Tuesday, April 29, 2014 - Basel, Switzerland

I rode today, not the train but the bike. About 60k or for the non-metric about 38 miles. The day started cold and cloudy and stayed that way until I arrived in Basel. There was no rain all day. As I type this it is only partly cloudy and the sun is about to go down. I am actually in a suburb across the Rhein river from downtown.

I met and talked to number of people on the bike trail. The most interesting was a soon to be 70 year old man from Sheffield, England. He was doing the Rhein from Rotterdam to Chur and then on into Italy. He was alone and seemed very fit.  He was going upriver.

I took lots of pictures and will try to post the better ones tomorrow. I think that I have thought through my picture posting problem. Maybe tomorrow I can go back and add missing pictures.

After arriving I took the bus to downtown Basel and stayed on the bus too long. I walked back to the train station and checked on a train ticket to Strasbourg. I made the decision to stay two days in Basel and will need to take the train to get back on schedule.

Everybody I have talked with has been exceptional nice and helpful. I stop and cheek my map often just to be sure I am on the correct path.As mentioned a few year ago a bicyclist stopped with a map out must mean "give help now".  I like that it does. I have had some good conversations with my map out. Hopefully more pictures will come tomorrow.

The bakery next to my hotel.

A protected bike path next to road

 Bike path out in the country.

Bike path besides the rail road next to river. A train came by about every ten minutes. Generally the road followed the rivers, then the train tacks were put next to the roads, and then the bike paths.

The castle at Bad Sackingen. On the other side of the river.

 A wall next to a new (improved) rural train station. I took this for Charles. Notice the wire cage with the rocks stacked inside.

 An interesting tower that seems to be saying something to all passer-by. I heard it tell me to keep going. I took it as encouragement not as a threat.

 A town center. I forget the name but could look it up.

A bicycle pedestrian covered bridge across the Rhein from Germany to Switzerland. See next picture.

 This is the bridge from above. Notice how wide the river is at this location. That is an interesting public works.

 A smaller bridge over a stream flowing into the Rhein. There were a lot of swans in the stream and small pond next to it. They even nested next to the bike path.

 Yes, you guessed it, a swan.

 A swan nesting on the shoulder of the road. There were at least 50 in this area. Some nesting others swimming, etc.

 A rest area on the bike path next to the scenic railroad tracks. I stopped for a luncheon picnic.

 The picnic table spread for my treat.

 The bike path at this point went through an enclosed castle-manor house. It was both a working farm and a boys school. They in the interior grounds. The were a lot of buildings that made up the school and in the back portion a lot of buildings that made up the farm.

 This picture and the next are pictures of a fish gate or fish steps along side a power damn. This is nay a few miles from Basel, Switzerland.

 The next picture.

 A small waterfall along side the bike path.

 Some town in Switzerland from the German side of the river. As I rode I would go from Switzerland to German as the border did not always follow the river.

I took this for Josh. I thought it was a traffic jam just of trucks. But it was a border crossing and the highway signs had traffic lights in two lanes to let one truck go at a time. This is very close to my hotel. The last picture is of one of the asparagus stands all over the areas i have traveled. It must be in season as I have never seen them before.