July 27, 2023
Day 7: Offendorf to Wörth am Rhein
The delightful hostess of last night’s B and B accommodation, which translates as The cradle of the agile wolf, had much to say - but our common ground was very limited. We managed to discuss eating out, laundry and other necessities but the mystery of her choice of name will remain just that – a mystery.
The weather improved after our arrival so it was a very pleasant finish to our day, sitting outside on Madame’s terasse while preloading on food (cyclists get hungry, right?) and then walking the short distance to a busy restaurant, again to eat outside.
Madame had been a dancer and our comfortable room was busily furnished and decorated in a style reflecting her passion for African dance. The bathroom was given over to an absolute star of her second passion – Hollywood’s golden age – Marilyn Monro. Which makes for interesting ablutions.
Despite yesterday’s late afternoon sunshine, we wake to grey skies and wet pavement. Another rain jacket day, it seems. To put today’s itinerary in a nutshell, we are following the Rhine as it flows north. On EV15, an official Eurovelo route no less. How hard can this be?
Not at all, it turns out, which is surprising for us. This may be another drama-free day. We farewell Madame and are on our bikes a little after 9am. It doesn’t take long to locate the Rhine – and, despite attempts by our bike computers to send us in different directions, we stick pretty closely to the path. For most of the day, we’re alone, either on a dedicated bike path or a road shared with lorries working for the massive gravel extraction plants that line the banks. The Romantic Road it’s not. Vistas of castles, grapes and colourful flowers? - nope. But this busy industrial section of the Bas-rhin is interesting nonetheless.
We spot our first river cruiser shortly after reaching the path and duly wave (well, I do. TL is not a waver.) I feel as though I’ve added value to the passengers who see us while eating breakfast. (‘Oh look, a couple of old people on fully-loaded bikes – how fascinating! . . Another croissant please.’)
The only disappointment of the morning is to not stumble upon (roll into?) a charming riverside café for our morning coffee fix. We stop anyway to light the Jetboil to make a cup of tea (definitely second-best but we need a break) and talk about the need to find a boulangerie before the 12 noon French curfew. Google Maps offers up a cake shop only a few km off the Rhine path.
By this time, we have spent two hours cycling through vast green wooded spaces and alongside a great body of water, spotting only a few dog walkers and fellow cyclists. The rest of the world seems very remote. It’s something of a shock, then, to navigate ourselves to a huge and busy fashion outlet centre. Flocks of well-dressed shoppers roam the streets, intent on a high-end bargain – just as we’re intent on securing lunch. I can safely say there are no other cyclists, scruffy, overladen or otherwise, in this pastel-coloured retail therapy Disneyland.
The cake shop is a disappointment but we find somewhere to buy a filled baguette and coffee and to sit outside with our bikes (and the smokers, of course. This is France.) Lunch done, we pass through the pastel portal and back to the reality of cycling.
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The afternoon rolls on. We know that at some stage, we’ll need to make a decision between staying with the Rhine path and veering inland. The signage for EV 15 has disappeared, suggesting that the official route has crossed the river. We choose to stay with the river, despite Google selling the alternative as the ‘best route'.
All goes swimmingly at first. But then, we find ourselves on a gravel track, a muddy track, a cobblestoned track . . .a grassy track (having been turned back by construction workers) and a narrow hiking track. The latter involves lifting our bikes over fallen tree trunks and fending off stinging nettle. But we’re optimistic, still heading north and still close by the river. Finally we pop out onto a proper path and navigate ourselves the last few kilometres to our hotel.
Google was right. But it's been a good day.
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 380 km (236 miles)
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9 months ago