Thursday, May 8, 2014 - Cochem, Germany

Well I am still by the Mosel river. The wine is good. I saw so many grape vines yesterday and today that I had to switch from beer to wine. It is not a forever switch. Today's ride was multi-modal. I first took a boat trip for about 22 km up the river. Next, I rode my bicycle for about 43 km. The wind was brutal (15 to 20 mph) and the temperature never got over 52 degrees. My face feels pure raw from the wind. When the river switched back and forth you go from tail wind to head wind, it was very hard to pedal in the head winds. Last, I took a brief 6 km train trip through a 5 km tunnel, which saved me 22 km on the river. I am in another tourist town on the Mosel. It is almost like the last one but not as many tour buses.

Some pictures from the day.

The town of Bernkastle from the boat as we leave town. It is a great town for sightseeing. i could come back but most likely all not.

A "selfie" on the boat. It was windy up top.

We went through a lock. I think we dropped about 10 to 15 meters. It took about 10 minutes. The boat stopped at a number of small towns to let people off and on during the 1 and a half hour trip. i also took a video of the lock operation. there were two dcks swimming in the lock unaffected by the operation.






I believe this is the start of a new high bridge over the Mosel river. I believe it will be a new Autobahn over the ridges. It will probably take a few years to complete. It is near Traben-Trarbach. That is not an incorrect spelling.

Wine is such a big business here that they use every available place to plant grapevines. I wonder they grow in some of the very rocky soil. Other place look very fertile but some do not. Click and see the vineyard on top of the rocky abutment.

 Another selfe of me in my whateveritishatcapthingy. It does keep my hair from blowing. I met a couple from near Antwerp, Belgium on the boat. I took their picture together for them. They were very appreciative. They then took pictures of me with each of them. We talked together for about 30 minutes. We had a good discussion about safety on the road in different countries in Europe.

The town gate as I start my ride to see another million grape vines. However, the wine has been very good. My hotel for the night is on the left. When I arrived after my ride and train trip, no one was home. They left me a note on the door about how to my keys.

Cochem, my town for the night is very beautiful and much like last nights town, Bernkastle. I will only post one picture. It has rained since about 6:00 and I have had a chance to walk around a lot.




Tomorrow is the last ride day. I will try to made it interesting.