built up areas. Now obviously at the moment mass public transport is not a favoured method of getting about, so the British government has suggested private cars, cycles and feet as a means of getting to work in the present instructions for a loosened lockdown. Cycling and walking have the advantage that participants take exercise and improve their health. There are thus a number of initiatives to improve cycling safety and allow social distancing by widening  cycling and walking lanes in cities all the world using pop-up  lanes: Berlin and 133 cities in Germany, Milan, Oakland CA, Paris and Bogotá, just as examples (2).  These will be open at least for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. This could obviously go for some time. Epidemologists have suggested up to two years, but predictions are very difficult, especially about the future. Maybe we will have a world where cycling numbers resemble those of Copenhagen after the pandemic is over, but don't hold your breath.  The forces against cycling are many and powerful. In 2016 in London the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association attempted to block the construction of the Embankment cycleway on planning grounds (3). The opposition to cycleways in Berlin is described in (4).

1) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/20/air-pollution-may-be-key-contributor-to-covid-19-deaths-study
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emanuelabarbiroglio/2020/03/20/people-living-in-polluted-cities-are-at-higher-risk-from-covid-19/#7f3fe04c4b99
2)https://www.rtl.de/cms/pop-up-spuren-fuer-radfahrer-in-berlin-weniger-platz-fuer-autofahrer-4537989.html - use a Translator App
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/covid-19-parisians-turn-to-cycling-as-end-of-lockdown-nears/ar-BB13NYeL
3) https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/10/london-taxi-drivers-lose-high-court-challenge-to-cycle-superhighway
4) https://www.tip-berlin.de/bike-friendly-city-the-reality-of-cycling-in-berlin/ 

The digital SPEZI Germersheim 2020 on your PC

We were very disappointed that the real actual SPEZI has been cancelled. We have been going since before 2005. I was looking forward to talking to HP Velotechnik and having serious discussions about the Gekko trikes we have bought recently. I am not alone in missing SPEZI. We took the trikes for a run over the border in Baden-Württemberg on Sunday afternoon and a passing Hase Pino captain shouted, "We'd rather be at SPEZI." He left with a traditional Mannheim cyclists' farewell, "Next year in Germersheim!"

A popular event even ten years ago

 

Social distancing was never going to be easy

Serious discussions

There's a digital SPEZI exhibition with a link from https://www.specialbikesshow.com/welcome-to-the-spezi.html under a big green button until the end of May. When you click on this you are transferred to the German website: https://virtual.spezialradmesse.de/virtual-spezi-2020.html#top.  If your German is not up to much it's a bit awkward, but… The first thing you will notice is a overhead photograph of the bus station in Germersheim which is used as a trike/bike demonstration arena during SPEZI. The German instructions tell you to "NACH UNTEN SCROLLEN", i.e. Scroll down. Do that! You can watch a short film of the Hase-Bike team singing "Happy Birthday" to SPEZI. This was to be the 25th SPEZI. I don't suppose the video will make the charts, but it sums up the friendliness and informality of the event. At the bottom of the page there is a blue banner with a number of boxes. Clicking on these leads to the "AUSSTELLERN" - the exhibitors, the "VORTRAGEN" - the lectures, the FANSHOP and a galler of photgraphs from the first ten years of the exhibition. Click on AUSSTELLERN to find a page showing the exhibition hall with box entitled "NACH UNTEN SCROLLEN". Do that and scroll down the page to see a list of all of the exhibitors who were taking part, at least up to the date when SPEZI was cancelled. Some of the exhibitors have contributions in English. They are well worth looking at. Each exhibitor has a box with name upon it and if you click on these they turn blue. The box then displays a lower box entitled "MEHR". Click on this and you are transferred to the exhibitor's contribution. (Much of this information is actually published in the lower part of the english language page.)

AUSSTELLERN (Exhibitors) with english language videos

AZUB has an image film showing a AZUB Ti FLY X full suspension trike with all 26" wheels racing round a forest. This has no commentary. For me it looks like an interesting trike to scare oneself half to death. I must admit AZUB would be on my list of folk to contact if I came up on the lottery. Course, I would need to buy a lottery ticket first and I suspect I'm too mean.

Bernds  the German folding bike company shows a film about cycling around the Bodensee (Lake Constance) which perfectly understandable without German and very jolly to boot.

HP Velotechnik has a film by the Laidback Bike Report discussing the new range of Gekko trikes.

ICE (ICLETTA) distributors of ICE trikes, TerraCycle recumbent accessories has a gallery of ICE trikes underway. The company sells lots of weird trike gear and clothing for trikes that is probably the answer to many of those problems that seem unsolvable.

Podbike has a short film about this unusual velocar, narrated by the owner of the company. 

RadicalDesign is showing a film about a Brompton folding bike carrier bag that you can use as a rucksack to schlepp the bike. The rucksack can be folded and used as a daypack when it's not carrying the bike. The film also shows covers for velomobiles, special covers for use on cargo bikes and a tadpole trike garage.

Santana's film shows how to disassemble a Santana tandem to pack into the company's flight case.

Utopia a manufacturer of ergonomically designed bicycles, pedelecs and recumbent bikes, cross frames, trailer, and accessories has a film in English about the company showing how the bikes are manufactured. It looks at the beginning like it might be in Spanish. It is in English with Spanish subtitles.

Velo:RE has a film about making belts from cast off bike tyres.

Ventisit makes padded seats for recumbent seats and also lots of other non-cycle seats. Once I have uploaded this blog I am going to write to the company and buy a new seat for my Gekko.

VORTRÄGE (Lectures)

There are two lectures in English. „Cycling without age“ is about an organisation that takes older folks out on Rickshaws. The other is a lecture about the Sun Trip 2018 –  12.000 km through 10  countries in 100 days using muscle power and Solarenergy. Initially it's a film of a lecture but they then show a film about their trip. Great stuff. These characters are to be admired. They built a back to back tandem trike where the captain steers and pedals and the stoker uses a rowing rig. We, my wife and I, had a reputation for mild eccentricity in the company I worked for, because once we cycled over the Alps to Lago Maggiore. In comparison to these two we were just making an adventure out of going the baker's round the corner. 

The FANSHOP
The shop shows a number of souvenir articles. You can browse through these and if you want a description in English, then cut out the descriptions and paste them in Google Translator. If you want to buy something and I must admit, the Swiss cowbell strikes me as a good solution to the problem of cycling on mixed cycling/walkers' paths. The walkers will notice you are there. However the pries shown include postage and packing within Germany, but not abroad, Drop the organizers a line in simple English and tell them what you want. They will then inform you of the increased costs for postage abroad.

 

A digital SPEZI online

Next weekend 25-26 April should see the SPEZI Special Bike Show in Germersheim, Rhineland Palatinate open its doors, but like the rest of Europe, Germany is in lockdown due to the Corona virus and large gatherings of people are verboten. It was hoped to hold this year's show in August, but this is not possible. The organisers are offering a virus-free exhibition online as a website with information from the exhibitors and filmed lectures. The lectures will only be shown online on 25 and 26 April, but the „exhibition“ will be online until 31 May.

The website is offered in three versions: German (spezialradmesse.de/), English (www.specialbikesshow.com/) and French (www.salonduvelospecial.com/). There is a slight difference between the websites in that the pre-publication information about the German site mentions ein Shop, but there is no information about a shop or a boutique on the English and French language versions. (Just to explain modern high German uses a lot of English words even when there is  an adequate German word.) I suspect the organisers are offering souvenir mugs, pencils, cloth shopping bags and the like. In addition however there is mention of a new Liegerad-Trikot (recumbent cycling shirt with a front pocket). I have written to the organisers about the nonappearance of the shop on the English and French websites. The problem arises because of the difference in shipping costs. The shirts can be sent abroad but not at the price shown in the website. The shipping costs will be higher, but if you wish to purchase a shirt you may do so. The organisers will write to you to enquire if you are prepared to pay slightly more for shipping. You may as well need to pay customs duties if the shirt is sent to a country outside of the EU.