August 28, 2022
Day 6: EuroVelo 15 - the Rhine river (source to sea)
Schaffhausen to Laufenbruche
Not the most auspicious start this morning. It rained consistently all night, stopping for a short reprieve at around 5:30 a.m. I had most things packed inside the tent, so I quietly moved my gear to a nearby shelter to finish packing undercover in case the rain returned, and to avoid disturbing others while they slept. Great plan ... or so I thought. When I returned for the final load, I lifted my ground tarp, which makes a 'crinkly' noise, and saw a head pop out from the late arrivals' tent. If looks could kill - his, not mine. A steady stream of words came from his mouth, certainly louder than my wayward tarp. I didn’t speak his language, but I did my best to interpret. I’m fairly certain he said, "Please forgive my ignorance and lack of consideration for leaving my car headlights shining on everyone’s tents while I set up mine last night; hammering in tent pegs for far longer than necessary; using an electric motor to pump up my hiker’s mattress when three puffs of breath would have sufficed; and finally, for talking and laughing with my girlfriend until midnight." Being the forgiving gentleman that I am, I said, "I forgive you, grazie," and jogged away quickly. As I left, I heard my friend Tobias, whose tent was next to my Italian neighbours', start to snore so loudly he could wake the dead. There is a God!
I eventually headed off around 7:30 a.m. My first stop near Schaffhausen was the Rhine Falls, said to be the most powerful falls in Europe, with a frontage of over 150 metres. I somehow missed a turn on the route and ended up overlooking the falls, which I think provided a better perspective for viewing and photographing them.
There were a lot of inclines again this morning, and with little sleep due to incessant rain and late-night arrivals, hill climbing was the last thing I needed. I must have criss-crossed the German and Swiss borders at least six times in the first three hours. I can’t imagine how challenging it must have been for locals before the EU, with passport and visa checkpoints as the norm
While I love cycling early in the day, through villages and regional towns, there is extraordinarily little activity - few, if any, shops are open, and even fewer people are out. For the next couple of hours, the route stayed away from the Rhine, giving me a chance to ride through some lovely villages. Unfortunately, the weather was very changeable today - cloudy, then sunny, then drizzling. To go with my grey bike and black panniers, I have a dark blue raincoat (the only one I could get), so I was reluctant to wear it on the roads with traffic. Instead, I relied on my wafer-thin yellow cotton top and my blinking rear light to keep me alive.
In the town of Wil, I passed a bike shop and asked if I could check my tire pressure. They kindly did it for me at no charge (as most do), though I always offer to pay! Interestingly, their most popular and plentiful bikes for sale were electric. I’m going the way of the dinosaur!
I then returned to a really smooth bike path, through forests and more agricultural land, much of which was lying fallow at the moment. I was now in my stride and feeling good, but I desperately needed a coffee.
I finally found a Volt supermarket open in a small town and grabbed some pastries for breakfast. A teenager was offering free coffee samples. Filis’s father imports and blends coffee in Basel and hopes to make it a top seller in Switzerland and Germany. It tasted great, but I’m not sure if Filis is a natural salesperson - he chatted with me for about 20 minutes, offering no one else a free coffee! Filis would rather be on a bike.
I reached Hohentengen am Hochrhein, where I saw low-flying passenger planes on their final approaches. A quick check on Google Maps confirmed that I was just twenty-five kilometres from where I’d started a week earlier: Zurich Airport! So, after 3.5 hours on four trains and cycling over 250 kilometres, I was just a 90-minute ride away from where I first landed in Europe. Talk about riding in circles!
On three occasions, I missed turns. While I stopped, looking lost, and consulting my GPS, several people approached to assist without me needing to ask. The kindness of strangers! However, they did let me down once. I ended up on the EuroVelo 6, which in some parts follows the EuroVelo 15 and the Rhine. By the time I realised my mistake, it was too late to turn back. I was still following the Rhine, just on the opposite bank! I met a lad from Manchester cycling the EV6 to Istanbul and found a quaint German pub for lunch. The food was good, though the "beef stroganoff" lunchtime special turned out to be sweet and sour pork.
The ride into Bad Zurzach was mostly downhill and uneventful, but I did manage to cross back over the river to rejoin the EV15. Bad Zurzach is yet another beautiful, historic town - they’re everywhere! I stopped for dessert here - a banana split, which gave me the energy to power on for days. Luckily, I only needed to get as far as Waldshut down the road, which had a similar town square vibe to Bad Zurzach.
With more rain predicted, I started looking for accommodation. Europe’s been in drought for months, and of course, it breaks while I’m here! I was hoping to find a solid roof instead of canvas, but it was challenging. Many places only staff their reception for a few hours in the afternoon, and I didn’t want to wait around. Without confirmed vacancies, I decided to keep riding - fewer kilometres for tomorrow’s Basel leg.
The on-and-off rain finally beat me. When I arrived in the beautiful town of Laufenburg, perched high above the Rhine, I knew I had to stop for the day and explore. Mission accomplished!
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