Skip to main content

Stage 5 - Rastatt to Speyer 83km (08-Jun-2019)


Ursi was up at 6.30; went to the bakery to get us some breakfast. By 8.15 we hit the road, on a reasonably mild and sunny morning. It took us all of a few minutes to get out of Rastatt and as usual, the bike paths were superb. Riding through magnificent country side, we had 82km ahead of us, thankfully pretty much all level riding.



We initially thought, today would be all about riding but it turned out to be quite different but exciting especially when we came to a dead end to cross the river. More about that later.
The villages on the way were quaint and cute and decorated with some interesting displays


Riding through forest, fields and parks, there were so many opportunities to take beautiful photo.



Near Karlsruhe, it got a lot more industrial, we came across this massive power grid with the most beautiful ground cover of flowers in all shapes and colours




Our route took us past a huge coal factory and along a waterway, 



until we came to an abrupt halt – this massive structure, which went all the way across the river. We first thought it was a dead end, but then we discovered that we could actually take our bikes across – first took all the luggage off, carried it up the stairs, then the bikes up the stairs, then the luggage and bikes across the long walkway and at the other end, we did the same in reverse. A bit of an effort, however a hell of a lot easier than trying to find another bridge across. 





Riding along some beautiful lakes, one of them looked like a man-made lake with a row of either ginormous ducks or small geese, not sure which it was

Finally, arriving in Speyer was a relief, by this stage we had been going for a number of hours and were glad to get to our destination. One of the first things we say coming into Speyer was a huge Boeing 747 propped up, in what we later learned was the Technical Museum of Speyer.


Met our host and settled into our Airbnb. Coffee, shower, change and off to explore the cute little town of Speyer.





A great day overall with a perfect ending with dinner at an Italian restaurant that served the best pasta we have had in a long long time, and to top it off, our very own Ashleigh Barty just won the French Open – go you good thing.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stage 3 - Seeon Seebrook to Salzburg - 60km (03-May-2019)

It’s wet and cold; at home, neither would I go for a ride nor play golf in these conditions but here, I have to soldier on.  And soldier on, I did, on near perfect bike paths most of the way, sometime through the countryside, sometime parallel to the B roads as I made way towards Salzburg. Not many photo taking opportunities until I got to Traunstein, where the town square was alive with market vendors and town folks. There was an orderly queue outside one of the stalls selling fresh Spargle (Asparagus), a seasonal delicacy, which I am partial to as well. I got talking to a lady there as you do; who was kind enough to tell me more about the town’s history and why she believed it was god’s own place for her and offered to take this mug shot of mine for prosperity to remember her beloved town. Got lost trying to get out of town; my Garmin doesn’t acknowledge road works which was blocking my route so ended up asking another young lady on how I could cross...
1 comment
Read more

Stage 9 – Bad Gastein to Villach 95km (18-May-2015)

A long day in the saddle today; bitterly cold with a constant drizzle that only Europe can serve up. Not quite what I had in mind on my birthday but worth it all the same. That old adage, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger…. you learn a lot about yourself on days like this. I was the first one at breakfast, stuck to my routine of making sandwiches to take with me along with some snacks, and then have a leisurely breakfast. First up was a 5km ride to Böckstein, in bitterly cold weather, all uphill of course to grab the train that takes cars, motorbikes and bicycles through the Tauern tunnel to Mallnitz; departs 20 past the hour. Took the opportunity to get take some photos and one taken off me at the station. On arrival at Mallnitz, it’s all downhill, starting with a steep descent of approximately 500m through a long and winding road; hope these 2 photos capture the scenery which was quite breathtaking as most of Austria is.  By the time I got ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Stage 11 – Kranjska Gora to Bled 35km (20-May-2019)

Today’s ride was short but sweet at least for the first 24km, beautiful deserted bike path through lush green countryside and then a ball breaking 150m mountain climb on a winding 2km road. Almost made it to the top but not quite, got off the bike to walk the last 500m. Then it was all down hill into Bled. Happy days. Only one event grabbed my attention during the ride was a 3km queue of trucks on the highway running parallel to my bike path, otherwise it was all about riding; a touring cyclists dream. Probably the highlight of the day was the people ( unfortunately  their names escape me and my apologies to them) that I came across   to exchange life and travel experiences and the   ride around Lake Bled. Starting with these lovely girls from Romania. Followed by this lovely couple from Camden, Australia,   Followed by this lovely couple from Kuala Lumpur Followed by this lovely couple from Ahmedabad, India ...
Post a Comment
Read more