Oppenheim to Speyer: 93km : Total so far 1084km
We woke, packed up and left only to find both tyres on the trailer on my bike were flat. We changed one and pumped up the other (which had a slow puncture and needs sorting later). Eventually we got going and then cycled away from the river through a wine growing area.
Koblenz to Oppenheim. 125Km : Total to date 991km
Bernie: Today was a picture postcard day along a Rhine lined with green hills with pretty villages nestled into every curve of the river, and often with a castle or 2 perched above it. We packed up early and cycled around to Deutches Eck, the confluence of the Rhine and the Mosel overlooked by a enormous statue of Kaiser Wilhelm 1st. It could be said that the destruction in 1945 by US bombers was a favour but the peices were kept and eventually recast and reinstated in 1992 to commemorate German reunification. It was certainly dominant.
103 km: Cumulative total from Bewdley: 866km
This will be a short blog because I am sitting by a river – guess which one – after Day 7 having got behind with the blog. Today was notable for 4 things.
Continue reading Koln to Koblenz
Bernie: It was great to wake up leisurely in our comfy bed. Trivago had come up with a great offer on this 4* hotel a few hundred meters from the cathedral square. Money is made from the extras of course so we coughed up for access to the internet but declined breakfast, opting for a stroll to the main market place for coffee and breakfast in a little cafe.
122 km (total to date 763km)
David: The hotel appeared to be a German version of Faulty Towers. At 9.45 the previous evening I was downstairs putting the blog on the internet when the reception lady (Who Harry said fitted a Dutch expression “she did not invent gunpowder”) told me that she was shutting up shop and “You must go to your room”. So I did!
Continue reading Day 4: Rheinberg to Koln (or Cologne in old money)
96km (total 641km to date)
Bernie: After an “average” Holiday Inn breakfast and a last glance over the Aardvark we were on the road at 8.30 with no delays. We cycled over the main bridge (which of course had a bike lane) and looked over at the bridge that was the cause of so much suffering in 1944. It was then an easy ride out of the city along the water meadows by the river.
96km and total to date is 545km.
The failed battle is obvious as we ended in Arnhem but the 10m red aardvark only makes an appearance at the end of this blog! So read on or aardvark only fans will have to skip to the end.
Continue reading Day 2: Schoonhoven to Arnhem: A failed battle and 10 metre high red Aardvark
Day 1 Netherlands. Hoek Van Holland to Schoonhoven. 76km (written by Bernie and running total is 449).
Jolly music blared out across the tannoy at 5.30 our time (6.30 local) shattering our sleep, as it was designed to do so. Coffee and pastries while we packed up and we disembarked about 8, cycling onto Dutch soil. As always one of the most difficult parts of navigating is getting out of the port and we fiddled about a bit round Hoek Van Holland but soon we were on the right cycle path along the Nieuwe Waterweg towards Rotterdam 
Continue reading Hoek van Holland to Schoonhoven (via Rotterdam)
The Slow Cycling Blog 