Kehl to Breisach

On the way to Kehl, I met an Austrian gentleman in his 70s by the name of Bruno. This was his second tour this year. The last took him from his small town in Austria to Greece by way of Serbia and Macedonia. About 12 years ago, he hurt a knee. Physical therapy was prescribed and at some point he started on an exercise bike. The exercise bike lead to a real bike and then to long distance rides. He has, a tremor of some sort, maybe Parkinson's and he rides alone. He taught history and geography until he retired and he has since biked all over Europe seeing the places he'd only known from books. On Wednesday, he would leave the Rhine to head to France to see a masterpiece which he's wanted to see for years. In the winter when he's not riding, he's planning his next ride. Not a bad life. Bruno and I crossed paths several times during the day and again at breakfast, the following morning at the hostel. I'm leading a charmed existance, because when I mentioned that I still had not worked out my route to the south of France, he suggested how I might best go. There is a canal which links the Rhine with the Rhone. Canals are good. They generally follow river valleys and make great bike routes which are relatively easy to navigate. Later in the day, this route was to be suggested by another rider. Clearly this is my route. I will peel off the Rhine at Mulhouse.

Brisach, where I found myself last night was a surprise. The way into town was covered in beautiful vineyards. Because I was off course, I got to bike through the middle of them on paved farm roads. Many go through private property. All the farms are interesting. When not in vineyards, I was in orchards, or wheat, or carrots, potatoes, or whatever.

Brisach itself is a bit touristy, but it's got a cathedral high on the hill above dominating the view. Pictures below.

So I'm sitting at a table at a busy café, soaking up the sun and some cheese cake, when a gentleman on a bike asks me in German if he can share the table. Of course he can but I immediately break the first rule of table sharing and I introduce myself. Stephan Weber is his name and his English was just good enough. He was only out for two days. His wife had ridden her e-bike with him the first day and returned home by train. He went on for what was to be a 2 week ride. He couch serfs and was going to meet his hosts at 7:00. So for two hours and multiple beers for him, coffee and mineral water for me, we talked about equipment, routes, stresses of work and whatever else. He was also a sailor and a pilot of gliders and ultralights. He's 44 and a detective. He worked up north on drug and gangs, but it sounds more administrative now, describing his work as quality control. He has a blog which I will look up when I can and I'll include here for anyone so inclined. Cevennes2013.blogspot.de. It will be in German, but if you use Google, it may be able to translate it on the fly.

The Rhine has much less barge traffic on it now and there are flood control dams, locks and small hydroelectric generators. The river is divided into two up here, both a barge channel and the river separated. There are also still a few, smaller river cruise lines which run here.

I again had the experience of  happening on a small town with one large plant along the river. This one had 80 ton cranes, so it must produce some pretty large equipment though I couldn't see exactly what.

A small technical problem happened yesterday. I started hearing a ticking noise from my front wheel. Turned out to be a lose spoke which I promptly tightened. The wheel is somehow still true, but all the spokes feel a bit lose to me. On the other hand, it's working and why mess with it? Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Right?

My stopping points have much to do with milage (would like 50 miles a day), but also to do with what I may see. I tend to prefer medium size towns to others.

Big news. I did laundry in German . I can only just figure out all the controls in English, German is just as bad but I assume 2/3s are permanent press and unmentionable, leaving 1/3 to deal with. The jerseys came out about the same size as they were when they went in and all the colors were approximately right. I call that success.

Drying gets its own paragraph because it's unlike the way we do it, but very effective. They hang laundry lines in the drying room, and there is a machine that blows dehumidified air through the clothes. It would be perfect for drying things that won't go in a drier. Wet camping gear came immediately to mind. Even my heavy Patagonia shorts dried quickly and the whole process took less time than I'd imagined.

A quick search of things to do in Mulhouse turned up the largest car collection in Europe and a first rate train museum. I will be stopping at both today.

Political campaigning is very orderly here. Consistent sized and formatted posters with the faces of politicians are all over. The doggie is apparently running.

The tower is brilliant and it was just next door to the Kehl hostel. It's a fantastic exercise machine and after the sun went down, on my way back to the room I just had to climb it. The night shots are from the top.

Kehl today.

It poured for about an hour at mid-day. I thought I was going to need water wings. Before I got soaked, I took cover under a bridge. I left the bike at street level and climbed up the abutment to get a bit more shelter. Drivers were surprised to see me up there but it was quite safe and dry. Although the rain tapered a bit, it seemed as though I could be there all day so I rearranged a few things and buttoned everything down.

About 15 minutes later, I found a bakery in a little town and ordered  coffee and a beautiful piece of blueberry cake. What can I do? There were no carrots. Also, no coffee. Something to do with a coffee machine which has authority to make independent decisions about when it does and does not work. Eventually it worked and I got coffee. The wet rat look is apparently common because no one offered anything like sympathy. I guess when you have winters like they do, only absent appendages rate a word.

The hostels all have slightly different rules. I've been to 7 or so; I am the expert. They are different enough to throw me. Last night I took a shower in the woman's shower. Now all of them have the same rules regarding showers. I only got away with it because not only I didn't know, but no one else was around. In the morning, imagine the young lady's surprise and upset when I walked in. She was startled, but completely encircled by a towel. She was very nice about it. No doubt this is not her first encounter with an idiot American. In my defense, the signs were weird but I kind of understand.

The sun is out now and I'm off to see if I can get to Strasbourg. It's just over the river. Maybe I can walk....to a bridge and over.

After mentioning the horror of these bike tracks I had to use one again today. Because of the combined weight of the bike and bags, I needed to remove the bags before I could lift the bike. What an operation. This was a bridge over a canal used to bring coal to this power station. It was the only way over for miles.

Their power stations are all beautifully designed and maintained. Not like ours.

By the way, I've been following the unfolding NSA story. It's pretty up setting. Glen Greenwald's boyfriend was detained for 9 hours in London enroute Berlin to Brazil. All his electronics confiscated, and he was not allowed to consult an attorney. Somehow this is all under color of terrorism. Check out the Guardian article if you're interested.

Made Karlsruhe today

The rain held off today till I was checked into the Karlsruhe youth hostel and I was having something to eat. I've been very lucky with the weather.

I haven't mentioned it before, but since Wolfsburg there have been tons of small casinos. I have to imagine they're popular, but I've never seen anyone going in or out. Perhaps they're busy when I'm sleeping.

I was speaking with the hostel clerk about his upcoming trip to the US. He's planning on SFO to Vegas, Zion, Brice, Yosemite, et al. in September. I'm not completely sure he understands the driving distances. I mentioned that I was heading into France. He started telling me that travel to the German part of France was OK for Germans, but any further was difficult or unpleasant. I'm wondering if the French are going to be more or less tolerant of Americans than Germans. I'll let you know.

The castle is here in Karlsruhe. The church is in Speyer where I had my second breakfast of the day.

Yeah, like Port-a-Potty is a better name.

The 747 was floating above an iMax/tech museum in Speyer.

The sculpture is also here in Karlsruhe.

Thanks to everyone sending comments and best wishes.

Worms tomorrow.

It was a longish ride today to Mainz (marker 497) so I figured to do a 35 mile or so ride tomorrow to the town of Worms. Unfortunately, I just heard back from the Worms hostel that they could only get me into a dorm. No thanks, I have my limits. So I'll head down and take my chances elsewhere. I don't think there'll be a problem. I haven't had any yet. Clearly, Friday and Saturday nights are tight though.

I can't prove it but I think people are getting friendlier the further south I travel. Some are smiling and returning a head nod. There are also many more riders with saddle bags, some much larger than mine. Mostly middle aged, some families with kids and older folks; a real mix. Lots coming north. This would be the smart direction. I'm not complaining mind you, but every time I turn, there is a headwind lining up perfectly. Just once I'd like a tailwind. The weather has completely cleared and the trip down to Mainz was smooth going but for the wind.

Germans love their dogs and horses. People are out on the paths with their dogs, some on infinitely long leads, some off lead completely. Most corral their dog when they see me coming. One, a few days ago did not and I was very surprised when the dog came after me. I looked at the owner and with a withering look said 'that is not cool'. He started explaining or defending but it sure didn't sound much like the apology I was owed. Some owners have the retractable leads which may or may not meet the letter of the law (there's got to be a law), but that means I need to see and avoid this little line when at speed. I might go down if I hit that line, but the little dog is going to go airborne. I'd rather not see this.

The views between Koblenz and Bingen are the absolute best. Both before Koblenz and after Bingen, the valley is wide and open stretching miles. Between these two towns, the valley is narrow and the valley walls steep. The castles and fortifications look down from these hills.

I'm seriously thinking about turning right at Strasbourg and doing a bit more cycling than originally planned in France. Anxious to see if the French are warmer to cyclists. I'm still a couple of days away from that decision.

Yesterday evening I did the touristy thing and took the cable car from Koblenz to the Ehrenbreitstein fortification. Unfortunately, it was a bit late when I got there, so it wasn't possible to see the museum or inside the fort. The views of Koblenz , the Rhine and the Mosel were fantastic. I have attached some below.

I've also included a picture of a store which specializes in cuckoo clocks. My version if hell includes a cuckoo clock. Please do not even think of giving me a picture of one.

All is well. A bit saddle sore, but managing well. As long as there is sun I can keep churning out the miles. The knees are perfect, I don't know why. Usually they can be a little fickle. I could use a couple of days of doing nothing by the water and I'm looking for that perfect place. Perhaps it will have to wait till the Mediterranean.

The triangles are the traffic system for river traffic where the channel narrows and the bends become pronounced.

Many fountains, and impressive statues along the way.

Dinner on Tuesday

When wandering around in Wuppertal on Tuesday, I found an Italian restaurant I wanted to return to in the evening when it opened. Turned out to be a cozy little corner place with a genuine Sissilian owner. It  quickly became apparent that we didn't have any language in common, but I wasn't too worried; I've never left a restaurant hungry.

The owner immediately pointed out another customer with who spoke English.

Walter was a gentleman in his 70s sitting with a grad student from the local university.

He asked how I happend on this place because it was the best in town. The owner was a sweet old guy who, if you shared a common tongue, would tell you all about his mafiosi connections. The story went that there had been a fire in the restaurant's recent past and he wasn't happy with the insurance payout. After describing what his friends could or would do, the payout was improved. True or not, a good story.

Walter, came from Mississippi to Munich and then Wuppertal by way of Berkeley 35 or so years ago. As a toxicologist and chemist, he worked for the university up until mandatory retirement at 65, a few years ago. Chlorine based pesticides, his specialty. The mandatory retirement was a sore subject, but his boss, being a professor and department head, had brought him back to consult even after retirement.

I asked Walter to please ask the owner to bring me whatever the owner liked, and ein beer bitte, and ein gross salade.

As I started my dinner, Walter said goodnight but not without warning me that the owner offered some customers a glass of grappa at the end of dinner and one needed to plan accordingly. The veal scalopene was quite good.

When the bill and grappa was presented, I asked the owner to please add a bottle of wine for Walter from me, for the next time he came in. The message received loud and clear and appreciated.

Who knows how I picked that restaurant, but it happens sometimes.

A particularly nice and unexpected evening.

The kicker is... Walter told me that if I came a day earlier I would not have seen the monorail working. It had been down for an extended period of maintenance. Both he and the hostel folks were amazed at my timing. Dumb luck.

Made the Rhine today at 714 km location this morning

All distances on the Rhine are measured from the source. Today I caught my first glimpse at 714 km. I'll try to remember to make reference to these location markers if I can as I go up river.

The weather started out crummy this morning; overcast and cold. More like a California winter. The GPS did its usual dance sending me up hills and down roads which weren't the most direct. There are good uses, like finding a destination address and bad uses, like almost everything else. I'm hopeful that paralleling 15' from the waterway is going to make navigating pretty obvious. Sometimes, for various reasons, it will be necessary to deviate around obstacles which will up the risk of getting lost a bit. If I'm lost less, I won't feel so bad about stopping periodically along the way.

I'm staying in the Cologne Deutz hostel and it's huge. Of necessity, much less personal than the others I've stayed at but this one is staffed 24 hours a day. Tomorrow I'll try for Koblenz and it's hostel. This is a sweet system and they don't bat an eyelash at the bike. Holiday Inn didn't either, but because it's vacation time, and that was an all business town, the place was empty. Perhaps if it were their peak season they'd have sent me and my bike packing.

I wandered around Koln a bit. Took the subway after I figured out that you can't buy a subway ticket from a DB ticket machine. DB is the train system. Duhhh. Dinner was great. The contrast between the east and west is stark and a bit surprising. As I've mentioned in a previous post, consumerism has run amuck here. There are a large number of kids with hair that sticks straight up and many, young and old have really bad die jobs.

By the way, there appear to be more driving schools and hair dressers than any other businesses. The Germans are pretty intense when it comes to driving so the schools make sense, but what's the deal with all the hair places? And why the disconnect and all the bad hair I see? Maybe I'm just old.

Saw the Koln Dom; pictures below. At 6:00 pm the bells did a big production. The place is undergoing massive repairs.

The brass medallion is a Berlin artist's project to allow families and friends to document the places where Jews lived prior to the war, and to indicate to where and when they were taken by the Nazis.

There are quite a few opportunities for recreation and extensive public art.

The bridge across the Rhine which connects both sides of Koln has this fence covered pretty completely from end to end with padlocks.

Man there are a lot of noisy kids here in this lobby. Oh yeah, there is one down side to YOUTH hostels. I'm the outsider here, in more ways than one. Nice of them to have me here. The locations of these places is always great. I've been able to walk into downtowns in all cases so far. The number and variety of programs they have for kids is simply amazing. They make a huge commitment to kids.