Thanks for comments on the blog, here and elsewhere! If we can inspire anyone to head out for adventure, that is just great. There may be many obstacles, perceived or real, to tackle before any trip. It is easy to think that “others” don’t have the same problems as oneself. I am not denying that we are very privileged and fortunate to be able to take several months off, but so are many others in the Western world. Worries about money, work or health can be enough to prevent us from doing what we dream of. Mind you, I (Irene) had no big dreams about biking around for months on end. But I and Andreas knew, five years ago, that we wanted to take a break from the busy work life to travel before kids started school. We had a timeline behind a kitchen door, which reminded us to take small steps bringing us closer to that. But, as it turned out, my break from work came unplanned 9 months before this very trip. It was a tough time but once out of the woods, we grew stronger and I am so happy we have this time together. For me, travelling is mostly about that. Adventure comes naturally if one is willing to let go of the well known. The Weser radweg started after Hann. Münden. We followed it for 280km and six days, including a rest day in Petershagen. The weather was great the first day then rainy for a couple of days but the route was beautiful, easy and almost completely car free on paved roads. It wasn't so flat as to be boring and enough winding to keep interest up. It was very popular, without being crowded. Andreas reports he has never seen as many tourers in his life as here. Many of them were retired people, quite often on e-bikes. Some were out for the weekend, a few we talked to on multi-month trips. Families on multi-day trips were rare though. Wonder why. Navigation was easy, with lots of signs along the way. That was good, because we had been a bit frustrated with confusing signs and bike routes that took the "scenic", 10 times longer route through country sides or villages. Sometimes that's nice, sometimes you just need to move a distance. On the Weser we got to both move and enjoy fabulous scenery. Biergartens, cafes and restaurants along the way left no one hungry as it seemed; we had picnics as usual. It was easy to find accommodation of all types. We stayed mostly at campgrounds, but there were also hotels, hostels and private rooms, directly on the route. The German hostels, called Jugendherberge, were affordable and to our surprise, summer is their low season. We stayed two nights in one in Petershagen to have a rest day. We got the question if the kids ever get tantrums and how to handle them on the road. Yes, there are breakdowns, fights, boundary testing and so on, daily. Bedtime (especially in hotels) can evoke a strong urge to run off to a bar or at least to the washroom with a bottle of Underberg.. Parenting is not always easy at home and not easier when away. The difference is, here we are constantly together and that creates more friction. The other thing is that we all follow the sun rather than the clock, and the sun goes down late in this part of Europe in the summer. Therefore we adults get little time to ourselves, and we’re not good at taking alone time while one of us with the kids. The easiest time is while riding, because there is lots to look at and talk about. Our playground lunches are when I and Andreas get some time to our selves while prepping lunch (and coming up with strategies to handle the next outbreak of defiant behaviour). We don’t always have the same ways to do things. Arthur can drive Andreas quite mad by being super cheeky while I try to not laugh. I get mad too but for other reasons. To decrease fighting we always encourage them to run off and play at campgrounds. Their “kid exploration” time bring the best out of them (and us). As for discipline, the classical time out is not always possible to carry out on the road, but there has been times when we had to put a child outside of the tent for a while. The tent is our home so we can’t have them go rampant in there. It is a very small place to stay in so everyone need to be quite disciplined about their movements. Four year olds are not know for their controlled movement pattern. When the weather is good it is no problem, we only have to sleep there, but lately it has rained quite a bit so we’ve had to eat and spend more time in the tent. Moods go up and down, of course, I tend to be happier when it’s cool, or after I get a coffee shop break, Andreas when it’s hot, or after we pass a coffee shop without stopping. The kids always want shade when it’s sunny and vice versa. As an emergency crankiness antidote we take dextrose tabs, those work magic on the mood – for a short while. Now I understand why my mom kept a large box of dextrose in the pantry when I was a kid..
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We are happily surprised by how beautiful and nice Germany is. Lots of people see Germany from the autobahn; we see it from small roads, passing by rivers, meadows and forests. And castles…The villages are very picturesque and the people friendly. It is actually also a foodie haven, not just for bratwurst lovers. Bakeries are everywhere. And the brews…nothing like a radler (beer/citrus beverage) after a day on the bike. After the rainy day in Marburg, we had four days great cycling from to Hann. Münden. Andreas changed tube on my front tyre before we left; the rubber around the vent had given in. Then we biked through the beautiful landscape of Hessen. The bike paths winded through surprisingly large forests and farmland dotted with pretty villages. A structurally crucial bolt on the Chariot broke just half a kilometer after we had stopped to chat with a local. Thus we turned back to his house and he and a neighbour helped fix it temporarily. A woman came over and gave the kids a treat. Then we had a beautiful ride to Gemünden, where we found a nice campground for only 12 Euro. Next day too we enjoyed the scenery around us, and got the bolt replaced to a thicker to be safe, by kind people at a motorhome shop and continued. It was quite hilly, and looked a lot like Sweden, with both coniferous and deciduous forests, and signs of wild boars. We had a playground lunch in Bergfreiheit, a fresh air kur stadt. Few cars and lots of forest made for the extra fresh air. We came as far as to Ungedanken, where I got a flat tire again. After a tube change we only had a few kms to a campground. Alma and Andreas stayed up late in the rain that night to adjust a loose hub ball bearing and change the chain on my bike. Things are starting to wear out.. Next day we rode into a fun fair, including horse shows and farm animal sales. We stopped briefly; both I and kids could have stayed half a day, petting goats and guinea pigs. But we were aiming at reaching Kassel by the evening, and preferably Oberkaufungen and a friend of a friend, where we could camp for the night. We passed Fritzlar, another beautiful town. To aid in reaching Kassel, we had a quick pizza lunch in Gudensberg. We were then ready to speed up and reached Oberkaufungen by 7pm. There we had a good night in real beds. Thanks Susanne and Boris! And Katrin, who put us in contact! The pretty landscape, and the hills, continued the next day. We did not take the straightest way to Hann. Münden but probably the hilliest. Today, a rest day in Hann. Münden, a Medieval town full of those cross frame houses and surrounded by green hills. We are camping right where river Fulda kisses Werra and becomes Weser. We have just spent 4 days in the lovely kur town Bad Nauheim, Germany, visiting Meghan and Kris. It was such a good and occasionally a bit crazy time; oh team 4, Arthur and Helena...And if not before, we realised that we have missed the company of good ol’ friends. It was not without sadness we left this adorable family plus Kris mom who also was there. After Bad Nauheim we followed the Lahn bike path to a campground 28km away. The whole day was quite unromantic (Note to Kris, who helped us pick and plan: it had nothing to do with the route. It was beautiful. The villages with their old cross wood houses totally charming. It was us). We even questioned what we were doing for a while. Kids were cranky. Rain on and off. A muddy road ( only for a short section. A lady on a bike fell in it and laughed so it gave us a laugh too). Lunch in the rain outside a low-cost supermarket. Well, we said it before, it is not always glamourous on the road. Then an easy day to Marburg where we are today waiting out a rainy day in a Jugendherberge. Last night we strolled around town and admired the old castle. Back in time to June 25; after uphill comes downhill and after the Midsommar night at Bözberghöhe, at about 550 m, the road winded down through the Swiss fields and forests for several kilometers. It was the “no brake, no hairpin turns, just hold on and enjoy the 50km/h” kind if ride we deserved. We did 50 easy kilometers over the day, crossed over river Rhine on an old wooden bridge to Germany, had lunch at a playground (as usual) and then crossed over to Switzerland in the evening to camp by the river. In school we learnt that Rhein is highly polluted but now, three decades later, it seems to be a recreational haven. Our campsite was right by the water, and all day long we saw people of all ages swimming, floating or paddling down it’s gentle stream. It surprised me a lot, but I guess mankind have come a long way when it comes to water protection and industrial standards. The campground also had a large pool, perfect for the kids, and a large sandbox, so it was a good place to take a rest day, which we did the next day. The bikes got some TLC and I got to swim in the river. When I looked at the seemingly clean river, not seeing any litter around, I couldn’t help but think back at Cuba with some sadness, for both land and waters were sprinkled with trash. Most people dumped their garbage right where they were standing. Even if they were bathing in what could have been a beautiful ocean, they threw their beer cans, rum bottles, chips bags or whatever, right where they were, in the water. Larger collections of garbage was dumped in rivers, forests or just on empty lots in town. In most cities, Havana excluded, garbage trucks were a rear sight. Even if there was a shortage of goods of all kind, and lots of things reused because of that, the access to packaged food, drinks and disposables must have exploded the last 10 years or so. If the development continues, say that they start using disposable coffee cups (coffee on the street is served in glasses, rinsed between customers), I really hope they will work on the garbage collecting system. Perhaps a little recycling too. Next day, the bike path winded back and forth between Switzerland and Germany a couple of times before we all of a sudden were in France. Borders are easy to cross, but there are differences between the three countries. In Germany and France people more often greeted each other, and us. Switzerland was by far most expensive, and the people quite reserved. Everything was clean, you could lick a public toilet if you really had to. Speaking of which, eating out was out of the question so I can’t say anything about the cousin, but the bread and dairy were superb for sure. France then; where we biked through the fertile landscape of Alsace, surprisingly quiet villages, till we after just 6 days entered Germany without warning. I was not quite ready to leave France and last thing that happened was that Andreas found a scull pin in his tyre. Good thing we are not superstitious… We hope rain will stop and spirits soar as we continue up through Germany. In a couple of weeks we should be in Sweden.
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AuthorWelcome to our family's 2017 bike touring blog! Who's going? Archives
October 2017
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