So we are getting a very late start today, but have nowhere to go really, so it doesnt matter. Been spending all day trying to upload more photos...you will notice the Netherlands and Rhine albums are much bigger. I still have more to upload but it is kind of a slow laborious process and we cant stay in Basel too long. I also just ran out of space, so I had to buy more storage from Google! I think 10 GB should last for a good while.
We have been staying with a very generous guy named Mattias for the last 2 nights here in Basel. Had a very restful day yesterday, exploring the city and then sitting by the Rhine and drinking some cold beers. It was hot enough that I was almost tempted to follow after some of the few brave people swimming in the river. Today, like I said, has been spent mostly trying to jam photos onto the web and rouse up another couchsurfing spot. Neither endeavor has been all that fruitful.
We are gonna head out and try to stop by a bike shop. I need a long allen wrench to get to my brake handle bolts...the right handle is practically flopping around...very scary on the descents. After the bike shop its on to the Swiss national bike route 3. I guess we will ride like 3 or 4 hours...probably be able to get near Aarau. I messaged a few folks about couchsurfing, but at this point we will probably just end up in the woods. It is really tricky to setup couchsurfing on the bike because nothing is ever certain and even finding internet can be a hassle.
Pretty pumped about the next section of riding. We have a really good Swiss bike route map (set us back 20 francs though!!!). That is another thing. Swiss money is hilarious. Its giant, crazy colors and has weird pictures on it. Anyways, the map has great details and we will be using it to go south into Italy. Who knows from there.
Alrighty then....that is probably enough from me at this point. Im gonna go try to fiddle with my back and get motivated to mount up. Just remember what they say about Fridays..."it feels like every other day, except more people are on the bike paths". And by "they" I mean John and I.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Quick blurb from Worms
Hey there...just a quick note before we head of out Worms. Got down here a day early due to unexpectedly awesome riding. The Rhine Gorge was beautiful. A touch of a mean thunderstorm ushered us into Worms around 6 PM last night. Albert had not yet arrived from Meerbusch because of car trouble, so we had to kill about 5 hours until he arrived. Hung around, ate doner, drank liters of beer. The usual hobo activities. Met up with Albert and Jan around 1130, showered, ate, went to bed. Getting a late start today, but had a good breakfast of eggs and wurst. Good to sleep inside, but its funny...I sleep better under a bush in the park! Really love having internet access for the moments I do. Music is even better if you haven't heard it for a few days. Anyways, today we ride about 80-100km to near Karlsruhe. The next two days should bring us into Basel where we are waiting to see if we can score a CS (couchsurf) finally. Then it is onwards into the Alps. The weather here is not so bad as long as it is sunny...hope the Alps are okay still. Thanks for checking in and please post comments on questions, suggestions, scathing repremands, etc. Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful Monday.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Rotations of Heavy Stones
The title is what John's host parents read when he tried to write that he listened to "rock and roll". He didn't know any German at that point. Ive got some good news and some bad news. Well, really just sad news. I seem to have lost all the video coverage I had up until this point. I think I managed to upload two videos before it crashed, but they are rather unremarkable. Lost all the footage of Ireland, France and Belgium :( I am well beyond enraged right now, but seeing as how there is probably nothing I can do, I'm going to just try to let it slide off. Call it some of my zen training from this trip: don't waste time being frustrated by things you have no control over.
I guess if you want some good news, its that we are heading out of Dusseldorf and resuming our ride down the Rhine this afternoon. Getting a late start, so probably going to shoot for 60-80 km, but the weather looks gorgeous and we'll have lots of energy from resting, so maybe we can crank some km out and make up for our decadence. The plan is the Rhine River down to the Black Forest, through to the Swiss Alps, drop down into Italy and work southeast towards Croatia, either via riding through Venice and Trieste or a ferry from Ancona. No clue how easily we'll find internet access, but I'll try to keep you guys updated. I would guess we'll be getting into the Alps in about a week; hopefully it wont be absolutely freezing yet. Stay tuned for some sweet pics and maybe some friggin' video. Soul Rider over and out.
Video link is to the right, in case you miss my beautiful mug and honey-sweet voice ---->
I guess if you want some good news, its that we are heading out of Dusseldorf and resuming our ride down the Rhine this afternoon. Getting a late start, so probably going to shoot for 60-80 km, but the weather looks gorgeous and we'll have lots of energy from resting, so maybe we can crank some km out and make up for our decadence. The plan is the Rhine River down to the Black Forest, through to the Swiss Alps, drop down into Italy and work southeast towards Croatia, either via riding through Venice and Trieste or a ferry from Ancona. No clue how easily we'll find internet access, but I'll try to keep you guys updated. I would guess we'll be getting into the Alps in about a week; hopefully it wont be absolutely freezing yet. Stay tuned for some sweet pics and maybe some friggin' video. Soul Rider over and out.
Video link is to the right, in case you miss my beautiful mug and honey-sweet voice ---->
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Update to Dusseldorf
Okay...last post I was in Lille, France. I think that was about a week and a half ago? I beleive it was Friday the 4th of September and John decided to stay in Lille another night. I was getting itchy to be back on the road, so I headed out and we made plans to meet in Brussels on Sunday.
Friday was nice weather, a bit cold and a few rain showers. Made my way north to Roubaix first. Had to see the famous bike city. Checked out the velodrome but never went as far south as to see any cobblestone sections (they were a couple of towns over). Continued north Friday afternoon not really knowing what I was doing. My map had pretty much ended and I didn't break out another one thinking I had an idea of where to go. Ended up going way too far north and found myself in a city called Kotrich, about 100km west of Brussels. Started the journey eastward that evening but found myself in the small-ish city of Oudenaarde about the time to start looking for a bed. Decided the best course of action was to stop into a bar. Of course, a great decision. Delicious beers and very budgetable. Struck up a conversation with a very kind Belgian man who offered to drive me over to the campsite and check it out. We did, but they wanted 12€ just to hang my hammock, so we went back to the bar. Took part in a birthday celebration, had perhaps one too many tasty belgian beers and then set off for the woods. A little handling error on my part resulted in a dip in a nice deep mud puddle. I promptly got to the woods, stripped off the wet muddy clothes then setup and crawled into my hammock.
Woke up Saturday with a pretty raging hangover, naked in a hammock with a pile of muddy clothes attempting to "dry" underneath me (this seemed totally feasible the night before).
Somewhat disgruntled I packed my belongings and headed out to find Waterloo. Supposedly somewhere just south of Brussels. I still had all of Saturday before I had to meet John on Sunday, so it seemed like a reasonable idea. I fought my way straight through the hilly countryside relying on my compass and signs. Eventually I got to a place called Beersel which is very close to Waterloo. I asked the tourist office (I think they are purposely staffed with cute girls just to throw me off a bit more when I already feel like a jerk for only speaking English). I was told that Waterloo was "in Wallonia, that's French" and therefore she knew nothing about it. She'd never even been there and probably lives within 20 or 30 km. I figure it must not be worth the fight, so I just went one town up and slept in a cheap campground with a sleazy bar (albeit the best beer selection of a sleazy bar ever).
Got up Sunday, rode up through Brussels and found a hostel for John and I. I had a few hours to kill so I tried to do laundry, but the massive amount of mud in my chamois from 2 nights before just totally negated any attempts. Went down to the meeting spot and found John. We checked into the hostel and wouldn't you know it, but the Belgian Beer Festival happened to be in town that weekend. We promptly stored our belongings and headed down to the Grotsplat or whatever the central square is called. Sampled a few beers at a slightly premium price before we struck out to find beer mecca, Delirium. Some of you may recogniye the name from their tasty beer or from the fact that they got into the Guiness book of records for most beers on list (2006). John and I had some good ones there then went back to the hostel and cooked dinner. Went out for a few more drinks and exploration after dinner and then crashed.
Monday we rode north through Antwerp and into the Netherlands. Rather peaceful day cruising through the Netherlands. Never seen anything like it...EVERYONE is on bikes. Little 3 year olds, grandmas, workers, moms, it is insane. Found ourselves a nice little secluded camp by a fort Napoleon had constructed, cooked enough pasta to choke, i dunno, something that doesn't choke easily. Hung the hammocks in the swamp and called it a night.
Tuesday found us pushing straight up the coast, through Rotterdam and on towards Amsterdam. Things got a bit hairy around 7 PM when we rolled into Amsterdam without a place to stay, breaking our own rule of never doing so. Lucked out and found a decent hostel at 22€ a night, ut would have to find a way to store our bikes. Fortunately, this is Amsterdam and they have massive, secure bike storage for like €2 per day. Spent all day Wednesday exploring the fine city of Amsterdam, enjoying strong coffee and tasty beers along cute little canals. Packed up Thursday and headed south, shooting for the De Hoge Veluwe national park. A national park in Ntherlands isnt cute what I think of national parks as. It was 7€ to get in and probably another 10 to camp in the one designated campground. Illegal to sleep anywhere else. The guy sent us through to go to the north gate and get someone there to pay for our fees. We just slept right on the edge of the campground and were gone by the morning. Sorry Netherlands.
Friday we continued to push for Dusseldorf by taking a ferry across the Rhine into Germany. Slept in another little park/nature area just outside Alpen (I beleive).
Saturday we did the last 80km or so to reach Dusseldorf, arriving at the Kiefer household around 5 or 6 PM.
These folks are great. They welcomed us with open arms and have allowed us every luxury and convenience that we've been missing for 2 or 3 weeks. Went out into the city Saturday night, spent Sunday lounging about and checked out a sleepy little pub closer to home. Monday we drove around and hung out with some of John's old friends a bit. Today we've been trying to plan our next steps and just kind of cleaning our shabby selves up.
Speaking of the next steps, there have been some developments. We've been riding roughly 2 weeks and done about 1400km. That means we are averaging about 88km per day. We are allowed to stay in the EU-Schengen states for another 69 days. That means roughly 6000 km is our range, but that would be cutting it close and using every last day we are allowed. Getting from here to Gibraltar is about 3000km. Going to Croatia is about 1600km. We are probably going to go to Croatia is what Im saying. For one, it would allow us to go to Oktoberfest. Another thing is it gives us more of a buffer if we get derailed. The last reason is that if we do go to Gibraltar, our only option is Morocco. Morocco isn't bad, but 3 months with no option out other than applying for a Libyan visa or getting a flight is no good. In Croatia we could always go to Bulgaria and onward to Turkey. So, in summary, alot of this stuff is up in the air, but here is my rough plan:
Andi will drive John and I down towards Munich. From there we ride to Salzburg, over the Alps into Italy (Venice?) then south to Florence. After that we ride east to Ancona and get the ferry to Croatia.
What do you think?
All that being said, things are going well. Hope this message finds all going well with you folks, whether you are reading from this side or back home or somewhere further abroad. If you are further abroad, let me know and we'll start trying to work out some plans ;) Time for me to go get some food, so until next time, soul rider for life.
Friday was nice weather, a bit cold and a few rain showers. Made my way north to Roubaix first. Had to see the famous bike city. Checked out the velodrome but never went as far south as to see any cobblestone sections (they were a couple of towns over). Continued north Friday afternoon not really knowing what I was doing. My map had pretty much ended and I didn't break out another one thinking I had an idea of where to go. Ended up going way too far north and found myself in a city called Kotrich, about 100km west of Brussels. Started the journey eastward that evening but found myself in the small-ish city of Oudenaarde about the time to start looking for a bed. Decided the best course of action was to stop into a bar. Of course, a great decision. Delicious beers and very budgetable. Struck up a conversation with a very kind Belgian man who offered to drive me over to the campsite and check it out. We did, but they wanted 12€ just to hang my hammock, so we went back to the bar. Took part in a birthday celebration, had perhaps one too many tasty belgian beers and then set off for the woods. A little handling error on my part resulted in a dip in a nice deep mud puddle. I promptly got to the woods, stripped off the wet muddy clothes then setup and crawled into my hammock.
Woke up Saturday with a pretty raging hangover, naked in a hammock with a pile of muddy clothes attempting to "dry" underneath me (this seemed totally feasible the night before).
Somewhat disgruntled I packed my belongings and headed out to find Waterloo. Supposedly somewhere just south of Brussels. I still had all of Saturday before I had to meet John on Sunday, so it seemed like a reasonable idea. I fought my way straight through the hilly countryside relying on my compass and signs. Eventually I got to a place called Beersel which is very close to Waterloo. I asked the tourist office (I think they are purposely staffed with cute girls just to throw me off a bit more when I already feel like a jerk for only speaking English). I was told that Waterloo was "in Wallonia, that's French" and therefore she knew nothing about it. She'd never even been there and probably lives within 20 or 30 km. I figure it must not be worth the fight, so I just went one town up and slept in a cheap campground with a sleazy bar (albeit the best beer selection of a sleazy bar ever).
Got up Sunday, rode up through Brussels and found a hostel for John and I. I had a few hours to kill so I tried to do laundry, but the massive amount of mud in my chamois from 2 nights before just totally negated any attempts. Went down to the meeting spot and found John. We checked into the hostel and wouldn't you know it, but the Belgian Beer Festival happened to be in town that weekend. We promptly stored our belongings and headed down to the Grotsplat or whatever the central square is called. Sampled a few beers at a slightly premium price before we struck out to find beer mecca, Delirium. Some of you may recogniye the name from their tasty beer or from the fact that they got into the Guiness book of records for most beers on list (2006). John and I had some good ones there then went back to the hostel and cooked dinner. Went out for a few more drinks and exploration after dinner and then crashed.
Monday we rode north through Antwerp and into the Netherlands. Rather peaceful day cruising through the Netherlands. Never seen anything like it...EVERYONE is on bikes. Little 3 year olds, grandmas, workers, moms, it is insane. Found ourselves a nice little secluded camp by a fort Napoleon had constructed, cooked enough pasta to choke, i dunno, something that doesn't choke easily. Hung the hammocks in the swamp and called it a night.
Tuesday found us pushing straight up the coast, through Rotterdam and on towards Amsterdam. Things got a bit hairy around 7 PM when we rolled into Amsterdam without a place to stay, breaking our own rule of never doing so. Lucked out and found a decent hostel at 22€ a night, ut would have to find a way to store our bikes. Fortunately, this is Amsterdam and they have massive, secure bike storage for like €2 per day. Spent all day Wednesday exploring the fine city of Amsterdam, enjoying strong coffee and tasty beers along cute little canals. Packed up Thursday and headed south, shooting for the De Hoge Veluwe national park. A national park in Ntherlands isnt cute what I think of national parks as. It was 7€ to get in and probably another 10 to camp in the one designated campground. Illegal to sleep anywhere else. The guy sent us through to go to the north gate and get someone there to pay for our fees. We just slept right on the edge of the campground and were gone by the morning. Sorry Netherlands.
Friday we continued to push for Dusseldorf by taking a ferry across the Rhine into Germany. Slept in another little park/nature area just outside Alpen (I beleive).
Saturday we did the last 80km or so to reach Dusseldorf, arriving at the Kiefer household around 5 or 6 PM.
These folks are great. They welcomed us with open arms and have allowed us every luxury and convenience that we've been missing for 2 or 3 weeks. Went out into the city Saturday night, spent Sunday lounging about and checked out a sleepy little pub closer to home. Monday we drove around and hung out with some of John's old friends a bit. Today we've been trying to plan our next steps and just kind of cleaning our shabby selves up.
Speaking of the next steps, there have been some developments. We've been riding roughly 2 weeks and done about 1400km. That means we are averaging about 88km per day. We are allowed to stay in the EU-Schengen states for another 69 days. That means roughly 6000 km is our range, but that would be cutting it close and using every last day we are allowed. Getting from here to Gibraltar is about 3000km. Going to Croatia is about 1600km. We are probably going to go to Croatia is what Im saying. For one, it would allow us to go to Oktoberfest. Another thing is it gives us more of a buffer if we get derailed. The last reason is that if we do go to Gibraltar, our only option is Morocco. Morocco isn't bad, but 3 months with no option out other than applying for a Libyan visa or getting a flight is no good. In Croatia we could always go to Bulgaria and onward to Turkey. So, in summary, alot of this stuff is up in the air, but here is my rough plan:
Andi will drive John and I down towards Munich. From there we ride to Salzburg, over the Alps into Italy (Venice?) then south to Florence. After that we ride east to Ancona and get the ferry to Croatia.
What do you think?
All that being said, things are going well. Hope this message finds all going well with you folks, whether you are reading from this side or back home or somewhere further abroad. If you are further abroad, let me know and we'll start trying to work out some plans ;) Time for me to go get some food, so until next time, soul rider for life.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Lapse due to Benelux
Been about a week since I've managed to write; partially because nothing too dramatic has happened but also because I spend more time in countryside (where there is no such thing as an internet cafe) as I had imagined. Right now I'm in Arnhem on nearing the border of Netherlands and Germany. Today we will be jumping onto the route of the Rhine and following that towards Dusseldorf in hopes of meeting up with John's former host-family. Once we are synced up with them I plan to write in more detail about last week's adventures and updates for future plans. Until then, I'm going to take a moment to try and tag some of the photos better, so they may or may not be updated with locations and such soon. Until I get a chance to settle into a nice long post, take care and check back soon!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Lille
Awesome. Rough day here in lille...never managed to meet up with johns friend, after waiting 4 hours. Hostel was booked full, but after a couple failings found a cheap hotel. Going to explore the city tomorrow and perhaps meet up with this dubious character, if she checks her email!
Rachael...where are you planning on going once you graduate? Id be glad to scout out the area as long as Im here and make some recommendations ( Im assuming youd be interested in the architecture...if i have the right rachael!)
Jake...are you working in an REI in Asheville? Didnt know they had one...hope you are riding the raleigh alot. I sorely miss mountain biking. If you get a big fat paycheck, send some this way and the bike is yours permently. Perfect bike for Tsali and Bent Creek!
Chris, glad you are tuning in. Are you still out in Salt Lake? Ill be sure to swing by on my victory lap through the US.
Off to cook some dinner and perhaps check out the nightlife. Take care folks!
P.S. Promise to get the videos posted soon...they are somewhat entertaining.
Rachael...where are you planning on going once you graduate? Id be glad to scout out the area as long as Im here and make some recommendations ( Im assuming youd be interested in the architecture...if i have the right rachael!)
Jake...are you working in an REI in Asheville? Didnt know they had one...hope you are riding the raleigh alot. I sorely miss mountain biking. If you get a big fat paycheck, send some this way and the bike is yours permently. Perfect bike for Tsali and Bent Creek!
Chris, glad you are tuning in. Are you still out in Salt Lake? Ill be sure to swing by on my victory lap through the US.
Off to cook some dinner and perhaps check out the nightlife. Take care folks!
P.S. Promise to get the videos posted soon...they are somewhat entertaining.
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