To Riedisheim

June 5, 2024

My wine route tour started today.

When planning this part of my trip, I wasn’t sure how I’d be doing with riding an upright bike by this point. At home, my bad elbow and shoulder felt pretty uncomfortable if I rode too many days in a row on my upright beater. I was prepared to scrap this leg if I wasn’t feeling good. But in the event I could ride, I planned short daily mileages and stayed two nights in a few places so I’d get a rest. I didn’t think I’d do any day rides even, I’d just sit and sketch somewhere. Plans - ha!

I’m happy to say though that I never gave a thought to either elbow or shoulder when riding Petra’s bike. I was sitting almost upright, and the handlebars swept back a bit at a good height. It rode like not just a Cadillac but a Cadillac Escalade. The too-big frame size was a drawback, but that only meant that I had to lift my right leg extra high to step through the step-through frame in order to mount the bike. Other than that, I had a mostly pain-free riding experience. I didn’t need that huge bottle of ibuprofen after all.

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I was ready to roll out right on time for check-out, and right on time Carsten, my host, was there to roll out my bike so I could load it up. I finally got to ask him if he ever lived in the States, because he had such American vocabulary and cadences to his English. Turns out he lived in Miami for 11 years. But he was very happy to be back in Europe. He grew up in Germany across the river about 30 kilometers from here, so he’s practically a neighborhood kid.

Carsten, my host in Saint-Louis. Great guy.

Three minutes later I pulled into the boulangerie to get provisions for the ride but more importantly to get some bonus time with Hannah and second breakfast. She was shocked to see my panniers. “That’s all you have? That’s it?” Yeah, three pairs of underwear, three pairs of socks, three sets of pants, four shirts, electronics, ointments and medications, second pair of shoes, etc. etc. They all fit in the panniers. Had to.

Ready for the grand départ. Photo credit: niece Hannah.

Hannah also took a video of my departure.

For folks who don’t know what EuroVelo is: It’s a network of 19 bike routes that go all over Europe. For example, you can take EV 6 from the Atlantic coast of France to the Black Sea; I rode a short section of it. Or follow the Rhine from its start in the Swiss Alps to its mouth on the North Sea.

There are many other well-established routes that are not EVs, such as along the Moselle. Or over the Alps from Munich to Trieste in Italy. Most of the time these routes are well signed and you hardly need a map. You can get an idea of the interconnected routes by changing to the OSM Cycle layer and zoom in a bit on the map of today’s ride at the top of this entry.

Today I got on EuroVelo 6 heading north. I started seeing a lot more fellow touring cyclists. Most of them were white retired hetero couples. Brother Brian later asked me what I thought was the percentage of couples where the man was in the front. Had to think about it. Was it 99.4% or 99.7% of the time?

U-pick strawberries. I was debating joining them. Shoulda.

The route ran along the Canal de Huningue, which feeds off the Rhine just downstream of Basel. It goes in a straight line to the northwest, curving only near its end where it meets the Rhône au Rhin Canal. You don’t often see the canal because of trees, or view blockers as someone else on here calls them, but its flat surface and paved trail made for an easy first day. I was a happy gal, so to all my fellow travelers it was all bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour! Bon route! Bonjour Spider-Man! Bon route!

On my scouting ride yesterday, the canal was chocolate brown, so things are settling down.

There’s a Camargue in Alsace, although those who know France usually think of the Camargue as the delta of the Rhône River in the south of France. But I was able to ride through Petite Camargue (Alsacienne). Couldn’t see much of it due to trees, but I was able to stop at a viewing platform. It has a lot of wildlife here.

At a viewing structure in the Petite Camargue (Alsacienne). I was trying to ID birds using Merlin but these gents were having a deep discussion about cameras. Also, love the decorations on the bike.

A view of Petite Camargue. Great birdsong too.

Part of a little lock on a little canal.

I loved seeing swans. They were a common sight.

Further down the canal, I took my elevenses. I found that I had to make myself stop and rest, and drink and eat. I just wanted to keep going. The day was starting to get hot and muggy.

Pyramidal orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis

Lot going on in these meadows along the path.

It being a canal, that means locks. There were small locks along the Canal de Huningue. When I got to the confluence with the bigger Rhône au Rhin canal, there was a grand lock there designed by Le Corbusier.

Big Red hanging with a Le Corbusier-designed lock on the Rhône au Rhin Canal, Niffer.

Good crowd of cyclists watching a Basel fire boat come through.

Big Red has her moment on the red and white bridge. Le Corbusier lock in the background.

A few kilometers from the Le Corbusier lock are two relics of World War II. Along the EV route is a cannon. Across the canal is a Sherman tank. They memorialize a long battle in November 1944. From a L’Alsace article in 2017: “Six days and six nights of fighting. 1,500 victims. 50,000 shells scattered throughout the Hardt forest and its surroundings, from Pont-du-Bouc to Rixheim to Grunhutte. These few figures give only a vague idea of what the fighting from November 28 to December 4, 1944 were - undoubtedly among the deadliest of the Liberation.”

This Sherman tank is on the other side of the canal.

The memorial that tells the story of soldiers from different parts of the French world that fought the battle in the area. I wonder if this man’s family has some history here, or if he just wanted a shady spot to nap.

The Rhône au Rhin Canal, Branch Sud, heading nord. I managed to get the two WWII artifacts on the right and left edges of the shot.

I took a long break on a bench in the shade near the cannon after I got back from the tank, and as one does I started thinking about things. As you ride along this wide, flat, open Rhine River plain, you can better understand how Alsace and Lorraine were periodically part of Germany, then switching back to France. The town and family names are mostly Germanic in origin, but the language and culture is French. And then there is the Alsatian language, which looks like a mashup of French and German. Knowing some German, and feeling like I was in Germany sometimes, this mix made my head spin.

In the town of Riedisheim now. Unprepossessing.

Arrived. We head to the very back of the property. Nice that it’s right on the EV route.

It’s a pretty funky place. Second place I’ve stayed with a Buddha.

I was hot and tired and needed fluids when I got to Riedisheim. The info left by the host said there was a tavern down the street. I headed straight there for water and beer. The bartender said he didn’t speak English, but he spoke enough to ask if I was English. He understood “beer” and I could say “L’eau”. We chatted more about where I was from (mentioning San Francisco made him exchange raised eyebrows with another patron sitting next to me), and that he liked Philadelphia. I said prost to my neighbor and enjoyed that beer. Another patron started hacking and sneezing, so I took myself out to the terrasse.

I walked down the street to the local bar, La Taverne. Got a big glass of cold water and a small glass of beer. Ahhh.

The best sign to see while on the trail.

Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 332 km (206 miles)

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