Mosey Down the Mosel

Unaccustomed as I am these day to writing Reports I’ve set to and written a brief account of our trip to the Rhine/Mosel confluence in Germany last week.
Although Ed has no official holiday in the summer, he and the other staff at the hotel wangle a few extra days off in July to do something ‘Summery’.
We decided to use his to ride and having received a booklet of ‘Bike Friendly’ hotels in Western Europe chose one in a village called Dieblich in the Mosel Valley, a few miles SW of Koblenz.
As we had only five days in all I decided to travel there and back on Motorways although not using the most direct, at least to get there.
Tuesday was very hot!
We set off around 11.00 with a ‘four-and-a-half-hour-on-the-road’ journey ahead of us and made good time past Brussels and Liege on the E40 before turning South on and following a lesser M-way and what turned into more of an A-road (E42) past Verviers, Spa-Francorchamps (we passed signs for the circuit) and down to the junction with the E44.
I’d managed to plot a route and load it into my GPS so the last part of the journey off the motorway to the hotel was very easy. It coped also with a diversion off-route to find petrol – the on-ramp and following bit were closed for repairs –typical!
Fortunately we’d taken water and biscuits as I hadn’t noticed there were no services, only picnic sites on the E42.



Anyway, the roads were quiet so in spite of being major roads, were nice to ride on – lots of countryside, hills and viaducts to see.
We arrived safely at the hotel almost exactly six hours after leaving home.

2)
The Hotel Burghof was very pleasant; we had a room with a balcony on the first floor, overlooking the river (beyond two minor roads and a low building) and the view was lovely; the river, railway, vineyards carved into the hills and a castle above.



The room was comfortable, en suite and very adequate for two bikers and their gear.
For the first couple of nights we seemed to be the only guests so it was quiet and even a bit spooky.
We ate in the hotel – well, on the terrace – on all four evenings. The menu was comprehensive and the food good.
I can’t say we were particularly well served but it wasn’t unpleasant and at €29.00 each per night B&B.......! We felt as hotel guests we were a bit of an after-thought.
I’d taken my laptop so spent a little while after dinner on Tuesday planning a route for the next day.
We decided to go into Koblenz first then ride up the Rhine Valley, across the mountains and down to the Mosel, thus doing a bit of sight-seeing, riding a few twisties and just enjoying the scenery.
Wednesday dawned HOT.
We set off to ride the short distance to Koblenz, passing under a very tall viaduct carrying the motorway and there stopping to take a couple of photos. It's 132 metres high.

3)
I led into the city but Ed spotted a parking spot and whizzed past to bag it; fortunately as it turned out because Koblenz was melting in the heat and the spot remained in the shade of a tree for the whole time we were there.
We staggered to a pavement cafe for a drink then wandered about a bit, taking in C&A to get a hat for Ed and seeing one or two things of interest, too.



This is Koblenz's mascot. The boy squirts water from his mouth at irregular intervals, catching-out people reading the brass plate on the ground where Ed's standing:





The boy on the scooter set off from opposite where we were sitting. He can't have been more than 14 and, on putting on his helmet, took out his phone and stuffed it up inside next to his ear!



Lunch-time approached and we found ourselves back at the same cafe so had drinks and a snack before heading off for the ride.

Beautiful photos. Thanks for posting.

The fork on the Peugot scooter is very interesting.

By the way, what is "hot" to you? We just hit 101 F here yesterday (38.3 C). It is "only" supposed to hit 94 F today (34.4C) - what a relief! Normally, our highs hit about 90 F (32.2C) for a month or so during the summer.

4)
Having not quite got to grips with the GPS, not least because I still can’t get the voice in my head-set and am having to watch the screen, I managed to get us lost on the mountains.
It proved a blessing in one way, though, for having toured various industrial estates for a while, Ed spotted a large wooden shed/garage which proved to be a sort-of transport cafe where we stopped for a much needed drink.
Thus refreshed we set off and soon found route again which led us down some very twisties to a super view-point overlooking our valley.
We stopped there for a while, taking pictures and taking in the view. It's on the tip of a U-bend in the river.

Looking down the road:








Then we continued down and rode the few miles back to the hotel, passing miles of vineyards – it’s vineyards all the way.

6)
After showers and a bit of a lie-down we moved to the terrace for refreshment before deciding what to have for dinner.
While we were just sitting we noticed some big clouds coming up from the South driven by a strengthening breeze.
At this point, le patron came rushing out and started closing the umbrellas and laying them on the ground. He suggested also that we went inside, just in time as it happened for suddenly there was a wind like a tornado and torrential rain battering the whole area.
I was afraid the wind would blow the bikes over so went out to move them, getting completely drenched in the process.
It was very dramatic and the next day we saw branches blown off trees and lots of debris lying at the sides of the road.
We decided that rather than plan routes we’d just ride up the valley and stop when we saw something of interest to us.
Thus on Thursday, setting off up the road on our side of the valley, we came across one of the locks on the river.
The Mosel is used by many commercial vessels, many of which carry coal. They are very long and often push equally long barges, making a combined length of over 200 metres according to Wikipedia.

I took this one from our room - there were three cars parked on the cabin!



We watched one vessel go through the lock, during which time we were approached by another biker who suggested we crossed the river and rode along the other, prettier side.

7)
There are not too many bridges so we crossed a bit further up and cruised along the riverside road, railway right beside us, marvelling at the scenery, river et al. The road is wonderful: well-maintained, quite wide and following the course of the river so has long, sweeping bends which are a pleasure to be on.
We stopped for lunch at a pleasant cafe overlooking the river in a town called Cochem.

From there we rode on for a while to a town called Zell where we turned and rode back, crossing for the hell of it a double-deck iron-girder bridge – railway on top, road inside.
I forget where but we stopped for refreshment at some point and rode back to the hotel.


Because of the heat we decided for Friday to once again ride along beside the river. It may sound a bit dull but there was so much to see in passing and keeping on the move was the only way to keep anything like cool.
We ate at the same cafe as the day before but this time stopped at the touristy/holiday town of Klotten, a pretty, ancient town but very busy. We trailed round the narrow streets bit for a little while and then found somewhere to sit, meeting the only other English people we encountered in Germany.

Friday night at the hotel passed off uneventfully.
On Saturday we packed, loaded up the bikes and set off for home, following a route I’d plotted to take us over the viaduct we’d ridden under on Wednesday and on to the motorway past Bonn, Cologne, Aachen, Leige and Brussels.



Ours was the room above the entrance.
#
It was an uneventful journey, cooler than before and busier but quite quick so we arrived home just in time for tea!
We had a lovely time and would happily go there again.

9)
Here are a few more pictures:





The helicopter was spraying the vines.......at 8.00 in the morning opposite our room!



Another scooter in Koblenz:



There are a few gaps - I thought my camera battery had gone flat and it was only after I'd charged it and it still wouldn't work I realised it was on 'video'.
I got some interesting footage of my feet.

Thanks, Phillip.
Not sure of the actual temperature but it was as hot as I've ever known so could have been in the upper 30s.

Hi Mike,

Great looking pictures!

I have a WIDE screen monitor at home and your pictures where just to big to see. Can you size them down a little, Say 25%-30% smaller and re-post if the ones I re-sized don't look right. When I post a picture I size it to 7 to 7.5" across the top for the forum.

Thank You.

Hello Dennis.
Thanks!

I think some kind person's done it already.

I copied and pasted the report having spent ages trying to post it - when I stuck it on here, the pictures were very big. Now they've shrunk.

Mike,

That was me that shrunk them down. I just hope they look OK.

Thanks, Dennis - it's much appreciated.
They're just right now.

It's always difficult to judge distances in pictures; in the first one of the river taken from the view-point (chapter 4) it's possible to pick out the railway tracks just to the right of the road. That gives a bit of perspective.

Mike,

Thanks for the photos. Kim and I lived in Wiesbaden back in the late 70's and used to love riding along the rhein to Ruudesheim cross on the ferry and ride further along to Bacharach. We had even ridden our bicycles from Wiesbaden to Ruudesheim - right along the river. Too much fun and such beautiful country side. The wein probier stands were such a joy. We'd stop and sample them ride on.

Thanks for the photos. The Rhein is a great river and the area is meant to be enjoyed and shared.

Thanks, Dale - Happy Days, eh?

There were hundreds of cyclists riding along. There are lots of organised tours where they ride from one hotel to another and the luggage is transported in a truck.