Following the rivers - Luxembourg and Germany: hills, hills, hills.... - Riding In My Grandfather's WW1 Footsteps

June 26, 2016

Following the rivers - Luxembourg and Germany: hills, hills, hills....

Today was a hard day of cycling through beautiful nature parks and small villages and very long steep hills. As much as we love the nature we got frustrated by the circuitous meandering hilly route and took to the road when it was better. We saw many other road cyclists riding the road and it startled us when a driver stopped in the middle of the road, holding up traffic and sternly told us that the road was too dangerous for us and to get back on the trail. Ironically, we complied, the cycle path abruptly ended within a kilometer and we were forced back on to the main road anyway. We also noted from the road that some of low points of the trail had flooded.

The weather deteriorated once again in the afternoon into heavy thunderstorms and lightening. The final adventure of the day was climbing a "mountain" in the city of Neuerburg to reach the castle (youth hostel). As we climbed the thunder and lightning got closer and closer. This thunderstorm was right over the campground that we originally had been aiming for. When we finally reached the top, exhausted and soaking wet we entered the youth hostel to discover that all the rooms were empty and the staff were watching the Germany-Slovakia soccer game. They said that the rooms weren't clean and we couldn't stay at the hostel. We pleaded our case that we had just ridden a fully loaded tandem up a mountain during a thunderstorm to reach their hostel and that we had our own sleeping bags and just needed shelter from the storm. "Absolutely not!" was their final answer. We rode back down the mountain and fortunately found a hotel that the staff was eager to welcome us into. Behind the hotel the local fire department was having a festival with brass bands and great cheap food stalls. After we checked in we joined the fun at the festival, had bratwurst and beer and joined the firemen and their families in their fire hall to watch Germany beat Slovakia 3-0.

Steve, our host at the campground/hotel in Born. He was excited to see that we were from Canada. He has spent time there and really likes our country.

Nice quality of cycling path along the Sauer Radweg.

This fallen tree and bracnhes are evidence of the severe storm of the past 2 days. Glad we didn't try to ride yesterday. We'll take the road for a bit.

It is a special day in Rosport - Fleamarket day with live music and lots of food.

We enjoyed this stall at the Fleamarket. He had some interesting old things from his farm for sale. I liked the milk can from Belgium, but it was too heavy to take on our bike. The lid had an interesting swivel design that provided a good handle for carrying.

This pre-war bike from Belgium also caught our eye.

While Mary Ellen was checking out the Fleamarket, Barry found a comfortable chair....

...and a book to read in the built in shelves in the gazebo in the park.

What a great idea for a side by side tandem, complete with a motor.

The rivers are high for this time of year.

This area is very popular with hikers and we found these cabins that can be booked by hikers in the hills.

Hops were growing in fields along the route

While riding the hills along the valley we were getting surrounded by storm clouds.

Riding up and down the side of a valley is hard work

Resting after finishing a 3 km long hill

River #3 today - from the Sauer to the Prum and now the Enz.

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 316 km (196 miles)

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