Life is unfair?

It is fairly obvious that life is not always fair, particularly to us cyclists. We went to the southern Pfalz yesterday and drove from Landau to Bad Bergzabern. The road is hilly and climbs over a series of crests with a short climb up to each one. There is a cycleway running alongside the road. Now, whereas the road runs through a cutting at the top of each crest, the cycleway is along the rim of the cutting meaning that the poor cyclist has to do more work than the other powered road users. It could be said that it is better for us on human-powered vehicles to work harder: We will be fitter. That the cars need to climb less is good as well: They give out less carbon dioxide, but it still seems unfair as you pant over the brow of the hill.

The Argonne Forest

Last Saturday but one we had a day off from our labours and joined a tour to some First World War battlefields in Northern France. An American acquaintance of ours, Deputy Director of the local US High School, is an amateur military historian and in fact his grandfather served there, on a gun battery commanded by Harry Truman. The area we visited was close to where we had cycled in the Moselle valley previously so we knew there were many remnants of the war, but we knew nothing of this particular offensive where the French were relieved by fresh US troops under the command of General Pershing, in an area NW of Verdun. We set off by bus when it was still dark, after getting up at 4.30 am. It was a bus trip for the educationalists in Mannheim and Heidelberg. The whole trip was planned like a military operation and once on the bus we were immersed in briefings about the war's origins, videos and with handouts. It was all very interesting and our friend knows so much about the various battles and heroic incidents, people involved etc which made it all the more real. Most of the route was on motorway and at a service station close to the battlefield, there was a great white marble monument to those who fought, on both sides. Underneath were two inscriptions - one giving the names of the first two men killed in 1914 on this battlefield - one French and one German - obviously young men and then another, more recent about the deaths of the last Frenchman and the last German to have fought there. Both died in 2008, one aged 110 and one aged 108! Quite amazing.
We then left the motorway and continued on tiny roads in our giant pink bus, up and down dale mostly in heavy, pouring rain. We couldn't see much of the surrounding countryside but still no one complained as we clambered up muddy paths and inspected immense holes where mines had exploded close to the opposing trenches, then moved on the examine other memorials and places where individual actions had taken place. Of course the whole thing is very sad, especially since we know that only a few years later the whole mess happened again and still politicians are sending young people off to wars. Fortunately we then had a break for a meal in a tiny French village where by a miracle they were able to accommodate and feed a party of 40, on roast chicken and salad with a glass of wine and an ice dessert. We didn't know most of the other folks, American teachers and ancillary staff at the American schools nearby, but they made us feel welcome.
Whilst we were inside the rain stopped and the sun even came out for a while before we managed to get out of the bus again for our longest walk in Châtel Chéhéry a tiny village. Here Sgt York managed to thwart a German ambush, killing a number of soldiers and then taking 132 Germans prisoner without further losses. Our leader had become fascinated by this story and had visited the area frequently to try to pinpoint exactly where the events occurred - this was very close to Armistice Day 1918 so it is almost 100 years ago now. We stood under our umbrellas in rain so heavy it was almost like the machine gun fire he was telling us about - most of us really not bothered about whether the action had happened here or half a mile up the road, but we drank a toast in brandy to all the brave men on both sides, drawn by chance into these battles, that came to an end literally just a few days later. Then it was back to the bus, in the warm and dry again and eventually home again by 10.45 pm. Though we cannot say that the visit was enjoyable, in the sense that the events were a pleasure we nonetheless do think it important to remember what happened and the people involved… lest we forget.
We ate lunch in the Le Grand Monarque Restaurant in Varenne en Argonne. There is now a move by the local authorities to encourage cycling and the area with its minor roads and historical connections is a good place to cycle. However if you are tempted to visit the Meuse area of Lorraine (www.tourisme-meuse.com) do not pick up any shells or munitions in the woods. There is still a lot around. Some of it is still live and some of it contains Mustard Gas, used by both sides in 1918. If all goes well I think we will return to the area.

Radreisemarkt (Cycle Touring Fair) Frankfurt IV

The Liebliches Taubertal (Gentle Tauber Valley) team were represented as it has been since the cycle touring fair started. We cannot remember an event without them anyway. What I like about these characters is their ability to find new cycle routes to connect the routes in their area with those in the areas round about. The first route was the 100km Klassiker the classic Tauber Valley Route, which connects Wertheim on the Main with Tothenburg ob der Tauber through Tauberbischofsheim, Lauda, Bad Mergentheim, Weikersheim, Creglingen and Rottingen. This was followed by the Sportive, the sporty Tauber Valley Route. This is a somewhat hillier variation that forms a loop around the Tauber valley and combined with the classic route makes up a trip of about 260km. The classic route has been upgraded or extended by the addition of a number of loops entitled die Erlebnistouren, which can be loosely translated as the Adventure Tours. The links to the south and the Jagst valley were next exploited in the Hohenloher Residenzweg (Hohenlohe Stately House Route) which visits a number of relatively unknown but quite interesting noble piles. The next was the Main-Tauber-Fränkisher Radachter (537 km) which follows part of the Tauber route before climbing over into the Main valley to follow the river downstream through Würzburg to Freudenberg and then returns to the Tauber via the Odenwald. This is a serious route. The latest routes are food and drink orientated: The Wein-Route in the Main and Tauber Valleys and the Grünkern-Route. Grünkern is dried unripe Dinkel (spelt) grain which was used initially after a wet summer in 1660 prevented full ripening of the grain and the unripe grain was dried in an attempt to make it edible. It was not much use as grain for bread, but added to soups it helped stave off hunger. It is now used in soups and in fritters and eaten as a delicacy in its own right. The hilly route runs through pleasant countryside through a number of interesting little villages.
Our "Romantic Road from Würzburg to Füssen" describes the Tauber Valley between Tauberbischofsheim and Rothenburg odT and can be obtained from us (www.bergstrassebikebooks.com) and the Romantic Road Tourist Authority (www.romantischestrasse.de).

Radreisemarkt (Cycle Touring Fair) Frankfurt III

Saarland is one of Germany's smallest provinces, on the eastern border to France and Luxembourg, but it offers over 700 km of signposted cycleway. The province was represented at the Frankfurt fair and we were most impressed by the progress made over the last few years. We enquired about the Saarlorlux Route a circular route running through Saarland, Lorraine and Luxembourg, which is one those routes we look at from time to time and think it would be fun to do. It still is as long as one is prepared to navigate without specific signposting in Lorraine. There must be something about France that makes it difficult to organise signposting. The signposting is already in place in Saarland and Luxembourg. It was hoped as well to offer cycling holidays with pre-booked accommodation with baggage transfer. This too is proving difficult in France. However Saarland and Luxemburg have a network of cycleways crisscrossing the province and the Grand Duchy. One can book cycling holidays there. Contact the Saarland Tourist Office by eMail at info (at) tz-s.de or the Luxembourg Tourist Office (eMail: info (at) visitluxembourg.lu.

Radreisemarkt (Cycle Touring Fair) Frankfurt II

We met Monique Goldschmit again at the fair. She runs an interesting company in Luxembourg called Velosophie. The company offers a range of maps, books, bags, bells, safety accessories, and cyclist's greeting and postcards. In addition Monique leads and plans reasonably priced luxury cycle tours in Luxembourg with a leader, luggage transfer, and a wine tasting. She also teaches cycling to adults in Luxembourg. If you ever fancied cycling in this fascinating albeit small country, then check out the Velosophie website, which is in German and French, but an eMail in English to velosophie(at)pt.lu will bring a reply in English. (Replace the "(at)" by the more conventional symbol.)

Radreisemarkt (Cycle Touring Fair) Frankfurt I

Every year about this time the Frankfurt branch of the ADFC the German cycling club organises its Radreisemesse. If you live in or near Frankfurt it is worth popping along and paying 2 Euros to visit the stands set by various largely German tourist offices, the ADFC itself, bike shops and tour companies. We will report over the next few days or weeks about what we saw and what we think is interesting.
If you want to hire a bike, a pedelec, a trike or even a tandem in Frankfurt am Main then take a look at Mosch.spezialradreisen if you can read German or drop an eMail to post(at)spezialradreisen.de. This company organises cycle tours all over the world, but when the bikes are not needed for tours you can hire bikes from it. They seemed like a pleasant bunch of folks and their trikes: HP are top drawer machines.

Rubbish picking up day

Every year the town of Viernheim invites concerned citizens, clubs, political parties and the youth organisations to help clean up the mess that others throw out into the woods and verges around Viernheim. We took part this year as we have for several years. The litter lout looms large around Viernheim, in spite of bottle banks galore, free collection of packaging and a rubbish collection service that will accept almost anything - fridges, washing machines, car tyres, for example, for a small charge. We cleared a kilometre or so on the edge of the town which appears to be a favourite spot for Schnapps drinkers, who then throw the mini bottle out the car window, and fast food gourmets who don't want to have the remains of their repas stinking out their love nest on wheels. This is understandable, although from a road safety viewpoint somewhat worrying, that the early morning commuters have a quick double on the way to work, but why did someone throw away a valid Austrian motorway sticker; why did someone walk into the woods with a lorry battery when the town will take these for free? Did the number plate we found come from a stolen car? Still Viernheim looks all the better for its Spring clean and will stay looking well at least until the end of the week.

Germany’s Romantic Road celebrates 60th Birthday!

Recently the Guardian newspaper had a series of suggestions, for car drivers or motor cyclists, in its travel pages about Road Trips a la Route 66 and similar. They were a little sniffy about Germany’s Romantic Road which runs from Würzburg to Füssen. The newspaper suggested an Alpine variation, clearly offering more exciting landscapes, but we are doubtful that one can find more history per kilometre anywhere else in the world. We are surprised that our favourite newspaper treated the route with such disdain. Within its 420 km visitors can find amongst other treasures including: the Residenz in Würzburg, described by Napoleon as the finest vicarage in the world; Weikersheim whose chateau is a time machine back into the 18th century; Rothenburg ob der Tauber known the world over for its half-timbered mediaeval town centre; lesser known but equally charming are Dinkelsbühl, Feuchtwangen and Nördlingen (the latter lies in the middle of a meteor impact crater); Augsburg has connections with the Fugger family, the trading giants of their day, Mozart and Brecht; the Pfaffenwinkel area has magnificent views of the Alps and Füssen offers Ludwig’s fairy tale castle. We suspect the problem is that one needs to get off the motor bike or out of the car to appreciate the glories of this road.
Shortly afterwards the Tourist Authority for the Romantic Road sent us an invitation to join in the festivities to celebrate the 60th Jubilee of the founding of this route linking a whole series of fascinating towns. Throughout the year virtually all the towns along the route and the cities of Würzburg and Augsburg are holding special activities from wine festivals and concerts, sports events and open days to link together tourism, visitors and thousands of local people. On 8 May 2010 the programme will officially kick off in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, one of the best known of the small towns. Representatives from all 28 towns along the ‘road’ will converge on the Marktplatz, dressed in appropriate attire from 60 years ago to welcome guests and old friends. Period vehicles, cars, buses, bicycles and motorbikes dating back to the start of real tourism in the region will also be on display. The organisers hope that as many people as possible will raid grandfather’s, granny's and great aunt's wardrobes to find forgotten clothing from 60 years ago.
Music fans and anyone enjoying singing should try to head to Feuchtwangen on Sunday 4 July where there will be an open air concert in the Marktplatz. This will be directed and conducted by none other than Gotthilf Fischer, the German equivalent of the conductor of the Last Night of the Proms or the guy who used to lead the community singing before the Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. Any choir can join in - just contact the Tourist Authority beforehand.
The final major event, which we are likely to attend, will be in the fascinating little town of Bad Mergentheim on Sunday 10 October - billed as a celebration of the culinary delights to be encountered along the Romantic Road - our contact suggests it will be a gigantic excuse to eat and drink, probably to excess, but who cares as long as your hotel bed is booked and your bike parked safely until next day? With excellent vineyards in the Tauber Valley and around Würzburg and beer making in all local flavours and strengths further south many may wish to extend their stay. Food will certainly include many local dishes and extend well beyond sausages and sauerkraut while the Farmers Wives Association is publishing a cookbook. This could be your chance to learn German while preparing your lunch.
Write to: Romantische Straße Touristik-Arbeitsgemeinschaft GbR
Segringer Str.19
91550 Dinkelsbühl
Germany
0r: info@romantischestrasse.de
The Romantic Road Tourist Authority website: http://www.romantischestrasse.de/?lang=uk

Our book ‘The Romantic Road from Würzburg to Füssen’ has information about the history, landscape and descriptions of all the towns as well as about cycling. See:www.bergstrassebikebooks.com

Doored!

Obviously when one mixes in with traffic cycling round the town, it is prudent to keep one's eye open for the motorist who, without looking, opens their door as you cycle up on the left side of the car allowing you to collide gracefully with it. The cure to this problem is to give yourself plenty of room, keep your eyes open and be ready to scream "TÜR!" if you see the slit by the door opening. This problem is complicated in Germany by cycleways that have park slots to their right. If the cycleways are wide enough, it is no real problem, but there is a variation that complicates matters. For some reason unknown a lot of German parents prefer to mount a child seat directly behind the driver meaning that mother, father and the child all need to get into and out of the car on the left, on the traffic side. The parent concerned is then occupied getting the child's rucksack, teddy bear or plate of Saumagen and sauerkraut off the back seat. Little Hans-Dieter can then wander off into your path or even in to the track of the juggernauts roaring past your left side. Why this is done we can never understand. Why not mount the child's seat on the right hand side of car, on the side that is usually traffic free? It is a mystery to us both.

Weathering summer storms III - Kiel Canal: July

We are in process of cleaning up the Bergstrasse Bike Books hard disk and realised that we had written this blog but not uploaded it, so better late than never:
After trying the Eifel and Lake Constance our next foray was north to Schleswig-Holstein and the canal linking the North and Baltic seas. Our travel arrangements were fairly complicated involving carrying folding bikes on trains where all the normal bike reservations were booked on a Sunday when half Germany was travelling to view Iron Man competitions here and a Music and Fun event there. We were a bit frazzled by the time we reached Glückstadt YH on a lovely late afternoon, the sun sparkling on the little harbour, its ships and fine houses. Our companions had an even more exciting, though shorter journey, from Kassel using a Schönes-Wochenende-Karte, with luggage and full size bikes. These tickets enable up to 5 people to travel together on local trains, the snag being that bike space can be limited, connection time somewhat tight and the rest of Germany is travelling this way. However, after meeting by chance around the harbour saving the need to try phone contact, and exchanging a couple of years life and cycling stories over dinner, plus knocking back a few glasses of grape juice at their ‘out of town’ billet with a view of the sunset, journey stress disappeared.
Day 2
What had happened to the sun after it set yesterday? We met along the dyke north of Glückstadt (on the Elbe Estuary, downstream of Hamburg) in light rain or heavy drizzle, our views limited to the occasional sheep with a misty backdrop. However we were cycling together again and there were occasional glimpses of light towers and even blurred floating apartment blocks, ships heading out into the North Sea or towards the Kiel Canal. As the morning progressed the skies brightened, by Brunsbüttel the sun came out, and we stripped down to T-shirts. The locks separate the Canal from the N. Sea and we spent time on the observation platforms and the little museum. We stocked up on sandwiches for lunch (Camembert cheese with cranberry sauce, umm… delicious) and found the NOK cycle route signs out of town, roughly northeastwards. NOK? The Germans call the canal the Nord-Ostsee Kanal. Gravel surface, a bit muddy here and there but quiet apart from bird song and cries to look out for a picnic bench stop.
Following the gourmet sandwich stop we swung right and saw our first major ship gliding between the reeds even before we reached the actual towpath. Neil and I come from near Manchester, UK, so we’re a bit blase about Ship Canals but the Kiel Canal in its present form is definitely in another league to say nothing of the vessels themselves, mostly spanking new and mind-bogglingly expensive. No wonder that the investment in moving 80 million m3 of earth materials, splitting settlements and maintaining numerous ferry services has paid off, at least up to now. The economic slowdown has caused a reduction in traffic but we were kept happily entertained by the vessels, big and small that we saw. Though the weather prospects faded as the day wore on, we explored several of the loops away from the canal. Out to Neuendorf where drainage over hundreds of year has so reduced the volume of the soils that the current land surface lies 3.5 m below sea level, making it the lowest point in Germany. Then we cycled back to the free ferry at Burg our destination, over the marsh and up a steep hill into the town centre. The tourist office had closed for the day, but a phone call from the bookshop where the ‘nerve centre’ is located soon resulted in Burg’s tourist officer returning to meet us. She quickly located an interesting overnight stop for us in an old school, being converted into B&Bs/apartments. Though not quite finished, all the important bits like toilets, beds and showers were in place. We walked out of town to eat at a pleasant ‘roadhouse’ sort of pub and all found something tasty to eat.
Day 3
Next morning our friend M’s research into Burg’s bakeries the evening before resulted in the most fantastic breakfast, choice of beverages, and brötchen, ham, cheese, croissants, jam or honey (about 6 €each). We staggered out of the cafe, thankful to start the day with a quick downhill ride to the towpath, in a chilly wind with darkening skies. Still we had the wind with us, unlike a large group battling along towards Brunsbüttel. Ferry, then out through the fields away from the canal, past enormous estate farms, their enormous brick barns like some red brick beast crouching in the landscape, the ride settled into some sort of pattern. Occasionally an Autobahn bridge soared over the canal, its surface covered with tiny speeding vehicles as we kept an eye on the weather behind us, trying to guess which clouds would produce a downpour, others merely threaten. We used woods, bus shelters, overhanging eaves of barns to keep off the worst and then swung on again, thankful for the following wind. Our loops took us through busy little Albersdorf, where many Stone Age relics have been found and via remote countryside to Fisherhütte before reaching Hanerau and Hademarschen. Again the local tourist office found us quarters in a FEWO, a holiday house with two fantastic bedrooms and use of the kitchen if we wanted. For our evening meal we found an interesting restaurant a short distance away, before which Neil had managed to buy another bike helmet to replace his old one. This had got fatally damaged on the train journey north, a Viking funeral was promised by the bike shop.
Day 4
We had really given up bothering about the weather forecasts, rain, torrential, pouring, heavy showers with thunder, were evidently normal in July here. What really annoyed all of us was that way down south in our ‘home bases’ the sun was apparently shining and egg frying on pavements was becoming a community sport. So bear it we did, mostly grinning, at least in the photos. The clouds scudded low at our backs as we returned to the canal bank, crossed by ferry and turned north east. Our eyes adjusted to the gloomy light and only looking at my pictures of the old sluice at Giselau did I realise how it was. Over the next ferry at Oldenbüttel we sailed along through the marshlands with the wind blowing the grasses lining the dykes. Soon we left the canal on a detour through a nature reserve and bird watching paradise, sheltering in a convenient bus shelter in Lütjenwestedt to take lunch perched on a rise above the marshes. There were wonderful views of cloud-wracked skies as we descended through Todenbüttel and on through small villages of Schulberg back to the towpath and the ferry at Breiholz. From here into Rendsburg our route lay parallel to the River Eider formerly used as a ships route as far as Rendsburg. The Eider itself was mostly invisible beyond the canal embankments. The run into Rendsburg was extremely pleasant with tree lined banks and lots of groups of walkers who mostly moved aside for us gracefully. Grain silos and docks mark the beginning of Rendsburg proper but we were all looking forward to seeing the ferry suspended between the Meccano-inspired high level rail bridge. The Ships’ Greeting Point on the north bank did us proud as a Gibraltar registered freighter prompted a verse of ‘God save the Queen‘ as we strolled down to watch. We finally tracked down the Tourist Office in a bookshop in a main square and soon found reasonably priced accommodation in an hotel on the south side of the Canal. Too soon we breathed a sigh of relief at having avoided the downpours for the clouds finally unzipped themselves and we were all drenched en route to a supermarket for provisions. We can only recommend the tunnel under the canal, complete with lifts for cyclists and pedestrians, despite the odd drip it was much drier than outside. Within minutes we reached our hotel, stowed our bikes in a garage and ourselves in a warm, comfortable annex whilst the North German monsoons raged outside. Our only exploration that evening was the excellent hotel restaurant next door.
Day 5
Occasional awakenings during the night suggested more storms and there were puddles aplenty on the loop we made south and west next morning through railway workers cottages and out through suburbia to Jevenstadt before returning to the canal and taking the transporter ferry below the railway bridge. This is a famous spot for railway fans since the trains make a huge U-shaped loop to lose height over the rooftops down to the station in Rendsburg. We used this route on our September visit and it is spectacular. We swept through the centre of Rendsburg and out over the bridge where the Eider escapes from a large inlet through a commercial centre then villas along the Obereider shoreline. We risked a picnic in fitful sunshine, followed shortly by the first rains of the day. On through pretty villages where boatyards had been for hundreds of years and where the route climbed and fell allowing interesting downhill plunges. We turned away northwestwards to climb towards Bünsdorf and were forced to shelter once more, in the lee of some farm buildings. The owners did come to look at us enquiringly but were evidently reassured by our muddy bikes and damp appearance, without the need to set the dogs on us. On a sunny day we are sure that the Wittensee and the little sailing resort of Bünsdorf are both delightful but we did not linger but sped on towards Sehesedt, an estate village chopped in two by the building of the canal. Luck was with us as we found comfortable quarters in a FEWO, conveniently across from the pub/restaurant. Anyone needing supplies (as we did) must head out 4 km (on a cycleway parallel to the busy road) to Holtsee where there is an excellent supermarket. On the way home we explored the little village with its enormous brick barns and country house Dodging the increasingly violent wind and rainstorms we dined well in the pub that night.
Day 6
The meteorologists promised another day of wind and rain and it was dark and gloomy as we set off to visit the old sluices of the Eider Canal across the ferry and through the villages of Hammer and another estate village of Osterade. Though undoubtedly picturesque, the weed lined canal remains, the old sluices and pump house at Kluvensiek were definitely melancholy so after a quick photo session and discussion of falling eel populations in the Eider (global warming, pollutants?) with a biologist collecting samples we returned to the canal the way we had come. We had decided to press on to reach Kiel that day, in view of the unpromising weather though there were touches of sun for part of the day. We had hoped to pick up lunch in one of the villages en route but were either too late or arrived on a rest day so we kept going until we found a convenient bakery on the run in to Kiel. The cycleways took us right into the city centre though a certain nerve and savoir faire are needed to mix with the traffic near the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station). We found Kiel Tourist Office easily enough on the quayside close to the station and were fixed up with reasonable rooms in a somewhat old fashioned hotel though we had the impression they were more used to people arriving by ship or posh four wheeled vehicles. Big city, thousands of visitors, famous sights, our few Euros were largely irrelevant I suppose, but it was such a difference not to be made welcome. We were quartered over in Ellerbek, where the shops catered for much of the immigrant population and the street scene was lively but very different from ‘Downtown’ by the Tourist Office. It suited us and in the evening we wandered on foot back to the centre and ate in a bustling restaurant watching the shoppers rushing past under their umbrellas. The meteorologists had unfortunately got their sums right.
Day 7
Our companions T and M took a train back to Kassel whilst we entrained as far as Neustadt (Holstein). After the usual gloomy start the weather rapidly improved and we enjoyed a pleasant run along the Ostsee (Baltic) cycle route via Travemünde to Lübeck where we stayed a couple of nights in a Youth Hostel, to visit a friend and collect our impressions of our trip. Our verdict was that we would return in a couple of months and explore further.
We did, the weather was much kinder and you can order the resultant: ‘Cycling in Northern Germany - a Loop through Schleswig-Holstein’ on: sales@bergstrassebikebooks.com.

Tea and coffee in Mannheim and Heidelberg

Unfortunately we need to go fairly regularly to the university clinics in both Mannheim and Heidelberg. On our last visit it struck us they also make excellent stopping points for cyclists. Both of them have good cafeterias and of course plenty of clean rest rooms. Cafeteria prices are reasonable and there seems to be no objection to members of the public popping in for a quick cuppa. The Heidelberg clinic is to be found in the university campus on the right bank of the Neckar near the youth hostel and the zoo. Each of the major clinic buildings has a cafeteria signposted from the entrance. More information can be found at http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/103851.pdf?L=en. The Mannheim clinic is also on the right bank of the Neckar just to the north of the city centre. The cafeteria and canteen (Casino) is in the centre of the building complex. It is open from 0700 until 1500. Obviously other hospitals in German cities will offer similar facilities.

Winter Cycling Spiked tyres

Winter cycling or at least cycling in snow even with a helmet is something that we don't want to do. Both of us have fallen with or from our bicycles when cycling in summer following moments of inattention without major injury except to our pride. However being balanced on a two wheeled device when the wheels can easily slip on a greasy icy surface strikes us as being on the daft side. We don't do it. We walk. Old-fashioned but it works.
There is a technological cure for sideways slipping tyres which we have not invested in. You can buy spiked tyres. Schwalbe for example produce Marathon Winter tyres with tungsten carbide spikes. An acquaintance of ours who commutes about 10 km daily summer and winter on a forest track speaks highly of them. There is another piece of high tech equipment that is often ignored in Viernheim - the glove. I was out shovelling snow this morning at temperatures of about -1°C when a young lad cycled past with one bare hand clutching the handlebars and the other tucked up his jacket sleeve. I doubt if he could have used both brakes quickly in case of an emergency and the bare hand must have been seriously cold. As one says in Lancashire, "No sense, no feeling".

Plans for the summer

On Saturday we are due to go to a knees up organised by the regional ADFC (German cycling organisation, similar to the Cyclists' Touring Club in the UK and the League of American Bicyclists). "Knees up" is probably the wrong term. We are going to drink coffee and eat tiramasu, rather than brown ale and jellied eels. We are due to discuss our projects and cycling last year and the plans for this year rather than standing round the Joanna* singing about "My Old Dutch"* and sending out for a Ruby* afterwards. I have noticed that the cycling blogs too are in this reflective and planning mode. It is a bit too cold and/or icy to get out on the bike, so it is a good time to settle down, report and do some thinking. Judith has already reported on our year in the last blog, so what are we debating doing this year? Well, our Rhine II book is still selling quite well and the Ruhr is one of the European cultural capitals this year, so a trip to the Lower Rhine is on the cards. We have talked for some time about cycling the Weser Cycle Route. We enjoyed our time up in Schleswig-Holstein very much and the routes up into Denmark are also very interesting. Maybe this is the year we go down to southeastern Bavaria to look at the Pope Benedict Route. There are large chunks of eastern Germany, the Oder-Neise Route, for example, we would like to visit. We definitely want to carry on with our day trip series in the Rhineland Palatinate, published by Guide Gecko. There is even a 420 km mountain bike route through Alsace which could well be good fun if we can get fit enough. We will have to see.

*For any non British readers:
"Knees up" is a raucous party. The name derives from a 1938 popular song "Knees up Mrs Brown".
"Joanna" is Cockney rhyming slang for a piano.
Dutch is London slang and is an abbreviation of Duchess, i.e. My Old Dutch is my wife. It is another popular song.
A "Ruby" is Cockney rhyming slang for a curry from Ruby Murray, a 1950's pop singer.

Bergstrasse Bike Books Newsletter 2009

Seasonal greetings from a chilly Viernheim
Enough has been written or spoken about bad banks, even worse bankers, property crashes, economic plunges, swine ‘flu and other disasters elsewhere so we’re going to ignore them here and concentrate on more pleasant activities.
Our year has been dominated by several cycling breaks but we kicked 2009 off in the Alpes Maritimes, S. France tramping about in deep snow on snowshoes with Space Between, often in brilliant sunshine. A sudden blizzard meant that we spent New Year’s night most comfortably sleeping bagged up on our tour leaders’ floor with other snowshoers after a most jolly evening and dinner party.A couple of days later, after enjoying a post Christmas Marché de Noel in Nice we caught the sleeper back to Strasbourg and arrived home next day.
The next few days were dominated by a deep freeze - temperatures below 0°C for about a month so our car went into hibernation and our neighbour’s cellar flooded. Fortunately we discovered this as water began lapping round our feet in our cellar and for the next few hours it was all hands to the mop as we sought to prevent the waters rising far enough to damage a new freezer and the rather more expensive new boiler. The neighbouring house is unoccupied, opinions vary as to whether they really are still looking after an elderly relative, said to be at death’s door (for more than 4 years), fleeing from justice or abducted by aliens (someone does still collect their post once a week). By the time a phone number was obtained, the flood water was being contained using a borrowed pump on which J had ripped her finger so badly that medical help was required. The neighbour finally showed, installed a new pump in his cellar, apologised for the inconvenience and offered to pay for any damage. We got the floor dry, no damage was sustained to appliances and J’s finger healed quickly.
After that being carless in the cold was compensated for by some excellent winter walking over crisp snow in our nearby hills, until the temperatures finally rose above freezing and SZ (our ancient car) just started without any trouble.
The year then followed its usual pattern with work in house and garden gradually giving way to more cycling. Chance acquisition of an updated maps of our nearby province Rheinland Pfalz (Rhineland Palatinate) (http://cms.radwanderland.de/) revealed many more cycle routes than we’d suspected. The Eifel hills on the left bank of the Rhine form the northern part of this province and were accessible by train from Mannheim. Our account of this trip, one of three with the theme ‘Weathering summer storms’...) can be accessed in this blog. It was a taste of things to come, the Bodensee was colder and wetter and the first Kiel Canal trip was windier and also wet!
In between we concentrated on day trips southwards into Rheinland Pfalz as far as the border with Alsace and considered the best way to project our enjoyment to English speaking cyclists. A combination of research and chance lead to our discovery of Gecko Guides, a Singapore-based organisation who publish guides to cities, walking areas or cycling routes see: http://www.guidegecko.com/ Our first is called A Cycling Guide to the Lauter Valley and is available in electronic form for a small fee from Gecko, as is our extended Kiel Canal route - entitled Cycling in Northern Germany, a Loop through Schleswig-Holstein.
After the dismal summer rainy season August through to October was characterised by long sunny spells though fortunately without too many brutally hot days. We used our pensioner’s tickets to hop on and off local trains delivering us to the 50 km distant S. Pfalz from where we made loops in and out of Alsace or enjoyed the delights of the Cabbage and Carrot trail,
or the Vineyard route among the ripening grapes. We discovered that Wednesdays were to be avoided (someone unkindly said that Doctors surgeries were often closed so the pensioners all went cycling, as if...) as some trains could only carry 16 bicycles, rumour had it that some cyclists were forced to detrain, once back in Germany.We intend to continue our explorations next season and make them public via Gecko.
Future trends: Printing costs continue to rise and it seems likely that we may turn more and more to online information, for which we’ll charge a small fee. All our books are still available from us in paper form, or from Omnimap in the USA though we will probably be updating some of them and having them printed on demand by a company in Germany. Our book for Cicerone ‘Cycle Touring in Switzerland’ did very well intitially but sales appear to have fallen, perhaps due to the unmentionable events in the world of finance. Do suggest to your nearest and dearest that they order it as a New Year present for you, please.
After our second trip to Hamburg, Kiel and points south and west in September we have completed the Schleswig-Holstein loop guide, which leads through an area we can thoroughly recommend to families or anyone wanting a gentle and varied return to cycling.
As I write this on December 19th 2009, the year seems to have turned full circle with the car dead at the front door after night temperatures below -15°C! Both of us are still alive and able to cycle 90 km per day. Neil’s doctors encourage both of us that ‘business as usual’ is the best way to deal with his form of Lymphoma - obviously this includes regular check ups in Heidelberg. Up to now he has not needed any treatment so we continue to enjoy life and taking the bikes out for a spin or more often walking in the winter.
We continue to be happy to help anyone planning a trip particularly to Germany to cycle and feel that despite the fall in the value of the pound sterling against the Euro that many Euroland countries still offer value for money. On our Schleswig-Holstein trip, once in the area we spent an average of € 100 per day for the two of us. This included accommodation - a mix of B&B, family hotels and Youth Hostels, meals, some travel on ships and local trains. When we read of B&B prices in the UK or ridiculously expensive meals in the ‘Sunday supplements’ Euroland and even Switzerland outside the real honeypot locations seem fair enough.

Back to the mirrors

Sometime ago I wrote about a "fashion" item that I often wear, i.e. a mirror that attaches to my glasses. This is a better icebreaker than a dog or probably even a Brompton bicycle. I find the mirror very useful in traffic and do not enjoy touring without it, so it is always embarrassing when asked where I bought it. We bought a couple at SPEZI in Germersheim two or three years ago, but it is invariably a long time until the next SPEZI. I did not know where else you can buy them. I have recently discovered that the mirrors can be bought in Germany from pedalkraft (www.pedalkraft.de) for the reasonable price of 16€.

Fashionable Winter Gear

We are in the words of one of neighbours not famous for our interest in fashion. However the growing interest, at least in the UK, in urban cycling has given rise to a number of specialist shops selling fashionable and reputedly utilitarian cycling clothing and accessories. They seemed to be designed on the premise that one can wear the clothing to cycle in and one does not look like a would be Lance Armstrong or cycle tourer in the office or pub afterwards.
Typical companies are Cyclechic www.cyclechic.co.uk, Cyclodelic http://www.cyclodelic.co.uk, the Danish firm Yakkay, http://www.yakkay.com/ who manufacture helmets that don't look like helmets and one of our favourites: Do You Velo, not only for its stylish website and the quality of its French, but also for its stylish but practical gear: http://www.doyouvelo.com/.
Unfortunately although we are pleased that urban cycling is becoming a normal activity, we ourselves will only become fashionable in winter when shower cap covered helmets, GoreTex jackets, Aldi MTB winter gloves and Rainleg leg covers come into fashion.

Weathering summer storms: II Around the Bodensee

Our next round with St Peter and the weather gods was planned for mid-June to coincide with the visit of two friends, one from Scotland and the other from USA. Both were willing to experience the fabled Forsyth biking trip and as we set off towards Lake Constance the sun was shining and the forecast, changeable but not dire.
Day 1 Once aboard the train towards Radolfzell, the clouds began to gather and we soon noticed the first fat, glistening drops on the carriage windows. Our holiday spirits were not greatly dampened and we set off in a dry period from Radolfzell catching glimpses of the Gnadensee arm of Lake Constance to our right. Despite a picnic in the train our stomachs reacted to the early start and we stopped for a round of Pommes (chips or fries, according to nationality) at a wayside cafe. Fortunately the large umbrella shielded us from the worst of the heavy rainstorm, as one of the locals nearby managed to down three large Weizen beers over the next half hour. The black cloud remained stationary overhead, a phenomenon with which we were to become familiar over the next few days. Meteorologists explain that low pressure systems which often whistle rapidly through much of Germany get trapped against the rising Alps just south of the Lake and often linger and linger. However we got back on the bikes and pedalled the few remaining kilometres to our overnight resting place in Mindelsee, just uphill away from the Lake. Keeny, beany students of geology will recall the various Ice Age periods from oldest to youngest: Gunz, Mindel, Riss and Wurm. The glaciers scooped out the hollow for the Mindelsee (lake) and also produced the drumlins, rounded hillocks of clay and rocks of the local landscape. We stayed in a delightfully rustic Landgasthaus on the edge of a wildlife park. Brown bears, big birds of prey, totally trusting deer free to roam in a huge enclosure and a group of acrobatic goats, including a few ‘teenagers’ trying their chances with the chief billy goat, all made for an enjoyable wander through the park in a dry spell.
Day 2 We had heard downpours and thunder in the night but our bikes were dry in a nearby barn and we set off through the drumlins, up and down towards a sunlit Lake Constance. Along the Lake riding in shirts and shorts, we headed towards the city of Konstanz where a ‘frontierless Flea Market’ was in progress. Street music, 1000s of people pushing bikes or walking carrying treasures such as African masks, doll’s houses, baby clothes and that LP from the 50’s that they had always wanted. We could have sold all 4 bikes many times (2 Bromptons, 2 Dahons) but people shied away when value was discussed! We pressed on down to the lake and the Konzilgebäude (a historic warehouse), just in time to shelter from the first downpour of the day. We took coffee or hot chocolate, listening to jazz in a neighbouring beer garden until the rain slackened, then cycled out along the shore, past wonderful houses and gardens to the car ferry across to Meersburg, just visible in the murk ahead. Meersburg is a wealthy, picturesque little centre of wine growing, where the fine houses of the vintners perch in the upper town above the crowded lake shore shops and cafes. Tearing ourselves away and again in sunshine we cycled along towards Hagnau and a restaurant we remembered. Tischlein deck Dich (Little table set yourself) was still there, though bigger but we all enjoyed our lunches, outside under sunshades, against the strong sun. Then after a short steep climb through the vineyards we gently wandered along to our overnight stop in Friedrichshafen. Just on the edge of town we paused at the Schlosskirche, now fully restored after wartime destruction which the other party members hadn’t visited before. Before dinner we discovered that the lake promenade with its various memorials to Graf Zeppellin was in the grip of a gigantic Volksfest. There were dancers and food stalls not just from Europe but from America, Africa and the Indian subcontinent as well. Everyone was having a jolly time, trying out delicacies and goggling at the costumes. Outside the Zeppellin museum we took shelter from a rainstorm which had turned the whole western Lake pitch black. No night for a romantic cruise on the Bodensee! Back at the hotel (Gasthof Rebstock) the food was tasty and plentiful as usual and we all tucked in, washing it down with beer or wine as inclined. And so to bed..
Day 3 Hm, rain showers dogged us as we cycled into town on a back road discovered the evening before. Jackets on we set off on what should have been a lovely ride past all our favourite little resorts like Langenargen, Kressbronn and Wasserburg to Lindau, which really does deserve its reputation as a crown jewel. I lost count of how many times we stopped to shelter under the eaves of barns, huddled under immense trees (there was no thunder and lightning) or steamed gently under overhead heaters at lunch at a farm restaurant. All the locals assured us that it would be fine by the afternoon, tomorrow or sometime later. However we had seen the forecasts for the next few days.... The minor low pressure system the meteorologists were discussing as we left home had turned into a major problem, rotating slowly anticlockwise over the eastern Alps and causing flooding, transport interruptions and even deaths in parts of Austria and Switzerland. In addition snow was forecast in the mountains and temperatures for the next day would start in single figures Celsius. We were all grateful to reach our lodgings and pleased to find we had been allotted a small apartment, nicely modernised looking out over quiet courtyards. Despite the rain we rediscovered all Lindau’s delightful nooks and crannies before finishing the evening in a great restaurant: Alte Post, with tasteful decor and an excellent choice of food.
Day 4 It was pouring down relentlessly in the morning, skies dark grey without even a lightening where the sun should be so we put on a few extra layers and all available foul weather gear and set off to the quay. We saw absolutely no point in a 40 km slog in a cold downpour along the Lake into Bregenz and round to Arbon. We took the ship instead, occasionally venturing on deck but mostly keeping snug in the restaurant, thankful that the lake steamers take bikes as well as riders. After docking, the rain was just a heavy drizzle so we rode the 8 km into Arbon and had a hot lunch in a cafe, where various other cyclists were also taking refuge. Exhausted by our efforts, most of the party had a snooze in the afternoon in our ‘billet’, which we shared with a huge collection of teddies and fluffy animals. We had a bit of a wet trudge round the town in the evening but eventually found a local pub, with reasonable food though the waitress was so shy and softly spoken that communication was difficult. However one of us left ‘the bag’ with money, passport etc. behind, hanging on the chair back - the pub manager chased us up the road and round the corner to return it - before its loss was noticed. Panic over before it had begun and thank you honest citizens of Switzerland!
Day 5 The roads were still wet as we left Arbon but the weathermen, who had been absolutely correct up to now had promised improvement, no rain and even sunshine. As we bowled through the fields alongside the railway the cloud thinned more and more, layers of clothing were shed until the sun finally reappeared. Both the landscape and the party members began to smile once again, lunch could be taken outside and even an ice cream contemplated. Through Romanshorn and on to Kreuzlingen, opposite Konstanz on the Swiss side of the Lake then across the intensively farmed delta flats to the hills above Ermatingen. It was worth the almost vertical climb up to the country house once occupied by Napoleon III to view the furnishings and fittings, sturdy wooden cabinets used by Napoleon I in his Egyptian campaign and other trappings of a bygone age. What was even more interesting to most of us was the discovery that the entire family, over several generations had been dedicated garden designers, plantsmen and -women leaving superb gardens in Europe and America to posterity. Later we took the train along the Untersee and Hoch Rhein to Diesenhofen and then cycled on to our B&B in Gailingen, just across the border. This little town is almost an enclave of Germany more or less surrounded by Switzerland, with the advantage to us of being in Euroland where accommodation prices are reasonable. Our rooms were delightful, looking onto the garden with distant views of Switzerland and the hills in Thürgau. Most of us had pushed our laden bikes up the steep hill from the town. We had a jolly evening meal down the hill, sharing our table with a young man recovering slowly from a stroke. His mother and several other young supporters were visiting, having travelled hours by car. We were very impressed by the whole group and the effort they were determined to make. A special clinic in Gailingen offers hope and continuing research into treatment of stroke, especially in young people.
Day 6 Wall to wall sunshine on our final day of cycling. A beautiful long gentle downhill section into Büsingen, another anomalous German enclave. It has a curious history involving murder, kidnapping and goodness knows what else, with two postcodes one Swiss and one German, where the inhabitants pay German income tax and Swiss purchase tax, where two telephone boxes, one Swisscom, one Deutsche Telekom stand side by side in the main street and which for many years had different time to the rest of Germany. Along the silent, fast flowing dark green Rhine into busy Schaffhausen, where the bridges are bedecked with geraniums and downstream to the Rhine Falls. All that rain had done its job, the Falls were as loud and spectacular as one could hope for. On the north bank of the river you can get close to the Falls for free, whereas on the south bank the view is blocked by an hotel and access only by an expensive series of steps and platforms. These were closed and being rebuilt in summer 2009. We retraced our way to Schaffhausen and then took the south bank through small villages and fields, with a little climbing here and there to a bridge just downstream of Stein-am-Rhein, one of the prettiest towns we know. On the long descent into the town one of the party was suddenly attacked by insects, causing her to leap from her bike and roll over in a convenient meadow. Fortunately inspection in a nearby ‘restroom’ did reveal a few bites which were quickly treated and the incident forgotten. After marvelling at the painted houses depicting local history and people, it was finally time for those ice creams, sitting in the sun whilst the cold, wet days slipped away. We met the young man and his friends again that evening, enjoying hearing their banter and wishing them all the best in what will be undoubtedly a long uphill struggle.
Day 7 Back to Mannheim by train and a pleasant cycle ride home, another tour through summer storms completed without great problems, returning to a sunlit house and garden.

Wet legs?

We have written in the past about the inability of cyclists to agree jointly on any topic even for the greater good of the cycling community. For example one good way of causing a riot such that the Justices of the Peace need to called out, is to mention the topic of cycle helmets at any British or German cycle club meeting. One is thus loath to criticise any other group in the cycling community, but there are times when one needs to roll one's eyes in the direction of the heavens and stifle some mild oath. We recently received a copy of the "American Bicyclist" the League of American Bicyclists' bimonthly magazine and I was struck by number of bicycles pictured without mudguards or fenders as our US friends call them. We also read the literature put out by Ground Effect, a New Zealand manufacturer of clothes for the mountain biking community - excellent reasonably priced gear and a very amusing website/newsletter. (We have bought the odd item from Ground Effect.) It is seen in some circles as "dorky" to cycle with mudguards. Dorky, I gather, is a major insult. Just in case I may have given the wrong impression Ground Effect itself does not have any opinions one way or the other about dorky-ness of cycling accessoires. Some of their reviewers are given to these opinions. A lot of folks would rather have wet and muddy legs and the black stripe up the back than run the risk of looking sensible. Very odd! As my dear mother-in-law used to say of fashionable but uncomfortable garments "Pride is painful".
If you wish to go out and use the bike as an outdoor fitness machine on sunny days it is fine to cycle without any protection, however if you are going to commute and not just to the pub, then protective fittings are a big advantage. It is noticeable that in the two countries where people cycle extensively as a means of transport: The Netherlands and Denmark people cycle on bicycles with mudguards in normal clothing and with stands so that one can leave the bicycle standing up without having to find a convenient wall to prop the bike up. I know the lads in the Tour de France don't have mudguards or stands, but these guys are being paid to get wet through and have a team of mechanics to hold their bikes.
Rant over, just don't get me started on rucksack wearing on touring bicycles.

More useful stuff for cycle touring

This is a suggestion for day trips around home. One of the things that oafs find amusing is to break bottles on cycle tracks, so that with luck a cyclist has to repair a puncture. This is so sidesplittingly funny! We fight against this by taking a dustpan and brush with us now and again and cleaning the mess up. It might just discourage the idiots from doing this as well or at least from adding to the mess.

Packing again

In recent years while cycle touring on the Dahon Speed TR I have carried all my gear in a Carradice saddle bag and a handlebar bag. We cycled the length of the Kiel Canal recently and in the run up to leaving the house to cycle to the station to catch a train to Hamburg, I popped an old, battered, small pannier bag on the bike in addition to carry the Dahon El bolso bags. We had to smuggle the bikes onto a DB (German Railways) InterCity train that carries bicycles, but as is often the case at weekends all the bike positions were booked. Once these places are full putting bikes elsewhere is verboten. As soon as we could, i.e. on the next day we posted the El bolso bags home. We didn't need them again on the trip and when folded the bolso bags are quite bulky. They do fold up to go into a small duffle bag cum rucksack, but neither of us likes cycling far wearing a rucksack. Afterwards we were both surprised at how useful a half empty pannier can be - carrying sandwiches, a litre pack of fruit juice or even a couple bottles of beer is child's play. I think we will do it again in future, but probably using a new pannier bag, if we can find one small enough. Bags for 20" wheels are not easy to come by.