Friday July 30th – Rest Day in Emmerich

We were scheduled to take a rest day either today or tomorrow. Since our accommodations are nice here in Emmerich we decided to say an additional day.

Breakfast was an additional charge of six euros per person but it was well worth it. Since we were still recovering from jet lag we requested to have breakfast around 9:00 AM. At 9:00 AM (probably to the second) there was a knock at the door and several trays arrived. Orange juice, eggs, bread buns, cheeses, meats, jams, nutella, chocolate sprinkles, honey, coffee and tea all arrived. Per person they provided were two buns, two pieces of dark bread, an egg, orange juice, tea and coffee. There was also several types of cheeses and sliced meat. The buns were perfectly warmed to be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The eggs were small but clearly farm fresh with hand written numbers on the shells.

We feasted on this breakfast for about an hour. Towards the end of the meal when everybody was starting to fill up, I started taking ¼ of a bun and placing one variety of cheese, jam or meat on it. I cut this into small pieces and passed them around the family so we could try everything. The honey had a distinct buckwheat taste; one of the jams was actually a ginger spread; another jam was a combination of red fruits that included raspberry. It was a taste experience. If you were expecting a standard pancakes and bacon breakfast, I guess this could have been a disappointment but we enjoyed it completely.

I spent most of the morning making future accommodations. I'm making request using the city web sites and send emails. So far email has not been very successfully, Europeans don't seem to be as tied to their email as we are. I will get an email back but it will take several days. All but tomorrow's overnight has been confirmed. Based on the city website there is plenty of availability, we will likely be rolling into town and trying to find something. We have a few places that look good and available but no confirmations. We are planning to get up early (so far this has been an immense challenge) so we are arrive in town early.

We walked into Emmerich and went shopping. We wanted to find some better bike route maps, bells for our bikes and a map holder for our bikes. Yes, we still believe it is possible to get less lost. We found the map at the city information booth and finally found a bike store where we were able to get the map holder and bells. Unfortunately the bells could not be installed on our handlebars since the handle bars were too wide. We will see how the new map and map holder work tomorrow.

We also had lunch at a restaurant on the Rhine. The food was not very good but the view was great. As I was translating the families orders for the waiter, he asked where we were from. I explained that the parents were Canadians and the kids were Americans and we were all living in the U.S.

“You moved from Canada to the US” he asked with a puzzled look.

Yes I explained.

“Canada is better right” he continued.

“They are different not really one better than the other” I replied as best I could with my broken German.

“Canada is good, America not so much” he replied.

The kids asked about the conversation was about, so I recounted the story. This started a conversation that included difficult questions like “Why don't people like the U.S.?” and “Should we say we are from Canada?”. As we left the restaurant the waiter said “Goodbye Canadians”

It was clear that he intentionally didn't include the kids. I maybe it was just the parent in me but I started thinking that this was a form of racism. Why dislike my children just because of their country of birth? Is that any different than disliking them for the color of their skin? Maybe just wishful thinking or maybe I was being naïve but I thought this type of negativity would not be as prevalent. We talked as we walked along the Rhine board walk and didn't really come to any conclusions.

We are going to pose as Canadians (not so hard) for the next week and see if our reception changes. Maybe the email turnaround time will improve when we use a Canadian address.

We ended the day with a light dinner and went to bed early in preparation for our early start in the morning.

The breakfast spread!

















Warm buns, jams, chocolate spread and chocolate sprinkles











Cute boiled egg warmers

Thursday July 30th Arnhem to Emmerich

We traveled from Arnhem to Emmerich today with fewer problems than yesterday. We now understand the Dutch cycling routes and it is a relatively simple system. The Dutch don't label bike paths but rather destination points. Each destination point has a number. When you want to get somewhere you plot the route and write down the destination points along the way. As you are riding, you look for these destination points and follow the signs that lead you to you destination point. Doing this meant we were able to quickly move through the country side.

The routes are made up of various different types of paths. They are a combination of bike paths, roads, and dike roads. Some of the routes are dedicated bike paths much like the WO&D. All the roads we have have traveled have bicycle paths of some sort. Some roads have a dedicated path that is separate from the road surface like Fairfax County Parkway. Generally roads with high vehicular traffic have this arrangement. Some roads have a bike paths between the road surface and the sidewalk. Generally there is the road surface, a curb, a cycling surface (often a red brick) and a walking surface often white. Many roads have this arrangement. Other times there are cycling lanes painted on the roads. Mostly this is done in city centers where there is little room for a dedicated bike lanes. On all the roads, cars expect to have cyclists. When there is a dedicated cycling path drivers will look and stop for cyclists on the bike paths. We have assumed the cars would not stop and it has resulted in one or two awkward moments where we are both waving each other on. I would hate to see what would happen if a Dutch or German cyclist assumed the cars would stop while traveling on Fairfax County Parkway.

Dike roads are roads that are on top of dikes and therefore the road surface is only about one and a half cars wide. The road is marked with two bike lanes, one going in each direction. This means that the road for cars is a single lane road. Cars will pass cyclists and use the opposing cycling lane to provide space. If there are two cyclists going in opposite directions, the cars will wait until the road is clear. Since traffic is light rarely do two cars traveling in opposite directions meet. If this does happen, they squeeze by each other by using both cycling lanes.

Overall the cycling has been very pleasant and safe compared to the US or Canada.

Today we cycled out of the Netherlands and entered Germany. There was no boarder crossing or even a marking saying that we were moving from one country to the next. Now that we are traveling in Germany it means a few different things. First, we need to learn a new cycle path system. So far there has been a well marked path along the Rhine but I'm not sure if this continues. It also means I can read street signs again.

There were far fewer difficulties today and we arrived much earlier at our destination. Each time we traveled through a city we made at least one wrong turn. These were not costly since we quickly noticed that the route signs were missing and doubled back until we found our mistake. Never the less, turning around a fully loaded tandem is a chore and we would like to avoid it if possible. We saw what seemed to be and advertisement for a detailed cycling map. We will see if we can purchase this map.

We were worried about it being hot but so far the exact opposite has been true. This morning it was in the lower 60s and we had a few brief showers. They were only about fifteen minutes long but were enough to make the ride cold for a while. We could have used a base layer for the first hour of riding this morning. Also the wind was quite strong in the morning. We spent some time heading straight into the wind and some time with it as a cross wind. A tandem with panniers has a significant surface area and difficult to steer in a cross wind. In the afternoon it was sunny with temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. The wind was still there but was now a tailwind! Very comfortable cycling whether. Another interesting observation is that the sun is not nearly as strong here as in Canada or the US. We forgot to put on sunscreen today and all of us have a slight burn on our faces after spending the entire day in the sun. The last couple of hours warmed up to the point where we removed our jackets and our arms are not sunburned at all.

Now that we have left Holland, we can make a few final notes. The people were warm and friendly and the cycling was great. I have never seen so many farm animals before. Every available piece of land has a cow, goat, sheep or horse grazing on it. We cycled past thousands and thousands of animals. In the small towns there were farm animals within the city. We saw chickens, goats and horses in tiny back yards. I sounds strange but the dairy products are outstanding in Holland. Cheese, yogurt, and quark should not be missed if you travel here.

The kids are doing well and clearly learning a lot. I can say that already I have had a great time talking on the long rides through the Dutch country side. The kids are asking a lot of questions and really have not complained other than when we were lost.

We are staying on at a B&B on a farm just outside of Emmerich. Very nice place and reasonably priced. Tomorrow we plan to take a rest day and spend the day in Emmerich. This depends on availability of the B&B on Friday night. So far we are on schedule but we will see what happens over the next week as the mileage increases.

Wednesday July 29th – The day of learning

The first day of any endeavor always provides significant learning opportunities, today's trip from Amerongen to Arnhem was no exception. Here is a few of the items that we learned.

Always reset your cycle computer - Our touring the Rhine book has the distances marked from the beginning of each ride. When you don't reset the cycle computer it is hard to know how far you have gone.

Always bring more water than you think you need – Even if you think your ride will be easy, you may get lost and end up on the road much longer than you had thought.

Route selection is important - We have two separate maps for the Rhine cycling routes. The first set of maps is part of a book called Cycling the Rhine. The second, is a series of maps that are based on the official Rhine cycling route. As we found out today, each has its own benefits and drawbacks. The Cycling the Rhine routes seems to take you over more roads and fewer paths but also keeps you closer to the Rhine itself. It also tends to follow official paths that are marked. The drawback is that it is oriented to go from south to north. Reversing the direction is not so easy and can get you lost (happened a number of times today). The directions compound this problem since they only provide a series of paths or streets and not turn by turn directions. Today we made a family decision to follow the Rhine maps. While we were on these paths, it was a beautiful ride. Then we would arrive at an intersection and have no idea which way to go. At one point we ended up at a highway but had no idea where we were on this highway. Luckily this was Europe and there was a bike path along the highway. We followed the highway in the right direction until we reached something that we could recognize on the map.

In Europe, an information sign refers to a map not an information booth - When we saw the blue sign with white lower case 'I' we expected a booth or building. As we unsuccessfully search for a booth or building, we did find a map. This was moderately helpful. After seeing a few signs and only maps, I realized that the information sign means map.

In Europe, street signs are optional - I already knew this but it was again etched in my brain. We finally reached Arnhem after being lost several times and switched over to our turn by turn directions from Google maps. Turn by turn directions are useless if the streets are not marked. Several times arrived at an intersection with no street signs. Taking our best guess we turned down the wrong street. After a few blocks, a street sign would appear and let us know we were most definitely on the wrong path.

Murphy's Law applies touring - When it is the end of the day and you are tired and frustrated, your accommodations inevitably are at the top of a hill. Impossible you say, Holland is flat! Well that is what we thought too.

You don't really need everything you have – At the end of a long, frustrating day, you are ruthless when repacking your bags. A number of items will be left behind here in Arnhem.

In the end we cycled about 30 miles today. Not an exceptionally long bike ride. It did take us five hours to complete this ride and that doesn't include lunch. While riding we averaged over 10 miles per hour. Do the math and you will realize that we spent over two hours trying to find out which way we should go. This touring is very different that my cross Canada trip. Only in a few sections on my cross-Canada cycling trip had difficult navigation. Mostly the directions were similar to, travel this rode for 1000 km, turn left. You could daydream through a few days and not miss anything. In Europe, there are many turns and you always need to be watching for signs. The directions are more like, at sign post 1232.32, turn left in the direction of Arnhem travel 400 m, then just beyond the city information sign, turn right over the bridge. You need to keep watching for signs all the time.

Not all was bad today the following items went well.

When we were lost in Wageningen an elderly gentleman was kind enough to show us to the Rhine route. While we were driving through the town he pointed at a hotel and stated that this was where the Germans surrendered in 1945. Sure enough this is true. From the wikipedia article on Wageningen

“Wageningen is also world famous for its military history. On May 5, 1945, the German general Blaskowitz surrendered to the Canadian general Charles Foulkes, which officially ended the Second World War in the Netherlands. The Generals negotiated the terms of surrender in the Hotel de Wereld, which since 2004 has again been serving as a hotel. On May 5, which in the Netherlands is Liberation Day, the city hosts a large festival to celebrate the liberation. At this festival, veteran soldiers parade through the city and are honoured for their service. Wageningen is home to the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA).”

At first, I was thankful for the simple hospitality and later was amazed how we stumbled upon history.

We stayed in a youth hostel which was very nice. Dinner and breakfast were simple and good and the accommodations worked well. Most of the people staying that the youth hostel were families so the kids were able to fine some playmates. A found an outdoor table tennis table and was kicking the ball around, someone came up and in crude English he asked to play tennis soccer. They played for more that an hour. It was a good way for him to burn of some energy.

Tomorrow we will follow the Cycling the Rhine route, hopefully with more success. This will both keep us closer to the Rhine and less lost.

July 28th 2009 - Getting Ready

Although we are in the Netherlands, I'm speaking mostly German. My German is returning slowly. It has been 15 years since I last used German and more like 20 since I have used it significantly. I can understand most conversations but speaking is more difficult. Speaking a different language makes you more aware of the complex act of saying a sentance. There are at least a few part of this complex act that are causing me problems. First, my vocabulary is small and I can't always remember the words. This should improve dramatically as I listen to people speaking. Second, German grammar is hard. A few times I heard a sentence and grinned. While the sentence was not humours, the construction of the sentence brought me back to my high school German classes. I'm now wishing I had paid a little more attention in those German classes or taken a crash course in German grammar before we left. Finally my pronunciation is poor. Even if I can remember the words, know how to construct the sentance and can hear the correct pronunciation in my head but my mouth will not say it. The important part is that I am making myself understood. I guess that is all that matters.

The kids had a full nights sleep waking up around 11:00 AM. While the kids were sleeping, I unpacked and assembled the tandems and Sue organized our bags. The boxes did their job and the tandems arrived without a scratch.

In the afternoon we picked up a few supplies and then went for a 27 km ride with Irene. It was a beautiful ride on the dikes of the Rhine through the dutch country-side. The area around Amerongen is mostly farmland with a few towns. We saw many cows, horses and goats wandering around the neat and tidy Dutch farms.

Along the way we found a store and purchased a soccer ball for Alex. After a fine dinner, Alex found a soccer pitch and was able to kick the ball around for a few hours and burn off some energy.

Tomorrow we leave for Arnhem and start our bike tour. It should be about a 40 km ride with overnight accommodations in a Youth Hostel. Hopefully there will be wifi access so I can updated everybody on our days adventures.





Assembling the bikes



















Ice cream!









Refreshments on our bike trip.

The Trip to Amsterdam

The trip to Amsterdam went fine and the bikes made it through the plane trip without any problems. Aer Lingus lived up to their reputation for great customer service and took two huge bike boxes without complaint. At one point the another check-in agent came over to help our agent. His eyes bugged out when he saw our boxes. She pointed at her screen and shrugged her shoulders. I'm assuming this was a reference to the line in our file that stated we were bringing two tandems on the trip. The only real problem we had was navigating the airport terminals with the boxes. Each door required us to remove the tandems from the cart, carry the tandems through the door and reload them. The most interesting set was those in Amsterdam that consisted of back to back rotating doors. Seemed like I was in the middle of a video game.

We are in Ameroogen staying with family so life is easy as we recooperate from the long trip. The tandems are still sitting in their boxes waiting to be assembled. Assembly is tomorrow's task along with a test trip along the Rhine. I guess this will really tell how well the bike boxes worked. The tour of the Rhine is planned to start on Wednesday.

The kids were great on the trip and are still doing well. We are all fine except for being a bit tired. It is now around 10:00 PM and we are going to bed with only a few hours of sleep in the last 36 hours.

Packing the Tandems

A number of people have asked how we transporting two tandems to europe. I'll explain the way I hope it will work. On Monday, I will let you know if it actually works this way. We are taking the boxed tandems on the plane. As unlikely as it seems, I called Air Lingus and they said it would be OK and put a note in our file. I'm still suspicious but it is the best option we have available to us.

Below are a couple of pictures of the two tandems in boxes that are almost ready for transport. The final preparations include two layer of padding that sandwich the wheels followed by a lid and straps to hold the whole thing together.

The boxes are large and about 70 pounds. I'm thinking we will run into some significant overage fees but it has to be less than the cost to UPS them to Europe.


S and A's tandem. Same as the tandem below but the size is Medium -Small (Medium for S and Small for A)









R and S's tandem. XLarge -Small tandem





I'm expecting everybody too be crossing their fingers for us around 4:00 PM for us as we try to check these in!

Vacation Preparation

We are only a few days away from leaving. Seems hard to believe since the trip has been so long in the planning. Right now my personality seems to be made up of two parts excitement to one part panic. This is exactly how I felt just before I left on my cross Canada bike trip so I think we are on the path to a memorable trip.

Things that are currently causing me to panic.

• Transporting the Bikes. We have confirmed with Air Lingus and there is a note in our file but what if they just can't do it? We will just have to cross that bridge if and when it happens.
• Weather - Europe seems to be quite rainy right now. If it is not completely obvious... cycling is not as much fun in the rain. We have decided not to take much rain gear along. As I have always stated, when you are cycling in the rain you either get wet from the rain or your sweat. The important part is to stay warm. It may be wise to add a few cool weather clothes.
• Accommodations - We have struggled with this problem. I think we would really like to have all the accommodations figured out but I don't think we can predict our rate of travel for more than a few days. We will try to stay a few days ahead of so we are not scrambling each day.
• The Bad Days - Trips like this will inevitably have some bad days. I'm not sure how everybody will react. This may be the biggest learning experience of all.
  

I'm sure most of these will work themselves out in the first few days. We have mostly packed our bags, we can't think of anything else to buy and the final tasks at work are getting close to done. I guess this means we are ready!

The Idea

"You're taking the entire family on a cycling tour of the Rhine on two tandem bicycles?" After picking their jaw up off the floor, most people ask "Where did the idea come from?"

Cycling the Rhine was a suggestion from my parents that they proposed while we were discussing a family cycling trip to Europe. I'm not really sure where the cycling in Europe idea came from. I guess it was a combination of a number of past experiences. I love cycling. Heck, I rode 8,000 km across Canada on my bike and enjoyed every minute of it. (Well maybe I had a few curse words for the incessant headwinds)

I have close ties to Germany where we will be spending most of our time. My parents were born in Germany and I have a number of experiences that grew from this. I was an exchange student at TU Braunschweig for a year during my undergrad. I have also visited Germany a number of times mostly to visit family. I still vividly remember my last trip to Germany with my parents and future wife. While we made many stops on this trip and had great visits with family, the memory of standing in Koblenz at the intersection of the Rhine and the Mosel is more vivid than other memories from that trip.

While these experiences have contributed to the idea, I think the idea is bigger than just reliving old experiences. I would really like to teach our kids about different cultures. I also want them to experience europe not as a series of tourist areas but as a place where people live. Cycling is the perfect way to get around and see quite and still be connected to the people. I also wanted to teach them that large undertakings are possible with planning and some courage.

Finally, as I look back on the most memorable times in my life, they are all related to activities that other people thought were crazy. Maybe I just want to add another great memory to my collection.