Rhine River, Alsace, and Mosel River cycle tour – Episode 1

In June 2024 we cycled north on the Rhine River from Andermatt to the Alsace and then down the Mosel River to Koblenz, and then back south on the Rhine River. The trip was mostly on Eurovelo routes 15 and 5. This is the first of a series of videos of our cyling trip.

[Music] hi I’m David And I’m Lesie And we enjoy spending our vacations traveling around the world by bicycle [Music] On some previous trips we cycled around Sweden and Denmark We’re cycling along marveling at the amazing cycle path there Couldn’t have asked for better weather A couple summers ago we flew into Paris We made our way to the Lir Valley and cycled around there for a few weeks It was amazing Mostly though we spent some great time here in Ontario marveling at the wonderful landscape that we live in We’re starting this trip at the end of June 2024 and plan to spend about 3 weeks cycling largely north on the Eurov 15 We flew into Frankfurt spent the night assembled our bikes and then took a train to Andermont Switzerland where we then cycled down Eurovella 15 through Likenstein and Austria to Basil Switzerland Then we cycled a little bit west towards the Eurov 5 and cycled through the Alsace region through Strawburg and then cycled back into Germany to Offenburgg and then took a train to Luxembourg where we cycled over towards the Moselle River down the Moselle River to Cooblins and then back up on the Rine and ended in mines where we took a train back to Frankfurt This is the first of what will probably be seven videos describing our trip This first part covers our arrival in Frankfurt and the first four days of riding to Bad Regaz After an overnight flight from Toronto to Frankfurt we arrived at 6:00 a.m We walked our bikes and bags and one suitcase each to the Sheridan Hotel at Frankfurt airport It was a real maze of hallways and elevators but we made it to the hotel around 7:00 a.m We weren’t able to get an early check-in so we used a large area in the hotel lobby to assemble the bikes It was uh pretty good Everything seemed okay except for the two rear skewers which were slightly bent uh maybe from being dropped We’re not sure but uh we were able to bend them back into shape to get them into the wheels So that was good We left our bags at the hotel and rode to downtown Frankfurt to visit a bike shop where we were able to get our skewers straightened a bit more And we rode to the Stoddle Museum to see Verir’s painting the geographer After seeing the painting we had a quick bite to eat went to the roof of the museum to have a look at Frankfurt and then got back on our bikes and headed back to the airport The trail back to the airport was through a amazing wooded area We got back around 2:30 checked into our hotel room and then we took a walk around to figure out where the trains were for the next morning Next morning June 30th we got up early around 6:00 a.m Had breakfast at the hotel and took our bike bags down to the storage room for 3 weeks we’d be traveling We headed over to the airport train station which is connected to the hotel and boarded the first of five trains to Andra Travel took much of the day with some hectic getting on and off trains with some short connections With some careful scrutiny of the Deutsche Bond website we were able to book parking spots for our bikes on all the trains At first uh the scenery was quite industrial but then it became more agricultural as we moved toward Switzerland and the Alps Lesly bought a bottle of Ralla a local drink which is a soda made from cheeseway Uh not bad as soda goes Lesie really liked it When we arrived in Andermott it was raining and we rode a soggy 700 m to the hotel We unpacked and dried off and went out walking around a incredibly picturesque little town with the cowbells clanging in the distance When you’re in Switzerland you have to try a fondue and racklet dinner So we did in a 200-year-old building and it was as cheesy as one could hope for We also uh tried a rose wine called O de Perri which was from the French part of Switzerland And after dinner we had a Swiss digestive hunter fas which was a honey herb drink that reminded us of other drinks such as uzo or sambuka Although this is the third day of our trip this will be our first day on our bikes And we woke up in the morning at Andermott and cycled to the Andermont train station to catch the Andermott train to Ober Alp pass It’s a cog wheel train that goes up a pretty steep slope to the top of the pass The train will drop us off at the start of Eurovella 15 which is also the headarter for the Ryan River And the intention is to spend the next 3 weeks cycling down the Ryan River track It’s pretty waterfalls down there We got off the train at the Ober Alp station and we were at 244 meters ready to make the descent towards Alain Let it begin The start of the ride again [Music] So I feel like we’re seeing the tops of the mountains Oh there’s one in front of us that we’re not quite seeing Yeah been painted on the road here Max Max Max What a nice place to be a cow [Music] Oh they’re cute Everything’s timber Cut cars back [Music] You probably hear us talking on our helmets We have some Senna R1 communication helmets which allow us to talk to each other even up to about 800 meters apart So you’ll probably be hearing that quite a bit throughout this video [Music] After about an hour of switchbacks down the mountains our hands were cold and it was only 3 or 4° C so it was time for coffee First big hill Everyone’s taking off their jackets stopping multiple times Unless these gears were weird [Music] Like they couldn’t quite push in that low gear Yeah What’s your gear so this is a 7% grade 27 more meters of climbing to go There’s some other people walking their bikes Waterfalls everywhere [Music] Yellow Nah [Music] Look at that I think so Awesome [Music] [Music] Valley you now like Canada Yeah it’s being filmed [Music] You can just walk over that fence I’m not sure why they don’t do that Probably Yeah It’s a picnic area Bike rack on route I was excited to visit a sixth generation distillery that made some odiv and some herbaceious and bitter lures and of course a gin We tasted a few of the odiv and took away a wonderful bottle of the blue plum brandy [Music] [Music] [Music] reached the town of Alons at around 400 p.m and then faced a 94 m climb about 12% grade up to a nunnery hotel We largely walked up this hill out of the the valley Uh we couldn’t face the hill again so we had dinner with the nuns in a very nice little restaurant The view from the hotel was spectacular overlooking the valley and we sat on the patio with a small bottle of Rezling and enjoyed the setting sun On day four of the trip our second cycling day we had a nice breakfast with the nuns and we rolled down the 94 meters to the Alain’s train station We decided to take a train to the town of Doat M to skip a few long climbs but also to address an issue that had risen with Leslie’s bike the day before Once in Domont we rode to a bike shop where it was determined that the cassette and chain needed to be replaced The bike repair was very quick but it gave us time to hike up to the St John Baptist Church in town and see some pretty views over the valley before we started our ride out to Bodra [Music] So we’re on the road now leaving Domat M’s after a bike repair We took a 30-minute train to get to the next bike shop And now we’re back on the Eurov 15 into a headwind along the True Rine where it’s been formed by the interrine and the border rine as we learned from the lady on the train And we’re riding to Vadreaz through her stopping at a distillery maybe an old church thing And that’s about it Beautiful day Beautiful day Hopefully not so much of a tailwind Headwind the whole time Pavement is nice We also skipped four big climbs by taking the train We couldn’t do those with Leslie’s skipping chain and cassette So we should be good now And right [Music] here should look up what that sign means for the bicycles [Music] We were excited to make a stop in Chur because there’s a store that sells a very traditional cherry lure that’s been made by one family for over a century and in the region for a long time We were also able to visit a beautiful 15th century church before we headed back to the Eurovilla 15 This is where we would have come out [Music] maybe full-blown ride [Music] I don’t know [Music] The paved path to Badger was incredible Uh we went through a number of picturesque villages There were sprawling vineyards which you’ll see shortly and fields of strawberries potatoes corn scallions and oats On either side of the valley there were really steep forests on glacially eroded cliffs making for a spectacular day of riding and really stunning views in all directions Oh they’re like these little vehicles They’re picking strawberries Uh yeah those are strawberries What are they giving him where are they selling them where are they giving them [Music] away hello [Music] Almost like these Big rip terraces up here Are you on the top oh almost After a large climb not a huge climb we were up above the valley below looking out at the vineyards and all the grapes growing here in the Milan’s region which is well known for its pon noir We tried stopping at a winery but we didn’t have any luck So we admired the grapes and kept pedaling bite coming Yeah really little hill here Nicely paved road though Yeah Look at that Oh yeah The best thing is it’s not cobble streets Yeah that’s true So we do have the climb in coming up here [Music] [Music] [Music] After cycling several hours down the Ryan Valley mostly amongst the vineyards we crossed over the Ryan River and entered the town of Badraaz It was a cute little town with lots of public artwork [Music] Yeah The last building on the road here There it is Hotel [Music] We finished an amazing day of cycling having ridden about 43 kilometers and about 536 meters of elevational gain And after checking into our hotel we wandered around the city admiring the public artwork and the beautiful scenery I hope you’ll stick around for our next installment which will cover the next 3 days of this trip from Badreaz down towards the Bowden Z [Music]