Epilogue

September 9, 2024

Finding Rosie

After a month enjoying the heat of a UK summer, we’re back to a chilly, sometimes sunny Spring in Auckland. In spite of the sense of dislocation brought on by 20 plus hours of air travel, we’ll try to round off what has been another varied and exciting two wheel adventure.

Every cycle trip is the same in its own different way - to misquote Tolstoy - and our 2024 trip proved that. It felt a little more rural and a little more remote this time, but there were still the hills, mountains, rivers, lakes and coastlines and the varied trails, the picturesque villages, and the vagaries of the weather. Not to mention the enticing, and otherwise, culinary experiences.

Gabriele Münter expressionist artist and partner of Kandinsky until 1914.

Crisp and buttery to accompany a cup of tea.

Canal traffic was not heavy in any of the canals we cycled along, but watching the locks at work was fascinating.

North of the Marne, there was a Flemish look to housing.

WW1 Spad. French aircraft favoured by Americans too.

View from Sustrans 18- Kent Countryside.

We felt there was less on-trail contact than past trips- throughout we encountered very few other cycle tourers and, for considerable periods, apart from the ubiquitous French fishers, the rivers and canals were almost devoid of humans, including vessels, of any kind.

These paddle boarders were making good use of the Somme Canal.

On weekends we would come across day trippers, especially later, near Pas de Calais, but it wasn’t until we reached Amiens, and the start of summer holidays, that we met groups cycle tourers heading south. The choice to cut a swathe through the French countryside by heading directly north west from the Doubs, to the Haute Saone and then again north from Langres, with a lengthy canal ride was possibly the cause for that. For all that, the countryside was invariably scenic and interesting. Or as the Freewheeling France loves to say, ‘bucolic’.

Chemin Vert- towards Vesoul. Lovely track.

Smaller farming plots seem to have given way to these massive tracts.

Bavaria was an enjoyable challenge for us, with enough weather variation, hills and great trails to keep us on our toes. After a torturously slow immigration procedure, our start in Munich was straightforward and the airport assembly of bikes went smoothly, despite the long flight. Disposing of the detritus from boxes and packing has never been a problem in the several unpackings we’ve done. Once we found the cycle route out of the airport, reaching Freising and then, the following day, Munich, was pretty much a cyclist’s dream, the ride along the Isar to the English Gardens providing a relaxed ride despite the rough surface and an ‘umleitung’ or two. The decision whether to ignore such signs, as well as the ‘route barré’ is always risky, but invariably if done responsibly (oxymoron ) it’s successful, though I own up to getting caught out once.

What can happen when a detour sign is tested for veracity- a three kilometre backtrack and serous disapproval from one’s partner.

Despite the changing temperatures the Bavaria , Allgäu region was beautiful, even on misty days- and quite woody. In New Zealand, our generation grew up used to houses that were generally wooden box-like structures, but those we saw, and stayed in, in Bavaria and around Bodensee and the Rhine were impressive in size and beautiful in design. For the most part the route we followed was signposted as the Bodensee to Konigsee with some minor variations. Komoot kept us on the straight and narrow, offering some useful variations at times. There were challenges with some stiff climbs, but the signage and the cycle tracks were invariably good quality.

Signage offered plenty of choice, though it paid to check out the gradients.

Once we reached Bodensee, Lake Konstanz, the route around and across the lake was easy to follow. Our stay near Friedrichshafen had us a little way out of town, but the bus service was fine and we enjoyed the sightseeing.

Ferries crossing Bodensee/Konstanz. Switzerland on the opposite side.

We’d hoped to take the train from Basel to Mulhouse, but ran into a bureaucratic brick wall when the ticket seller told us she couldn’t ticket bikes crossing an international border- ie Switzerland to France. We remain mystified by this decision, though in the end the ride along the canal was easy and broken by a well appointed. camping spot.

We had read about the possibility of a cycle route from the Doubs near Baume les Dames, up over a few climbs, to Vesoul, but were uncertain as to whether it would be signposted. In fact, it was, and enabled us to reach Montbozon in the Haute-Saone and the voie verte, Trace du Courlis, which took us on to Vesoul. From here Le Chemin Vert took us through woods and between hills to Champlitte and then on to Langres. The route to Langres presented us with some challenging climbs, but once we had reached the plateau on which the town stands we had a level playing field- literally.

From where the voie vert arrives at Vesoul.

From here we followed the Canal du Champagne et Bourgogne for several days until we reached Reims. The transition from this area to the Ainse-Marne was quite distinctive being more agricultural, forested and with villages that had more of a Belge appearance. We were also back on roads but they were pretty much devoid of traffic and allowed for a good speed.

We were then in WW1 territory, and the Valley of the Somme, following the Somme Canal and River. The route along the river was beautifully green and, for the first time really enabled us to see a little more river life in terms of watercraft. It took us through the interesting cities of Amiens and Abbeville to the Baie of the Somme.

Cycling inland and parallel to the coast and up towards Calais, Komoot enabled us to take a maze of small roads in order to avoid a number of small coastal settlements. When we did reach the coast we were pleasantly surprised at the lack off commercialisation and the way the original character of towns has been retained. As we cycled further north, the cycle paths took us over some hugely expansive mown fields and landscapes the stretched in every direction. Disconcertingly, we could see the cycle path stretching up an enormous hill in the distance.

We timed our crossing from Calais to enable us to have time to reach Canterbury before the end of the day. Sustrans route 18 did this and although the route was hilly, with a taxing climb at the start, it was away from traffic. The worst hazard being potholes in places where least expected, one of which caused Ann to take a spill. The affect had an impact for some days following, although it did not prevent her from finishing the course. The cycle route between Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge (also pronounced Tunbridge) is a perfect creation- well signposted and a smooth asphalt track. And so after 50 days of cycling we arrived at our goal, Tonbridge and met our new granddaughter Rosie.

This was certainly a good route for gaining a combination of insights into the history, culture and geography of the countries and regions we cycled. In the WW1 graveyards and particularly, finding the grave of my father’s cousin in Boulogne sur Mer, there was a poignant reminder of where politics can go wrong. The notice on the Somme Canal near Cerisy lead me to look into the backstory of Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Hospital Barges’. He had enjoyed trips on three canal and must have had reminders of Tennyson’s ‘Morte d’Arthur’ when he wrote to his sister: “…it was not more difficult to imagine that my dusky barge was wending up to Avalon, and the peace of Arthur, and where Lancelot heals him of his grievous wound.” We also found that churches and cathedrals such as those in Reims and Amiens were rich repositories of art and history, for better or worse, and our discoveries continued during our time in Kent where on a trip to Speldhurst we found examples of Pre-Raphaelite in stained glass windows.

We enjoyed quite varied accommodation on the 50 nights of this trip, making use of campgrounds on 20 nights, Warmshowers on 4 occasions, a hostel on the Swiss side of the Rhine once and airbnb and hotels on the rest. Campgrounds varied in their quality, but we really liked the ambience of the Calais campground, especially since they reserved space for cycle tourists.

Our Warmshowers hosts were all wonderful, not just because they offered us lodgings, and often food, for the night, but also because of the local knowledge they passed on. Our visit to Murnau came about after talking to Bettina, our host in Munich; and Maurice, who hosted us with his wife Brigitte, in Abbeville, was extremely generous with his time, cycling all the way to Valery sur Somme with us and showing us the local features, including the vintage railway he worked on. Of the other forms of accommodation, Airbnb worked pretty well by enabling us to self cater. Our apartments in Reims, Amiens and Langres were comfortable and relatively central. Some places that we found in smallish provincial areas like Rupt and Chaumont offered a very good deal with spacious rooms.

As for the quirky- from the lavish structure of Neuschwanstein Castle to the wonderful Zeppelin museum at Friedrichshafen and Jules Verne’s house in Amiens, to the slightly out of left field diving priest at Roulans, there was plenty to raise a smile or make us wonder.

The sport if Abbé Simon- diver extraordinaire. One hopes the river depth was tested.

People on the trail always stay in the mind - the Scots family ,with young children in tow, that we met on the canal to Mulhouse, the enthusiastic Swiss students doing a water skills course on the Rhine and the Dutch woman cycling with her two sons and their large dogs carried in a trailer. There was also the curious- the seemingly unsupervised school students in high viz directing busy traffic in Konstanz, as part of a learning exercise, it seemed, who gave up when the ire of motorists became too audible.

We would like to have liked to have swum more- it’s frustrating to cycle beside water for days without being able to dive in. However the swims we did manage were wonderful- in the German lakes, the Rhine, Lac de Der and the beach at Calais.

Our month in the UK has been relaxing; we’ve managed a little cycling in Tonbridge, visited some local sights, as well as those in London and made what has become almost an annual pilgrimage to Wales. Tonbridge has some pleasant cycling trails and we enjoyed riding to riding Penshurst Place -a shortish ten kilometres, mostly off road. This Tudor castle has provided a setting for several film and television dramas -Wolf Hall and Anne of a Thousand Days to name a couple.

The ease of reaching London in a 30 minute train ride has been so liberating. A trip to London Bridge Station and we had access to so much of what London has to offer. We enjoyed a concert at the Proms and a boat ride up to Kew and visiting our old haunt, Hampstead Heath. The views of the river showed just how much has changed since out O.E. days of the 1970s.

Wales- this stately pile was once open to the public but has reverted to nature in recent years. Currently, it’s overgrown but still attractive in a wild way.

Tregynon. The house of a concrete baron. Built in concrete.

When it came our time to pack, we were able to obtain bike boxes from The Bike Warehouse in nearby Sevenoaks, folding each box in three as we’ve done in the past and taping them into a manageable bundle. We’d chosen a weekend when train service was limited, so were a little concerned about managing on a bus, but we needn’t have worried.

The boxes were a perfect fit and weight, ebike boxes are to be avoided, being too heavy, and the next challenge was finding a taxi that would fit two boxes and us. Despite sending the dimensions and a photograph, the taxi company’s vehicle was too small but was fortunately able to be replaced at the last minute. We held our breathe as the boxes were angled in, just scraping the headlining of the Prius. Our Bangladeshi driver, who also worked as a barber, provided an interesting take on the life of migrant’s 24 years in the UK- “I’ve just given my son a haircut. he starts at a new school tomorrow.”

At Gatwick, the usual worry about exceeding our weight limit proved groundless- the check-in assistant was very relaxed and ignored our slightly groaning cabin baggage. And so on a hot September day, we departed Kent and the UK, heading from the greenery of the Kentish countryside. We had hours of travelling time ahead of us - to the desert sands of Dubai and on to an Auckland Spring on the other side of the world.

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