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Rhine Path Blog |
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| 4. it's a Walsingham thing | 5. an 'OMG' moment | 6. the distance just doubled! | ||
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April 27 2011 |
Booking the ticket - how complicated can it get? |
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I recently found out that Eurostar are now taking bikes. In previous years I had drawn a blank with this. It sounded like a good deal - tickets as low as £62, including (it said, which later turned out not to be true) the connection from Manchester. But, and there always has to be a but, if you wanted to take a bike, you had to book by phone, incurring an extra charge of £12 (this turned out not to be the case, it was never mentioned).
Against that, the ferry from Hull to Rotterdam cost £134.45, including private cabin, dinner and breakfast. So what would Eurostar actually cost? It was going to have to come in cheap, to persuade me to face the horror of the undersea crossing, given my lifelong recurrent nightmares of being trapped in the dark, underground, with no way out. A big consideration!
Here's how it went: I had to phone three separate places* to cover the one journey, and would have to phone them again, one by one, to book the tickets. This is like Russian roulette - in between making the enquiries, and coming to a decision, any of those seats, or seats at equivalent prices, may have disappeared. My aim first was to arrive at an overall price. * the baggage office for the bike from London-Brussels; the London booking office for my London-Brussels journey; Virgin Trains for the Manchester-London journey.
The price I was able to get for the train was £109.50. Bear in mind this did not include meals, or the initial journey to Manchester from Nelson (but I was not counting that as I would also have to get to Hull if taking the boat). So we were only £24.95 under the boat cost, and no meal provision. The plus point with the train would be the speed of it - but speed is not a consideration now, with Benji (my dog) gone. And you can set against this the relaxation of being on the boat with no necessity to change from one vehicle to another, no problems with bike.
At this point I went out for a walk, relaxed, had a meal and thought about it. Later I came to a decision and booked the boat. I feel so much happier with that. And I got a cabin upgrade for only £5. On the train I would have to arrive an hour early in London to register the bike with the baggage carriers (and then never see it again until Brussels, you hope), and change stations in London and Paris, walking between them. On arrival in Brussels I would have to work out a train to the nearest point to the German border, then cycle around 50 miles to get to the Rhine. It struck me I had no idea what the terrain would be like, what if there were mountains? I had no idea. The boat is a lot less stress. It sails in the evening, so I have all day to make my way to Hull by train (I did this in 2009 so know it is not a problem getting the bike on those trains).
I am going to keep the front carrier (that holds the big basket) on the bike (pic) as it struck me it is an ideal place to carry all the camping equipment, leaving the two panniers on the back for clothing only. I did a trial with a nylon stuff sack, put everything in and loaded it on, it was fine. I need to get a waterproof stuff sack, there are some online, but I will go to Burnley or Skipton and look in the camping shops (or Boyces here in Nelson). |
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139.45 |
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28 April 2011 |
Tent arrived |
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My new tent arrived so I will be trying it out today. It is a small monodome, which has no poles to thread through. You shake it and it is up - it looks something like an umbrella arrangement in the picture. I remember Wolf and I seeing one of these in the camping shop years ago, when it cost £150. This cost 18.99 on ebay. I seem to buy a new tent every year. In 2009 I got a latest model, state of the art thing costing almost £100 and it was awful! Wind came in under the sides and I had to pad the walls out with cycle bags and shelter behind them. I sold it for £50 when I got back. In 2010 I bought another thing which I thought would be good, it had one long centre pole like a kind of spine - it was impossible to pitch without the outer touching the inner so I got wet if I touched the walls. I simply abandoned that one when I went to Neukirch, where I knew I would get a room with friends.
What I would like now is to find a passenger barge to take me from Rotterdam to Koblenz, where the nice part seems to start. Anyway, the maps did not arrive yet. I texted my friend in Neukirch, Erika Rombach, she knows everything - I bet by tonight she has the boat all sussed out for me! But meanwhile I am going to try finding it myself. There may be a tourist office in Rotterdam I can ring. |
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18.99 |
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Benji smelling the flowers the bike front rack putting up the tent the tent complete |
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| 28 April 2011 | What else can go wrong? | |
| Opened the tent. It is the wrong tent. It has poles which push through. I already have a tent like this. This is not what I ordered. The instructions were on the outside. I did not even have to get the tent out to find out. | ||
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28 April 2011 |
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| Started thinking, okay, now how am I going to get back? Obviously not going to cycle all way back to Rotterdam, am I? Planes can be a nightmare, but if needs must - anyhow, have a look at Bolero to see if they have anything near where I am, around the end of July returning to UK - hey presto!They have une bus! exactly on 31 July - how good is that? Looking at the route, I can get on at Beaune, about 180 miles from Freiburg, and there is probably a train. So I have booked that! That is absolutely perfect as it will deliver me right back to Leeds with no further effort, once bike loaded on bus. It will be necessary to remove the front loader, but that can be done okay, and if I ask my friendly taxi driver Peter to meet me, I need not be bothered screwing it back on again. Peter took me to Colton East (Leeds pickup point) last year, so no problem, he loaded the bike in the back of his taxi. | ||
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£131 |
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29 April 2011 |
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Thinking it over, I have given myself six weeks. If the whole route is 1,000 miles (and that includes into Switzerland, where I am not going) and I only do 33 miles a day*, in three days I will do 100 miles - multiply that by ten and in 30 days I can do 1,000 - and I have 40 days to play with. Seeing as the route is flat, and I stand less chance of getting lost or taking the wrong side of the river (as I did frequently in 2009 when I tried to cycle from Couvin on the Belgian border to the Black Forest - and failed miserably), I should easily top that. 50 miles a day is a more reasonable expectation, and if I did that for 5 days and rested for two, I would complete in four weeks, giving me two spare weeks to build in for leisure. I must get that cycle computer fixed to the bike - if it still works. Wolf bought it for me years ago and I never used it. *rock bottom estimate |
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29 April 2011 |
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Walsingham is a mystical place, and one that kicked off my own spiritual development. Whereas up to that point I clearly resembled Mary Lunn - Not so his sister, Mary Lunn, She had a whacking lot of fun! Though unbelieving as a Beast, She didn't worry in the least - after being led there by a set of mysterious circumstances, and having no idea what the place was about, I later experienced a miracle, and what happened after that made and moulded me into the person I am today. (see forthcoming autobiography). So I feel I owe a lot to Walsingham. I think I have returned three times since that initial awakening in 1983, and now, at this point in my life, I feel I need to go again. With the demise of Benji I have gained the freedom I so desired, and intend to make the most of it. I feel I stand at the point of a New Beginning, and I want to dedicate that new beginning to the ancient holy virgin who lives in that place. If I had any doubts about making this journey, they were ended yesterday when I went to the shelf where I keep books I collect in the hope of one day reading them, and selected one to take outside with me. Sitting down, I opened it at random and found myself looking at a picture of Walsingham. This is so unusual that it has to be a message from the gods. Walsingham is not generally known about among the general population, and this book is called Living Ancient Wisdom, by Paul Devereux. I had no idea, buying it, that Walsingham would be included, and it has sat on my shelf for more than a year.
Finances are going to be stretched to the limit, with a six week sojourn, and there is no money to spare for extra trips - but this one I feel has to be done. The cheapest way is to go by coach, and not to linger. |
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29 April 2011 |
Booked it! |
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Checked online, prices at the Catholic hospice are 21.80 b&b + 7.65 dinner - Anglican comes in at 29.95 + 14.85 dinner - phew! Rang the Catholic shrine and they can accommodate me for two nights next week* - Tues and Weds. Only remains to book coach and get my 'hat and shoon' polished off! Got the hat, not sure what kind of 'shoon' they wore, mine will be the usual trainers - but I have a Pilgrim Staff - sure as hell taking that! * on second thoughts realised I had better book 3 nights as it will take most of one day to get there |
Tel Catholic shrine: 01328 820217
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Footnote
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And - OMG - as Jedward would say - THIS is where it all began - at the time I visited in 1983, the Youth Hostel was located on the top floor of the Catholic Hospice building. How strange if I am once more on that top floor! |
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30 April 2011 |
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Hm, from understanding that the distance of the total Rhine path was just over 1000 km, a new map arrived today tells me it is just over 2000 - this requires some rethink! (just checked on conversion tables and it appears that 2000 km is 1242 miles, so perhaps that explains it). This map, while being entirely useless as a guide to the Rhine trip, provides an excellent overview of all the major cycle routes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, thus providing much food for thought for future trips - should I succeed at this one, and I can see no reason why not. It has also got some very useful information, such as where to find out about Rhine ferries; and the website of the Naturfreundehäuser (friends of nature - a chain of hostels for older travellers - knowing the exuberance of German youth, the Jugendherbergen may be too much to stomach for us oldsters). I have seen a Naturfreundehaus at Brend Turm, one of my favourite spots when visiting Neukirch, and fancy staying at one (or two). My map Rotterdam-Mainz did not come yet. I am going to see what I think of it before buying the map for the lower half of the trip, which is in an area I know well, and already have maps that cover it - though not a specialised one such as these will be. |
map 3.50 |
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Naturfreundehaus Brend Naturfreundehaus Schonwald |
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stuff sack
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I managed to find a lightweight (very), waterproof (remains to be seen) stuff sack for the camping gear at Boyce's in Nelson at a good price. I tried the camping gear in it and it all fits fine - I used an old tent of equivalent size to the automatic one that they have promised to send in exchange for the wrong one they sent. | stuff sack 9.99 |
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1000 miles in 9 days?
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I texted my friend Erika Rombach in Neukirch, to update her on my plans. Telling her I would begin my trip at Rotterdam on June 21, she wrote that she would expect me at the end of June - does she think I can cycle all that way in 9 days??? I told her it would be more like mid-July, and this made me realise I have less time than I think. Perhaps the ferry (or train if it does not exist) to Koblenz would be the best plan after all. Anyway, I am going to think on my feet, not my bum. |
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15 May |
Back after my side trip to Walsingham, |
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which was everything I expected of it and more, and once more planning my trip. The first of the Bikeline maps arrived, and turned out to be more of a book than a map. I had expected a pullout map, but no, it is printed in segments on separate pages. The whole thing is very heavy but on further examination the maps are very good. I am sure there is much useful information but it is all in German. Only the map key has a translation. So I have asked the library to get me that book in English written by the guy who is addicted to the Rhine path, he has done it several times, and both ways. It is quite expensive to buy so I decided to have a look at it first and see if it is worth the money. |
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Right tent arrives and is wrong |
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| That self-erecting tent is nothing of the sort. It has two strings coming out of the top of what is basically a beach umbrella setup. You are instructed to take one string in each hand and pull until the tent mechanism clicks into place. This is impossible. I had to wait for my daughter to arrive and then we pulled it up together. When I went inside the fabric is gossamer thin, I could see objects in the room clearly, and I could see daylight through the stitching. It is impossible and I am not taking it. | ||
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I am still not keen on doing the whole drag so I am hunting out trains and passenger ships. So far I have found a train to Dusseldorf for £35. I have emailed to see if they take bikes. But now I get the feeling I am cheating. But if I started lower down I would be able to take longer on the scenic bits and also might manage the round trip of Bodensee (Lake Constance). There is an ominous silence from the German camp. Since they think me incapable of even cycling up the mountain when I am there, and send out search parties when I do not arrive back in the time expected, they must be blue with horror to think what I am attempting. I must write to them again. |
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