By Nokey and Andy
What a difference day makes!!
After the 120 mile stint yesterday, the team were delighted to be tackling a flat 58 miler today. This was made even easier as we had enjoyed a very comfortable hotel.
After a fantastic evening in the beautiful Town of Treber Trarbach and an unforgettable evening dinner at Restaurant Schlossbergstubchen with the marvellous hostess Gisela (Mary Berry lookalike) we had what would constitute a lie in on a trip like this with an alarm call at 8.10 am, another hearty breakfast with plenty of choice (scrambled eggs and bacon for Byrney and Nokey). Fuelled on good food we collected our bikes from the hotel garage and gathered for our customary departure photograph . We rolled out of town , weaving through some light traffic before rejoining the Moselle river to head North to Koblenz.
Another cyclist pulled along side us asking where we were heading (in German) – she was heading to Cochem and seems impressed with our destination. We had to tell her of the mileage we clocked up yesterday of course / anything to impress !
After a cloudy start the sun quickly burnt through the light cloud which made up for the bumpy uneven surface we encountered heading out of town. A quick reminder of the road surfaces we were used to back home in the UK. They have certainly been a a pleasure to cycle on over here .
The river was like a mill pond this morning – so flat and calm and the line of camp sites were stirring into life as we rode along – river on our right and camp site after camp site on our left – nestled between the towns and the river .
Cycling below the impressive archways of the viaduct carrying the trainline near Punderich we took a quick short sharp climb near which took us up a height and away from the river. We’d forgotten what a hill was like and needless to say the usual competitive streak came through with Farny and Lee rising out of the saddle to power up the hill and claim first spot. It was nice to see the river from a different view point before we dropped quickly down to Alf and rejoined the river having cut the corner near Bullay. This had been an option for us to take a more direct route to our destination , however, we chose the flatter, meandering route that hugged the river on the majority of our route.
We pushed ahead through villages and towns Sankt Aldegund , Bremm and Ediger-Eller , more churches and caravan sites and plenty of cyclists – well people on e-bikes .. they wouldn’t be allowed in the Big Cogs! We continued to follow the Moselle valley and witnessed the landscape progressively soften with more woodland and eventually the seemingly never ending vines were reducing.
Anyway, we were heading for Cochem but not before a stop at Ellenz-Poltersdor; another beautiful scenic riverside town with the Stadt – Bonn river cruiser pulling in to pick up more sightseers under the imposing relic of Metternich castle looking down on the passers by.
Onwards to Cochem and lunch. Now if you want to see an imposing castle then this is the place – Eltz castle – been in the same family for 900 years and looks down on the the beautiful riverside town of Cochem. So we stopped in Cochem for lunch provided by Miles and Nic and they surpassed themselves adding chorizo and salami to the sandwich choice as well as pickles. Consumer Tip: Aldi Coke is just as good as Coca-Cola at a fraction of the price. We had 32 miles under our belt and the lunch stop and scenery were welcome.
As we left, Andy Byrne had another puncture. Damn! But again, the team morphed into a F1 pitstop team and he was on his way in less than 5 mins. It was time to put the graft in now and eat up those remaining 28 miles . We blasted out 19 mph and before we knew it we were stopping for a short coffee / beers refuel at a little restaurant called Traube in Lof.
Only another 15 miles to push through but after a couple of request we decided to slow the pace to 16 mph so we could take in the last of the scenery before arriving in to the busy city of Koblenz.
