Somehow we’ve been on the road nearly three weeks now, with today being two weeks since we caught the ferry from the UK to the Netherlands (missing a couple of other ferries en route).
The last few days have been a real mixed bag. Some moments have been amazing, and have reminded us why embarking on this adventure is the best idea we’ve ever had. Others have been just rubbish – and have reminded us (maybe particularly me) why this was a really really bad idea and I’d much rather be in a warm, dry office (and they even pay me to be there!!) We actually had this conversation whilst cycling into pouring rain – Matt would still rather be ‘on the road’ – I plumped for being in the office on a Teams call. Hm.
I could write that it’s all been idyllic and beautiful and post all of the happy smiley pictures but that wouldn’t be real life. So for those living vicariously through us, be prepared for a bumpy ride!
We had a great day on departure from Bacharach, our last blogging spot. The weather was kind and we wended our way along the Rhine to Worms. We’d planned a long day of over 100km for the first time which felt relatively easy, having had a rest day.
Not all straightforward though as we were caught in a total torrential downpour following our lunch stop which in itself was challenging given… SONNTAG!
Sundays in mainland Europe in our experience generally mean supermarkets aren’t open. Which despite our ‘experience’ we had completely forgotten about. McDonald’s for lunch it was, and we couldn’t find anywhere to sell/feed us anything as we rolled into Worms. Matt claimed he was starting to ‘eat himself’ (Chris Cope, he got this from you) but we did have the emergency rice to fall back on if required. We were aiming for a canoe club based right beside the river which also doubles as an informal campsite. On arrival after chatting to about seven different canoe enthusiasts they eventually understood that we wanted to stay please, we handed over some money and were disappointingly told ‘nein’ when Matt did his best Oliver Twist impression and asked if they had any bread, bitte.
Of course it started to rain as we put the tent up but a rainbow appeared in the form of yet another canoe club member who came over with a MASSIVE tray of appley, cinammoney buns, plus little coconut/raspberry cupcakes. Which ‘needed eating’ following a day of festivities – or at least that’s what I think she said in German. I offered her money (to which the reply was ‘don’t be silly’, I think) before we transferred as much bun and cake from Frau Kanu’s trays to our bowls. Food panic over, Matt no longer eating himself. Alles gut. (But we did eat the emergency rice too).
The following day, Worms to Lauterbourg (a town just on the border into France) was another longer ride. Harder – mainly due to the ‘muh’ first two thirds of the day with lots of city/town cycling, The Wind making an unwelcome return and just general muh-ness (apart from the surprise Cathedral in Speyer which I loved).
Things picked up for the latter part of the day as we rejoined the Rhine proper and did some much needed zooming along a lovely tarmac surface (not cobbled, gravelled, root strewn, etc). Crossing into France at the end of the day felt like another milestone.
Our arrival at the campsite given the slow-going cycling was after 5pm, which it turned out was the closing time of the campsite we were aiming for…. Oh dear. We were just coming up with Plan B when Madame Camping appeared and agreed to book us in, following an exchange which started in French, switched to German and then ended up in English (despite me actually forgetting how to do English after all the language changes – with Matt having to step in with a phone number in English!)
More rain of course as we put up the tent in its now default wet condition. Luckily we were able to shelter in/on a picnic table with a roof (thank you France for this fantastic invention!)
We woke to drizzle. Hmmm. More discussion (now a common theme) about it still being April, and should we have left so early etc etc as we prepared to depart. We could do drizzle all morning we supposed. Strasbourg (our destination for the day) was only 70km away.
The drizzle turned to rain as we set off. Then more rain and then a few hours later we realised we were soaked to the bones and I was dreaming of the office.
The sun did emerge as we got to Strasbourg and our campsite near the city centre. Perfect for putting the tent up.
Nope, not to be. Even more torrential rain arrived just as we were pegging out the tent footprint. Mission aborted we showered instead (may as well get more wet) – put the tent up between dumps of rain and headed into town. Consolation drinks/wandering/cathedral visiting/food ensued (again ducking between rain) before a tram back and a bit of a soggy night under a drippy tree.
Having had enough of the lows we set off in some cautiously dry conditions the next morning. Of course this was after putting the wet tent away again, one of our least favourite activities, made worse by it being muddy AND wet now.
The cautious weather optimism held and we ended up having a really really good day, deviating from the EuroVelo route 15 onto the EV5, meandering through the Alsace from beautiful town to cute village amongst vineyards and the foothills of some proper topography.
The only low of the day – ironically climbing one of those foothills which went from an OKish 6% incline to 14%. If I had had the foresight to get unclipped from my pedals before I realised what was happening I guarantee I would have walked it. As it was, I was literally locked into a tortuous and lung-busting few minutes, reminding both of us that cycling with weight when climbing is a whole new ball game. Alps here we come! Gulps.
We arrived into Ribeauvillé (where I’m writing this from) to actual sunshine. After checking into a now very familiar campsite (our third time here) we found a quiet corner and unpacked everything for a good drying/airing session. Bliss.
Two days later we’re still here! Yesterday was spent doing more washing (our cycling uniforms can always benefit from a freshen up), some other admin/planning and wandering the streets of Ribeauvillé (OK yes, and drinking some Alsatian wine). Today we are avoiding a rainy day before setting off for Basel tomorrow.
So in summary – it’s not all wine/ice-cream/sunshine/self discovery. It’s also rain/wind/boredom and wet tent admin.
P.S. Don’t worry though, we’re definitely happy – and this is definitely also an adventure!
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