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I've moved all the content from this blog to here http://www.nickstricks.net/displayArticle.php?articleId=4&contentId=30.  It's also got photos and stuff so you're better looking at it there.

Bad news from Bad Urach

Day 11
Distance today: 40.58 k
Distance in total: 1045 k

I was hit by a car. My right elbow has a fracture and my arm is in a cast.

It was an odd accident. I reached a t-junction on a quiet road through the town of Bad Urach where I needed to turn left. Immediately after doing so there was a pedestrian crossing with couple of people on it, so I freewheeled to allow them to finish. I was moving at walking pace. Next thing the leading pedestrian looked over my left shoulder and shouted something. Then I heard a car's engine and felt it hit me squarely from behind. I don't remember the fall it happened so quickly, next I knew I was on my feet, in pain and shock but aware I was fundamentally OK.

I sat down. My arm hurt. Several people checked on me, including the driver and policemen who were actually parked on the corner. I explained my German was limited, the police spoke English well enough. The driver, in a Mercedes, was a short middle-aged man. He was desperately apologetic, as he obviously had to be. He simply didn't see me. I think he registered the pedestrians and accelerated into the space that had just been in while watching them and didn't clock my presence. The police took the pedestrian's account and photographed the scene, marking out where my bike finished with chalk as they do for dead bodies. Later I was offered the chance to press charges but I didn't see any point, it was just a bad mistake, not an act of recklessness.

An ambulance took me to the town's small hospital. After xrays, a ct scan and a lot of waiting around I was given a light cast and instruction to seek further advice in London as I may need surgery.

The police have been very helpful. Once I was out of hospital they set about finding me a hotel for the night. I picked the wrong week to have an accident here. Every room in town is booked for a biosphere conference, except the expensive and terrible one I'm in now. It only has a basin, the toilet is in the corridor, I've no access to a bath or shower.

The police still have my bike. They thought the frame was bent but I'm not sure. The rear mudguard is ruined but the rear wheel looked superficially OK to me. (Update, it's not).

I'm OK. I'm not in any pain but I hardly slept. As I'm right handed some practicalities like brushing my teeth are rather difficult. Bit disoriented. I need to get home, something my insurance should take care of, I hope today.

Going to call time on this blog. I'll rearrange it and add photos when I'm able to, it will be under www.nickstricks.net somewhere. Thanks for the messages of support along the way, hope you enjoyed it while it lasted.

Nick

Forbidding forecast

Day: 10
Distance today: 95k
Distance so far: 1005k

A good day. The sun shone throughout and the forested scenery was a pleasure to travel through. A few stiff climbs at the start were hard work, but expected, and led to exhilarating speeds on the way back down.

The second climb of the day was purely to get off a busy road. Worth it I think, I don't like sharing limited space with fast moving trucks. One came very close to an accident because of me. He was actually being considerate, swinging out wide when passing me. The car that appeared round the corner in the opposite direction probably didn't see it the same way, he had to come to a standstill to avoid a collision.

Both start and end towns are pleasant. Knowing the distance wasn't too great I had a leisurely breakfast in Bad Herrenalb, a slow-paced spa town. I finished in Tubingen which is a gem that my short stroll round hasn't done justice to. It has a castle with excellent views across the surrounding forested plain. The streets are quiet and cobbled with small alleyways to explore. The buildings are uniformly attractive in a medieval style.

I'm currently sipping a merlot to go with my pasta in a high standard Italian. By typing away I hope they think I'm writing for a travel magazine, the food is excellent at any rate. My budgetary regime is a curious one, my spend on the evening meal probably surpasses everything else added together. It also represents the only variety in my diet. Breakfast is always pastries, lunch cheese and ham sandwiches, supplemented during the day with many chocolate bars and haribo sweets.

I chatted briefly to a Dutch touring cyclist at the campsite. He was on his way to Rome. As with everyone I speak to, I told him I was on my way to Munich. He told me he was worried because there was already snow in Austria. The same Austria that I'm down to go through next. I'm only looking as far as Munich for now, will think things through there, but snow in Austria might figure in that analysis given I wanted to go home when the wind was a bit chilly on Sunday.

Tomorrow could be a bit tricky, it's quite long, a fiddle navigationally and may not be flat. Hope the merlot sends me to sleep.

Bridging the gap

Day: 9
Distance today: 145k
Distance so far: 910k

I was in a better state of mind on the bike today, which was a good thing because I was there a long time. I covered more ground than any day so far, not all of it in the right direction, but there were also plenty of delays that meant I arrived in Bad Herrenalb over 9 hours after leaving Landstuhl.

The problems started on leaving Landstuhl. I asked at the hotel if there was a supermarket nearby, the reply suggested there were so many it wasn't worth giving specific directions. Predictably I couldn't find one. Equally unsurprisingly the two cash machines I tried didn't work. My disdain for the town was now such I just wanted to get out so left without resolving either problem.

The biggest delays came from the tricky navigation, I had to stop a lot and went off course a couple of times. The biggest navigational issue though was more substantial. After yesterday's problem with my map showing a non-existent campsite, this time it appeared to show a non-existent bridge. Not a small bridge either but one over the Rhine. Had it been blown up? I've not seen much news this week. It took me a while to realise the map was showing a shuttle ferry crossing that was indeed in operation so I made use of it, I guess I can no longer say I've cycled all the way from Dunkirk. The alternative, making use of the next bridge, would have involved re-entering France, the border being only a mile away, which I found surprising as I thought I'd left France well behind days ago.

The day's ride was largely flat and uneventful, though it did go through lots of pretty hamlets with timber framed houses, and the roads were often through vineyards or orchards giving off a warm aroma. One village had a banner indicating a shop was the 2009 European Weisswurst championship winner. I expect there's not a great geographical spread across the continent to that competition.

The start and end of the day were more dramatic though, taking in two pine-forested parks. It began with a climb and then very long sweeping descent through the Pfalzerwald, the road lined with memorials, presumably to motorcyclists. The day ended in the Schwarzwald. Entering it required ascending the hardest climb of the trip so far, four kilometres of uncompromising gradient. At the steepest point I considered walking, and would have been no slower doing so. I believe that tomorrow's short ride could be punctuated by a lot more of the same.

Sonntag Geschlossen

Day: 8
Distance today: 115k
Distance so far: 765k

Today was another difficult one, but not from a purely physical point of view.

It rained all night so I didn't sleep so well. When I got going there were a couple of frustrations, first I made a hash of navigating out of Trier, then the road I planned to take was marked as private. As it went steeply up hill I didn't want to risk not being able to get through.

When I did finally get up to speed, something like 25 of the first 30k was climbing, though this was rewarded with a largely downhill day thereafter. The weather was unpleasant, light rain on and off and a persistent cold wind. Not enough to cause real discomfort but enough that it wasn't fun. The scenery was forested but not dramatic. As it was a Sunday, and I was in Germany, everything was closed. A combination of fatigue, homesickness and the general lifelessness of the day started to get me down. Then it really got me down. For a while all I wanted was to stop and get off the bike. I was tired but not exhausted, I just wasn't interested. For the first time the idea of getting to Munich and going home became a seriously appealing idea.

It probably didn't help that my plans were vague: I would cover as much ground as I could along a route and then look for somewhere to stop when the time came. The time came in a place called Landstuhl. This had a campsite marked on my map, but I'd not verified any details. I was already worried after someone asked me where I was going when stopped at a service station, and he didn't know of the site.

Sure enough I couldn't find it, because it's not there. Apparently there is a motorhome site, but I couldn't find that either. It was too late to get to the next marked site near a lake, and I knew no more about it. At least I was in a town so I could find something to eat on a Sunday. So I decided I'd have to get a room. There were lots of signs to hotels, but I couldn't find them either, I just kept going round the one way system. I realised one was out of town up a hill. After cycling ten minutes there I buzzed the door twice before a detached voice told me they had no free rooms. Dispirited I returned to town and followed another sign down an unlikely residential road that was being dug up. The hotel had a room where I am right now. It costs 68 euros, compared to a campsite that's normally less than 10, but today I think it was worth every cent.

Feeling a bit better about things under a roof and after a proper shower. Still going to take a view when I reach Munich though, if I'm not enjoying it I'll come home.

I've been able to replan the week a bit. Seems like every time I deviate from campsite I've looked up in advance then things go wrong. It's remarkably hard to plan without full pc web access. I managed here with my phone a moderate WiFi, but it took me an hour to sort out three sites. Beginning to think that some sort of campsite guidebook would help, with the 95% of pages you don't need torn out.

Upshot is that tomorrow I have what looks a long and tricky to navigate route to Bad Herrenalb (which will put me a day ahead of the original schedule again) but at least it looks from the web that the site exists and it is open late. And I'll be fueled by my hotel breakfast.

Trying Trier

Day: 7
Counties so far: 5
Distance today: 55k
Distance so far: 650k

A day I'm not sure I made the most of. Spent the morning strolling round Vianden. It is very pretty. The castle didn't open that early so I only saw it from the outside. Turns out it was in ruins until the '70s, since which they have performed an impressive piece of restoration. The town's other claim to fame is Victor Hugo stayed for about 10 minutes and they've made the most of it.

I set off not terribly early, but deliberately for once. I crossed the border to Germany immediately, then followed it down the river Sauer, a very nice ride and easy, just what I needed after yesterday. I then took a shortcut towards Trier so I'd arrive in the town close to the campsite. It may have saved distance but it probably cost time, it was a route full of brutal undulations.

The final descent was dramatic and could have been more so. My gears stopped changing and I looked down to see a cycle top I'd been drying on the back of the bike had become tangled in the rear gears. I was lucky it didn't cause the wheel to seize, it could have been very nasty. As I fixed the problem the rims of the rear wheel were still hot to touch from all the breaking. The top was fine, if a bit oily. Will be wearing it tomorrow.

Trier dates back to Roman times and has plenty to take in, including a very imposing cathedral. Unfortunately I've not actually seen a great deal, I was more preoccupied with finding clothes pegs and a new map. This being Germany nothing will be open tomorrow as it's Sunday so I had to get on with it. Bit embarrassed by the clothes pegs, girlfriend Claire pointed out this gap in my inventory as she happily reminded me. I now have 36 of them when I need about 6.

Struggling a bit physically. My legs feel like they've taken a solid pounding from the undulations, just walking up a flight of steps is tricky at the minute.

Tomorrow might be difficult. I'm out of sync with my schedule, half a day ahead, so I don't really know where to aim for. There are camping spots marked on my map but mobile internet isn't proving up to the task of finding anything out about them, like whether they still exist. There's no clear route either, and I can see a lot of arrows marking steep roads. I'm going to just ride and see where I get too, may not be that far.

Luxemburg in a day

Days: 6
Countries: 4
Distance today: 135k
Distance so far: 595k

Today I suffered. Made it to Vianden. Very hard work and I'm shattered.

Having previously indicated how an early start was vital, today I was slower than ever to get going. Partly due to a bit of a natter with my Dutch neighbours on the way to Spain in their motorhome. They used the same mode of transport to go to London for new year and now have a £1000 fine hanging over them for entering the low emission zone. There was also a great deal of condensation on the tent which I've yet to work out how to deal with, though the tent does a great job of keeping it away from me during the night. After first stirring at 7.15 I didn't really get going until gone 9.30, so I was chasing the day from the off.

I passed through Rochefort (nothing to do with the cheese) and St Hubert, both of which looked like they merited further inspection. Will have to think about this a bit, I won't be getting so much out of the trip if I can't stop to see things.

Between these towns was the first real climb I've faced, getting on for 10k of solid ascent. My legs didn't take too kindly and tightened up badly. The scenery was fine though, this was the Ardennes forest at its best.

It then reverted to fairly non-descript farmland until the border with Luxemburg, but there were still continuous quite severe undulations that slowed progress and sapped my strength.

On crossing the border the scenery again became forested and I was launched down an exhilarating three mile descent. For a while it appeared all roads in Luxemburg were well surfaced, clearly signposted and downhill. The stretch of road between Wiltz and Kautenbach must be the nicest for cycling I've ever been on, flat through a shade of trees with beautiful views, on a pristine surface and almost no traffic.

Then it started to climb. It was uninterrupted for four miles and again my legs tightened up. Hoping for the reward of a long descent I was disappointed. Instead it undulated significantly into a stiff breeze for several miles more. Really starting to struggle, I was overwhelmed with relief when I finally got to a sign showing two miles downhill at 10%. In no time I was at another sign: Vainden 1k, Deutschland 1k. Luxemburg crossed in an afternoon.

Vainden is dominated by a Disney style castle, beneath which cafes line cobbled streets. Despite this I'm not actually that keen. It feels like an artificial tourist town, and is dominated by large groups of motorbikers for whom the town appears to be some sort of centre of pilgrimage. The campsite I'm at is pretty rubbish too, close to a busy road and little else going for it. I was going to reward myself with a day off tomorrow but instead I plan a short hop to Trier.