To Saarbruecken.

July 24, 2024

A longer day than we wanted. A 90 km day today.

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Today we were on the road around 9am, and today's weather was refreshingly cool with temperatures this morning around 19 degrees. It almost called for the long sleeve jersey that I chose to keep at home.

Plastic hanging in the trees from the recent flooding like horrible prayer flags. We were amazed at how high the water level must have been.

One of several locks on our way upstream along the Saar.

We've been spoiled on this trip. For the last 400 kms or so, we've been on separated cycle paths, and today was no exception. We hugged the Saar river from one bend to another throughout most of the day as we rode along on incredible smooth surfaces, punctuated by the odd gravel sections for some good old fun.

Today, we noticed a distinct change of the landscape, and we were happy to see some variation in the scenery. We must say that although cycling through hills draped in vineyards has been nice, sometimes to much of one thing can tend to get a little old.

The best part of today's ride came just south of Taben-Rodt when we entered the Saar-Steilhänge/Lutwinuswald nature area where our route threw us onto excellent quality gravel roads for several kilometers. The further south we travelled into the Saar valley, the more forested and wild the landscape became. The vineyards were replaced by dense oak and beech forests that cloaked steep hills, and the whole character of the today's ride energized us. When we stopped for a break, all we could hear were the birds and nothing else. Like I said, the best miles of the day.

Look to the ridge and you'll see a lookout. This lookout gives a view to where the Saar bends dramatically back on itself.

Photo taken from the internet. This is the view. You can see our route hugging the inside bend of the river below. Just fantastic.

At one point we crossed the Saar on this ferry. The ferry captain gave us a free ride.

I could have ridden this all day. Riding through the Saar-Steilhänge/Lutwinuswald Nature Area.

Saar-Steilhänge/Lutwinuswald Nature Area.

After Metlach, we sadly left the steep beach and oak forests and the landscape opened up into more pastures and croplands. The closer we rode to Saarbruecken, we encountered several areas of the cycle route that were closed and we were forced into awkward detours, and the ride deteriorated for us. If you look at the map profile you can see a little raised blip. This particular detour took us onto busy roads with several roundabouts to be negotiated as it climbed up and over the town of Shaufhausen, eventually depositing us back along the river. For the last 40kms or so, it became a ride of 'let's just get there'.

As we neared Volkingen, we were turned around once again, so a helpful man stopped and gave us perfect directions all in German, even though I said, "Ich spreche Englisch." He ignored me and just kept talking in German as if I should understand, so I politely nodded and remembered words like brücke and linx (bridge and left). So, that's what we did. We went over a bridge and turned left.

Just after the left turn, we came down this lane and I noticed two men sitting on chairs at the left hand side of a very narrow road. As we rode down that lane, the scraggly grey haired man stood up and walked to the center of the narrow lane and stopped; with his barking white dog in toe that got a little too close for my ankle's comfort, if you know what I mean. I wondered if he was going to move out of the way, but he didn't. So, I stopped because he was literally blocking my way. He looked annoyed and his dog, even more so. He said something to me in German, and I replied with my usual, "Ich spreche Englisch" and I mentioned with a questioning inflection "Saarbruecken?" His face softened, and with a exasperated throwing up of his hands, he reluctantly showed us the way to where we were going. With several "Danke schöns" slung his way, as well as Sue's beaming smile, his whole disposition changed and by the time we all got down to the bottom of the narrow lane, he was all smiles. I shook his hand, thanked him one more time, and we found our route once again.

After some contemplation and reflection, I deduced that he was annoyed of all the cyclists re-routed down his narrow street, and I just happened to be one of the hundreds that he had to deal with.

After that, the ride just became a slog and the scenery became increasingly industrial as we approached Saarbruecken, so there's not many photos of the last part of the ride into Saarbruecken.

For us, today was a big day on the bikes, and we were relieved when we arrived. We checked into our hotel, showered up, went out for a walk in Saarbrucken, had a fantastic burger, beer and fries and dragged ourselves back to our room. And, now I'm just wanting to get this entry done before turning off the lights. A good day.

Today's ride: 93 km (58 miles)
Total: 445 km (276 miles)

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Elmar KlukasWell… if you’re going to tell the locals that you speak English in perfect German…not too surprising that they reply back to you in German. lol!😎
You’ve got a following at TCC by the way!👍
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3 months ago

Patrick O'HaraTo Elmar KlukasHa ha. Good one. We absolutely love Germany. The people have been fantastic. So glad to be back here again. But, we're off to France today, for the next week or so. Glad to hear that the TCC group is interested in following along. Thanks for letting me know.
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3 months ago

Rachael AndersonWhat a challenging day but you made it!
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3 months ago