Poison

I had too much beer last night and paid the price this morning. The problem was everyone was dressed in the Oktoberfest outfits for the event was to be starting the next day and I got caught up in the atmosphere and stayed too long enjoying the moment - ouch.

Got on the road by 9:00 heading southwest for the train line bad while traveling meet Sebastian who was riding the same direction this morning. We had a great conversation as we traveled through the countryside talking about everything from cycling & politics to kids & education.

To everyone I meet on this ride lets try to stay in touch.

I know that Munich will be packed with visitors going to the Oktoberfest event and I do not have a room booked for the next two nights. If I stay in the countryside I might find a place but I will have to make it to town and then try to find a place for that night anyway. I take the gamble to go to town and see if I find a place to stay or not and get a train ticket out of Turkeim to get there.

Once in Munich I stop by my friend Erika Bloch's house to say hello and search for a room. The town is pack and the rooms are booked and with dinner plans 45 minutes away I head to the Englisher Garden and head north until I find a thicket of trees that will work out just fine. Erika and her friends keep me up till just after 11:00, early on her schedule, and I am able to find my way through the darkness to my bed for the night. The specific ``Bootleg`` camp spot training has paid off on this trip.

Rhine River Valley

Sorry, this day got missed while posting the other day.

Back up to just after ``the tail of two cities`` and insert this installment.

I wake up in Strasbourg not knowing if I want to stay in town for two nights or move on but I still pack everything. I cruise town get a coffee and decide to head to the town of Colmar. On the map I see that there is a bike route along the canal heading south of town so I take it to the end. It is nice that there is a trail but the bumps from the tree roots cause for a slower approach. The second part of the ride brings me through small French towns where everyone farms. Each house in town had the barn behind it with everything you would expect to see on any farm in the American countryside this lead to lots of farm equipment on the road with each town showing up every 3 kilometers or so.

Roofs of the homes tell a different story in them as I travel through starting with the reed roofs of the Netherlands, the flatter roofs of Belgium buildings and the sharper pointed clay tile roofs of German houses.

I coast up to a stop putting all my weight on the left pedal after swinging my right foot over and think that has got to be stressing something - ping spoke #2 breaks. Limping into town again I find one bike store with no time to help but later I am able to locate a Decathlon Store and they do a great job of helping me out.

I head out of town toward Frieburg and find a spot in the forest just before Widensolen in a small thicket. As darkness is falling I hear something like a shot and pass it off for a breaking branch. 15 minutes later I hear a shot loud and clear this time from across the road, I hope they don't come hunting on my side of the road. Darkness falls as the rain starts to come in heavy.

I must have been crazy

I slept great at the hotel and they serve breakfast as well. I buy a ticket through the Black Forest and the climb was 3,000´feet, if it was sunny I might have tried it. Upon traveling over the hill by train I see that the trip would have been a tough day with the whole Black Forest taking 3-5 days with all your touring gear.

I was planning to stay at Christoph Barth's place by the Bodensee but his plans changed and his business will have a place under the Schottenhamel tent at 12:00 am on Sunday and he has a spot waiting for me. I make the decision to take the train all the way to Ulm on the eastern side of the Black Forest. It is 4:00pm by the time I get off the train and before I get out of town, I break the 5th spoke at this point but it only takes 10 minutes to fix it then I am off.

Down the road a cyclist, Eric who slows down and asks where I am going, passes me. I explain what I am up to and that I will be looking for a Gusthaus for the night where upon we ride for the next 20k to a great place in his hometown of Wiessenhorn. If I had not broken the spoke I would has missed this encounter.

Feeling Damp

It rained all night long and I was up wondering if that would mean clear skies for the next day - no deal, but it quit raining at least. I stayed dry but as you can imagine things still get damp through the night and while packing.

I cross into Germany over the Rhine River one of the largest in the region. I expected to see grapes on the French side of the river but the vineyards are on the German side where the limestone bluffs rising up.

Once I cross I quickly got lost and found myself at the same point I was 40 minutes earlier. The sun has only shown up a couple of times so far on the trip and without being able to see it I get turned around allot.

On the way to Frieburg I get lost again going through the town of Tiengen and find myself at the same point I was 1 hour earlier. I break two more spokes going into town so when I get there I pick up everything I need to make repairs on the road.

I decide to get a room and dry my stuff out where I set up the tent to let it dry completely, while seeing Frieburg in the process for it is at night when you are able to see how a town moves. I find that this city has more of a balance between working class, tourism & a college. There are also more homeless people here than any other city so far. Metz however was the place where I was asked to donate or engage in some way the most.

Tale of two cites

Metz is the star of the Moselle River Valley. It was nice to start the day with a real breakfast and coffee, something they served at the hotel, but everyone one was open in this town for they are ready to serve the tourists on their schedule.

Seeing churches from the outside is only half the fun and every chance I get I go inside to see the rest of the story. Metz has some of the best churches around and I get to go in two of them both telling the stories of the bible as dramatically as they can. After looking at my route the night before I have planned some more sections by train.

Today I ride from Metz to Nancy along the Moselle river, not the best choice for a ride as the trail ends in 10 kilometers or so and I must find my way on route with heavier traffic. Early on I get a flat and later break a rear spoke on the cog set side of course. I take it easy the last 15k to Nancy only to not find a bike store anywhere. I guess I expected more from the town. Next stop the train station and I buy a ticket to Strasbourg 22 Euros.

As the train takes me through the countryside I am not sure if I am missing something or not.

I find a bike store in town and have the spoke fixed in minutes. Since the sun is going down I think of getting another room only to find everything in town is booked. I get directions to a campsite and make my way to it getting lost for only a little while. Streets in some of these towns only have a name for one block then it changes to another name so to make it 3 kilometers and only 2 turns I was on 13 different streets. Camp was close to town, but other that that it was pretty crappy by European standards.

Closing in on France

I sleep well most of the night with the rain spitting on me through the night, but when I look out in the morning it is clear - no luck for by the time I pack and leave the clouds are back.

Without many bike routes in the area I am trying to piece together some of the smaller roads to make my way. This leads to going out of the way and climbing more hills only to come back down them again after going the wrong way. 23 kilometers later after having ridden more like 35 and the rain is starting to appear again, I have yet to eat breakfast so I head to the train station and take the next bus ride to Metz.

I find an Internet cafe and catch up with what is happening at home and post some blog notes as well. Metz is by far the most urban of the cities that I have visited so far. The shopping area is filled with international brands and very upscale retail shops as well. Fashion is king in this town with many people dressed really nice as they shop on the promenade. With the rain finally coming to town I find a hotel room for the night - good choice for the rain really starts to come down for a while. I find some of the best churches of the trip so far and part of a roman aqueduct just outside of town also.

When I got to Amsterdam I stopped by a Kebab place and had a great chicken wrap, then I had a Turkish Pizza at another place, then again somewhere - one more Kebab place and I will throw up Kebab.

The rain picks up and chases the shoppers away but I don't have to ride out of town quick tonight and find a campsite so I relax at a cafe before heading to the hotel.

Sunday Blues

I wake this morning not feeling as excited as days before, my wife is home dealing with rental problems, which I know she will handle just fine, but the real responsibilities lay waiting for me upon my return, getting a job.

I am packed and ready by 8:30 AM and I want to take some of the back roads to Orval Abbaye. I start by heading to Jemelle back up the road a few kilometers then head out over the hills only to end up going to some private farms, back down the hill to town for another route. I climb some steep cobblestone hills and find my way going onto a major highway at the same time the train station appears. 10.90 Euros later and my bike and I are going to be dropped of half way.

I knew this trip would be an inward journey as well as a trip across Europe and as I stop by places and talk to people along the way the feeling is that I have been dealt a pretty good hand. At the same time the pace of life here itself does not lead to ambitious thinking, it will be interesting to get to Germany.

As I am approaching Orval I am heading down a hill with few cars on it and I have the feeling that I am going down a one way street with the place closed at the other end, lucky me I am coming from the backside and the place is packed and waiting for me to arrive. I think that the distinctive taste of the Orval product is one of the best from the area.

When I pull into a place to ask directions or a place to camp everyone is always very helpful and tonight is no different as a group of kids help me out with very little words in common between us. The campground is only 3 kilometers away and they are still open, great.