Tuesday & Wednesday, July 8th-9th 2014 - Day 6-7
Heidelberg to Saarbrucken by train
then cycle to Saarlouis, stay in Bous,
then cycle from Merzig to Mettlach
32.6 km cycled on Tuesday, 228.6 km so far
16.5 km on Wednesday, 245.1 km so far
elevation gains: 174 meters on Tuesday
218 meters on Wednesday
Tracks for the days:
Rainy off and on, temp from 13 to 17 Celsius
(The text is by Erika with pictures and captions and comments in italics added by Marvin.)
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| Across from the bahnhof Julie showed us this crazy big sculpture |
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| Better picture of Erika and Julie who is standing by my bike |
To ride a regional train with bikes in Germany involves no extra cost or worries. You simply identify the car marked for bikes and get on. If there is a gap and your bike is loaded, others who want to get on or off quickly step in to help with the lifting. The train in Heidelberg was packed when we first got on so after saying good bye to Julie, we found ourselves standing and balancing our bikes as the train took off.
It was several stops before enough people disembarked and we were able to place our bikes and sit down.
The first leg of the trip took us to Kaiserslautern where we changed trains and headed on to Saarbrucken.
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| While on the train, we got out the "anatomically correct" gingerbread men that the boys had made for us. We enjoyed them very much and already started missing the boys |
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| While waiting for the second train, we got out the rain gear, as it looked like we would need it before the day was over. |
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| No rain pants to cover my knobby knees, but as it turned out, I found it much more comfortable to have bare legs when it was raining. |
That train was not as full so we were able to secure our bikes and take a seat. A young man with a bike soon joined us. Frederic is a 26 year old university student in Kaiserslautern who commutes to school from Saarbrucken. We asked if he knew of a bike store near the bahnhof. We needed to get different peddles for my bike. We knew we would be cycling in rainy conditions and, due to my ankle being fused, my foot will slip off a wet pedal. We needed to pick up pedals with metal, spiky, grippy things to keep my foot in place and thereby keep me safe. Frederic didn't hesitate but immediately said he knew a few and would lead us to one as soon as we got to Saarbrucken.
That part of the train ride took about one hour which flew by as we chatted with Frederic about his travels in Newzealand and Australia. When we got off the train in Saarbrucken, rather than leave the train station the usual way, Frederic lead us on a path that is used to clear the town stadium quickly after games. He obviously knew the town well as he zipped down streets and through traffic to the bike shop. We managed to follow him and stay alive. We got a photo of him, thanked him then off he zipped on his bike. We did have his email but unfortunately it was on a piece of paper that got thrown out by mistake.
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| Our "Road angel" Frederic |
The bike shop was the Radhaus am Rathaus, http://www.radhaus-am-rathaus.de/team.html and the service was excellent, cheerful and English. Patrick Philipp was the man who helped us and he had us in and out in no time with the new pedals on and a rain cover for my helmet. An added bonus for us was that he spoke English very well and with enough fluency to tease and joke.
In no time we were on our bikes and looking for the Saar Radweg. One thing I noticed is that traffic noise is louder in the rain. The city centre was very busy so I felt very motivated to get onto the trail. Once on the trail it was easy to relax and even the rain we were getting was not a problem as I discovered my rain gear was doing its job. Marvin discovered that the rain gear he had bought, and never removed from the package, was only a coat. Fortunately it is warm even with the rain so he wore the jacket and cycled in his shorts.
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| The symbol we were going to follow was the blue map piece |
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| Erika gets her first taste of cycling in the rain. If you want to call it a 'baptism' , today it was by sprinkling. 'Immersion' will come a few days later (spoiler alert :) |
We decided to cycle through to Saarlouis. On the trail we had seen an ad for the Hotel Muhlenthal so when we got into Saarlouis and found the tourist information closed we gave them a call. This hotel is approved by Bett und Bike a German initiative to screen hotels for their willingness to support cyclists. Hotel Muhlenthal instructed us to cycle back to the Rathaus where the owner came and picked us up with his SUV that is equipped with a bike rack. They also stated that the next morning he would drive us back to where we were on the trail when we called them.
Once we were picked up we discovered we were being driven half way back to Saarbrucken to the town of Bous where their hotel was! Oh well, we were drying out and ready to relax. Next to the hotel is a restaurant where we enjoyed dinner after which it was time for the Germany/Brazil football game. Marvin watched the entire match but once Germany had four goals to zero I drifted off to sleep.
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| While we waited for the SUV to come pick us up, Erika wanted me to take a picture of this fast food stall sign. She will have to explain what it was supposed to mean. It just seemed like a funny play on words to us |
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| Our room in Bous (in the foreground is one of the batteries for the bikes) |
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| A really wonderful meal. Our standard drink has become Apfel Schorle, which is apple juice mixed with carbonated water |
In the morning after enjoying yet another great German breakfast buffet, our gear was once again loaded into the vehicle and we were on our way back to the trail in Saarlouis. However, when we unloaded our bike it was evident that something was wrong with my brakes. After the fellows fiddled with the bike for a while they thought they had the problem pretty much solved but, to me, didn't seem entirely sure. As we were going to be cycling in the rain I really wanted to know my brakes were in good order. Michael, the hotel owner who was driving us, said he knew someone who could fix the brakes. He offered to take us back to the hotel and give us use of our room until the bike was taken care of; after which he was willing to drive us up to Merzig, the town we should have gotten to by the afternoon.
So, by 2:30 pm, my bike was fixed and we were being driven to Merzig where we once again donned our rain gear and set off down the Saar Radweg.
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| Michael looks on while I get the bikes set up and ready to go. He was such a cheerful host as well as all the help he gave us. He had the most infectious laugh. |
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| As we head off in the afternoon, the rain was more constant but still not at all unpleasant. |
I must say that despite the rain, it was nice to be back on our bikes. I now feel like I have been truly baptized as a tour cyclist and that is true whether you believe in sprinkling or baptism by immersion! I also now have real appreciation of good rain gear. When we were in Saarbrucken Marvin had bought me a rain cover for my helmet. Boy, was I glad I had it!
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| You can see here that the path is not all pavement. It was firm and while there were puddles there were no soft spots. So there was a lot of grit and splatter but no real mud. |
We had been told that the route from Metzig to Mettlach was really lovely and we had made sure to check that it was all paved surface. We were assured it was.... It was not! By the time we got to Mettlach our bikes, panniers, shoes and pant legs were splattered with red clay. Oh well, we found another Bett und Bike recommended accommodation and the owner actually hosed our bikes off for us.
Mettlach is a small town by German standards of only about 8000 people. However, it does have a few interesting claims to fame. First is an impressive ?? Year old monastery on the water front. The other is the Villeroy and Boch factory and training school. Of course, there is an outlet store full of beautiful things but even more exciting is their Christmas store! Oh boy I could have had fun there but the reality of cycle touring is that you have absolutely nowhere to carry any shopping or gifts. This inability to pack along gifts has caused me some internal conflict as I am used to shopping for gifts for my family whenever I am traveling. Hope they still love me when I come home empty handed!
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| Had to cross a bridge under some construction to get into the town |
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| From Wikipedia: Saint Leudwinus, Count of Treves (Leodewin, Liutwin, Ludwin) (c. 660 - 29. September, 722 in Reims) founded an abbey in Mettlach. He was Archbishop of Treves and Laon. His feast day is September 23. He is the patron saint of Mettlach parish and his relics are carried by procession at the annual Pentecost celebration through the town. |
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| Tourboat that plies the Saar river |
The place we stayed was the hotel Saarblick. Attached to the hotel was a restaurant and the owner, it turned out, was a master chef. Suffice it to say we had a great meal followed by a sound sleep!
