My Top Three for the First Three Weeks of Spain

This is Erich reporting live from Benicassim on the Costa Alzahar. We
have been in Spain for 3 weeks now. My family and I have been riding down
the eastern coast of Spain for the past 2 weeks. The remainder of the time
has been spent either staying in the same place for multiple days or
renting apartments.
Some of my favorite sights were in the city of Valencia. Besides the
cathedral and the old city gates, we encountered a park in which inside
the fence there was a huge 100 foot tall, plastic model of Gulliver. It
was incredible. Twisting trails led all over the outside and slides down
the giant's hair, the inside of his shoe and even down his belt. Later
the same day my mom and I went to an incredible aquarium called The
Oceanographic. The first thing we did when we got inside was head to the
arena where a stunning dolphin show took place almost as soon as we sat
down. We also saw Sea Horses(my favorite), Japanese Spider Crabs, Walruses
(my mom's favorite) and Sawsharks.
The next day we went and watched some real Spanish folk dancing in the
Placa del Virgen. The dancers wore big phroofy costumes and fake hair
traditional to the Valencia region, and there were some small children
just learning the dances who were very cute. They danced to castanettes
and overly loud music played through speakers.
Over all we have found that biking in Spain is horible. There are
still lots of interesting sights and things to do, but I think that if
you are going to come to Spain on bike be prepared to rent a car or take
trains and buses alot of the time.
Now, back to you....

Best of France

Here are. Our favorite memories from our month in France...

Erich
1.) The Eiffel Tower
2.) The Arch De Triumph
3.) Riding the TGV to Paris
4.) Wicket tossing (a game we made up) on the beach at Gruissan
5.) Carcasonne

Best Day of Riding: Castlenaudry to Carcassonne
Favorite Food: Mom's homemade crepes with jam
Favorite Campground: Obernai

Stacey
1.) Watching Erich at the Eiffel Tower
2.) Shopping at the Paris streetmarket for scarves, hats, vegies,
flowers, olives, tapenade, etc, etc
3.) Drinking vin nouveau at the Alsace wine festival
4.) Wandering the canals and narrow streets of Strasbourg.
5.) Seeing the Pont du Gard on a warm fall day.

Best Day of Riding: Ribeauville to Turckheim
Favorite Food: Cassoulet
Favorite Campground: Obernai

Thomas
1.) Carcassonne
2.) Riding the Canal du Midi
3.) Climbing to Haute Konigsburg
4.) Riding Through the Vineyards of the Alsace
5.) Bicycling Paris on Sunday Morning

Best Day of Riding: Toulouse to Castlenaudry
Favorite Food: Cassoulet
Favorite Campground: Ribeauville

Cycling (or not) the Costa Alzahar and Costa Blanca

After cycling down the northern part of the province of Valencia, we took
a few days to explore city of Valencia. We rented a great apartment
(www.friendlyrentals.com), which for us is a good way to go as we can
cook and spread out a bit. Highlights of Valencia included the America's
Cup yacht harbor, the cathedral (who knew the Holy Grail was in Valencia?),
the park in the dry riverbed of the diverted Turia River, and just
wandering the narrow streets of the historic El Carmen area. We shopped
for food at the central market with its art deco building and all the
stalls of produce, cheeses, meats, fish, breads, and other goods. It was
also amazing to us, as tired American cyclists, to see the numbers of
people out and about, eating, drinking and socializing well after midnight.

We were able to cycle out of Valencia, headed south. There is supposedly
a cycle path from near the center of the city to Salou, 16 km south on
the beach. We got lost in road construction, but were directed to the
path by an older gentleman who gave us directions from his car at a
stoplight, much to the consternation of the cars waiting behind him. Once
we were on the path, it took us a little beyond Salou and close to
Albufeira National Park, which is a big lake that provides a major
migration stop for many birds. There were few birds this time of year,
though.
Once off the cycling path, there was one bit of pushing along a dirt path
and under a gate. We then were on a flat two lane road which was signed
with warnings for drivers to be alert for cyclists. There was a narrow
shoulder but drivers were courteous. The area was quite pretty, with pine
trees, grasslands, and of course off along the beach the usual concrete
megolithic apartment buildings.
As seems to be the case all too often, the tourist guide to the
campgrounds was not correct, and the map wasn't quite right either. So
the campground we were planning to stop at was closed. It was only four
o'clock, but since it gets dark at six o'clock, we made a quick decision
to pedal hard to the next town that might have a hotel. However we saw a
campground that was supposed to be closed, but was open, although we were
the only ones camping there. The manager, a Peruvian, came out and raked
away leaves so there was a spot for us. It was a chilly night and a
chilly morning, so we packed up quickly and headed back down the two lane
road.

We spent the day cycling on two lane roads past orange trees, and
sometimes the smell was almost overwhelmingly sweet. There were
occasionally sections of designated bike path, but mostly the road was
good cycling. We reached the port of Gandia and cycled along the fairly
dead water front area and managed to find the open campground, which was
full of German, Dutch, and British retirees in their motor homes and
caravans. Gandia was nothing special, but there were a few good day rides
up into the mountains.

From Gandia we were planning to go to Denia, another of the old fishing
villages that have been overrun by tourism. We again cycled mostly quiet
two lane road, with the beach developments off to our left and our road
passing through agricultural land, mostly orange trees but some date palms.
After 34 km we arrived in Oliva, and decided to camp at one of the six
open campgrounds right on the beach. Some were pretty expensive, but we
found one with "bungalows" that were old insulated truck containers with
some wood facing, windows cut in, and pink painted dry wall on the inside.
Lovely, really!?!? They also had little verandas with fridge, sink, and
table/chairs, so we were there, what luxury, to have table and chairs,
fridge, and beds.
Campground culture in these retiree winter resting grounds is
fascinating. A sociological study of campground culture is definitely in
order. Some campgrounds cater to particular nationalities, e.g. Dutch.
This one was primarily British and German with a few French folks as
well. They get up at 8 AM, eat breakfast, "hoover" and otherwise clean
their caravans including raking any chance leaves that drifted onto their
parcel. Shopping or other errands is followed at noon by more eating,
followed by napping or walks. Then comes social time, with petanque or
other games, accompanied by beer or other drinks. Dinner, then more
socalizing. The conversations were often in three or four languages. The
pitches were decorated with flashing lights, Santas, pine boughs, and
other Christmas decorations. The people in the caravans around us quickly
adopted Erich, who became the official petanque score keeper as well as
main entertainer of Rex the ball-catching dog. So we stayed there for
four days, building sand castles, taking day rides, eating meals on our
little veranda, and participating in campground culture.
Alas, even good things end. So we headed out of the campground to the
cheers of the campers (felt like we were in the Tour de France but
without the publicity caravan and with an extra 50 pounds on our bikes.)
We continued south along the coast toward Denia, where the road became
hideously busy. After asking directions we headed around some headlands
again on mostly quiet roads, for a total of 42 km to Javea, or Xabia in
Valenciano. Another campground, but this one was much noisier, with
sounds of discos, barking dogs, and motor scooters throughout the night.
But Uilke and Jennie, our Dutch friends from Benicassim and Gandia, were
there. There were a number of excellent walks and rides detailed in a
tourist booklet, including a terrific ride to the cove of Granadella. The
beach was beautiful; the area had experienced a great deal of rain about
a month previously, and the hills were full of Spanish lavendar,
rosemary, and other herbs all in bloom. Beautiful!!

The weather was getting slightly colder, making for some long nights in
the tent. Also, riding south meant once again heading onto the N332, a
very busy highway. Uilke, our Dutch friend, offered to take the bikes to
our next destination, about an hour's drive, so we could avoid the
highway on the busy holiday weekend. We gratefully accepted the offer,
and soon were in Altea, a very pretty seaport. The campground was again
mostly crushed rock pitches and quite full of Dutch and British retirees,
who again adopted Erich. This campground was right across from the rocky
beach and next to a cheap Chinese restaurant. Tom will detail our
exhausting but beautiful day ride up to Guadalest. The other day we went
to the apalling resort of Benidorm, with its layers of high rise
apartments and hotels, fish and chip shops, and legions of overweight
British tourists lolling on the beaches. Beached whales came to mind.
Glad to have seen it once, but its definitely a place to be avoided for
any lengthy stays.
From Benidorm one again has to ride the highway, so we took the very
modern tram down to Alicante.
So...part of this section had some very nice cycling. For those who may
try to cycle this section, taking the train to skirt the N highway seems
like a good option, and there seem to be many very good day rides along
the coast and up into the mountains.

On and Off the Bikes on The Costa Brava and Costa Daurada

Spain is definitely not a cycling-friendly country, at least for cycle
tourists. Cycling here has proven to be as difficult as described in
other trip blogs. So we've ridden some and then hopped on trains where
the riding was too difficult. The good news is that taking the bikes on
regional trains has been easy and free, except we were scolded once about
the length of the tandem. Also, for the most part drivers of both cars
and trucks have been quite courteous and allowed plenty of space for us.
The not-so-good part has been the difficulty of finding reasonable routes.

Although we had planned to cycle the French coast of Rousillon, a storm
in the Mediterranean was making the normally windy coast a real test of
our ability to balance heavily loaded bikes in gusts of up to 75 kph. The
French train agents claimed to know nothing about putting cycles on
Spanish trains, so we took a French train just across the border to
Portbou in Spain, went through a passport check, bought the next tickets,
and loaded the bikes on the train to Girona.
Girona was warm, at least for the first few days, and we stayed in a very
cycle-friendly lodging, the Hotel Historic, in the old center of town.
Seems that Team Discovery used to train in the area around Girona. We
enjoyed the beautiful city with narrow winding streets and the outside
cafes. After two days, we rode a Via Verde, aka "rails-to-trails" in the
U.S., down to San Feliu de Guixol, a small resort and fishing village.
The route was well-marked and graded through farmland and nice coastal
forest.

We had intended to ride south along the Costa Brava. Alas, there was the
wind and cold again, coupled with lack of reasonable cycling routes, as
we would have ended up on the National Highway system. So, the bikes went
on a bus back to Girona and then on a train to Tarragona.
We spent two days in Tarragona viewing the old Roman sights, and then
took a day ride to the Roman aqueduct and north to a beach. Again,
drivers were polite but there are no provisions for cycling, so the roads
and particularly the roundabouts can be hair-raising.

From Tarragona we rode south through an intensely industrial area,
camping one night in an over-priced campground near an adventure park,
noisy with trucks, and very cold. Then headed south again, making our way
through concrete jungles of high rise apartments that are essentially
ghost towns this time of year. Sometimes we could find small streets to
ride. However we also ended up riding N340. (Spain has A roads, or
Autopistas, which are mostly toll roads. So much of the traffic,
including commercial trucks, take the smaller N, or National, roads. They
have wide shoulders, but it was noisy, you're breathing a lot of exhaust,
and even though the traffic moved over for us, it was bit scary.)

We ended up that night short of our planned stop, but found a nice
campground right on the beach in Hospitalet les Enfants. The next day's
ride would have taken us back on the N340, past a nuclear power plant and
other large chemical plants. So, back on the train to Benicassim, another
tourist town on the beach with multiple highrise apartment buildings, and
most of the shops closed for the season. There were several campgrounds
open with many Dutch, German, and British caravanners, so there were some
grocery stores etc open. The caravanners were friendly, and Erich was
able to play bocce ball and otherwise hobnob with someone besides his
parents. We also took a nice day ride, described in a separate posting.

From Benicassim south there is a good cycle path as far as Castellon. We
then picked our way along the coast on side roads and through parking
lots of more concrete jungle, again falling short of our planned
destination. It was Thanksgiving Day, so we found a small hotel right on
the beach in Moncofa, had paella for dinner (no, it didn't come with
cranberry sauce and stuffing, but the owner gave us some tangerines from
his garden.)

There did not look to be a reasonable route for biking into Valencia, so
we found the train station in Moncofa which was over the highway, through
an orange grove, in a deserted building along the tracks, and the train
actually stopped for us. On to Valencia and beyond.

So that's our first two weeks in Spain, on and off our bicycles.

Full Nickel Goes Mountain Climbing

Much to my surprise, and pleasure I might add, Stacey decided we needed
to ride up into the mountains the other day. The day was another warm,
sunny Spanish winter day.

We rode from the beach in Benicassim on the Costa Alzahar of Spain to the
El Desierto de las Palmas natural park, an area of historical
significance in Catalonia because of the religious and geographic
importance of the area. The major attraction is a late 17th century
Carmelite monastery in the mountains.

The climb was 11km long with 1350ft of elevation gain and a very
different sort of climb than the ones I did with Kevin back in October.
This one started with a long grade passing a beautiful old hacienda, had
six or seven short switchbacks in the middle followed by another long
grade along a ridge top and just below the summit ridge. Very few trees,
mostly scrub similar to the chaparal in Southern California, some nice
rock outcroppings and even a few names painted on the road. Remove the
paint on the road and one could almost be convinced they were riding in
the hills above Santa Barbara, California.

Unfortunately the new monastery was closed for the midday siesta and the
old, 14th century, abbey, just a few walls still standing, was gated off.
Some of the old chaples from a pilgramage route to the abbey were still
present,as were the terraces and water works. Fortunately from above the
old abbey we had a sweeping panaroma and a nice picnic lunch in the sun.
From our vantage point we could see almost all of the climb and all the
way to the seemingly ever present highrises gaurding the coast.

Perhaps the best part of th ride was being away from the overdeveloped
coast and into an area that may be more typical of Spain away from the
coast. As warm as it was sitting there in the sun at the top we still had
to put on clothes for the descent back to the beach. What took us an hour
to go up we descended in less than 20 minutes.

This was Erich's and my first long climb on our Rodriguez Nickel and I
can confidently state that the Nickel rides equally well as a single and
a tandem.

Best of Germany

Erich
1.) Ferrari Convoy in Dinklesbuhl
2.) Parade Grounds In Nurnburg
3.) Rothenburg Walls
4.) Ferris Wheel Over Lake Konstanz
5.) Glockenspiel In Munich
Best day of riding: The Rhine from Breisach to Kehl
Favorite Food: Spaetzle with cheese
Favorite campground: Kehl

Stacey
1.) Seeing the Alps from Lake Konstanz
2.) Trauben, or new wine, and the wine festival
3.) Seeing Laucheim, where my Grandmother was born
4.) The Residenz in Wurtzberg
5.) The parade grounds and Dokumentation Center in Nurnberg
Best day of riding: Friedrichshaven to Meersberg along Lake Konstanz
Favorite food: Nurnberg sausages
Favorite campground: Stein am Rhein, Switzerland!

Thomas
1.) Rothenburg am Tauber
2.) Konig Ludwig Kanal
3.) Apfel Strudel at Weltenburg Abbey
4.) Bike Paths through the Forests
5.) Climb to Schauisland in the Black forest
Best day of riding: Konig Ludwig Canal to Nurnburg
Favorite food: Pork with the crust still on and Knoedel
Favorite campground: Wurzburg Canoe Club

Erich Was at The Pont du Gard

For those of you who want an image to go with the poem and couldn't solve the riddle on your own. Here's Erich at the Pont du Gard in Provence.

Where Was Erich Now?

I was at a famous sight a few days ago and I made a poem with some hints.

In times of old
From ridge to ridge

Over water
There went a bridge

Water low
Water high

Twelve Arches
In the Provence sky

(and to my grandfather the GPS coordinates are: 43 56.85N, 4 32.1E)

And for those who get it right either good knowledge or good searching.

Toulouse to the Mediterranean

We've finally made it to the promised sunshine and longer days of the
Mediterranean. The good news is that the days are definitely more sunny
and longer - the sun is over horizon well before 8am and doesn't set
until almost 5:30pm. The bad news is that the winds are keeping the
temperatures down. But, hey, two out of three works for me.

Seems like along time ago that we rode out of Toulouse along the Canal du
Midi but the beauty of the ride is still quite sharp in my mind. The
first 50km was paved, beautiful and easy riding. Huge grey Sycamore trees
lined the banks their branches entwining over the canal creating a tunnel
of fall color for us to ride through. The day was foggy and cool. On the
way out of Toulouse we passed just about every type barge imaginable.
Plain old shipping barges, two floor restaurant barges, discotech barges,
spa barges, old shipping barges converted into expensive looking house
barges. At the Col de Naurouze, the high point of the Canal u Midi, just
after the paved portion of the canal ended we left the canal and rode
regular roads without much traffic into Castlenaudry for the night.
Castelnaudry is the home of the famous dish, Cassoulet, which we didn't
try until the next night. The hot beans and meat were great after being
in a cold wind most of the day.

On our way out of Castlenaudry we rode down to the canal to see the Grand
Basin and get a picture back toward town. The low grey clouds did nothing
to help the image but the view was still nice. From Castlenaudry to
Carcassonne the canal was no less beautiful but the surface was much worse.
We rode paved bicycle track, hard packed gravel, dirt road, dirt single
track and everything in between. Lots of roots, rocks and ruts to
navigate around fortunately the beauty of the canal easily made up for
the tough riding (I wouldn't recommend trying this for your first bicycle
tour. Know that you are going to be riding mostly unpaved and be ready
for some rough riding and you'll be fine. We rode it on 1.25 inch tires
and didn't suffer from any flats). On the outskirts of Caracssonne we
stopped to get our bearings and picked up a motorscooter escort to the
doorstep of the Tourist Information. We spent the next day touring the
Medieval city which Erich has previously described.

From there we took a slight detour away from the canal and up into the
Alaric mountains and Lagrasse, "one of France's most beautiful villages"
according to signs at the entrance to the city. The ride to Lagrasse was
hilly and the terrain and vegetation was very reminisent of Southern
California. It certainly was a nice small village with an old Abbey that
was in the process of being restored.

The next morning in Lagrasse the winds had increased in velocity and we
were a bit nervous about riding in them. Faced with few better
alternatives we decided to head out into the winds and see how the riding
was. Most of the day was spent running down wind, the traffic was
extremely light and we managed to soldier through the few strong side
gusts. We even had the energy for a side trip to the Fontfroide Abbey
that made us feel as if we were in Southern California. Shortly after
leaving the abbey our road merged into a very busy one. We managed to
find a dirt road that we followed only to find ourselves on an even
busier highway. Fortunately we only had to ride it for 100m before we
turned of it and headed into town on a bike path.

From Narbonne to Gruissan and the Mediterranean we again had a down wind
run. At one point Erich and I were being pushed by the winds at 34kmh. We
had reached the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately it turned out be a
windsurfing hotspot.

Stacey composed the following (bad) limerick while fighting a headwind
back to Narbonne:
In a wind called the Tramontane
They blew to Gruissan down a lane
Where they stayed by the sea
In apartment for three
Until they left for Spain.

For those of you that are interested the daily distances are:
Toulouse to Castlenaudry 65km
Castlenaudry to Caracassonne 46km
Caracassonne to Lagrasse 42km
Lagrasse to Narbonne 49km
Narbonne to Gruissan 19km

The Legendary Carcasonne Castle

After two days of riding down the Canal du Midi we were riding across the
bridge to our hotel in Carcassonne when we looked around and then and
there we saw an immensely huge castle looming up on the hill in front of
us and I about fell of the back of my bike in shock. It was just like all
of the paintings of castles with the towers and the walls with bow slots.
The next day we went into it. For the first part it looked like any old
European city until we got to the end of the street when again we see the
huge towering walls and I'm reminded we are in a castle. At 2:45pm we go
to the inner castle to take a tour around the walls. It was amazing and
there were holes in the walls where they could have dropped their stones
or explosives or what ever they had down on the enemy. After that we went
on a tour of the inside of the inner castle and walked around more of the
ramprts. I will never forget that day in the Castle of Carcassonne.

The Story
The Franks and The Saracens were fighting a very bloody battle with the
Franks laying seige to The Saracens who were in the Carcassonne Castle.
They were one week into the battle and the Saracens were down to
starvation and the woman leader of the Saracens, Carcas, had the people
of the town sweep up the last of the corn and stuff it down a pig. She
then had them throw the pig out at the enemy who then thought that if the
people in the castle had been under seige for 1 week and were still
feeding the pigs corn that it would take weeks to take over the castle.
The Franks then started retreating. The Saracens then invited the head
honcho of the Franks in to have a feast and then the two leaders married
and Carcas, the leader of the Saracens, rang the town bells and every one
shouted Carcas rings which translates to Carcassonne in French, which is
the legend of how the city got its name.

Thats it for now folks.
Erich

Paris

So I have been in Paris for almost a week now and it still seems really
amazing and busy.

Day 1: We got here on a TGV from Beaune,and got our bikes to the
apartment. That was most of the day, as the train ride was 3:00 hours.

Day 2: Today we went to the Notre Dame! I liked it for it's
architecture but not for it's holyness. It was so crowded and noisy that
it didn't seem holy. It must have been so hard to build without modern
technology. The metro was really busy and half the time you had about 1ft
by 1ft of space.

Day 3: Today we got up at 7:30 and went to the Orsay and saw some art
work by the Impressionists. I liked Starry Night best. Then we looked at
the outside of the Louvre. Then we took the metro to the Arch de Triumphe.

Day 4: Today we just sort of hung for the morning and then in the
afternoon we took the metro to Saint Denis and saw a church with a bunch
of dead royals.

Day 5: Today I went up the Eiffel Tower during the golden lighting
(which is when 21,000 lightbulbs make the Eiffel Tower loook like it is
made of gold.) I have wanted to climb it all of my life and I can't
believe I got to do it. It is almost 1000 ft tall. Everything looked so
small from the top!

Day 6: Today we went to a little fair type thing and I got to ride a
Segway! They are totally amazing!

Thats it for now folks!
Erich

Cycling the Alsace Wine Route

We're back in Freiburg after an eight day circuit of the German and
French sides of the Alsace area. It was a terrific tour, and we'd highly
recommend it as a ten day tour, with possible additional side trips. We
had great weather the whole time, the first and second weeks of October.
Our route took us from the city of Freiburg, which is a large city, busy,
and many students. A highlight was the Munster, or cathedral, and the
market in the surrounding square. Bockwurst in brot, two euros.
From Freiburg we rode 36 km to Breisach, a quiet but pretty town on the
Rhine. The next day we rode up the Rhine canal to Kehl, the German town
opposite Strasbourg. Although some Germans had warned us that the route
was boring, we found the wetlands, views across the river, and barges
interesting. It was 86 km from Breisach to Kehl, but could be divided
into 2 days.
We stayed two nights at a nice campground in Kehl and went into
Strasbourg for the day. The old town, including the fantastic cathedral
and the canals, was lovely.
Our riding partner, Kevin, wanted to see the town of Dettwiller, where
his family had come from. So from Kehl we rode to Strasbourg - hairy ride
through the city - then up the Marne - Rhine canal. The canal had a paved
cycle path, and was fun to ride along the narrow canal and past multiple
locks to Saverne, 62 km. There were many rental canal cruiser boats -
that looks fun. In Saverne we stayed at a nice youth hostel in an old
chateau. An optional day ride would be further up the canal 15 km to the
boat lift, where they actually float boats in large tubs and lift them up
mechanically to get over the hill.
Then, we turned south down the Route du Vin. Winding through vineyards,
up and down a few steep hills, and through many quaint towns, the route
was fairly well marked but it was helpful to have several maps to use for
triangulating. The route is mostly on roads, with some traffic, more on
the weekend. Our route was Saverne to Obernai, 54 km, Obernai to
Selestat, 44 km, Selestat to Ribeauville, 18 km, to Turckheim, 22 km. Tom
and Kevin did a ride to Haut Koenigsburg which is described separately.
There are multiple routes, but we chose our route based on campground
availability, scenic towns, and not too many hills.
We ended this section by riding through Colmar, with its excellent museum
and another quaint old town, then back to Breisach and Freiburg.
Highlights included the smaller not-so-touristed towns, like Bergheim,
the vin nouveau which could be purchased from wineries by the bottle, and
the quiet sunny paths through the vines.

The Nickle Shines

10/17 Freiburg, GR

Kevin and I have been putting the Trickel Nickel, the name of our
Rodriguez tandem, through its paces. Four days ago we converted the
Nickel into a single bike and rode up to Haut Koenigsburg in the Vosges
mountains of France. The conversion from tandem to single bike took less
than half an hour and no adjustments to the brakes or derailluers were
necessary.

Haut Koenigsburg is a restored castle, on the top of a mountain roughly
1700 feet and 6 miles above the valley. The day was another in a long
string of beautiful fall days that we've been having ever since Kevin
arrived. We rolled along through the foothills and the vineyards for 6km
and I quickly became comfortable on the unloaded single bike - quite a
change from the heavily loaded tandem that I had been riding. The climb
started in earnest when we turned left out of Bergheim and quickly left
the vineyards of the Alsace behind. The rest of the climb was through a
beautiful mixed forest. The castle was amazing and the views of the
valley below were expansive. The ride back down was fast and cool. By the
time we reached Thannenkirch, only part way down the descent, the castle
was surprisingly distant. Another couple of kilometers or so of
descending and we were back rolling through the vineyards towards our
camp in Ribeauville. In camp we were rewarded with vies of the castle
while we reconverted the Nickel to a tandem. Quite an amazing bike that
works equally well as a tandem and a single bike.

Just yesterday Kevin and I repeated the Conversion of the Nickel and
climbed up to Schauisland (translated roughly as look in to the land) in
the Schwarzwald, Black Forest, of Germany. This climb was quite a bit
longer than the Haut Koenigsburg climb at 3000 feet in 11 miles. At the
bottom of the climb the leaves of the deciduous trees had just started
turning colors by midway up the climb the colors were in full force and
by the top the leaves were gone. From the top the views back down towards
Freiburg were spectacular. The descent this time was very fast with two
sections of 14% grade. Once again the Nickel performed flawlessly.

Dan and Smiley at Rodriguez cycles built us a very nice versitile
bicycle. These guys really know the meaning of service and the best part
is that they make their own bicycles so one knows that one is going to
get what one wants.

Above Strausburg

The picture is of me up on top of the
Notre Dame in Strausburg ,France. It was a Catholic chuch with a whole
lot of
Gargoyels and we got to climb up 300 and something steps to the top of
the tower. We are now in a town called Selestat. Today we are going to
somewhere in the vicinity of the town Colmar. We are right in the middle
of a state in France called Alsace. It's hilly with lots of vineyards.

A Visitor from Stateside

October 12 Selestat, FR

Kevin Detwiller has come over from statside to ride with us for a while.
He has brought along beautiful fall weather.

We've ridden from Freiburg Germany north along the Rhine river to
Strausburg, France. From there we followed the Rhine Marne canal to
Kevin's ancestrual home of Detwiller France. We finished that day by
staying in a youth hostel in Saverne, FR. The youth hostel was in an old
chateau, a very beautiful building, unfortunately our rooms were nothing
more than beds - much bigger than the tent so we still managed to enjoy
ourselves.

For the past two days we've been riding south through the Alsace wine
region. Nice quiet country side, charming villages, lots of vineyards and
lots of hills. The weather has remained beautiful, a bit cool but still
nice sunny fall weather.

Cruising Lake Konstanz

After leaving the Romantic Road, we took a train to the village of
Lauchheim, where Stacey's grandmother was born. Then, back on the
train to Friedrichshaven, on the shores of Lake Konstanz or the
Bodensee, as it is called here. The grape harvest is in full swing,
and we had a mix of rain and beautiful sunny days. The Bodensee Radweg
was well signed and took us through Germany, Austria, and then
Switzerland. We had some good views of the Alps and some great days of
biking along the lake. We also cycled out to Richenau Island, a UNESCO
site with churches and alot of vegtabl farms.
We then followed the Rhine for several days through some beautiful
forest along the river, and some cute towns. From Bad Sackingen, we
take a train to Freiburg to meet our friend, Kevin, who is coming to
cycle with us for a few days.

City Walls

Today the 19th of September I walked the city walls of Rothenburg,
Germany that date from the middle ages. It was fun imagining how hard it
would be to defend the city in battle. The walls were pretty narrow and
it would have been hard to maneuver up there when the battle was raging.

We also had a delicious ball of dough that is called schneeballen and it
is covered in powdered sugar and caramel.

Where Was Erich

This is old news but thought I better follow up.

Does this image help tell where Erich was?

Sept. 27 Update

We have have left the Romantic Road far behind and made it as far as the Bodensee in Germany. The weather has not been very lovely, in fact today it was 5C for most of the morning.

The cute walled towns of the Romantic Road were fun to visit and one of the towns, Nordlingen, was in the middle of an old meteor impact crater. We got to ride through the old rim of the crater - read challening and hilly - but it was nicely forested and made for interesting viewing when we climbed the church tower.

We are now planning to cycle three countries in three days. Germany, Austria and Switzerland all boarder the Bodensee.

A Beautiful End of the Day

I don't know exactly where we are but we are at roughly 49 14.14N 011 27.135E which is some where along the King Ludwig canal which runs between the Danube and Main rivers in Germany.

The day started out rough - more rain and the nice hard packed gravel path we've been riding has been softened by all the rain making the riding both dirtier and more difficult. It was hard to focus on the nice river valley of the Altmuhl with castle towers, chateaus and churches up on the hills above the valley and not on the rain, the mud and the headwind. After lunch, spent sitting in the hall outside of a closed tourist info where I looked at maps through the window, we headed to Berching a nondiscript town where we hoped to find an open tourist info to help us decide which canal to ride to Nuremberg. After lunch was over it was back out into the rain for the short ride to Berching. As we pulled into town the street was torn up with construction - looked like sewer work to me - so we had to get off and walk along the side. We crossed through an arch and continued walking as Stacey was worried about the wet cobblestones. The sign pointing to the tourist info turned us left and over a small cobbled bridge with a statue of some unnamed saint. Dead ahead was a 16th century town gate. Words are going to fail me but it was a beaut. The building above was decked out with planter boxes and where the buildings stopped old town walls continued. Several towers could be seen reaching up over the gate. What a surprise! One of the delights of bicycle touring is stumbling onto what you other wise wouldn't have seen and Berching was a real delight.

The woman in the tourist office was quite helpful. Her English was sparse but she managed to convey that the old canal and not the new was the way to go, called ahead to make sure the camp ground on the route was open and had showers and even told us where to find a grocery store. After pastries and a walk around the town square we headed off to find King Ludwig's canal.

This one shouldn't have been a surprise but it was. What we found was beautiful. The canal, built in the mid 1850s, was lined with huge old oak trees and beyond that stretched a forest of firs. The rain had stopped and our moods were bouyed by both the surprise of the town and the beauty of the canal. All too soon we had come upon the campground and the day was over. Fortunately the canal was still waiting for the next day.

Wurzberg am Main

Another update from the parents. It's another beautiful fall morning. Stacey and Erich are sleeping in after our long ride, 80km, yesterday. I'm sitting in the bright sun by the Main river catching up on my journal and enjoying the morning.
Yesterday we rode into Wurzberg on the Main river from a small town named Obertheres where we we also camped on the Main. The last several days have been beautiful fall days - cool mornings warming nicely by midday, we've even been able to ride in shorts. Yesterday the temperature even hit 22 and it was very sunny. But, the leaves are starting to turn and there is chill in the morning air. We don't expect it to last so we'll be heading south toward longer and one hopes, warmer days.

A Notorius Location

We're now at 49 25.35N 011 7.25E and tonight on our way back from
eating pizza we rode past a rather infamous parade ground. The weather
has cleared so the night was beautiful and the fading light gave the
grounds a rather spookyh feel if one thought about its history.

Where is Erich now?

Following rivers.

Well here I am following the second river of the trip. I am currently
riding a schiffahr, a big tourist boat, named the Kelheim because it
is based in a town called Kelheim up the
Danube. We started in Munich and saw 4 churches and a museum of art
and a beer hall. The next day we rode 37.11 miles through the rain
jacket soaking rain alongside the Isar river to the town of Landshut.
In Landshut we saw the world's tallest brick tower. The next day we
rode a stifling 51 miles to Straubing and we crossed between river
basins. The one we left was the Isar river and the one we came to was
the Danube. Today we were supposed to follow the Danube but the trail
actually took us through a bunch of farmers fields and when we did
follow the river we where on the other side of a dike so we couldn't
even see the Danube. We went into a store with my parents and bought
lunch and we sat at a bus stop for lunch and my Dad and I were betting
on which cars where doing to turn at the stop light and which weren't.
I ended up 39/63 and my Dad was 26/57. We spent the next day touring
Regensburg. Then we went to a campground outside the really small town
of Poikam and camped right next to the Danube. The day after that we
went on a touring boat up to a monastery from a town called Kelheim
and from there we rode up to our campground. And yesterday we camped
in an even smaller town and woke up and rode along the beautiful Donau
Main canal to Nuremberg and camped there and here I am today in
Nuremberg sitting in a brat house and we just finished lunch.

I'm Not in School - Surprise!

It felt very weird today when I woke up to the bus going by my house and I didn't panic and worry that I was going to be late. And now at about 12:30 I'm trying to figure out what class I would be in. But I'm thinking that it would be 4th period and last year that would be mathematics. I am really nervous because I will leave the state and stay in Idaho today. And I'm leaving the country on Monday. A week from today I will be in Munich Germany. I really hope that we don't forget anything.