The Plan

"You can't beat a direct 10 hour flight from Vancouver to Frankfurt!"  Did I just say that?

Of course this is an oxymoron, and we can certainly think of a thousand better things to do than sitting on a plane for 10 hours!  But, it's an unfortunate necessity of travel; and, often the experience is quickly forgotten once the excitement hits you and you get on the road.  A direct flight to Europe is like finding the golden egg, especially when travelling from Vancouver, as you are often making connections in Toronto, Montreal or some other European city.  So, we consider ourselves 'lucky' to have a direct flight.

So, as the title of this journal suggests, we're headed in a counterclockwise 'C' shape following along some of Europe's most famous river systems.  We first head northwest along the Rhine towards Koblenz, make a left and head southwest along the Moselle, then cut South from Trier and head along the Saar.  After that, we head into the Alsace, and perhaps a venture up into the Vosges mountains as a day ride up to the Ballon d'Alsace, so often featured in the Tour de France when the race comes through this region.

Our southern destination in the Alsace is Colmar, then it's eastward towards Basal where we pick up the Rhine again, and on towards Lake Konstanz.  From there, we travel down the northern shore of Lake Konstanz, enter Bavaria and travel towards Immenstadt, Fussen, and Mittlewald, before turning north towards Bad Tolz, and on to our final destination, Munich.  After two days in Munich, we catch a train north back to Frankfurt for a final two days of sightseeing, drinking beer, and eating sausage and schnitzel

As far as the terrain goes, this is likely our flattest tour in recent times, and we're actually looking forward to a gentler tour this year.  Last year in 2023 we cycled through hilly Slovenia.  In 2022, we traveled the dramatic Dolomites.  In 2019, we meandered along the north coast of Spain and Portugal.  In 2018, we cycled the Pyrenees from Bordeaux to Barcelona, and in 2017 we travelled through the French Alps.  Our previous trips back to 2011 are undocumented, but if you're interested in reading more about our recent adventures, you can search this CycleBlaze website.

We are visiting some familiar territory on this year's tour.  In 2014 we cycled through the Alsace during an unbearable heatwave ripping through the Rhine lands.  But, the quaint Alsatian villages, incredible food, wine and scenery tapped us on the shoulder to remind us of what a beautiful region this is.  One thing that I regretted during this tour was not climbing up into the Vosges mountains and completing the infamous cycling route: the Route des Crêtes.  This time, it's on our agenda.

Before wrapping this page up, it is not lost on us how lucky and privileged we are to travel together once again.  What else is better than riding around Europe with your bestest pal? 

So, tomorrow we have some chores to attend to.  First off, it's driving around to our LBS's to grab boxes for our bikes.  Then, it's a full mechanical check for each bike, followed by a deep clean.  And, if time and motivation permits, getting the bikes into boxes.

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