Day 10 Reicholzhein - Rothenburg

Change of scenery again today as we left the Main and followed the much smaller river Tauber up through Tauber-bichofseim, had lunch at Weikersheim and had a wander round the palace gardens

Today's route had the most hills to date, not only was it generally up hill, but the path was pretty undulating.  If my bike computer is correct we had a total 2342 feet of ascent today. 

We ended up at Rothenburg which is a fantastic old town on top of the hill above the river

The cycle paths have been amazing, that's 600 miles so far, virtually all on way marked cycle tracks.  Despite our various diversions they are really pretty easy to follow. The only problem is if you miss any of the signs, it can then be a bit tricky to find the route again. 

Today's miles 64

Total miles 602

Day 9 Kahl am Main - Reicholzhein

Onwards up the River Main to Aschaffenburg, fairly flat agricultural land passing through lots of fields of wheat and Maize.  Stopped at Aschaffenburg (20 miles) for breakfast and to buy a new phone!  Carried on into a bit of a headwind to Miltenburg for lunch (sausages again!)

After this the valley got narrower and steeper again, the Main although much smaller than the Rhine is still navigable by the big barges and cruise ships, although they need to use a series of huge lock gates to get up stream.

At Wertheim we turned off the Main and headed south again stopping off at Reicholzhein.  Tomorrow we head off towards the "Romantic Road". So far we've only gone up 2 hills so we're a bit nervous of how the legs will cope when asked to do some climbing. 

Miles today 74

Miles total 538

Sausages eaten - dozens!

Day 7 Lahnstein - Hattenheim

As suspected we had to double back to get on to the correct side of the river, but on the way we stopped off for breakfast in the local bakery.  As we came out the heavens opened with a torrential thunder storm with hailstones the size of peas, so back to the bakery for another coffee

8 miles later we were back level with our campsite but on the right side of the river.  The Rhine is really picturesque along this section, steep sided valleys with vineyards all up the sides, castles at almost every bend in the river. And red kites soaring overhead. 

Just  before Bad Salzig it suddenly became dark and we just made it to an underpass before the next thunderstorm.  This one went on for ages so we eventually just got the waterproofs on and went for it. 

By the time we had lunch at Sankt Goer the sun was back out and the temperature was getting up to about 28. 

Beer stop at Bingen, after which we got the ferry across the river again with only about another 9 miles to our campsite.  From this point on the Rhine widens out a lot and we could see the signs of the recent flooding on the bushes, parts of the cycle path were also flooded with stinky stagnant water.  Initially it was only a few inches deep so we could keep our feet dry, then it came up over our pedals, then I fell off! 

Not only did I get totally soaked, ( and smelly) but my wallet, passport and, more importantly, phone all got soaked.  I am now clean, Sandra has almost stopped laughing, but the phone still seems to be dead. Blog updates might be a bit more sporadic from now on.

The campsite we are in was under about 5 feet of water a couple of weeks ago and obviously some of the regulars are taking no chances

Miles today - 53.5

Miles total - 399

Unintentional swims - 1

Day 8 Hattenheim - Kahl am Main

We had a spectacular thunderstorm overnight with high winds, torrential rain and lots of lightning.  This was probably the first really bad weather we've had in our tent, fortunately it stood up well and seemed totally bombproof against the elements.

The weather had cleared up by morning although there was a fair bit of tree damage along the cycle path

At Mainz we left the Rhine, we had a choice between following the major cycle path along the River Main through Frankfurt, or cutting across country to Aschaffenbach.  Given our record so far with navigation we took the former route which turned out to be very straightforward with a good tailwind most of the way resulting in us ending up in Frankfurt (39 miles) by lunchtime.

We had a good wander round the city centre which had a really nice atmosphere and had to find a map shop to give us clues for a campsite for tonight.

We eventually ended up in a pretty smart campsite overlooking the lake at Kahl am Main

miles today 65

Miles total 464

Disasters today - none ( although phone still dead! )

Day 6 Bonn to Lahnstein

After checking that the next campsite was open and accepted tents we had an excellent buffet breakfast in hotel. No problem getting out of Bonn just followed the West Bank of the river most of the day. The landscape has changed quite suddenly, now instead if power stations and factories there are hills and castles lining the river although the cycle route itself is still very flat.

Coffee stop at Remegen very picturesque. 

Onwards and lunch at Andernacht. By this time it was getting a bit warm 37 degrees C.  That didn't seem too bad until we converted it to fahrenheit , 98 degrees is bloody hot!! Carried on through Koblenz stoping for ice cream. 

Camping site at Lahnstein was at the top of our second hill of the holiday (a proper one this time!) which had us gasping for beer by the time we checked in.  We knew that there was an outdoor swimming pool next to the site, but due to the hot weather the queue was about a mile long so we just made do with the showers.  Overall a pretty straightforward day with most of the miles in the right direction. Unfortunately it looks like we'll need to double back about 3 miles tomorrow to get back on the right side of the river. Give us another few weeks and we'll have this sussed.

Today's mile - 50

Total miles- 345

Day 5 Kaiserswerth - Bonn

Excellent start to the day, ferry all to ourselves over to the east bank of the Rhine. Negotiated Dusseldorf without incident whilst picking up breakfast there.  Followed the dykes virtually all the way to lunch passing varied farm land and some fairly industrial plant nurseries. Cycle paths are still better tan many of our B roads

Had lunch at Zons, a really nice wee fortified town.

After lunch things got a bit tougher, the temperature got up to 37 degrees, which wasn't too bad as we got a breeze while cycling.  We navigated through Cologne pretty easily too,

However the campsite we were aiming for at Langel (about 54 miles) was closed (there's a theme developing here!) so we carried on to Bonn where the German cyclist next to us this morning had said there was another campsite.  Needless to say there was none to be found! Ended up searching round the centre of Bonn for a hotel, which we eventually found.  We are now showered and fed and feeling a bit chirpier  (though fairly knackered ), we're going to have to check ahead for accommodation from now on.

The bikes are locked up in the beer cellar so I can't check the exact mileage, but best guess is

Miles today - 74

Miles total - 295

Hills total - 1 it's still as flat as a pancake although it's starting to look a bit lumpier ahead

Day 4 Neidermormter- Kaiserswerth

  Set off from Neidermormter nice cycle tracks and country roads to Xanten for morning coffee. Really nice looking town. Site of an old roman town looks like it is worth another visit. On over our first hill according to the map! Didn't really count! On to Orsoy for lunch good lunch despite not knowing what we were ordering (must learn the lingo) then ferry across the river, mistake. 

Very industrial arrived in Duisburg city spent an hour trying to find our way back out the other side ended up doubling back on ourselves to get back on the West Bank. For all you bike tourers stay on the West Bank,Duisburg seemed pretty grotty and not worth the hassle. The last 20 miles were pretty straight forward despite some help from a recumbent cyclist who didn't know his North from his South!  We eventually arrived at a great campsite, right on the riverbank, with wine in the fridge and complimentary plastic chairs. Luxury!

Miles today - 72

Miles total - 221

Hills total - 1 ( a wee pimple!)

We're both pretty chuffed with the number of miles we're covering, if we could only link them up in the right direction we'd be laughing!