Riding the Rhine River cycle route

[dirtman]

About a year ago I decided that with my 57th birthday loomimg, I need to stop thinking about cycling trips I want to do and just go ahead and do it.  The decision was to go big and do the Rhine Radweg route - basically following the Rhine all the way from Switzerland to the Netherlands - a distance of about 1500 km. I was fortunate that Riaan, a friend that I rode the Sani2C and W2W with before, was able to join me on the trip.

 

Hiring bikes was not really an option as we were going to start riding in Switzerland and end in Belgium. To ride 1500 km on a strange bike and setup also did not appeal to us.  Thule solved the problem of how to turn Giant Anthem 29'er and Scott Spark full suspension bikes into some sort of touring bike - they make a very nifty pannier system that attach to the rear triangle of a full suspension bike .  We decided not to fit slicks, as we could not do "that" to our 29'ers!!.  I also fitted an old pair of alumimium bar ends to enable me to have a more upright riding position.

 

We flew with Qatar as they transport bikes for free as part of our normal check-in luggage. 

 

We flew into Zurich on Wednesday 23 August and took the train to Chur (Switzerland) where I have friends that I met through a home-exchange swop some years ago. We dropped the bikes at their home and set off on a 3 day train tour of Switzerland.  We returned to Chur on Friday afternoon and prepared for our departure on Saturday.

 

 

Day 1 on the bike - Saturday 26 Aug. Chur to Vaduz (Liechtenstein). 50 km

 

Stage one was from Chur in Switzerland to Vaduz, the capital of the tiny country of Liechtenstein. We decided to start of with two short stages to get the feeling of riding wih panniers. It felt quite wobbly at the start, but after an hour we got the hang of it. Nice riding through forest sections with a fair distance on top of the dykes that were built to 'straighten out' the Rhine. It was quite hot with temperatures reaching 35 degrees. Lots of cycle traffic as it was a Saturday. E-bikes were everywhere - it was easier to count the 'normal' bikes than the e-bikes.

 

(Will post day 2 tomorrow)  

[Sepia]

Bucket list when I retire!

Envy

[Duane_Bosch]

Looks great. Looking forward to day 2etc. I love reading about people's bike travels. Can you give details about distances travelled, climbing etc?

 

Could you do this on a road bike?

[dirtman]

Looks great. Looking forward to day 2etc. I love reading about people's bike travels. Can you give details about distances travelled, climbing etc?

 

Could you do this on a road bike?

 

 

We did between 80 km and 110 km on most days.  We would be on the road for 6 to 7 hours per day with about 5 hours actual riding time.  We did climb 500  meters on one day and 300 m on another, but the route is mostly flat with no real climbing (we did not ride the first 100 km in Switzerland through the mountains where there are more serious climbs). 

 

 

You should be able to do it on a road bike - the gravel stretches are mostly smooth and hard packed.  Most riders use touring bikes that have wider wheels than a road bike.  We were the only riders on MTB's, because we don't have any other bikes.   

[dirtman]

Day 2:   Sunday 27 August. Vaduz to Lindau . 70 km

 

Today we traversed four countries - started of in Liectenstein and then crossed back into Switzerland.  At Bregenz we were in Austria and four kilometers further on we crossed into Germany on our way to Lindau. Again very nice riding, with most of the route going through Swiss farmlands and small towns away from the river. On entering Bregenz it seemed as if the whole of Austria were at the lakeside. Being a Sunday and with temperatures of 35 degrees, there were thousands and thousands of people next to the Bodensee and with the cycle path skirting the lake, it required lots of concentration to ride through all of this to our overnight stop in medieval Lindau.

[dirtman]

^{Day 3: Monday 28 August. Lindau to Stein am Rhein. 90 km}

 

^{Another 35 degrees day, but very good riding once again. We followed the route on the northern (German) side of the Bodensee (lake Constance) all the way to Meersburg via Friedrichshafen where they are still building Zeppelin airships (we saw one flying over the lake).  At Meersburg we crossed with a ferry over to Konstantz and back into Switzerland.  More beautiful riding through Switzerland all the way to Stein am Rhein, our overnight shop. Stein am Rhein is another Unesco heritage town - see photo attached.}

 

[dirtman]

Day 4: Tuesday 29 August. Stein-am-Rhein to Waldshut. 80 km

 

Another hot day. Another beautiful stage with lots of gravel forest paths - ideal for the Maxis Crossmarks. Highlight of the day was to find an old border crossing between Switzerland and Germany on one of the forest paths. With a bit of imagination one could see German soldiers in a little hut guarding the crossing during WW2. An unexpected number of climbs - total climbing of 500 meters.  Visited the Rhein falls near Scaffhausen - quite an impressive sight. 

 

Again realized that Europe is an absolute cycling heaven - route options by the dozens, loads of dedicated cycle paths, no danger riding on public roads, etc. 

 

Day 5:  Wed 30 August - rest day in Waldshut

 

Did our washing and did a train trip through the Black Forest in Germany.

Edited November 15, 2017 by dirtman

[Sepia]

Day 4: Tuesday 29 August. Stein-am-Rhein to Waldshut. 80 km

 

Another hot day. Another beautiful stage with lots of gravel forest paths - ideal for the Maxis Crossmarks. Highlight of the day was to find an old border crossing between Switzerland and Germany on one of the forest paths. With a bit of imagination one could see German soldiers in a little hut guarding the crossing during WW2. An unexpected number of climbs - total climbing of 500 meters.  Visited the Rhein falls near Scaffhausen - quite an impressive sight. 

 

Again realized that Europe is an absolute cycling heaven - route options by the dozens, loads of dedicated cycle paths, no danger riding on public roads, etc. 

 

Day 5:  Wed 30 August - rest day in Waldshut

 

Did our washing and did a train trip through the Black Forest in Germany.

Beautifully clean!

[tourdeboland]

Did this ride in 2014 - lovely - started in Thun though, ended in Amsterdam.

 

Fun stuff!

[dirtman]

Day 6: Thursday 31 August. Waldshut to Kembs. 90 km.

 

Started riding at 6 am to limit riding in the rain that was forecasted. Beautiful first 20 km before the rain started. Rode the next 3 hours in the rain with strong winds on certain sections. Did some sightseeing in Laufenburg and Basel. Reached Kembs after 7 hours ( 5 hours riding time) with 300 m of climbing for the day.  Overnight in a nice big flat in a renovated house (AirBnB). Hit the bed at 9 pm for an early start to Strasbourg the next day.

[milky4130]

Awesomeness, I love the report, would also like to do this one day. Got the idea while I visited Germany back in 2010, stayed with friends who lived next to the Rhine River. I'll earmark it for my 57th as well. So enough time to save up & kids will be grown up then.

[dirtman]

Day 7:  Friday 1 September. Kembs to Strasbourg. 110 km

 

Started at 7 am in gloomy weather - dark and overcasted, but the rain stayed away.  Although 110 km in distance, we never saw the Rhine river on this stage.  The route traversed farm roads before running dead straight for 60 km on a tow path next to a canal all the way to Strasbourg.  Fortunately there were a number of locks along the canal and boats that made things interesting. Also a fair number of other cyclists on the route.  We stopped for ice cream at a cafe next to the route where we met a retired couple from Australia who were bike-touring through Europe. Stayed in a small but very nice apartment next to the cathedral in the centre of Strasbourg.

[dirtman]

^{Day 8: Saturday 2 September. Strasbourg to Karlsruhe. 110 km}

 

^{Again off at 7 am. Did a ride through the old town of Strasbourg before we hit the road - must be on of the prettiest in Europe. Lovely forest section just outside the city, but then the rain started. Rode for 3 hours non-stop in sometimes torrential rain. No coffee-stop as we had to keep moving to keep warm.  Rain ended abour 2 hours before the end of the stage and we had time to warm up. Rode into the city of Karlsruhe with an unbelievable bike path of about 6 km that follows a river all the way to the city centre without ever crossing a motorway - just amazing. 5 ½ hours riding time.}

[dirtman]

^{Day 9: Sunday 3 September Karlsruhe to Worms. 110 km}

 

^{Stated at 8.30 am. Cold and gloomy, but no rain. For some reason the gps map of the stage did not want to load, so we had to navigàte by following the bike path signs.  Luckily it was Sunday so almost no traffic - got out the city quite easy and then rode a very nice section through a forest. Then we had to do some proper MTB riding as we went of course and had to follow the old path where they are busy building dykes to prevent flooding. Arrived at the ferry to cross the Rhine only to wait for 30 minutes as the ferry only starts operating at 10 am on a Sunday. Rest of the day was good riding and good weather with another ferry crossing later in the day.  In Ludwigshafen we rode pass the huge BASF plant that stretches over 7 km and where thousands of red company bikes were parked. Arrived in Worms around 4 pm. Stàyed in a hotel right on the bank of the Rhine. A big festival was taking place and later that night we were treated with a spectacular fireworks display.}

[Sepia]

^{Day 9: Sunday 3 September Karlsruhe to Worms. 110 km}

 

^{Stated at 8.30 am. Cold and gloomy, but no rain. For some reason the gps map of the stage did not want to load, so we had to navigàte by following the bike path signs.  Luckily it was Sunday so almost no traffic - got out the city quite easy and then rode a very nice section through a forest. Then we had to do some proper MTB riding as we went of course and had to follow the old path where they are busy building dykes to prevent flooding. Arrived at the ferry to cross the Rhine only to wait for 30 minutes as the ferry only starts operating at 10 am on a Sunday. Rest of the day was good riding and good weather with another ferry crossing later in the day.  In Ludwigshafen we rode pass the huge BASF plant that stretches over 7 km and where thousands of red company bikes were parked. Arrived in Worms around 4 pm. Stàyed in a hotel right on the bank of the Rhine. A big festival was taking place and later that night we were treated with a spectacular fireworks display.}

Beautifully clean town.

[Duane_Bosch]

Deff on the to-do list now.