June 21, 2022
Wait! What? You're in Colmar already?
a change in plans
We started early and Basel was beautiful. Here is the bridge where we ended up our float yesterday. We are starting out today crossing an adjacent one
But first, let me relate something remarkable about Europe (not just Switzerland), and that is the variety of ham offerings. Take a look below, all the items are different types of pork (some are chicken or turkey). It is over whelming! We bought a lunch last night for today's ride, and took a while to select our pig slices.
Near Basel, the Rhine divides into many different channels and paths, as they have managed the river and use it for industrial and recreational purposes. So we crossed it, or channels of it, repeatedly. This is an example of the extraordinary infrastructure they afford bikers and pedestrians though. Wow!
I took this photo as David has asked a few times about sharing the road with cars. We do, but if you leave early-ish in the morning (we left at 8 am), there are not a lot of cars to worry about. Here is a pic in a town and the only cars we saw were parked. So yes, we did "share" the road, but no problem!
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1 year ago
We also had lots of bike paths with no cars. We followed this channel for a long way. Great path, but that fine white gravel got everywhere. We'll be looking for a car wash tomorrow!
We were biking along an "industrial area" when I saw these enormous storage buildings. They were about 300m long, and covered completely in solar cells. I don't know how much they generated, but it would be way more than our house would use.
It was right about here, maybe 10:30 in the morning, when we realized we would arrive at our guesthouse in about 30 minutes and the forecast had shown rain all day tomorrow. I mean from 2 am until 11 pm with some thunderstorms late in the day. That would suck to ride through. So, we made an executive decision. I called the guesthouse to ask if ok to cancel, Marjory called our Colmar hotel, asked if we could come a day early. The guesthouse said "no problem" as did the Colmar hotel, and we decided to ride another 45 km.
It seemed like every farmer got the memo: turn on the sprinklers! We had to time our ride through them with the precision of a video game. And got rained on maybe twice, so not bad.
We rode through the town of Neuf Brisach (means New Brisach), a Unesco World Heritage site, as it shows the state of the art of fortifications around the year 1800. France had been at war with the "Holy Roman Empire" for a long time, then in a treaty of peace, they had to give up the town of Brisach. So they built Neuf Brisach, not far away, and with enormous fortifications so I am guessing all was not sweetness and light after the treaty. The massive walls actually have a larger area then the enclosed town! And nowadays, you can drive through it and buy chocolate gelato. So that's progress, right?
It started to heat up, and we were wondering about our decision to ride longer today, and then we entered this forest. Yay! Wonderful path, beautiful trees, appreciated shade.
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1 year ago
The last 8 km or so to Colmar were pretty much on this road, with no real bike lane. However, drivers here are wonderful about it, and gave us plenty of room.
Finally, arrived in the town of Colmar. We are here for 4 nights, so my entries may diminish a bit. We plan to bike to surrounding towns and sample the vineyards' produce, but tomorrow looks pretty rainy, so we may not venture far.
A few wine surprises (for me) already. They have a sparkling wine here called Cremont, which comes in white or rose, which uses the champagne method but hasn't gone crazy in price yet. Really fantastic (esp. white), and is the fastest growing export of the area. Also, the Pinot Blanc was outstanding. The Riesling, which the area is known for (of course), is good, but not surprising. Are you amazed we could walk home after dinner?
Today's ride: 80 km (50 miles)
Total: 719 km (446 miles)
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