We began the morning in the rain attempting to identify and prepare our bikes for the tour. Lots of fretting about heavy Dutch bike frames and preferred adjustments such as swapping flat pedals for clips. Fortunately I brought a pedal wrench and quickly became everyone's NBF.
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| 2014 Coaster Rose and tour guide Booke |
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| My trusty steed for the next month. Like the botttle holder? |
We eventually got organized and set out on a 20 km route north and west to the Rhine River and into Koln. We passed many of landmarks from yesterday's journey and crossed the Rhine using a bike path on the same railroad bridge that we crossed the previous day. Unfornately a large portion of our group became separated and had to find an alternate route. BTW- I had a flat tire after inadvertently running over a broken beer bottle. Surprisinglconsidering the heavy tread on the bike tires. We spent an hour touring the square around the Koln cathederal. Several of us stopped for a lunch of a yummy fish broth along the riverfront before heading south on a bike path beside the Rhine River.
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| Looking into Koln from the right or east bank of the Rhine River |
While riding after lunch the right side of my handlebar had an encounter with a construction truck parked on the path and I ended up ingloriously entangled in some shrubbery. The work crew pulled up my bike and helped me regain my footing. No harm except a nice bruise on my left bum.
The path was relatively easy to follow and paved almost all the way. We did have to wander off from the river to make our way past and through a massive petrochemical plant before reaching Bonn, the former capital of West Germany before unification and restoring the capital to Berlin. We did stop for a coffee in a small square before heading on to our overnight stay in the village of Boppard.
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