Rhine River Ride

Last year, right after Thanksgiving, when a long winter loomed, I bought tickets to go overseas. My thoughts were thus: the pandemic is over, well, not over, but no longer scary, and I hadn’t been overseas since 2018, and finally, I’ll be turning 65. Why not travel!

What lured me into purchasing was that Iceland Air was opening up a new hub out of Detroit and the tickets were essentially the same as if booking to California. Of course with all the extras such as travel insurance and excess baggage both ways for the bike, the total was about what one would normally pay, maybe not during high season, but ….

I’ll leave Sept 26 and fly into Zurich where I’ll meet up with Monica whom I last saw in 2001, who I first met nearly 25 years ago. My friend Johanna will come down from Germany for a girls’ get-together. We had all gone camping in Door County in the late 90s, so a kind of reunion.

Next, I’ll go back with Johanna and see the farm, where I was last there in 2001. There have been changes there also. No longer a working dairy. Corporate farming, just like here, has taken over. I’ve stayed in touch over the years and will get to hang out with her nieces and other family members I’ve gotten to know.

After that, Johanna will take me to Mainz where I’ll take 2 days to ride UP the Rhine to Cologne, where I’ll take the train to Berlin to see another friend for a few days before training back to Mainz to start DOWN the river.

The Rhine River ride is Euro Route 15, so an established bike route. Nevertheless, I’m sure I’ll get lost—just not as lost as I’ll have the river to follow. I plan to stay in Worms, Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, Colmar (the Venice of France), Freiburg via Neuf-Brisach to stay with another friend near the Black Forest (I’ll finally figure out what that means), then Kembs, an old tollhouse turned cycle hostel in Albbruck, then back to Stafa outside of Zurich for another night or two with Monica. I’ll arrive back in the US Oct. 19.

Meanwhile, I’ll have to get crackin’ on training, which I’ve done very little of—butt in the saddle.