2016 – Cycle The Rhine

Back on our own again…

Posted by on 14, Jun 2016 in 2016 - Cycle The Rhine, Benelux, Europe, Tilly the Tandem, Western Europe | 1 comment

Back on our own again…

By the time we woke up the Du Randts were already on the train back to Holland, in fact they may have already been in Holland – We were back in our old routine and lying in! We had a short ride up to Cologne when we finally got going and found a lovely campsite by the river a few kms south of the city. We had a great pitch right on the waters edge and met another touring cycle couple over a bottle of wine who were cycling to Vienna for a great evening. We had planned to go into Cologne the next day but woke to signs on the shower block saying please contact reception because of the...

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Fall in you ‘orrible lot!

Posted by on 6, Jun 2016 in 2016 - Cycle The Rhine, Europe, France, Germany, Jacques and Mandy, Tilly the Tandem, Western Europe | 0 comments

Fall in you ‘orrible lot!

Our ten days with the Du Randts was eventful and great fun, Jacques and Mandy are early birds and we’re more likely to be thinking about a cup of tea from the comfort of our sleeping bags by the time they’re stopping for their first cuppa of the day whilst cycling. So we had to make an effort and get up, get packed and ready to go by 9am daily, which after some negotiation (us whinging) was relaxed to 9:15. He’s a hard task master that Jacques! Anyway, we set off in the direction of Strasbourg stopping at a lovely fortified walled French town for lunch. He was breaking us...

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A spoke In the works….

Posted by on 30, May 2016 in 2016 - Cycle The Rhine, Germany, Switzerland, Tilly the Tandem, Western Europe | 1 comment

A spoke In the works….

And on the third day the rain stopped, (well it had been biblical like). So we set off towards Basle. Our aim for the day was to reach a remote campsite on the Rhine, far from any town and we thought obviously going to be quiet. We’d stopped en route at the Rhine Falls for a quick walk around at the immense water fall and got to our campsite after a 65km cycle through some gorgeous villages and towns in Switzerland and Germany and were quite tired when we arrived at 6pm. The campsite was heaving and there was already a party in full swing with teenagers being teenagers, which is fine...

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It’s raining again…

Posted by on 25, May 2016 in 2016 - Cycle The Rhine, Europe, Germany, Switzerland, Tilly the Tandem | 0 comments

It’s raining again…

The camping had gone quite well and we set off in bright sunshine toward Lake Constance. The wind was behind us and we made good time, which was just as well as behind us clouds started to grow and soon we had our jackets on to keep us warm as the sun was overtaken by them. We crossed into Litchenstein, then into Austria – stopping off a cup of coffee and a cake that didn’t require a down payment and 5 monthly installments to follow, and then back into Switzerland, probably the most expensive country in the world. We saw a car get a parking ticket £360. Two coffees £10 and a camp...

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Tilly Tilly Bang Bang…

Posted by on 18, May 2016 in 2016 - Cycle The Rhine, Europe, Germany, Switzerland, Tilly the Tandem | 0 comments

Tilly Tilly Bang Bang…

After Ilanz the Rhine heads through a gorge along with the train but the bike route goes over the top of the mountain to meet back up with the river at Tamins. We decided we’d hop on the train for this short section and save our legs as some of these hills are 15% and are for the hardcore mountain bikers not us. Or maybe we’re wusses as Ben tells me. The train journey is well worth it, winding back and forth along the bank of the river giving spectacular views of the river a few feet away. The guards on the train were the usual helpful souls passing our panniers down to us and...

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Scream if you want to go faster…

Posted by on 9, May 2016 in 2016 - Cycle The Rhine, Europe, Germany, Switzerland, Tilly the Tandem | 2 comments

Scream if you want to go faster…

“Reed!” Shouted the lady in the hotel at Andermatt as we walked in the front door in a very German Kommandant like manner. “Jarvohl”. I should have replied but being a bit taken aback at being shouted at the moment you walk through the front door when you know Linda is still outside, I timidly replied ” yes”. “Follow me to your room” she continued curtly and we complied immediately. The room itself was very nice with a brand new bathroom (always a hit with Linda) and our hostess was actually very nice once she’d frog marched us to our...

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