Sunday bike ride - Happy Mosel
We spent the day riding along the Mosel River (that's MoSELLE in France, MOsel in Germany). The roads were closed to vehicles for the day and it was delightful to bike along a wide, flat paved road. It rained off and on, but we were prepared, and the rain meant that 10,000 people stayed home, so in that sense it was more pleasant than sun. All told, we rode about 62 km from Traben-Trarbach to Cochem. We went with a couple of friends and did enjoy stopping for a glass of wine here, a bratwurst there, a beer at the next place, coffee and cake further down the road. I did fine until the last 5 km, when I ran out of steam. Pretty good for not biking since fall 2009!
The Mosel valley is beautiful, even in the rain. Narrow, with vineyards growing on slopes that I swear are 60 degrees. The vines are planted, not in soil, but in broken shale, pieces of which slide down the hillside to the road, making for easy pickings for amateur geologists.... yes, I brought home 3 samples!
We took the train back, which was a bit angsty since the first train was completely full of bikes and the conductor wouldn't let us on. The next train came an hour later and we were lucky that a group of people got off so we could get on, otherwise we'd probably still be there waiting!
Next weekend: the middle Rhine roads are closed and Sunday is predicted to not-rain.
Speaking of which, we are in the midst of a Gewitter and it is raining so hard that I can't see across our little valley. The thunder is cracking when the lightning flashes, and I swear I heard lightning strike the Bismarck Turm (it has a lightning rod, so should be OK). Guess I shouldn't be on the computer, gel?
The Mosel valley is beautiful, even in the rain. Narrow, with vineyards growing on slopes that I swear are 60 degrees. The vines are planted, not in soil, but in broken shale, pieces of which slide down the hillside to the road, making for easy pickings for amateur geologists.... yes, I brought home 3 samples!
We took the train back, which was a bit angsty since the first train was completely full of bikes and the conductor wouldn't let us on. The next train came an hour later and we were lucky that a group of people got off so we could get on, otherwise we'd probably still be there waiting!
Next weekend: the middle Rhine roads are closed and Sunday is predicted to not-rain.
Speaking of which, we are in the midst of a Gewitter and it is raining so hard that I can't see across our little valley. The thunder is cracking when the lightning flashes, and I swear I heard lightning strike the Bismarck Turm (it has a lightning rod, so should be OK). Guess I shouldn't be on the computer, gel?