From Italy To Harrogate
The full story of Eric Waters' cycle ride for Neema Crafts
as reported on his Blackberry each day 
Return to News Pages to see how to support Eric
Sunday June 14 - Day Twenty One
Listen to Eric's BBC Radio York interview as he gets off the ferry in Hull
(1 hour, 35 minutes into the programme)
Our last day started at 6am when we were woken up by the ship's intercom announcing that breakfast was being served. We had a fairly hectic time, finishing off the previous day's email report, showering, having breakfast, changing into cycling gear, packing and getting down to the car deck by 8am.
I was due to be interviewed on Julia Booth's Sunday Breakfast programme on BBC Radio York at 8.30, but first the mobile phone link was to be checked at 8.15am. At 8.05am it was obvious that our car would still be inside the ship at that time, so I took my bike out of the car, jumped the queue, and cycled off the ship and down the helter skelter car ramp and through passport control, just in time for the sound check. A few minutes later and I was being interviewed by Julia, who was quite delightful. I have to admit that at the end of the call I was in tears for some minutes! Still, better to get them out of the way now, rather than later in the day. Then it was back to business again. At 9am, Di set off to drive home and I started cycling.
When I was between Selby and York I received a call from the Wheel Easy cycling group: one of today's rides was in York, so a few minutes later we met on the outskirts of York and I cycled back to Harrogate with a dozen or more friends from Wheel Easy, more joined at Tockwith, and more at Cowthorpe. Ironically we were delayed as the group picked up 2 punctures between Tockwith and Knaresborough. I commented that if I'd picked up punctures at the same rate, I would have never got back from Italy in 3 months!!!
I arrived home at 5pm, so there was just time for my daily post-ride warm down stretching exercises, a quick shower, and change into fresh cycling clothes before Di and I set off to St Mark's Church for a welcome that will never be forgotten. They had literally put the flags out for us!! What a wonderful way to bring this epic journey to an end. We have so many memories from this journey, and this 'Welcome Home' was certainly one of those highlights, see photo. After the service, I cycled home, finally bringing my 21 days pedalling to an end. I'd covered 83 miles from Hull - my biggest daily total, as there were no stops for sightseeing, nor applestrudels, nor fresh asparagus soup.
My final total mileage was 1171 from the start at Luino on Lake Maggiore in Italy. My cycle computer tells me I've burned 29,875 calories. I have been eating massively each evening to restock on calories, and remarkably I find my weight has increased by 2 lbs over the last 3 weeks.
I must say thank you to everybody who has encouraged me in this journey, to Andy and Susie for their work at Neema Crafts and for providing the inspiration to me, for all the emails and text messages we received each day, to those who cycled with me into Harrogate, to all those who were at St Mark's church welcoming us home last night, and to everybody for their sponsorship - it currently looks as if Neema Crafts should receive over £6,500 as a result of your generosity. I hope that although my journey has ended, the fundraising has not, and this total will continue to increase.
Final thanks must go to Di, who has supported me throughout. She has been carrying my luggage, going ahead to sort out our accommodation in unfamiliar towns and in foreign languages, washing my cycling gear in hotel wash basins, thereby allowing me to concentrate on the pedalling, sometimes up to 8pm at night, knowing that a bed and meal was arranged at the end of a hard day. She has also been proof reading and correcting my daily email reports, which as they have all been composed on a mobile phone, have needed plenty of corrections. Thank you, to you all. God bless you!
Eric
Saturday June 13 - Day Twenty
Our overnight stay at the ferry point turned out to be a real treat. It was a very small establishment with just 5 bedrooms and a vegetarian restaurant with a superb reputation. People come from miles around to enjoy their cuisine. For the first (and last) time on this trip, breakfast was served outdoors in very pleasant sunshine, and - remarkably - no wind.
We left at about 11am, a little later than usual, partly due to breakfast not being available until 9am, and partly due to Dutch guests wanting to engage in lengthy discussions about our journey. Not a problem as the mileage would be lower than in recent days.
Our first stop was at Dordrecht, a few miles away on the other side of our island, and claimed to be the oldest city in the Netherlands. We visited the Cathedral. Then 2 more ferries, 2 more islands, and one huge bridge, and I was in Rotterdam, and called in at the cathedral there too. Today's photo was taken very high up as I crossed the Rhine for the last time. This branch is now called the New Waterway. I think back to just over 2 weeks ago in Switzerland when the infant Rhine was trickling under the snow between the 2 wheels of my bike!
The Rhine Cycle Path, which I`ve been following since Andermatt, approx 950 miles ago, bizarrely ends at Rotterdam station. I want to go the extra 20 or so miles to where it finishes in the North Sea. I finally meet with Di at the Hook of Holland at 5.15pm. Time for a few quick photographs, but annoyingly I didn't take any on my mobile phone to be included in this report. We then put the bike into the car and hurry to Europort to catch the ferry to Hull. So its the end of the Rhine, but not the end of the journey. There's another 75 miles to do tomorrow from Hull to Harrogate, and the finish at St Mark's church.
Near Tockwith I will be met by some of the Wheel Easy cycling group that I've been cycling with for 2-3 years. It will be an emotional end to an epic journey.
I covered 46 miles today, making 1088 so far.
Best wishes,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Friday June 12 - Day Nineteen
Di and I had a late start this morning, partly due to fixing the punctured innertube after midnight, and partly because there was extra work this morning checking tyres and innertubes, and then packing up tools and repair kits. It was almost 11am when we finally departed. As Arnhem was behind me, and it was sunny again, I could look forward to a much better day. It was, of course, still windy and against me.
The first village I passed through had a most interesting and unusual name - see today's photograph.
It was another day using the cycle lanes at the side of roads, rather than following the Rhine Cycle Path which takes well over 100 miles to get from Arnhem to Dordrecht, whereas its only 62 miles by the shortest road route. Its not as though the Rhine Cycle Path follows the Rhine either. We are now in the Rhine Maas delta, and so both the Rhine and the Maas rivers keep splitting into several different courses, and sometimes they merge together again, sometimes they even cross over. As a result, there isn't one single course recognised as the River Rhine: the major ones are the Old Rhine, the Neder Rhine, the Lek, and the Waal. During the course of the day, we have been following all of these, and various others too, such as the Amsterdam Run, the Boven Merwede, and the Nieuwe Merwede. Confused? Welll so am I, but we don't have the problem of naming all the parts of a delta in the UK.
We finished the day at a small isolated guest house at a ferry point, a few miles from Dordrecht. At 6pm this was the earliest finish for many, many days. I covered 65 miles today, making a total of 1041 miles so far.
This is our last night on the continent. Tomorrow night we will be on the Rotterdam-Hull ferry., and then back to Harrogate, with an ETA at St Mark's around 6.15 pm. We are looking forward to seeing you all again.
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Thursday June 11 - Day Eighteen
The rain was lashing down when we woke. I checked the internet weather forecast for Arnhem, our main destination for the day, and found no cause for optimism: between 25 & 40mm of rain was expected!
I try not to harbour grudges, but Arnhem has pushed my tolerance to the limit. When we were planning the day's itinerary on Wednesday evening, I mentioned to Di that I had very unpleasant memories of Arnhem. On a summer holiday, circa 1979, l was driving through Arnhem when the gearbox on my Austin 1300GT gave up the ghost - well almost. It actually left me with just one gear: third! Perhaps Arnhem wasn't actually to blame, but it's rush hour traffic and lashing rain certainly didn't help, and have been etched in my subconscious ever since.
The rain had eased a little when Di and I left the hotel at Orsoy, but worse than the rain was the wind. This was the hardest wind I've had to face so far. The North Rhine Plain, as the Germans call this area, is more typically associated with the Netherlands. The landscape is almost featureless, there are few trees. Villages, also very few and far between, are hidden behind dykes. The Rhine is hidden behind a series of dykes. The cycle path runs parallel to the river but it is always on the other side of the biggest dyke, which means you can't even see the river, and the wind is being funnelled at you.
So it was quickly obvious that this was going to be an extremely hard day. After a while I opted for smooth cycle paths alongside the roads, rather than rougher paths along the dykes. At 3pm I met Di at Millingen aan de Rijn., which meant we had left Germany and arrived in the Netherlands. Not even a road sign had marked the event!
Two ferries, and a lot of rain later, I arrived in Arnhem. Just like 40 years ago it was the evening rush hour again, and it was lashing down with raiin. Could it get any worse? As I was leaving the city, I felt the handling of the bike change. The rear tyre was going flat. I had about 7 miles to go to tonight's hotel. I pumped up the tyre, hoping it would get me there. A few hundred yards further, it was flat again. So I'm now at the side of the A-road out of Arnhem, changing my inner tube. Repairs late at night showed I'd collected not one but two punctures in Arnhem!!!!
We are staying at Wageningen, which claims to be the 'City of Life Sciences', 15 miles west of Arnhem. I would be delighted for somebody in this university city to investigate my tortured relationship with Arnhem.
I completed 71 very hard miles, 976 in total . Sadly it was not a day to get a camera out, so today's photograph is of my third travelling companion: the Neema Crafts bracelet on the front top of my bike frame. This the reason for the journey!
Best wishes,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Wednesday June 10 - Day Seventeen
The big question this morning was whether we should travel on the east or west bank today. In this part of Germany, neither is noted for scenic beauty, and both have an excess of industrial infrastructure. I opted for the east bank as it includes Dusseldorf and Duisberg, two cities I've not visited before.
So after a visit to the church in Rheinkassel, next door to our hotel, it was a short ride to the car ferry to cross the Rhine yet again. Shortly afterwards I stopped to check my map, when another lycra-clad cyclist stopped to ask if I had a problem. We then cycled together chatting for the next 8 or 9 miles until he got to his home town.
Dusseldorf was a pleasant surprise, (see photo), where I met Di for lunch. Duisberg was not! It is sited at the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr, so as well as being Germany's largest port on the Rhine, it is also renown for its heavy industry. Blast furnaces dominate the skyline, and can be seen from many miles away. I found no reason to stop, not even for a coffee! The rain shower that descended on the city didn't help either.
At 6pm we stopped for the night 10 miles north of Duisberg, at Orsoy, a village encircled by ancient dykes.
57 miles covered today, 905 so far.
Best wishes,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Tuesday June 9 - Day Sixteen
Our overnight hotel at Andernach was in a lovely situation on the banks of the Rhine. In getting to the hotel the previous night, I'd seen ancient city walls and some wonderful buildings so I went for a ride around the town first, and spent some minutes inside their parish church.
Then it was northwards, and for some time this morning I found the wind was favourable to me - for the first time since crossing the Alps. I met Di for coffee at Bad Salzig, then on to Remagen, where there is now a peace museum inside the pillars of the former bridge. This was the only bridge over the Rhine that was still in tact when the Allies advanced in 1945. Hitler ordered the execution of all officers and soldiers for their failure to carry out his orders. The Allies poured so much heavy equipment over the bridge that it collapsed a few days later, and has never been rebuilt.
About 10 miles north of Remagen the cycle path crosses from west to east bank of the river. So I had a 15 minute delay waiting for the car ferry to arrive. Its not just cars and bicycles that fit onto these small ferries - see photo. After only 3 miles, the cycle path crosses back again. This time I'd just missed the ferry, so had to wait on the slipway for 30 minutes, which coincided with a thunder storm. There is just nowhere for a cyclist to shelter on a slipway on the Rhine!.
The ferry took me to Bad Godesburg on the west bank, where I met up with Di for a very very delayed lunch, and cafes are hard to find in this suburb of Bonn, used by corporate head offices and foreign embassies. At 4pm I set off again. Bonn and Cologne are ahead. Huge petrochemical refineries, power stations, and other industrial complexes fill the gaps in between. Then to the north of Cologne there are miles of the Ford plant at Merkenich to pass. So it will be well over 30 miles before we can get to a quiet village for the night. I paused passing through the centre of Cologne for some photographs and a few quiet minutes in the cathedral.
At 7.30 I arrived at Rheinkassel, which is just north of Leverkusen (on the opposite bank). 67 miles today, 848 so far.
Best wishes,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Monday June 8 - Day Fifteen
Today is the section of river that Di and I had been looking forward to more than any other. In October it will be 25 years ago that we came to the Rhine Gorge on our honeymoon. The river enters the gorge at Rudesheim, and exits at Koblenz, some 45 miles further north.
For all that distance, the wine terraces rise almost vertically from the water's edge, athough somehow, a road and a railway is squeezed in on either shore, and villages are sighted wherever there are a few inches of flat land. And then there are the castles. Every village can boast at least one or two castles - no doubt years ago the relationship was reversed! The castles are mostly sighted perched precarously, high up on rocky outcrops, but some are on islands in the middle of the river, where they could extract tolls from the passing ships. Most castles are ruins, but some are now very fine hotels. This is the area where legends abound, giving it the title "The Romantic Rhine".
Thankfully the weather was good today. At Rudesheim the cycle path transfers from the east bank to the west bank by the car ferry from Rudesheim to Bingen. Di and I agreed to meet at St Goar for lunch. Above the village is Burg Rheinfels, a castle with a hotel, one where we stayed 25 years ago. Just before St Goar you must pass the Loreley rock. Did this traveller hear the sirens singing, trying to lure me onto the rock on the other side? Yes, there were plenty of wonderful sounds as I passed by. And was I tempted from my bicycle? Nah - I stayed on this side of the river with Di, just as I did 25 years ago.
Our late afternoon rendezvous was Koblenz, and then a further 15 miles to Andernach for our overnight stop. I had covered 60 magical miles, 781 so far.
Best wishes,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Sunday June 7 - Day Fourteen
I haven't mentioned the weather for many days, as I didn't want to tempt providence....... I can now do so. Yesterday was Day 14 of the ride. During the first 13 days, I have not felt one drop of rain when cycling. Yesterday brought the magnificent spell of dry weather to an end.
As our guest house was in the centre of Worms, with the Evangelical church (on the left of the photo) and the Catholic cathedral (silhouetted on the right) both within a 2 minute walk, it would be a wonderful opportunity to join a German service of worship. We thought we'd be more familiar with the Evangelical service, which started at 10 am. I was disappointed there were no prayer books, order of service sheets, or bibles with which to help us follow the service. It was also a confirmation service for 6 teenagers, which probably added to the length of the service. After 2 hours, we had received communion, and felt it was time for us to leave the service before it had ended, and get on the road.
We returned to the guest house so I could change into cycling clothes. In the meantime the heavens opened and we got thoroughly soaked just packing our cases into the car. This was not going to be a day for getting cameras out. Di and I agreed to meet for a late lunch at Niersteiin 25 miles further north. I'm sure many of you will remember drinking bottles of Niersteiiner Gutes Domtal wine in the 1970s. When I got there I was towelling myself down and trying not to look like a drowned rat. A local, also sheltering from the rain, told me that I hadn't brought good weather with me, and then went on to say it had been pouring there for 2 days non-stop.
Di and I met again at Mainz at 5pm to see the. city centre and its cathedral, by which time the rain was starting to ease, and I was later able to take my waterproof jacket off for the final leg of the day's journey - 25 miles to Rudesheim, all of it along unmetalled paths alongside the Rhine. It should have been wonderful. Instead the paths were an absolute quagmire after all the rain. Progress was very slow, very dirty, very slippery, and with little opportunity to lift your eyes from the treacherous track to admire the scenery. It was 8pm when I finally reached Rudesheim, both myself and my bike extremely muddy. I'd covered 59 miles, and 720 in total. Sampling some local wine over our very late dinner was a brighter end to a somewhat disappointing day, but 1 out of 14 ain't bad on this wonderful journey.
Best wishes,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Saturday June 6 - Day Thirteen
You will have gathered that the Rhine has been very subdued for the last 5 days. In summary, the river has had a wide flood plain with towns and villages sited well away from it. I have been cycling mainly on rough tracks, either through woodland or on the top of flood dykes. Between leaving Basel on Tuesday morning and lunchtime today (Saturday) I covered over 200 miles, but visited only one town of any size - Strasbourg. I have been alongside the river for only about 50 of those miles, snd saw only 4 Rhine barges in 4 days.
From midday Saturday the Rhine has come out of hiding; cities, towns, villages, industry and power stations will now come thick and fast!! 25 miles north of our overnight stop, we arrived at Speyer. The cathedral dominates the skyline for miles, & so was our first port of call (see photo).
A wonderful old street runs 800 yards from the cathedral to a tower at the other end, with many wonderful historic buildings crammed between. After 2 hours in Speyer, I cycled 22 miles to Ludwigshafen, and then crossed the river to its twin city: Mannheim. Both cities are renowned for their heavy industry and between them make up Europe's second largest river port. Mannheim is synonymous with Siemens, Ludwigshafen with BASF - with its miles and miles of chemical refineries. I wanted to make the detour to Mannheim to see its street grid layout, similar to Manhatten. The layout is not due to post-war reconstruction, but to the city fathers' planning well over a century ago. The city was a very pleasant surprise, although the narrow streets were gridlocked with cars and trams, and I was able to get round far faster on bike! Then a further 18 miles brought me to Worms at 7pm for our overnight stay. I'd covered 66 miles in the day, making a total of 662 so far. Worms is another city steeped in history, especially with Martin Luther and the reformation movement in the sixteenth Century.
Di had come straight up the Autobahn from Speyer to Worms to find our accommodation for the night, and avoiding the traffic of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim.
We would both like to thank you all for the various messages of encouragement we have received by text and email. Our wonderful nextdoor neighbour, Cherrie, has asked how Di is coping with the experience. So here's Di's response.
"Whilst Eric is cycling, I drive ahead to find cafés for our various refreshment stops. We've had delicious fresh asparagus soups and goulash soups for lunch, and tarts or ice creams for the afternoon stop. After that I go on to our evening destination to look for accommodation. So far the hotels and guest houses have been wonderfully friendly and welcoming, and I've had few problems communicating, despite my lack of foreign languages.
"Driving has been pretty good - thank heavens for Sat Nav! I certainly wouldn't have been able to do this driving on my own.
"We've visited some wondeful places, but sadly there's not enough time to spend at each. I'm particularly looking forward to next week as we will be travelling through the Rhine gorge and some of the villages where we stayed on our honeymoon."
Best wishes to all.
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Friday June 5 - Day Twelve
When Di and I stayed in a village close to Strasbourg in April, we dined in a restaurant, and the bill turned out to be well over twice what we usually expect to pay for a meal out, with wine, in the UK. It was over £100, and therefore, by far, our most expensive meal ever. But it was Di's birthday, and the alternative of a pizzeria wouldn't have gone down so well!!!!
Now move the clocks forward 7 weeks. Last night we dined in the restaurant of our hotel, in another small village near Strasbourg, and - blow me down - this time the bill was even higher, even though we only had 2 courses, and the cheapest wine !!!
This morning continental breakfast was going to cost us a further £30, so we decided to do the very British thing and pedal like fury for the border and have breakfast in Germany, with a saving of £25!
Surely, these prices are not typical throughout France? Forgive me for thinking that it's the expense accounts of the European Parliament and associated workers that have raised prices around Strasbourg way above elsewhere in Europe. We will not be venturing across the border into France again on this trip!
Today I've covered 72 miles, from La Wantzenau, north of Strasbourg, to Neupotz about 10 miles north of Karlsruhe, on the western side, making 596 miles in total so far. Strangely I have seen very little of the Rhine today. Originally the land here was boggy marshland, with the Rhine taking a multitude of courses through the area. The villages and towns are therefore several miles from the river. Even more amazing is that the Rhine is now about 30 feet higher than the surrounding country, as can be seen on today's photo. The Rhine Cycle Path has hardly been close to the Rhine on this section. Instead it hops from village to village a few miles back from the river. The routes between the villages are on cycle paths on top of the 'hochwasserdamm' - the 5 metre high dykes that run parallel to the Rhine, protecting the villages in the event of a flood. The character of the Rhine is still subdued - but this will change in a few days time when we reach the Rhine Gorge.
Best wishes
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Thursday June 4 - Day Eleven
Its European Parliament Election Day, and hopefully you have all been exerting your democratic rights. So where have we been today? Appropriately to Strasbourg and to the European Parliament (see photograph). Its 44 days since Di and I were last here!
We applied for postal votes for the elections some time before we left home, but the postal vote forms were not scheduled to be despatched until after we left Harrogate. So we had to resort to proxy voting, and appointed our daughter, Rebecca, as our proxy. So she will be following our instructions (we hope!) and voting on our behalf tonight. We are sending her our instructions by text from Strasbourg to Yorkshire in order to send our elected MEP from Yorkshire to Strasbourg. The symmetry appeals to me!
Strasbourg has another symmetry for us too. Today I cycled 45 miles, so the total now exceeds 500 miles, 524 to be precise. So half the distance has been covered and half is still to come.
Over the last few days I have been cycling hard into a strong headwind, over many miles of rough surfaces, and up to 7pm or later. Initially it was to catch up on the day's delay crossing the St Gotthard Pass, but I am now slightly ahead of schedule. Today's target was to reach Strasbourg, but we are staying at La Wantzenau, France, 10 miles further north. I therefore allowed myself to stop at 4pm instead of setting off on another 20 mile stint. So Di and I are having a relaxing evening and I'm able to send out the "captain's log" much earlier than over the last few days.
Best wishes,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Wednesday June 3 - Day Ten
Rivers can have heart and soul and character. When you are the biggest river in Europe, you have all three in abundance, but - like the comedian who wants to relax quietly when offstage - there are times and places where the Rhine has its quieter moments. Basel to Strasbourg comes into this category.
The 2 cities are 100 miles apart, and between them there is only one small town touching the river: Breisach am Rhein. For most of the 100 miles the Rhine is bypassed by the Grand Canal d'Alsace. All commercial traffic uses the Grand Canal alongside, leaving the Rhine as a shallow side show, which hardly anybody can see. It is shrouded on either side by woodland. Even travellers on the nearby A5 autobahn see nothing through the woods. Typically the woodland strip is about 50 yards wide, then comes the rough track that is the cycle path. Then another 50 yards of woodland, 150 yards of the slow moving shallow river, another 150yards of woodland, and then the 200 yard wide Grand Canal.
This forms a green corridor, a linear nature reserve and bird sanctuary. The river is used by fishermen, by yacht clubs, by families playing in the water. It also appears to be used as a vast water management system so the shallow sections can, when required, be flooded into a vast reservoir, to save the towns and cities further downstream.
We had a very late start at 11 am on Wednesday. I first had to negotiate the suburbs of Basel, which took longer than expected when I my bike tyres got stuck in the tram tracks, so I had to pedal furiously twice round the city in front of the number 6 tram!!!
We diverted into Bad Bellingen and Breisach for refreshments, and finished the day at Rheinhausen about 20 miles north of Breisach, 2 or 3 miles east of the river. I covered 62 miles, of which 55 were off road on gravel and shale tracks. The bike and tyres took a very hard pounding - as did my undercarriage! I have now completed a total of 477 miles so far.
On the cycle path through the next village to where we're staying I passed the swans. I couldn't count all the cygnets, but reckon there were 8 or 9.
Best wishes,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Tuesday June 2- Day Nine
A huge landmark today............ we've reached Basel. There are many reasons why this is such a landmark on our journey.
1. I have attached to my handlebars a reference book and map on the Rhine Cycle Path from Andermatt to Rotterdam. This comes in three volumes. Volume 1 has brought me to Basel. I now start using Volume 2: Basel to Mainz.
2. After the first 100 yards this morning, we will be out of Switzerland. So we have completed Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, and now Switzerland.
3. We put our Swiss francs away. We won't need them any longer. Euros only from now on. We've had to carry and use both currencies almost every day so far.
4. Its the end of Swiss cuisine.
5. The river changes. Yesterday's section had several hydro electric power stations preventing navigation. Basel is the start of the commercial traffic on the river. It was quite a shock when the cycle path, which had taken me away from the river for a few miles, brought me back to the river. It was quite a surprise to be cycling through woods and suddenly encountering the first of what will be hundreds, if not thousands, of Rhine barges. This one was turning round in the river at the end of its journey. Others were moored at their berths alongside the vast petrol storage tanks, and the coal stockpiles. I'd always wondered how far upstream the largest barges could go. The answer is they go all the way to Basel. There are no small or medium size barges here!
6. The river turns 90 degrees and goes due north. From our 6th floor hotel window we can see the Swiss mountains looking one way, and the other way we see the silhouettes of the Black Forest and the Vogues mountains, with the huge Rhine plain in between. I can see my route for the next 2 days!
Yesterday I finished cycling at 7.30pm, having completed 55 miles making a total of 414 miles. We're right on my original schedule. The photograph is of part of Beuggen Castle, where the cycle path goes right through the building! The castle is now used as an Evangelical hotel and conference centre.
Yesterday evening I fell asleep on the bus bringing us back to the hotel from our meal in Basel. I then fell asleep as soon as I got into the bedroom, and didn't wake until 8 am this morning. I must have been tired! That's why this report is later than usual!
Best wishes
Eric and Di
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Monday June 1- Day Eight
Last night we stayed at a small guesthouse in the village of Horn on the shore of Lake Constance. We dined outdoors, as we have most nights, and were treated to a spectacular sunset over the lake. This morning we also had a beautiful sunrise over the lake, but sadly breakfast was only available indoors.
Unusually, I got into the car for a drive to the town of Konstanz, 1 hour further along the lake, as I'd already cycled this route yesterday. Starting from Konstanz, I cycled 20 miles to Stein-am-Rhein before lunch. All this section was alongside the "Untersee", which is another lake, like a finger off Lake Constance. Each village has its own marina, and even on a Monday morning there were many yachts and dinghies out sailing in its waters.
At Stein, the Rhine re-emerges as a river after 60 miles in 2 lakes. Its no longer the same ice cold, grey/white glacial melt water that flowed into Lake Constance, but now a warmer, crystal clear aquamarine colour, with many leisure craft using it. 10 miles further downsteam we arrived at Schaffhausen, where the Rhine cascades over the largest waterfall in Europe. It is 150 metres wide, and falls 80 feet. Its the most remarkable part of the entire river. A truly awesome sight and sound, which a mobile phone camera can hardly do justice to - see attachment.
I then cycled another 20 miles before stopping for the night. I completed 51 miles today, 359 miles so far, and I lost count of the number of times I've crossed borders between Switzerland and Germany today, but it must have been about 10. Unlike on roads, border crossings are rarely marked on cycle paths, so you have to pick up clues in villages, like different flags, or prices advertised outside shops in different currencies. We are stayng the night near Hohentengen, which is in Germany - I think - but if we move 100 yards across the river we would definitely be back in Switzerland.
Regards,
Eric and Di
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
Sunday May 31st -Day Seven
As I'd been cycling until well after 7 pm on Friday and Saturday, I was looking forward to a shorter day today. But first I needed to spend some time on bike maintenance. With a lot of off-road riding over the past 3 days, it was time to clean and lubricate the chain. It was finally about I0.15am when I started on the round trip of Lake Constance.
Starting on the southern side of the lake at Rorschach (in Switzerland), I continued westwards to Constance, (Germany) where I met Di and we took the car ferry north to Meersburg. I then headed eastwards for Friedrichshafen, where Di and I had lunch and visited the Zeppelin Museum (see today's photo). Zeppelins were built in Friedrichshafen, which was also the main terminal for their journeys around the world. The museum is housed in the original terminal building.
Afterwards I continued eastward to Lindau (Germany)and Bregenz (Austria), and finally to cross the River Rhine at Fussach where I joined Lake Constance yesterday. The round trip was just over 70 miles, taking my total mileage to 307 so far.
Lake Constance is one of the Mecca's of cycling, with cycle paths all the way round, so there is hardly any need to go on the roads. At the weekend, four generations of Swiss, German and Austrian families are all out slowly cycling around their section of the lake. So it is unbelievably congested on the narrow paths, and progress is much slower than I expected. Consequently it was well after 7pm (yet again!!!!) when I finished.
Eric
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Saturday May 30th- Day Six
Hello, goodbye Liechtenstein! Hello, goodbye, Austria!
We started today with breakfast in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland. We had lunch in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, afternoon tea in Lustenau, Austria, followed by dinner in Rorschack, Switzerland., on the shores of Lake Constance. I've covered 59 miles today, to make the total so far 236 miles. Of today's miles, I would guess that 20 were in Liechtenstein (i.e: its entire length from south to north), 25 miles in Austia, and the remaining 14 miles in Switzerland.
Most of today's miles have been along cycle paths on top of the flood defence dykes that run either side of the Rhine. The dykes are very high - about 50 feet above the river - and therefore very exposed to the wind. Some time ago I read in one book on the Rhine Cycle Path that the prevailing wind was upsteam, so that cycling upsteam from the North Sea to the source could be easier than following the river downstream. The local cyclist I was talking to yesterday also made the same point. I now also support that view. Today I have dropped 100 metres vertically in almost 60 miles - less than 2 metes per mile, which is not noticeable. However I have been cycling into a very strong wind all the time. Cyclists travelling upstream have been moving very much faster than those travelling downsteam. My 59 miles today have taken the effort of at least 75 miles around Yorkshire.
So we are now by Lake Constance, and almost back on schedule, despite crossing the St Gotthard Pass one day later than expected earlier in the week. We've covered a quarter of the total distance, and feeling good and strong. Today's photo was taken when crossing the Rhine into Liechtenstein.
Best wishes to all.
Eric and Diane
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Friday May 29th- Day Five
Parts of Friday we will want to forget - but we'll deal with the downside later.
So the highlights first. We started at Trun, and finished at Bad Ragaz. I covered 55 miles today (177 miles so far) - several more than Di, as the Rhine Cycle Route has today taken me on the most scenic routes, often unmetalled, rather than the shortest route.
We walked around Trun and visited the church before setting off at 10.30. My route took me high up the valley sides to look down on the Rhine going through a spectacular gorge. About 2pm I was on the phone to Di agreeing our lunch rendezvous, when a cyclist going in the opposite direction stopped and asked me where I was going. We talked for several minutes, and he was moved to tears when I told him of my ride for Neema Crafts. He wanted Di and I to stay with him and his wife for the night, but realised we needed to move on and would be far away by the evening.
We had a late lunch at Reichenau, where the two main branches of the Rhine (Vorderrhein & Hinterrhein)converge, doubling its width to about 50 metres.
About 4pm Di was passing through Chur. Her car was at a standstill in a queue of traffic when a lorry travelling in the opposite direction turned across the road and scraped the rear wing of the car. Nothing too serious, and no personal injuries. Di can't speak German, and the lorry driver couldn't speak English. Di had got the driver's name and address, but he couldn't/wouldn't provide any insurance details. So Di phoned me, fortunately I was arriving in Chur. Di was 'by a bridge over a smaller river'. I found her at the fifth bridge. I called the emergency services, and requested the police, who arrived in 5 minutes, and let them sort it out. The whole incident delayed us by an hour, but we were so thankful that it was not serious and we can continue with our plans. With another 20 miles to go, it was 7.20 pm when I finally crossed the Rhine and arrived in Bad Ragaz for the night.
Best wishes,
Eric & Di
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Thursday May 28th - Day Four
Eric reaches the top of the Overalp pass and (below) the local newspaper
Woke up this morning at 3am, and couldn't get back to sleep - the adrenelin was still pumping after the achievements and surprises of Wednesday.
The cloud base this morning was very low, so there would be no visibility on the Oberalp Pass. We therefore had a very relaxed breakfast to allow time for the weather to brighten. We bought the Lucerne daily paper (Luzerner Zeitung), and there was the article on the opening of the St Gotthard Pass under the headline "Die ersten Velofahrer erklimmen den Gotthardpass" i.e. the first cyclist climbs St Gotthard Pass (see photo 1).
It was after 11 when I finally started the climb up the Oberalp Pass, but as it started from our hotel door, I first cycled round Andermatt for a quick warm up, but it was so cold I stopped to put on more layers and long trousers. The summit of Oberalp Pass, at 6713', is only slightly lower than St Gotthard, but as it starts from a much higher base, it was not as long and tough as yesterday. The summit was reached about 1.30 pm (see photo 2).
An hour later I started the descent down many hairpin bends. A couple of miles or so after the summit, we had planned to make a 2-hour walk from the road to the source of the River Rhine, but the snow made this impossible. I went along the track as far as I could by bike, and got to within about 1 mile of the source. The mighty Rhine was a small stream running down the rocks, and disappearing under the blanket of snow. After that I rejoined the hairpin bends and some miles later the Rhine Cycle Path left the main road to take me along some rough forest tracks alongside the river.
Tonight we are at Trun, halfway between Andermatt and Chur. I've covered 33 miles today, of which the first 7 were very steep up the Pass; the next 18 were fast downhill, and the final 8 were off road. Total mileage so far is now 123.
Regards,
Eric and Di
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Wednesday May 27th - Day Three
Today turned out to be a day Di and I will never forget.
It was a relief to see the rain had stopped this morning, and although the sun was shining there was a strong wind chill in the air. I had put two cycling shirts on, but even so the waiter came out of the hotel to warn me that it would be extremely cold and I would see lots of snow. Sounded ominous!
I decided to start at the bottom of the Pass & cycle from Airolo again, although when I found the very strong wind against me I wasn't sure this was wise. Di was stopped by a queue of several cars at the start of the Pass until the stroke of 11am when a workman drove up and allowed them to proceed. By this time I was a mile or so ahead, oblivious to the fact that an important event was taking place. This was the grand opening of the Pass after the winter. My planning prior to the ride had told me it normally reopens in April, but the exceptional snow this winter has delayed the reopening weeks later than usual. I kept adding extra layers of clothes as I climbed higher. Long trousers, full gloves, light jacket, heavy jacket, overjacket, and winter helmet all went on. Thankfully I had all my winter cycling clothing in the car. After going through a steep tunnel 1.8km long, the road emerged towards the summit, cut through snow over 12 feet deep. The temperature had dropped to 2 degrees, but the wind chill took it much lower. Finally I reached the summit where Di was waiting - and the press! Unwittingly I had become the first cyclist to climb the St Gotthard Pass this year. So Di and I were photographed and interviewed by the Luzerne Zeitung and the story of the charity ride should appear in tomorrow's edition!
The journey from the summit down to Andermatt was fairly quick, but the very strong wind took away the prospect of any pleasure. It was extremely nerve racking with some very long drops down the side of the road, and without the protection of any crash barriers. So it was brakes on most of the way, and keeping the bike as close to the centre of the road as possible.
Tomorrow we will tackle the Oberalp Pass - weather permitting.
Eric and Di
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Tuesday May 26th- Day Two
Tuesday started so well....
I cycled from Lavorgo to Airolo, which is where the St Gotthard Pass starts. It was 15 miles but a hard climb from 2,000' to 3,800'. After an early lunch of soup, I was ready to start on the Pass, which would take me up to over 6,900' and put us right back on schedule.
As the road snaked its way up the mountainside, Airolo got smaller with each hairpin bend (see photo). Then the road became cobbled, so like it or not, I was on the old road. After a few miles, where the old and new roads crossed, a soldier was blocking the old road because of snow ahead, and directed us onto the new road. We proceeded a mile or so further up the new road, when first Di, then I, was stopped by workmen, saying we could go no further, snow was still being cleared higher up. The road was expected to reopen at 11am tomorrow. At this point we were close to 6,000'. Very disappointed, we turned round and it took me about 10 minutes to get down what had taken me over 90 minutes to climb up!
So here we are delayed in Airolo. We booked into a hotel about 3pm, and a few minutes later the bright sunshine was replaced by thunder and lightning. The storm has now been raging for over 3 hours, and we are so glad we had to turn back as we would have been very high in the mountains in the most atrocious weather. So we'll try again tomorrow.
The big question is now whether I cycle all the way up again, or go by car to the point I got to today. I think I'll sleep on that one, and I'll try not to be influenced by the fact that Jon & Jen Dening are sponsoring me per mile!!!
Eric
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Monday May 25th - Day One
Yesterday (Sunday) was our day of rest, we had a very enjoyable time travelling around Lake Maggiore and the Ticino region using 2 trains and 2 lake ferries. With the closure of the St Gotthard Pass, we also worked out our various options depending on when the pass might reopen. Our favoured option (Plan B) would be to take Monday and Tuesday to cycle to Airolo, (where the St Gotthard Pass starts), hoping that it would reopen on Wednesday.
So before leaving Locarno this morning, we went to the Tourist Office where they confirmed it wa still due to reopen on Wednesday. They suggested we should visit the Swiss Touring Club (the equivalent of our AA) as they may have better information. There we we're told that the pass would be reopened today. We then drove to Luino in Italy to start the ride at 11.45 am. With the late start, it would be impossible to get to Airolo in one day, so Plan B is in operation. The attached photo was taken as I left Italy and crossed into Switzerland.
The temperature has been very hot. Our daughter, Rebecca, told us she was sunbathing at home in the heat of 18 degrees. Today we got to 33 degrees! So I have had to plaster on Factor 40, three times today. However I made excellent progress and ended the day at 5.45pm in Lavorgo, having completed 48 miles. The last 5 miles involved a continuous steep climb with several hairpin bends which was a good insight into what the next 2 or 3 days hold in store. I've climbed from 600' on Lake Maggiore to 2000', and I'm amazed to have averaged nearly 16 mph overall today.
A great start after the problems of Saturday.
Eric and Di
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Sunday May 24th
We left Basle on Saturday morning at 10.30, and had a glorious drive using quiet country roads through beautiful Swiss scenery. The weather was excellent, and as our altitude increased, so did the temperature, to the extent that I was getting concerned about the difficulties of hard cycling uphilll in such heat.
It was therefore a tremendous shock to get to Andermatt in sweltering heat at 4pm and find the St Gotthard Pass - our route to Lake Maggiore - was closed. We know the pass is closed throughout the winter months, but it normally reopens in April. We then spent the next hour trying to get more information - which was not helped by the Tourist Office being closed on Saturdays and Sundays!!!!. I can't believe it in a country that otherwise caters so wonderfully for tourists. We eventually discovered there had been a very heavy snow storm in the last few days, blocking the pass again. The official view is that it may be reopened on Wednesday, but some locals think it may take another 2 weeks! I was devastated by the news.
Our immediate problems were to find a new route to Lake Maggiore,. We took a very much longer detour which included the Oberalp Pass, eventually arriving at Lake Maggiore after 8pm, several hours later than expected. We therefore opted to stay the night in Locarno, rather than further south across the Italian border. We had great difficulty in finding accommodation in Locarno as the hot weather had brought an influx of tourists. After visiting numerous hotels we finally found one with one vacant room which we gladly accepted. The photo attached is Lake Lucarno just before dark.
I'm now thinking about Plans B, C & D for cycling back to Andermatt, depending on when the pass will reopen.