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Headwaters of the Rhine to the North Sea and Amsterdam

June 20th to July 12th

Ride Director: Warner Griswold
Ride Co-Director: Wayne Lumsden
Ride Driver: Garry Clifton
Report by: Alice Carter

Stunning views from the train window.  Breathtaking descent from the Operalp Pass.  Castles around every bend through the gorge.  Warm croissants and apple pastries.  Stork nests up high and flamingos in the marsh.  Half-timbered houses, new suspension bridges over the river, and windmills old and new.  Sand dunes and crowds enjoying the water.  These are some of the memories of our bicycle ride down the Rhine River from its headwaters in Switzerland until the Netherlands where it emptied into the North Sea.

After meeting in Zurich, Switzerland, we hopped onto a series of trains to reach the Operalp Pass near the source of the Rhine River.  The views from the train windows hinted at the fantastic beauty of the Swiss Alps.  Our first day’s ride was a wonderful descent, steep enough that you had to stop to fully appreciate the view but beautiful enough that it was worth stopping several times. 

After a few days the mountains got smaller and the valley became wider as we approached Lake Constance (aka Lake Bodensee).  Often we didn’t know which country we were in as we rolled in and out of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, and Germany; on two days we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner in three different countries!  The land was covered with crops in the flats and vineyards on the hillsides.  An especially nice lunch stop was Stein am Rhein, Switzerland, a beautifully preserved medieval town full of stenciled buildings. 

After we left Basel we began to see large boats on the river:  barges, cruise ships, and ferries.  The route flattened as we headed to our day off in Strasbourg, France.  The following days held some of the best and worst of the trip:  world-championship-winning gelato in Plittersdorf, a 45-minute drenching rainstorm (the only day that rain was a significant issue), and the death of our luggage van following a fueling mistake.

The valley narrowed as we entered the gorge, with vineyards blanketing the hillsides, occasional forests, and remnants of castles perched on every high spot.  Not surprisingly, we saw many touring cyclists as we rolled on toward our second rest day in Cologne, Germany.  We rode by factories and farms—and one memorable swan--as we headed into the Netherlands, where the Rhine fragmented into different rivers.  We continued to follow the river, albeit with different names, all the way to the North Sea.  We were amazed at the number of bicyclists in the Netherlands!  There was one last stretch through a forest, then through Rotterdam and into the sand dunes to the North Sea.  Although this was the end of the Rhine River, we turned north and continued our ride until we neared the airport in Amsterdam.

The route was unscouted so every day was a surprise.  Generally, the course followed the EuroVelo 15 cycling route.  Many participants followed along with the EuroVelo 15 guidebook, which was helpful because the leaders provided little information about interesting sites or services along the route.  Although we had many descents and some climbs the first few days, overall the route was flat and gradually downhill.  Daily maps, through Ride with GPS, were excellent at getting us to our destination each day despite the adventures of navigating through several construction detours and taking ferries across the river. 

We traveled 933 miles in 17 riding days, with a range of 30-79 miles and an average of 55 miles per day.  We encountered little traffic since the route was on small roads, bike lanes and bike paths, many of which were finely crushed gravel.  As expected, bike paths often avoided the towns so we’d leave the route to get into town for sightseeing or eating.  Some towns were preserved old villages while others had been substantially rebuilt after World War II. 

While prepared for cold and rainy weather, we had surprisingly warm and dry conditions.  The hotels were adequate, a few were charming and a few lacked air conditioning.  All hotels provided a typical European breakfast of bread, cheese, cold cuts, eggs, fruit, yogurt, and coffee.  We shared a daily happy hour and a few group dinners but were mostly on our own in the evenings.  The days were very long; the sky was light by 5:00 a.m. and stayed light until after 10:00 p.m.  While there were several falls, usually involving curb cuts, we all arrived safely at the end of our adventure.


Bicycle Adventure Club
PO BOX 23998 San Diego, CA 92193
Telephone (858) 715-9510 office@bicycleadventureclub.org

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