July 1, 2022
Mainz to Sankt Goar
Happy Canada Day!
It rained all night, ushering in a major temperature change. It was 16 degrees when we left at 0930, Marjory saying "now this is biking weather!". It must be because today is Canada Day!
It took a while to get through Mainz, and we always had a bike path, although it sometimes was really a wide sidewalk. Everyone knows though, that bikes are allowed and a bell ring prompts them to move over right way.
A fair amount of construction had us changing sides of the street a few times as well.
Once out of the city proper, we were on the outskirts in a kind of a paved alley, riding along the backyards of residents. They all had sizeable vegetable gardens.
We marvelled how Komoot maneuvered out of Mainz and surrounding suburbs - how the devil would you find these paths? Some were only 100 m long and then onto a D road, then a proper cycle path, then a sidewalk. Here's a single track gravel "connector" to a paved cycle path.
Finally got the Rhine, and it was really, really wide after the Main river joins it.
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We actually didn't see it too often the first half of the day, although with these levees we know its close!
We went back and forth a number of times on the ferries. This portion of the Rhine is a Unesco World Heritage Site, so they don't allow any bridges.
We came to the town of Rudesheim, a storybook town with restored buildings and a chair lift of sorts, taking you up to the monument to Germania, a celebration of the formation (long ago) of a united Germany before there was a Germany. Rudesheim is famous for their....you guessed it, Riesling.
The grapes begin! At lunch at Winkel, Marjory tried a Winkel Riesling and she says its the best she has ever tasted. Note here my front panniers. A big shout out to Kirsten, Dave, and Mary, who encouraged me to get them. They make the biking much easier.
The view got better and better, the paths got better and better. The weather was perfect - what a great ride today.
Then we started seeing castles. And I mean, every twist in the river there was at least one castle, sometimes one on each side of the river. Pretty much as soon as a castle was out of view, we were looking for the next one. Below is a nice example - with unfortunate electric train wires - but these castles were massive and pictoresque, and mostly uninhabited. However, some are hotels, some are hostels (used to be hostiles?).
At one point we were planning on staying in Bacharach, the town pictured below, so we took a detour off the path to see the town. Wow! It was really pretty, with every building looking like it was the 1500's. How do you get every body in town to do this?
A standout corner in the town. These are guest houses, and you can stay in them for reasonable prices.
After Bacharach, we knew were were getting fairy close to St Goar. The sidewalk along side the busy road was not Marjory's favourite bike path of the day. Many people were biking the other way....
We see St Goar in the distance, but not till Lorely's rock that juts out into the Rhine, and forces the Rhine to turn a corner. Its a treacherous enough turn that many boat operators hire a special pilot to get them around this stretch. As it turns out, our hotel tonight is called zur Lorely.
We stay 2 nights here, as there are castles and castle ruins to explore. What can I say, its better than another church to tour!
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 1,016 km (631 miles)
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