Stage 5 - Boppard to Worms - 156 km

I.ve got Worms, and I.m proud of it! Today was a little longer than I had planned, but what have I actually planned so far anyway? I departed my new friends in Boppard and promised that my parents would be back there before I would! But then again, you never know! My goal was to get to Mainz and see what it looked like from there. It was a very nice portion of the Rhine to cycle, or up to about 10 km from Mainz. When I got there, it was definitely not what I had in mind, so I grabbed a quick bite at a convenience store and took off further south with Grensheim in mind. The last 15 km before Grensheim were dirt, and at times I wish I were on my mountain bike. But fortunately with 36 spokes and a wide enough tire, I was able to manage. What I was really hoping was to spot a nude sun bather, female of course, along the way. Since leaving Mainz the river seems less travelled and the path is more secluded. I.m not sure what the difference is, must not be enough AOB.s for people to see. So I got to Grensheim and they were having a festival with ferris wheel rides, throw your money at junk and get a shitty prize, that kind of thing. I thought SWEET, this will be the place to be! Unfortunately in a really small town, this means there isn.t many places to stay, and I only found one, and was not interested. So I whipped out TT and pointed myself towards Worms. I figured 130 kms down, what.s another 20? I got the last room at this decent hotel for €46 including breakfast. I.m just glad I found a place as the other 3 were filled. I.m not sure what my plan is for tomorrow but my original plan has been to end in Mannheim which is maybe 50 km away. I may try and hook up with Tim Green in Heidelberg and I don.t even know him! He.s the army brother of Jeff Green that I know in Atlanta. There.s a surprise email for both of you if you.re checking the blog first! I think that.s it.... Later

Tourist day on the Rhein

"Look kids, Parliament, Big Ben." So I was talked into playing tourist today. The hotel owner conned me into coming back here for the night after seeing Brigden and Bacharach. I was going to cycle down and back, but WHY when you can ride the train! So I figured out how to buy a ticket on the platform and get on the right train on the right platform. A little more confusing than it sounds, but not too difficult, even though I can.t read a lick on the machine. Both towns were nice, not much to go into without pictures, just more AOB.s. It was nice, but I learned also that cycle touring is cheaper than regular touristy touring. It cost €15 for a RT ticket, then another €12-€15 to get into the tourist attractions. Cycling cost to ride on the paths, €0! Although I may not get much "cultural" information along the way, I still see some of the same sights and it doesn.t cost a dime, er, Euro. Now I am back for dinner at the hotel, which they only do a couple times per week, they insisted I come so why not! Tomorrow I don.t know how far I will travel, probably to Mainz or near there. If the town looks too big, I.ll just keep going. I found this place by following the 'I' for Information to the town centre and asking them where to stay. I had not tried that before but I recommend doing so for all of you reading and I will probably do the same tomorrow. Time to go drink and be merry, or find Mary! Prost!

Was this staged, or did Klaus make me drink this much? Prost, mom and dad!

Stage 4 - Cochem to Boppard - 83 km

Wow, thanks for everyone blowing up my Yahoo! Inbox with birthday wishes! I appreciate it, even though I.m not much for birthdays. But it.s very nice all the same! Yes, I am taking the time to change the z to y, when appropriate! I.m tired of it, but oh well!

"DIIIIIING" I.m finally a Euro cyclist, I bought a bell to go on my handlebar. You don.t say "On your left" over here, you just ring your bell and they get the picture pretty quickly, or ring it twice and they really do! Cochem is an awesome little town on the Mosel, I highly recommend it! I went to the Richesburg (spelling?) Castle, but it closed when I got there after 17:00. Oh well, it.s just A.O.B. (Another Old Building), there are a lot of them on my camera that you will get to see when I get back. Last night I had a relaxing dinner and sat out on the veranda reading my book having a drink. Today I made my way toward Koblenz. On the Rhein, the bike path is on both sides of the river, for the most part. On the Mosel, it flip\flops! The guy at the bike shop told me which side to be on, and when to flop, but I assumed it went all the way! The last 15 km was on a some what busy road into Koblenz and I booked it all the way! After the first 60 kms, I averaged 29.26 kph, which is pretty fast with that much load! I will have to admit, I can.t go slow, I don.t think I know how. Maybe group counseling will help, but I doubt it! Cyclist aren.t known for patience or NOT watching their odometer..... It.s a drug, what can I say? So I got to Koblenz and took the ritual picture of where the Mosel and Rhein meet, then I headed south again. By the way, it.s REALLY confusing because the river flows NORTH. Almost every river in the USA flows south. So it.s hard to think of going south when the river is going north, or maybe it.s just me..... With looming storm clouds ahead, I stopped for lunch, for TWO hours. After the rain passed I figured I might as well head south because two cappuccinos later, I was in no position to sit still. So I rode for another 23 kms to this little town of Boppard. Very quaint, and I finally talked with some Americans that are staying here as well. Live in Charlotte, God help them, but nice people. I went to the local grocery store and got dinner for €6.70, including a bottle of Australian Cabernet!!! They must be making a LOT of money off of us in the States if they can sell a bottle for €1.70! Maybe it.s my small town upbringing (Blairstucky), but I love these little towns! Koln and Koblenz were "too big" for my taste, but this town is just right, and the price is right too! I.m staying at a 'Bitte and bike' for €33, including breakfast! The beds are small, but the price is right. And, it has a very homely feel to it. The owners are very nice and even gave me a sample of the local red wine. Very good, surprisingly!

Notes from Europe: No one else wears shorts, except tourists. The women in Denmark are much prettier than in Germany. Too much bratwurst, not enough exercise. I never liked German women anyway! HA! There must be a lot of sex in Koln, with the rabbit population that is.... There were rabbits EVERYWHERE, very weird. No one really acknowledges you on the paths. Hardly a wave or anything when you pass someone, coming or going. I must look like a real tourist when I actually acknowledge someone... Whatever, I won.t see them again, and they couldn.t keep up anyway!

So that.s it for today. I think I may take it easy tomorrow and sleep in, then head to Bacharach. Amy (my lil sis) told me it.s very worth spending a few days there, so I may do so. I did notice the hills from yesterday.s ride, but took some vitamin 'I' which remedied it! So we shall see, I.m on no time frame and I think ahead of schedule. Prost! Ciao! Tschuss!

This is what I thought after 55 k, traveling 29.26 kph!

A view of the Rhein from Boppard. Dinner, gelato and a walk on the boardwalk!

My hostess in Boppard.

Stage 3 - Altenahr to Cochem - 72 km

This is what I thought of the gravel path to Neuburg at about 8% grade. Yes, I had to use the granny gear.....

Greetings y'all! I have 26 minutes to tzpe this so disregard the z's.... Wow, what a trip. What can I saz? Zesterdaz's post came via text message to mz friend Brzan, which he relazed. Thanks Brz! It has been rather chillz everz morning and evening so far, and doesn.t warm up until after noon. But I.m not complaining because the sun has been out the last two dazs! Unfortunatelz I can.t download pictures on this internet cafe computer, otherwise I.d show zou all a few pics.

I did decide to take the mountain route todaz instead of back tracking. It was worth it! TomTom (just TT in the future) gave me the perfect route, which the ladz at the Inn last night confirmed. Oh, bz the waz, the place was close to a dump, but she spoke English prettz well and I can.t complaing at €30, including breakfast! Anzwaz, I ended up going on mostlz roads todaz, instead of all bike paths!! Whoo, hooo!!! Even though it was hillz, I still went faster than zesterdaz! I am not complaining about the paths, but thez are just slower than the roads. For mz czcling friends, think of the back side of Woodz.s, over and over again. It was just a bunch of continuous small climbs and a few good decents. The last one into Cochem was AWESOME, just like the front side of Woodz.s!!!! I was riding the cars bumpers all the waz down, twisting and turning! What a rush with a lot heavier bike and gear! Anzwaz, I went bz Nurburgring about 25 k.s into the ride, which is a Formula 1 race course, or so I heard. I wish I knew how long it was, but considering how long it took for me to get from one side to the other, I.d saz prettz long. Mark and Rick would have been in heaven as I saw both Porche and Beemers out practicing or just driving the hell out of their own personal cars. And this area must be like the Gaps, because there are crotch rockets everzwhere..... But harmless so far! Tomorrow I plan on going back to the Rhein along the Mosel river which I am stazing on tonight. I splurged a little and got a €66 hotel for the night, but it includes dinner and breakfast. Let.s see, a room and breakfast for €63 or all for €66? Go figure. Ok, I have 4 minutes.... Thanks to everzone for the birthdaz wishes. Fortunatelz it.s just another daz 6' 4" above ground! But I.m in a beautiful place seeing at bz bike. AWESOME. Oh, bz the waz, I have not seen anz Mexicans and hardlz anz Americans. Someone asked, what can I saz? :) Time to go. Til next time, PROST!

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!

I think I know where Waylon, Willy and the boys would be, if they were in Germany!

A view of the Mosel river from Reichsburg Castle in Cochem.

A view of the castle from the Mosel.

Stage 2 - Koln to Altenahr - 102 km

Stage 2 - Koln to Altenahr, 102 km. Great daz, great weather, good but short companz with Harold from Hamburg! Maz take mtn. route to Mosel River tomorrow instead of back tracking to the Rhein about 25 km. Czclists HATE to back track! Later!

Bry

Not a bad trade. He needed an extra tube, I'll always drink a cappuccino!
Here is a view down on the cute town of Altenahr. Pic below is from the ruin overlooking the town.

Don't adjust your screen, I like B & W!

Stage 1 - Dusseldorf to Köln - 82 km

Rain, not really the way I wanted to start this trip!

I had this idea to write my own WBL version of my ride today, but this keyboard is metal & fixed to the table....... So unfortunately this will probably be a boring €2 (2 Euro, like dollars, but cost more!) post. There is one good thing about not knowing where you are going, you're never lost!!! TomTom can't help too much because I'm not using any roads, but I did reference it a few times just to mke sure I'm heading in the right direction. Basically I went south & kept the Rhine on my right. I waited until 10:00 to leave, after the rain stopped, then took lunch @ 12:30 because it started raining REALLY hard. I call it perfect timing! Not sure of ride time or avg., but it was slow. You really have tp pay attention to the route signs, as it's only a small picture of a bike, and no route numbers on them either. I may have made a slight wrong turn, but like I said, you're not lost if you don't know where you're going!!!!! Tonight I'm in a one bedroom @ a hostel for €39. I paid €42 last night & got to watch CNN. Note to all, ask what the price of breakfast is BEFORE you eat it! I paid €15 for breakfast, at least it was good, although I probably would have eaten more! Breakfast tomorrow is €5!! I'm heading to 'Liz an something' tomorrow or take a side trip to Altenthar (some place like that) if I get there early & don't have anything else to do. Hopefully I can check in there on a better keyboard. Until then I'm going to ausfahrt!!!! BRB

Oh, what a healthy lunch!

Blues traveler

I made it to Dusseldorf, Germanz todaz! Stupid Euro kezboard..... Anzwaz, no problems with the train and made it to mz hotel without a problem too! The nice German woman pointed me in the right direction for a good German dinner, and it was verz good! A verz cool, relaxed, bar\restaurant. The waiter was patient and a local kid helped me decided on, but what else? Weiner schnitzel! I'm in the land of laderhosen, I might as well get used to it!

Mz title of the "blues" isn't because I am, but because of the music we were listening to this morning and I kept up on the train ride! The Grant's and I had a relaxing morning, me doing laundrz, Beckz fixing breakfast, and Jeff beginning to pack for their move. Zesterdaz we went to the 'mebike' exhibit and got to see some interesting bikes. There were a lot of "chopper" stzle bikes and some other odd things. But we had dinner and drinks, then stazed around until late listening to the band plaz. For me, tomorrow is Stage 1 of Le Tour de Rhein going from Dusseldorf to Cologne (Koln). I guess I don't have much else to report. Until later, Brian!