From the Reitz Family Farm to Erfurt- A Bike Ride and Three Trains

July 14, 2017

The plan today is to travel with Cora and Clara as far as Erfurt, where they will carry on to Weimar for a w/e of sightseeing followed by a week of cycle touring in this area. We will ride together to Limburg, then transfer to 3 regional trains, arriving in Erfurt about 5 pm. We will stay in Erfurt for the weekend and on Monday take a another train to Cottbus, where our riding will begin along the Oder River route and then into Poland.

A good and early start to the day. Tires firm, our motor is working, we're fully loaded and ready to go...Barry, Clara and Cora.

Fortunately, everything went according to plan. We left the farm at 7:00am and had a wonderful ride to Limburg. We had time to have a coffee at the train station.

Coffee and hot chocolate at Limburg train station. Mary Ellen showing a shy little boy our small Canadian stuffed bear to get a smile - it worked.

In total we had three different train trips. The first from Limburg to Frankfurt, the second from Frankfurt to Wurzburg and the last to Erfurt. All of these train rides were on regional trains that take bikes on board.

Frankfurt train station - we like this train station as all platforms are on one level and it is always an interesting, busy place. Fridays are quite busy and we saw many groups of men travelling together for w/e's away (stag parties) and they came well prepared with cases of beer. It is always strange for us to see people drinking openly in public places (legal here) and embarking the train drunk and drinking.

This is the type of bicycle car we like on a Regional train in Germany - so much space with easy access.

The high speed ICE trains do not allow bikes on board. We always plan for at least a 30 minute transfer time from one train to another. Also, we try to get connections where the train orginates so that we can be the first on the train with our tandem. We are never sure if we will have to carry our tandem up stairs to other platforms. We like the trains that have double doors and are level with the platform.

Disembarking in Wurzburg and waiting for the next train - it is on the same platform - yeah!

All of our transfers fit these criteria except for our connection in Wurzburg. We discovered that the train had a single door and three stairs to overcome just to get on the train. The space for the bikes was in a tiny area of the train car and our bikes filled the space. Barry spent most of the two hour train ride standing with the bikes to make sure they didn't fall over or get damaged from other bikes. At Erfurt, Cora helped Barry carry the tandem down 3 flights of stairs and Mary Ellen transported our bags and trailer in the lift. The first time today - which really helps the wear and tear on us and the bike.

We are staying at Apartment Hotel Lindeneck in Erfurt. We discovered a good German site for booking accommodation in Europe: hotel.de They offer much better discounts - we were able to get one free night and the regular price is lower than other sites. We have an apt with full cooking possibilities, a comfy living room and even our Bear is happy, eagerly awaiting some TV, perhaps the Tour de France.

Today's ride: 29 km (18 miles)
Total: 200 km (124 miles)

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