June 22, 2018

Last night Ralf spent time planning our route out of Karlsruhe and back on to the Rhine route. He programmed the Garmin to get us so far and hand drew a map for the remaining distance. It worked, ten kilometres later we were out of Karlsruhe and back on the Rhine.

The day was quite cool and windy. We wore our wind breakers all day.

We stayed on the Rhine all day. I was amazed at the amount of swans we saw. There were large groups of 12 or more without cygnets and then smaller groups with cygnets usually three cygnets. We have no idea where this black swan came from – it was the only one.

Most of the ride was on the berm along the top of the floodplain. It was very dusty and the bikes are in desperate need of a clean. We are due for a rest day and I usually get all the boring things done on our rest days – washing, bike maintenance and updating the blog if I am behind, which I am.

When we came off the Rhine briefly, there were a lot of small oxbow lakes or Alt Rhine Rivers – in one area there was an old boat moored.  This boat was an eel boat.  They harvested eels until 1989.  Eel is good in the morning for breakfast!

We had decided to camp today, we have to get back on budget. There is a great campsite in Kehl called DCC E18.50 a pitch, 0.50 for a four minute shower and E1.00 for 24 hours internet. We didn\’t pay for the internet as we knew we could update the blog over the next couple of days in Lahr. There is a little restaurant on site with basic German meals and also a small kiosk where you can buy fresh bread, buns etc. for breakfast. The kiosk also sells beer at E1.80 per 500 cl bottle.

This site is very popular with cyclists, there is currently eight small tents with two other couples and the rest are single guys.

The facilities are very clean, and there are also washing machines (not too expensive). This would be a great place to have a rest day, get the bikes cleaned, washing done etc.

There is a small pavilion where you can cook and eat. While we were cooking we were joined by a young German couple and an older Dutch man.

We all shared our riding experiences. The young couple had cycled in the North of Spain and really enjoyed the experience. The Dutch man talked about riding in Holland with the numbered junction system.

Although camping can be uncomfortable, when you meet really nice people and share experiences it makes up for the lack of creature comforts. We are usually asleep early and wake up early. However, at the moment it is light until 10:00 p.m. we have to wear our eye masks so that we can get to sleep early.

This is our last day on the Rhine, tomorrow we head inland to Lahr. Then we will be heading towards the Danube. The next leg of this trip.

One of the things I have enjoyed about this section of the trip is the amount of different birds we have seen. I haven’t seen Thrushes in years. They are the size of an American Robin with a speckled breast, a very pretty bird. They are hopping around the campsite looking for worms. Today we saw a lot of swans on the Rhine and of course the storks. The pied wagtails always make me laugh. They fly in front of you swooping up and down and then land about 50 metres in front of you with their tails wagging. Then they are off again swooping up and down. We have also seen lots of storks in this area and herons. Small hawks fly above the fields trying to spot small field mice. Today we saw black-headed gulls diving into the Rhine trying to catch their lunch in the slower moving river near the banks.

I have to comment on the dogs and their owners in Germany. Some of the dogs are running loose, others are on a long leash. However, as soon as the owner sees or hears the bikes coming he/she calls the dog to heel and the dog sits patiently by the owner until we pass. For anyone who remembers us riding through Louisiana, Alabama etc and the bloody dogs that chased us every day. This is absolute bliss. We thank the owners as we pass and their response is generally “of course, no problem”

Although we have had some ups and downs with the routing and the north being so dirty and industrialized it has been good to get back on the bikes and cycle every day.