Leaving the Rhine and on to the Main River: Riding to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof and taking the train to Kassel, Hessen - Exploring Holland, Germany and Denmark on a Recumbent Tandem - CycleBlaze
Leaving the Rhine and on to the Main River: Riding to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof and taking the train to Kassel, Hessen
Arose early, eager to ride a small portion of the Main River Cycle Route from Mainz to Frankfurt. We are hoping to catch the train at 11 or 1 pm for a 2 1/2 hour train ride to Kassel. Cora had helped us to figure out a route to take us north from the Rhine using the railway. We came up with the idea of riding the Fulda and Weser Rivers from Kassel to the North Sea and then on to Denmark before heading back to explore more of Holland. The morning gave us cool and pleasant riding weather. It is the first time in weeks that we have needed to wear a jacket. The signage for the Main River Cycle Route is excellent. In fact, we think that the Upper Rhine Route could follow the example of what we saw today. In areas, the route has been improved to bypass traffic and congestion. We were happy with a new railway bridge crossing the river with 2 generous cycling lanes instead of the previous route of sharing a busy auto bridge. Generally, the route was very pleasant. For the first 10 km, the surface varied from gravel to broken concrete to cobble. Riding in to Frankfurt along the river through parkland was pretty and uncomplicated. As well, getting to the train station was simple and easy to find. To continue our good fortune, we were able to take advantage of a Hessen district "sale" on train travel - our ticket was 1/2 price and the bike was free! We got to our train early as we were warned that there were no guarantees that there would be space for our bike....and we are glad we did. We were first on and by the time we left, the train car was full to overflowing with countless bikes. Our concerns that they might reject our tandem were groundless as the crew never came into the car or checked our tickets. The only glitch of the day was finding out in Kassel that their campground had recently had a fire and was not available. The choice was riding on for 30 km to a campground and arriving really late, or getting a hotel. We were able to get an inexpensive room at a newly opened Hotel in the B&B chain. Dinner from a Lidl down the road - camembert, meat, pickles, wine and bread. We have had a really interesting and productive day. Tomorrow, we plan to get another early start and make our way up the Fulda and part of the Weser. We are excited to explore a new region.
We have had difficulty pronouncing the Weser River in a way that people know what we are talking about. We have found that no one knows what we are saying. We originally learned that it is pronounced "Veezer", yet some say "Vayzer", some say "Vezer". We now usually just spell it when we get a look of confusion from people asking us what our route is. Hopefully by the time we have ridden the length of this river, we will know how to pronounce it.
Another example of the excellent signage - we were given a choice to cross the river now (with stairs) or continue on and cross later...no confusion! Needless to say, we chose the route without stairs.
Frankfurt train station is considered the busiest in Germany - yet it was very organized and easy to find our way. We appreciated that all of the platforms are on the street level - no need to carry the bike and our gear up and down stairs.
