Day 11 - On to Koblenz and the Rhine!

Sunday, July 13th 2014  -  Day 11

Ellenz-Poltersdorf to Koblenz

66.9 km , 502.7 km so far

elevation gains:  330 meters 

Track for the day: 

Ellenz to Koblenz

Occasional showers but we stayed dry  

temp from 20 to 30 Celsius 

(The text is by Erika with pictures and captions or comments in italics added by Marvin) 


500 kilometres and counting!

The day started, after a great breakfast, with a small ferry ride over to the town of Beilstein. Yet another picturesque town on the splendid Mosel. We then cycled on to Bruttig-Fankel where we got another river ferry and returned to the left bank. 

Ok, I, Marvin will interject somewhat more than usual on this day's narrative as you will see later I was in somewhat of a mood and I want to document some of the why's. :)    We started the day by going back to the Poltersdorf part of Ellenz-Poltersdorf where there was a ferry that would take us across the river to Beilstein. The first thing to happen was our discovery that the camera would not turn on.  Not absolutely sure what was going on, and now dependent on my cell phone and Erika's iPad for pictures, I felt a little frustrated, particularly since Erika was having trouble getting the iPad to work properly.  At first, she said she couldn't get it out of video mode.  We did manage a picture or two of the ferry and some video which I will include here:

Beilstein, across the river.  You can see the castle on the upper right that I took a nice picture of on the day before.  But now I was feeling bummed that I couldn't take good pictures with only my phone.

Here comes the ferry to pick us up

So, feeling a little handicapped, I ended up with some video.  The first was taken with my phone which is, apparently,   susceptible to wind noise.  The second was taken by Erika on her iPad and turned out really quite well. 
video panorama of Beilstein  Crossing the river to Beilstein

Beilstein was indeed, a pretty little town, a little touristy but pretty.

I think this was taken after we crossed at Bruttig-Fankel which was actually over a bridge.  The second ferry referred to by Erika came later.

This might have been in Cochem

Cochem is the next big tourist destination we entered. By this time we had realized that our camera was not working so there were not many pictures taken but, suffice it to say, it is another fairy tale-like town.

The day was quite overcast and kept threatening rain. Twice there were cloud bursts but luck would have it that both times we were stopped for refueling. I had started out the day fully dressed in my rain gear but as the day progressed and I got overheated, it gradually came off.

From Cochem we crossed the bridge over to Cond and from there did a bit of noodling to rediscover the Mosel Radweg. That might have been because I led the way up a hill and once I am on a hill my head goes down and I just keep peddling. All poor Marvin can do is follow me and hope we are not too far off track.

Heh, heh, that was a good description of it, Erika.  

It is worth noting that on this particular day we did a lot of second-guessing about the radwegs on either side of the river.  As I review the track for the day (posted at the beginning of this day's blog), I can see where we crossed the river each time and where we might have done better.  Crossing the river at Cochem was a bit of a waste as we crossed back to the left bank only 4km later to get to Klotten.  In crossing at Cochem to Cond, we were leaving the Mosel radweg and following a regional trail that ended at the ferry to Klotten. However, we did get to ride another ferry at this point to get to Klotten, so I think that might have been the temptation for changing sides so quickly.  

Going back to the left bank at Klotten was a good idea as the pavement was about to end on the right bank for some time to come, at least as far as the maps appear to indicate.  And we were now back on the Mosel radweg.  So we proceeded up the left bank to Treis-Karden where we crossed  back to the right bank.  This is where the Mosel radweg proper also crosses and was a good move that took us away from the main highway on the left bank.

Somewhere along the trail was this pretty spot.  You can see that though somewhat cloudy, it was a very lovely day.

Our wonderful daily ritual of refueling

HOWEVER, 15km after Treis-Karden, we should have crossed back to the left bank as we were approaching Alken.  I can see now that this is where the Mosel radweg also crosses.  However, either the signage was missing or we may have opted to stay on the right bank thinking that we would be avoiding the busier highway.  Some of the guide maps we had showed bicycle radwegs on both sides of the river for it's entire length and  while this is true, some are better than others.  In this case I have a bone to pick with the towns of Alken, Oberfell and Niederfell:  As we passed through these towns, there was a fairly wide designated 2-way bike lane along the left hand side of the main road which follows the river.  Unfortunately, they allowed cars to park in this lane (perhaps because it was the weekend?) forcing us as cyclists to try and ride around them into oncoming traffic.  We finally had to give up and move to the right hand side of a fairly busy road and just follow the white line, since there was no shoulder, until we were past the sections that were being used for parking.  And then a couple of times, it would appear as if the path by the river was for pedestrians only, but further down you could see that the path had widened and was obviously meant for 2-way cycle traffic.  During our time in Germany we found almost all towns on the river radwegs to be very accommodating for cyclists, but this section of the right bank of the Mosel was the exception.   Grrrr... (as Steve Miller would say)

When we got through Niederfell and came to a bridge crossing the river, we were more than happy to cross to the left bank.  As I mentioned before, this put us back on the Mosel radweg proper.

Now Back to Erika's account ...

We then cycled up the right bank the trail was okay until we got to Alken from that point on we were white knuckling it through some busy roads and poorly kept patches. In one location where there was a trail next to the road the shrubbery was so over grown that it was hard to stay on the path. We had to do about eight kilometres like that before we were able to cross over the the left bank again. Marvin was not a happy man.

Once we were back on the left bank it was clear sailing into Koblenz. Due to the camera being on the fritz, the rough riding earlier and not knowing where we were planning to spend the night, Marvin was primed to dislike Koblenz. It wasn't long before this very inviting city had won him over.

All right, time for me to butt in with more of my side of the story.  And that story is told by way of this map segment: 
The thin red line with the km numbers is the way we actually cycled.  The wide purple line is the Mosel Radweg that we were trying to follow.
First, a snippet of how we got off the correct path (km 53.5)

I call this picture "A bad turn".  For some reason we thought we should cross the tracks and get next to the river.  The next few km's were actually quite beautiful, but it led to a lot of confusion 5 km later and for another 5 km after that

At km 56 of our day's journey we are on the wrong side of the tracks from the Mosel radweg, though we didn't know it then. When we reached km 58 to 59 we started to noodle around looking for a way onto the train bridge that crossed the river. Then the next 2.5 km were very confusing big city streets.  Finally at km 63 we managed to make our way to the final 3 km of the Mosel Radweg.

My final word on Erika's statement "Marvin was primed to dislike Koblenz":  A lot was going on for me this day that had me being a little bit grumpy as we got into Koblenz.  First of all, all day I kept trying the camera at intervals to see if it would start working again.  Then there was the ugly stretch of parked cars in the path at Oberfell/Niederfell.  Finally, when we started getting into Koblenz, we phoned the hotel we had planned to stay at and discovered they were full.  So I was in the middle of a big confusing city with no idea of where we were going to stay for the night. However, we found the Radweg , once again broad and beautiful,  as we neared the end of the Mosel and the confluence with the Rhine!  As Erika now continues ...

Now I have to note that Sunday was also the day Germany was playing Argentina in the World Cup final. Everywhere people were dressed in the colors of the German flag. Hair was dyed, shirts, head bands and anything else you can think of reflected pride and excitement. As we cycled towards the Deutches Eck, the area at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers, the crowds got increasingly dense. Just before the Eck an area had been set up with a large screen for watching the game. It seemed that everyone in Koblenz was showing up to see the game.

At that point our main focus was to get accommodation so, as we were blocked from getting to the Eck, we turned up into town.  After a bit of noodling in the altstadt we turned towards the Rhine. There we quickly found a lovely hotel. Marvin splurged on a room with a view to celebrate 500 kilometres ridden and having cycled three rivers. It was so lovely. We had a great view of the Rhine and of the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.

After we unloaded I was enjoying a break while Marvin headed off to see what was going on where everyone was watching the game. In no time he was back all excited and wanting me to come and see! So, off we went on our bikes to see the sights. The first place we went was down to was the Deutches Eck. The statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I is amazing in its size as it commands the confluence of the rivers. So often on this trip we have seen things that we have seen pictures of before but it is only in real life that the size and impact of certain things is truly evident. One such thing was the Porta Nigra, and another was the statue of Wilhelm I .

As we explored the area we concluded that the next day we would be spending some time in Koblenz before heading off up the Rhine.

Before returning to the hotel to watch "the game", we enjoyed a lovely dinner in a terraced restaurant that overlooked the Rhine. The food was wonderful, the company even better.

(It's worth noting that they were very quick to get us served, we barely made the cutoff for last orders.  Everyone was very anxious to get the final customers dealt with so the staff could take off to watch "the game".)

Marvin enjoyed the game and I, I hate to confess, slept. I did, however, wake up occasionally enough to find out how the game was going. Great excitement throughout the country when that one goal was scored and Germany won the cup.

Throughout the trip we have been cycling with a Canadian flag on the back of each bike. Over the past few days we have had several people question why we have a flag when Canada doesn't even have a team in the World Cup! It gives you a sense of what is on everyone's mind here. Another comment we have had from a Dutch tourist here in Germany is "Canada, you liberated us." Lest we forget.


Finally from me, a few pictures that were taken that evening as I discovered what a wonderful city Koblenz actually is:

I was trying to get a picture of us and the sign that would identify the Mosel Radweg in one direction and the Rhine Radweg in the other.  However, with the confusion of trying to use a cell phone in the bright sunlight, I didn't even get the right sign.  The camera situation improved dramatically the next day and the right sign was even found :)

Our room for the night.  As we rode into the alstadt, I saw a sign that advertised a hotel down toward the river.  I thought it would be expensive and full or maybe even a dive but Erika said, let's check it out, for goodness sake.  Good thing her head was in the right place.

This was the view from the balcony.  I would have loved to stay another night.  I'm such an idiot sometimes :)

 So having found a really nice hotel room and a broad boulevard to cycle on right on the river, I was energized and wanted to explore a little.  So I rode toward the confluence from the Rhine side and in 2 minutes there it was, Deutsches Eck and the statue of Wilhelm I !  I was so taken by it that I raced back to the room to tell Erika she had to come and see this with me

The confluence of the 2 great rivers

Pictures taken on this first evening in Koblenz of the great statue.  More and better pictures are to follow in the following day's events.

The excitement of the upcoming game was very contagious

Video of the crowd gathering around the big screen

Hey, my phone did an OK job of filling in in the end. :)

Day 10 - Andel to Ellenz-Poltersdorf

Saturday, July 12th 2014  -  Day 10

Andel to Ellenz-Poltersdorf

67.4 km , 435.8 km so far

elevation gains:  363 meters 

Track for the day: 

Andel to Ellenz-Poltersdorf

Overcast in morning, after that, well...   

temp from 16 to 21 Celsius (very pleasant, actually)

(The text is by Erika with pictures and captions or comments in italics added by Marvin) 


Boy, do I ever sleep well these days! Marvin seems to find energy most evenings to work on the computer for a while but after writing my blog, I am out like a light!

We rose this morning to another great breakfast. They even made us an omelette and said it was to make sure we had energy for the trail.

It was a short couple of kilometre cycle to get to Bernkastel-Kues.

The old castle ruins looked very interesting, but it would have been quite a long ride to find our way up and we were anxious to 

It was like stepping back in time (one you looked past all the tourists). One beamed building after another. Marvin, under my gentle direction, took a lot of pictures as a description won't do it justice. Our pictures probably won't either. One little alley wove its way into the next. One of the real jewels of the town is the church that dates back to the 1400s and has been maintained in the original style. The paintings, carvings and frescos are wonderful. It is not a large church like the Dom we saw yesterday, but its authenticity is nice to see.

OK, name the movie:  "Carol's not grungy, she's bitch'n"

Butcher shop

Back on the path, we see a brood of geese

See how the vast vineyards are planted around every rocky outcrop

Explanation of how the large sundials were set up to be view-able from the river

It was too overcast to tell the time today

The next time we cycle this path, it looks like there will be a huge new bridge to go under

We then cycled on to Traben-Trarbach and happened on a Weinfest. Various vintners had stands set up for people to sample their products. There were carnival type rides for children, a bretzel stand (from which we enjoyed a cheese and black forest ham bretzel) and, to Marvin's great enjoyment, a band stand with a local brass ensemble playing. I must say, they were great and really added to the atmosphere. It was a real treat to stumble onto such an event.

I Really liked  these pretzels with the cheese and flecks of ham on them

I just took this picture so we would not forget what town it was

The band was obviously local and they were very good.
I videotaped a little

While we sat and listened to the band and ate our pretzels, it had started sprinkling a little and we felt lucky to be under a canopy.  But it had mostly let up as we started on out of town.  However, before too long it was sprinkling off and on enough to make us put on our rain gear.

Still, it wasn't too wet to discourage us from stopping for a bench of the day

As Erika describes below, we crossed the river to the left bank, although my GPS track for the day shows it was at
Reil, about 6 km beyond Enkirch.  At this point we are on the left bank, so we were more than 10 km downstream of Traben-Trarbach where we had enjoyed the band

So for about 10km we had been wearing rain gear because it kept sprinkling enough to keep it on but not enough to keep us from sitting on a bench.

That was about to change ...
(back to Erika's narrative)

 The only way to really assess if something is truly water proof is to wear it in a deluge. I learned today that my "waterproof coat" isn't! It had been grey all morning but we had optimistically assumed that the sun would burn off the clouds. It was not to be. When it first started spitting we put on our rain gear to be safe. It rained for a while and then settled down for a while. At Enkirch we had chosen to cross over to the left bank of the Mosel as by the map it looked like some of the path ahead on the right side were not paved. We hadn't gone too far down the path when it really started to rain. It poured!

We had noted earlier that the oxbow (not actually an oxbow but a big teardrop shaped curve in the river with us on the inside bank of the curve) that the town of Zella is on had something rare for the Radweg. It had a short cut over the vineyards that would cut 8 kilometres off of our ride. This was possible because in that area the mountains dropped into a saddleback. As the rain pelleted down and I tried to see between the drops on my glasses, a short cut seemed like a brilliant idea so up and over we went. 

If you look at the GPS track of the day you will see the place where we cut across the saddle of the high valley side and  shortened our trip.  If you zoom in, you will see that at first we started to follow the river the long way around and then turned around and went back to take the short cut.  This was because in the pouring rain, when we got to the cutoff, it looked rather steep and we were worried about it being slippery with all the water that was running down the road.  Then as we continued on down the radweg, we could look up the hill above us and see that it didn't look like it stayed steep for all that long.  So we turned around and went back to try it.  It was a good decision.  The bikes handled it very well and it saved us 8 km right there and then.  

This picture was taken as we headed up the cutoff road.  Note the river of water running down the left side of the road.  It was hard to take a picture and have any chance of keeping up to Erika.  She had her head down and there was no stopping her.

Had the weather been better it would have been nice to have stopped and enjoyed the view of the valley but today a quick glance had to suffice. Again we crossed a bridge to the other side of the river (raining just as hard there! Go figure ;). We then sailed along the road which fortunately had very little traffic (probably because sane people stay inside when it is raining that hard).

OK, now to give you my version of this adventure:  When we came over the saddle of the "mountain" (which is really just the hill formed by the valley on both sides of it) we had a very steep descent to the highway below.  We made sure to take it at a very slow speed so as not to risk slipping or skidding.  This picture is taken as we proceeded down the highway toward the bridge that we would cross to the right bank.  I was trying to capture the look of the rain as it bounced off the highway.

Remember my earlier reference a few days before to baptism by sprinkling?  OK, this was the baptism by "immersion" into rainy conditions that I alluded to :)  I have to say that I was really truly enjoying it.  It wasn't cold, just very wet.
When we crossed the bridge we waved to several other cyclists who were huddled under the train bridge.  There was no point in stopping, we were already soaked.  It was hilarious!  Also hilarious to me was how there was no stopping Erika.  She just charged up the hill on the other side of the bridge without looking to the right or left.  After about a kilometer, we topped out and then found a place to turn left and get back down to the road by the river.  We followed this road for about 4km into Neef.  The rain had now lightened to nothing. 

 When we entered the town of Neef we stopped at the first restaurant on the road. There we peeled off our wet gear, I changed into dry clothes, and had a bowl of goulash soup. Not the best but it hit the spot at that time. While we ate we discussed how far we wanted to go. By then it had stopped raining again and we were ready to gamble on getting closer to Cochem for easy striking in the morning. We identified a gasthaus in Ellenz-Poltersdorf and decided to head there. To our delight there was no more rain and the gasthaus is lovely. So now our once pristine room is draped with drying clothes in anticipation of tomorrow's ride to Cochem and on to Koblenz.

Sometimes we would get confused by town names.  We were looking for a street in Ellenz-Poltersdorf that had a gasthaus that was listed in Bett und Bike.  But first we turned into what turned out to be Poltersdorf and couldn't find the street.  Still we saw a few things that got pictures taken.

So here is a picture for Steve's friend who likes tractors.  Note the water spot on the lens.  Hmmm, that could spell trouble ... (spoiler alert)

As you can see by this time, we have dried out considerably

When we looked at the map more closely, we realized that Ellenz-Poltersdorf was a separate town still downstream from us.  Across the river, on the right bank was the town of Beilstein and above it on the hill was this castle.

Once we got to the "Ellenz" part of the town, we found the street we were looking for easily and they had room for us.  So we dumped our stuff and did some walking about town for a bit

As has been seen in previous towns, grape vines grow everywhere

I'm noting the very fine slate work that is done on this roof

Our gasthaus for the night is on a Weingut (wine estate), run by the Familie Schneider

This is their family seal, their official brand of wine

We have now done over 400 kilometres since we started and can't believe we have less than a week left to our vacation. Even the challenging weather has been enjoyable when you sit back and realize what you have done. The area remains breathtaking and the people warm and welcoming. As soon as we get home we want to start saving to come back. My love affair with German not only continues but has developed to a new depth.