August 2010
8 posts
3 tags
Rhine Trip Day 6: Basel, CH to Erstein, FR [126km]
Pretty big day today. Luxuriated in the relative comfort of the hostel. Did Laundry. Went.
Traveled back through the old town of Basel.
Crossed the river a few times.
After some monkey business, we find the route and, suddenly, were deluged with francophone signposts and advertising. We had arrived in France.
We were now in Andrew’s World.
To fit the occasion, we stopped and...
Rhine Trip Day 5: Küssaberg to Basel [79km]
Remember this day being a bit more comfortable in the morning.
Most of the riding was on shaded paths along the river.
We got to Basel by the afternoon. Had another Psssssss flat right as we got into Basel. Gave us time to clean up the bikes. Using Andrew’s gps phone, we found a nice hostel. The hostel was really, really nice, despite being called a YMCA. Very modern.
Andrew and I...
2 tags
Rhine Trip Day 4: Steckborn to Küssaberg [77km]
Woke up at campsite along the Rhine/End of the Bodensee. Went swimming in the early morning after watching one coot punk out two ducks.
After a slower start, we rolled on into a green, rolling countryside and one muggy day. We reached Stein am Rhein early in the morning.
The whole main square was filled with beautifully painted buildings.
We could see the monitor of the secretary in the...
4 tags
Rhine Trip Day 3: Hard to Steckborn [86km]
Having spent the last two nights outdoors, it was luxurious to sleep in inside. And so we did. Yet another step on the path towards Comfort. After enjoying the hostel breakfast and limitless coffee, we lazily geared up to go around 11am. And then there was the dreaded *PSSSSssss* sound of a flat tire that would become the Vuvuzela of Defeat that would become a leitmotif throughout the trip.
But...
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Rhine Trip Day 2: Carrera, Switzerland to Hard,...
Much more comfortable night.
We woke up and had a leisurely breakfast, having met the Frenemies the night before.
We’d lamented not having a TV to watch the Netherlands-Brazil World Cup game. Turns out, there was a Dutchman camping in Carrera who’d had a radio in his RV. D’oh. He was excited to tell us that Holland had won.
We decided to push hard today and try to reach the...
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Rhine Trip Day 1: Andermatt to Carrera (78km)...
So part one featured the Ascent, which lasted from about 8pm to 10pm. On top of the pass, we had a coffee and a snack and then started the Descent. But first, Andrew got to fulfill his childhood/adulthood dream of a headstand atop a mountain. His yoga teacher’s critique? Keep the ankles together.
And, of course, it started to rain lightly as we started to descend.
Foreground:...
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Rhine Trip Day 1: Andermatt to Carrera (78km)
A cold night with a glorious awakening. Andrew, who’d risen earlier to wander about Andermatt, woke me up as the sun was rising over the hills.
Here’s the view from my tent door.
Warning: I took many photographs this day.
After breakfast and a warm-up and a quick check of our bikes by this bridge:
We started the Big Climb. Theoretically, after this climb, it would all be...
2 tags
Rhine Trip: The Prelude
So me (Andrew), Andrew and Andreas bicycled the Rhine River, more or less. It went something like this:
It ended up being about 1000 to 1100 miles over 18 to 21 days - depending on how you look at it - through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium and The Netherlands.
A slightly more detailed map is here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3934489
Since it got started...