Perl to Neumagen Drag: Perfect cycle touring and lovely dogs

September 7, 2012

When you live on a vineyard people imagine that it must be an idyllic life lying amongst the vines sipping wine and plucking the odd bunch of ripe grapes. That is not what happens. In a similar way Cycle Touring is thought of as riding along in perfect weather, on a smooth track with little in the way of hills, no head winds, good company, iovely scenery and interesting little villages where it is always possible to get a decent cup of coffee and at the end of the day somewhere nice to stay. That is what today was like for us.

The early mornings are my favourite times when riding. Not only are your legs ready for a day of activity but the air is fresh and the early morning haze makes everything look a bit magical. I particularly enjoy watching the early morning dog walkers. They come in all ages, shapes and sizes but all have one thing in common they think their dog is the best dog in the world and the dogs reciprocate this feeling towards them. The more I watch them the more I am convinced of the benefits of dog ownership. Some physical activity is implied and today we even saw an old man with a walker taking his keen dog for a walk. It is not only the dogs that have sociability but the owners meet the other regulars to put the world to rights. And who could have anyone or anything that gives them such unconditional love as a dog.

We rode beside the river and between the vines all day today. Ken was delighted by some of the ancient tractors he saw, one he had never seen before. A lovely old man was lovingly polishing his 1958 Deutz. They had a lively conversation despite no common language. He said he was an ‘oldtimer’and his tractor was an ‘oldtimer’ and of course Ken is an ‘oldtimer’. We learnt a bit more about the vineyard work too. The tractors have winches on them presumably to haul things up the slopes. We watched what seemed to me a very hazardous operation when a man came down a super steep row on a crawler tractor then backed up cultivating it – no cultivation done going forward.

The small town we decided to stop was Neumagen-Dhron. It is notable for two things one that it is ‘German’s oldest wine town” and the second that vast numbers Roman remains have been found here. The weather is so beautiful that we are camping. The camping ground contains mainly caravans and camping cars –these usually have electric assist bikes associated with them and explain a lot of the cyclists we saw today. Camped in the ‘tent area’ with us are a couple from Hamburg who are canoeing down the Moselle – a much more exciting way of travelling than us. They say locks are a challenge.

Trier is a city of red stone and as you look at the cliffs beside the river this isnt suprising

Early morning dog walkers proud of their charges

This man had a walker but was still walking his keen dog

At Neumagen Drag they have a reproduction Roman boat taking bus tourists for rides on the Moselle. It has a deisil motor rather than galley slaves!

If you dont have a dog how about two pet goats. this man had his on leads and they were cleaning up the blackberry in his section.

Today's ride: 52 km (32 miles)
Total: 2,124 km (1,319 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0