1000 mile trip odometer

I passed 1000 miles for the trip today. I wasn't trying to set any distance or speed records, so this took a while on the road, but I'm glad I got there. I haven't ever hit 100 in a day, but since I did 90+ on a loaded bike for 2 consecutive days, I'll have to formally pass that milestone on a weekend ride back at home sometime soon.

Strasbourg to Barr 7/1

It was a rainy day, so not too many pictures as I didn't want to deal with the camera. We followed a canal path and then back roads most of the way, finally heading up some long and low hills into wine country. We rode for a total of about 30 miles, at a relaxed pace. With more people, we are riding less and eating out more. Plusses and minuses I guess, but I was antsy to ride more today, especially with yesterday off the bike in Strasbourg- I guess out of habit. Everything was closed today (Sunday), so we didn't get to stop and try any wine, and it was hard to find restaurants and impossible to buy groceries. We even had to sit around our hotel lobby for about 30 minutes this afternoon waiting for an employee to wander by and check us in. France is weird- you'd think someone would be happy to sell us things. Pictures: Alsace farms in rain. Alan Liby and Dad eating lunch in Obernai. In front of Le Manoir hotel in Barr. Vineyards from hotel balcony.

Alsatian food 6/30-7/1

2% alcohol sweet cider with salmon baguette and roast beef baguette from a deli. Pile of meat on sauerkraut (choucroute aged cinq viandes)- an Alsacienne specialty I that is tastier than it looks, but really way more meat than I care for. Salad with chèvre and sesame toasts. Tarte italienne (open faced tomato and mozz sandwich) at a cafe in Obernai. Pie/Tarte things- fromage blanc, red berries, and rhubarb- that's hard meringue in puffs on top. This picture does not do justice to the chicken fricasee with Riesling cream sauce and side of spaetzel I had for dinner.

Strasbourg 6/30

Our campsite in Strasbourg was cheap, and they also took bakery orders for fresh bread to be delivered in the morning. We got a baguette and a pain chocolate, keeping our order light so we didn't spoil ourselves for cafes in the city. Strasbourg is the seat of the EU parliament, but it is also a very medieval city with an old cathedral and lots of pointy roofs. I don't know why they had pointy roofs (some as many as four stories tall), but it seems to be a theme. The city is built around a network of rivers and bridges, all lined with old and ornate buildings. At the center of the city, on the grand isle, is a huge and airy cathedral that was constructed mostly in the 13th century. I'm impressed mostly by how much open space there was around all of the lacy frilly bits of stone , and how such slender structures stayed together. I couldn't really capture the open space in the walls in photos, but from some angles you could see all the way through the walls and spires to the other side, like it was a hollow shell.

Karlsruhe 6/28

The Schloss in Karlsruhe, at the center of concentric ring roads. We hung out at a cafe in a student area for a while, before catching the view of the palace at sunset. Not shown in the 1st pic, but highlighted in the second, is that the building is undergoing renovations. However, they brought some personality to the fabric surrounding the scaffolding. We had to get close to be sure this wasn't painted on the building itself. Random Platz in Karlsruhe, showing off street cars and bikes and architecture. Karlsruhe had tons of bike infrastructure. We rode along a number of small highways where the on and off ramps are clearly marked with signs and pavement paint to yield for bikes, and the drivers did. We watched Germany lose 1-2 to Italy in the Euro cup at this cafe serving drinks only. We brought in a picnic dinner and drank beer from the cafe. The small TV was fine, but anyone doing this in the US would have had a giant screen- funny that it wasn't necessary even with maybe 40 people watching.

Karlsruhe to Strasbourg 6/29

68.25 miles today, very flat but very hot and humid. Today i feel like I bad more energy riding than my dad. It's funny since the opposite was true the day before, and we're riding the same routes. We crossed into France by taking a tiny, free municipal ferry to Seltz. This France sign marks the most substantial border crossing I have had since Iceland. There was nothing there but the sign. We rode through some Monet streams and Van Gogh fields, this one full of sunflowers. Tree-lined path just a couple of miles from Strasbourg. We were too tired after cooling down and setting up camp and eating dinner to trek downtown, so Strasbourg pictures later.

Höfen to Karlsruhe 6/28

Today was a tough day of riding for me. I don't know if it was heat or my stomach bothering me or if I was tired from yesterday's hills or what, but the wheels weren't turning easily. We rode 53 km, according to Dad, since my computer faded mid day. It felt like more, and was the first day of this trip I wished I wasn't riding. Still, we saw some cool towns along the way. Pictures are: Neuenbërg skyline. Breakfast pastry and ice cream coffee float in Neuenbërg. Platz in Ettinger where we hung out in the shade, dodging some of the heat and eating lunch. Weisswurst with pretzel, bratwurst with mashed potatoes, and schwarzbier and Franziskaner hefeweizen.

Photos 6/26-27 Schiltach to Höfen- part 2

Riding over the top of a hill in the Black Forest. Unfortunately we took the wrong road down, and had to climb all the way back up 200 meters. Dinner in Bad Wiltbad- roast beef with onions, pork chops in a mushroom sauce, knödel, spätzel, and salads, plus beers. There was grass growing in the middle of our table (intentionally). Watching Spain vs. Portugal in the Weltmeister (Euro Cup) with other campers at our campsite in Höfen. We drank hefeweizen during the game, poured properly and into the correct glassware even at the campsite kiosk bar.

Photos 6/26-27 Schiltach to Höfen- part 1

Beer with dinner in Schiltach. Cool wrought metal signs for businesses are common- this swan bar was in Alpirsbach, where they brew the beer we drank the night before. The name of the town supposedly comes from a monk and brewer who was fond of his product, and one day, drunkenly spilling his beer in the stream, exclaimed 'alle bier ist in der bach'. Pretzel with seeds and strawberry jelly cake from a bakery in Alpirsbach. Riding through a not-so-dark segment of the Black Forest.

Black Forest: Offenburg to Schiltach 6/26

74 km today. Bike tube vending machine, in case you get a flat while the bike store is closed. Marktplatz in Offenburg- there was an open-air farmers market thing when we were there in the morning. Castle on a hill in Ohlsbach, surrounded by orchards and vineyards. We bought some cherries from a farm stand nearby, but have not yet tried them as we've been waiting for a source of water to wash them. A shot of the edge of the Black Forest woods. The trees are suddenly very tall and thick, with not much new growth around the edges. I'll try to get a better picture soon, but I bet it really is dark and creepy in there. Campsite in Schiltach.

Dinner in Offenburg 6/25

Germany is reasonably priced. Falafel plate, giant doner sandwich, bread, and beer all ran $15. The beer was only $2, and tasty.

Photos from 6/25- Stechelberg to Offenburg

View of our campsite in Stechelberg, CH on the rainy morning we left. Outside the Basel train station. Lunch on the train- hazelnut yogurt rivals skyr in my book for favorite dairy product of the trip, with some of the Gruyere I've had a close second. Bike route from Strasbourg to Offenburg, flat, smooth, running through farmland.

The cost of mistakes

I suppose when traveling there are known mistakes and unknown mistakes, and we go to Europe with the information we have, not the information we want. I of course have made mistakes that I didn't ever notice so far on this trip, but I've also made a few that I know of, and they're interesting to me in part because the cost has been quantifiable, and because of the distinct decisions that led to them.

On the big scheme of things, they're tiny. I left my European electrical adapter plugged into a socket at a campsite in Olafsvik, Iceland. Replacement cost at a mall was $12, a lot more than Amazon, plus any opportunity cost for the time spent hunting for adapters. I'm counting opportunity cost a zero, though, since going to that mall involved some fun exploration and resulted in us finding some Icelandic microbrews we would not have otherwise.

Two days ago I left behind the Ubu bike water bottl from Lake Placid Brewery at a cable car in Switzeland. By the time we got back down, it was gone, and searching the lost and found, recycling bins, and garbage bins all suggest that someone else took it. I hope they enjoy it. Sorry for losing the bottle, Daria, and I'll buy you a new one when we go back to the brewery. Replacement cost was $8.75 at a bike store in Offenberg, which did not sell the bike maps we were looking for, but we would have checked anyway. So opportunity cost was low.

Finally, just a few minutes ago we hit an Aldi for groceries. I paid with a 50 note for 8.83 of groceries to break the bill, even though I had small change. They don't give you plastic bags at most grocery stores, but I had decided not to bring in my spare bag, that I could just balance the small amount of groceries out the door. Finally, after receiving my change, I hurried to gather my groceries to make room for the person behind me. It wasn't until I had packed the groceries onto the bike that I realized I had dropped one of the two 20 euro notes I'd gotten as change. Of course it was long gone by the time I looked for it. This is not the main reason I don't use cash in the US, but the complete lack of ownership information is, for me at least, a bug, not a feature. Being out $25 just like that is pretty irritating, especially given the (perhaps irrational) extents I would go to in order to save that much money.

I keep trying to just breathe deeply and not let silly mistakes spoil my mood, but they certainly are irritating.

Sent from my phone

3 countries, Stechelberg, CH to Offenberg, DE 6/25

We hit 3 countries today, but only biked 36.75 miles. We woke up in the morning to pouring rain on our tent (and my laundry drying outside), rolled over and went back to sleep, and finally got moving in a light rain and fog. We rode from our campsite in Stechelberg down the valley back to Interlaken, where we caught a train to Strasbourg, France via Basel. We arranged it this way to pick up my dad's suitcase, which we'd sent via Swiss rail to be stored in Basel. Strasbourg is where we're storing the suitcase now, in the hotel to which we'll return in about a week for the leg with Libby and neighbors. Strasbourg is also a good launching point to visit the Black Forest, our next goal.

The Swiss rail system is very impressive- fast, clean, silent trains running punctually and regularly. They're not cheap, but compared to everything else in the country, they're value for money. Bikes cost us $20 extra for each of us in Switzerland, but they may have been free in France (no one ever checked the ticket).

We had a bit of a layover in Basel, but once we found the baggage storage office, it took only an efficient moment for my dad to get his bag.

This contrasts sharply with Strasbourg, where I tried to reserve a spot on my TGV to the airport for my bike. I waited in long lines at the ticket office, and once I got to the front, had to wait for one of the 2 English-speaking agents. One had a 'closing in 5 minutes' sign, but was busy selling about 18 tickets to a French speaker. The other had no such sign, but was also busy. 10 or so minutes roll by, and both English booths promptly close- one of which with no warning whatsoever. I asked other agents if they spoke English or Spanish or (snarkily) Chinese, but no go. So, frustrated at the Kafkaesque process, I bailed. My dad talked me into trying again. At a different set of ticket windows, there were no English signs, but I was determined to pidgin French my way through. I conveyed what I wanted- reservation, bicycle, TGV train number, date, but couldn't understand the answer. Fortunately, this ticket agent went and found the English-speaking manager, who told me that I was out of luck, and no matter what the internet says, I had to buy my ticket and reserve the bike at the same time. You can't even make bike reservations online. The logic behind having to do this all at once is incomprehensible to me.

Across the border to Germany, our 3rd country of the day, we rode through perfectly flat an nicely packed tracks running through farm land. We had searched for camping in the area, and had found Camping Kuhn in Offenburg. Of course, when we arrived, it was in an industrial park and they sold RVs. Fortunately people in the parking lot gave us directions to a campsite nearby. When we arrived, however, the gates were locked and there was a sign saying they were closed for weather. There were RVs there, though, and someone loaned us a cell phone to call the number on the gate. We got in and set up the tent, but one of the other RVers had to loan us their key to get into the toilet or out the front gate, and we couldn't open the door to the showers. We were about to use the key to go find some dinner in town when yet another of the RVers walked over and asked in German if we would like the leftover bratwurst they'd grilled with dinner. So we sat at their RV, and they generously gave us bread, salad, beer, and sausage while my dad talked to them in German and they tried to help conversation along. I didn't understand much at all, but they were 3 older siblings visiting the area, and we talked a bit about Germany and America, soccer and government.

We finally left and found more food at a kebab shop in town. Dinner and beer ran $15 total- very reasonable for the amount of food.

We couldn't leave until the owner arrived at 9 the next morning, but the price was 10 euro (fine) and everyone was so nice it ended up being a pleasant experience.


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Gimmelwald and Mürren 6/24

Dad and me in Gimmelwald, after taking the cable car up. View of a neighborhood in Mürren. North face of the Eiger in the distance, collecting nasty weather.

Interlaken to Stechelberg 6/24

Riding through Lauterbrunnen. Valley near Stechelberg. Campsite in Stechelberg.