DAY 15: Gorinchem - Rotterdam

Last day. We had a lot to do in Rotterdam to get organised for our trips back to Nantes and London for my uncle and I respectively, so we left nice and early, the earliest I have left in fact. Up at 6.40, we were ready to leave at 7.30, deciding to skip the motel breakfast which was only at 8. So we gobbled up a cereal bar and a cup of tea and we were off as the sun was rising. Since we hadn't had any breakfast, we stopped off at a local bakery to buy a mixture of french and english specialties to suit both: pains au raisin and chocolate muffins. We then approached our first ferry of the day. I was feeling quite nervous about today, because of the number of ferries we were relying on to cross the many channels of water. Thankfully, having passed through a peaceful nature reserve, we found that the first of our ferries was working. We hopped on and continued to the next one on the second stretch of land, to Dordrecht. The next ferry also worked perfectly. In fact, there was nothing really to worry about. As we were now starting to enter Holland's most populated area, we were not the only ones to rely on the ferries, so they were mostly all in order and on time.

We made our way to our third and last ferry and on our way, we passed through the Kinderdijk windfarm. This was a fantastic place full of old-fashioned windmills on the edge of several canals, with wide stretches of land all around. When we arrived

 at the ferry stop, we had two choices. Our preferred choice, however, was not working, but we could still make it to Rotterdam using the alternative bringing us to the North bank. Once on the other side, it was just a matter of going under and over a couple of bridges until finally, we passed the sign into Rotterdam. This called for a photo. Or 4. Wow, this felt good. I had arrived at the end of the Rhine after 15 days of cycling, 1280km. The end.

DAY 14: Nijmegen - Gorinchem

Ah, it felt good that the big 4 were out of the way. We started off at a slow pace (I think we deserve it by now after 4 days over 100km each...) but took no break for a while and we were far early. The day started grey but the sun came out late morning, which was much appreciated. We decided to buy another picnic since our itinerary didn't seem to pass through any significant places, and we stopped off on an embankment overlooking the Waal. It is worth noting that now, we are in the Rhine delta, so there are many branches, or distributaries if you like hearing your geographical terminology, of the Rhine, the Waal being the biggest. This means that there is water all over the place, so you don't want to pick the wrong route leaving you stranded with nowhere to go except back from where you came from.

I suppose you've guessed by 

now that this is exactly what we did. Our map indicated that there was a ferry which could carry us across a canal to Woudrichem, where we would take another ferry to Gorinchem, across the Waal. Obviously, the ferry wasn't working. The annoying thing was, our destination was merely 20m across the canal, yet we had to trek back 5km against a horrific wind to find the nearest bridge to cross the canal, and then 5km back along the canal to Woudrichem. We got there, just in time for the last ferry across. I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't got it. Probably cried. This would have meant going 10km back and along the Waal this time, against the wind, to another bridge to cross the river, 15 more kilometres. 5 minutes later and we would have had to do it. But we got it, so all is good. Let's hope our last day tomorrow goes okay, because there is a serious lack of bridges according to our map. These damn ferries better work...

DAY 13: Rheinberg - Nijmegen

I don't think any day could be worse than the one we had yesterday. And thankfully, for the moment, this is true. Today was normal and thank God for that. We were still edgy since this was still a long day, the last of the Fantastic Four (sarcastic of course), so we started quickly. This went well for us, so we treated ourselves to a first 'chocolate stop' (you'll know what I mean if you read the previous posts) next to a lake and a long lunch stop right on the river. It was a picnic this time, and as you may know if you have been following this blog, our picnic stops have been very successful for viewing wildlife. But this was the first with Guy. We didn't see anything. Must be his fault then.

We had seen spots of sunshine on our morning ride, and the sun was starting to break through more and more as the afternoon went on. We saw our first signs of approaching Holland in the windfarms and it was starting to become more marshy. 

We crossed the border (I didn't actually see one 

but the town was Millingen) 

and a wall of wind hit us. No, that didn't actually happen, but there was a strong wind in our face for the day, which didn't help. With only a short stretch to go to Nijmegen, the clouds blew away and out came the sun to welcome us in Nijmegen in good timing.

Now that we have left the good ol' Germans for good, I thought I would mention some of their eating habits and likes which I have noticed, especially when with my dad.

1. They love apples. The number of apple tarts, cakes, parcels, juices (there are indeed several types of apple juice you can get in Germany) one can get is crazy.

2. They love potatoes. I remember in one brasserie near Bonn, the side dishes to choose from were only potatoes. Of course, there were 7 different variations: potato salad, oven-baked potatoes, fried potatoes, rösti (fried strings of potatoes, really good) to name a few.

3. They love jam. I had the choice of about 9 different jams one morning. Pfaulenmuss is a big favourite of my dad's (I think it's some sort of plum purée but one can never be sure)

4. They love cabbage. From rotkohl to sauerkraut, the mixed salad you are often given has the lot. Drowned in sauce.

Mmmm. Delicious.

DAY 12: Köln - Rheinberg

The Big One. The Mother. Pain in the Cycle Lane. The Monster. All references to our longest day of the whole trip: a planned 108.5km. I bet you're all dying to hear how it was. Well, it certainly lived up to its expectations, that's for sure. We overslept slightly (I told you Köln was a great place to rest!) so we had a slightly late start. Not a great way to start the day, however, we went straight to Kölner Dom, a remarkable cathedral nearly right on the river. This was where Guy, my uncle, unearthed our first problem, merely 1km max from our hotel: a screw was missing from his luggage holder, causing it rub on the wheel. But, after a slight panic, some lost time, a phone call to the dad and a cunning suggestion to use an unimportant screw on my uncle's bike, which fit perfectly (why didn't I think of that?), we were off again.

We approached Neuss, and we decided to take two different paths from each other. Incidentally, I just thought I would mention that I took the right one, yet I had to go back to make sure. Once we were back on track, after more time wasted (remember, this was our longest day so time was of the essence...) we cycled on, but after 3km, Guy realised he had left the map book a.k.a. the Bible back in the place we got lost. So Guy, the Bible's guardian, made the journey back and came back EMPTY-HANDED. NO. NOT THE BIBLE. 

This was a big blow. We had to find a new one. We went into the centre of Neuss, found a book shop - nothing. At this point, i was actually smiling on my bike at the situation of everything. We were still many kilometres away, it was late in the day, we had just realised we had lost the book and literally a few seconds later, it started to rain. We had it all to do and everything was going wrong. Well, I found it funny. But, looking into a second bookshop, we found a replica of the precious booklet. I snatched it, paid, and it was ours.

After a hurried lunch (it was no 3 o'clock by this point and we had done 45m, not even halfway) we really didn't want to arriver before dark and this encouraged us to step up a notch. But we had trouble finding the cycle path again, having gone into the centre of Neuss, and although we got closer to our destination as we searched, we found the path an hour and a half later. I stopped to take a photo and as I moved off, my foot got stuck on my bike bag, dislodging a piece of it. I had to fix i, and did, but our time was rotting away. This was getting ridiculous. it was nearly 5 o'clock and we were only just over halfway. And it was raining. And the wind was blowing harder than I have seen it yet. Bloody great. 

I have to say, at this point, I was feeling pretty discouraged. But we had to make it to Rheinberg and there was no giving up. Things got better after then. The rain stopped and got heavier at different times, but the wind was changing and started to help us finish the ordeal. Finally, just after 8, we arrived in Budberg, just outside Rheinberg, as it was getting dark. Glad that one's over.

DAY 11: Koblenz - Köln (Cologne)

I have to say, I was a bit tired after yesterday. So we started off slow, having a look at the meeting point between the Rhine and the River Moselle in Koblenz first, but picked up speed gradually. As I mentioned on yesterday's post, the surroundings were becoming flatter around Koblenz. But we found ourselves re-entering another steep-sided valley. But this one was short-lived, and as soon as the land flattened out again, the heavy industry started to appear. This was to be our main view from our cycle path today, which wasn't great to be honest. 

To make matters worse, a wind arose after lunch blowing straight into our faces, strengthening as the afternoon went on, and finally, after several days of glorious sunshine, the inevitable happened: the rain was back. Not an amazing day, 

but I am very happy to be in Köln, my dad's hometown, for the evening. A modern yet traditional place, perfect to rest for our biggest day of the trip tomorrow, a planned 108.5km.

http://www.justgiving.com/therhinebybicycle

DAY 10: Mainz - Koblenz

This was it. The first day of our 4 days of pain. Or so we thought. We had to get the spokes of my dad's bike, used by my uncle, tightened after 300km since he had had it replaced following our crash... This held us back until 10.15. This was not good. We nearly had 100km to do today so we had no time to lose. But off we went, and we went surprisingly quickly. We got halfway at 13.30 and stopped to eat at Bacharach, but we felt great.

This encouraged us for the rest of the day, leading to us allowing ourselves a 'chocolate stop' in St. Goar (this involves sitting on a bench in the sun on the banks of the Rhine and eating Lindor chocolate eggs and chocolate marzipan. Yum). Following on from yesterday, the landscape was becoming more impressive, as the land either side of the river was becoming steeper and higher again, as if we were going back towards the source. This section of the Rhine is home to amazing castles sitting on cliff edges overlooking their vineyards on the edge of the river. After spending the whole day along the winding river, getting variable wind as a result of the meandering, we reached Koblenz 104km later, rather than the predicted 95.5, situated where the land starts to flatten out again. I wonder what's in store for us tomorrow, the second of the 4 days of pain...

DAY 9: Mannheim - Mainz

I really hope this weather continues. My dad left us on another sunny morning and the three of us, my uncle,

my godfather and I, headed north. The scenery around the Rhine is again beginning to change as we move up towards the source.

Today, our main view was rows and rows of sun-dried vineyards along the growing bluffs on the banks. There wasn't a cloud in sight (well there were a few but that doesn't sound as good) and we continued to Oppenheim in the heat, where we were treated to lunch by Moritz, my godfather, on a cafe terrace.

We were in a slight rush since Moritz had to catch the train at 17.20 in Mainz, our destination, so we pressed on and dodging the locals, making the most of this glorious day on the riverside, we reached Mainz with enough time to have yet another drink in the sun before Moritz's train left. Now for the toughest 4 days of the trip all in a row starting from tomorrow...