Cologne to Koblenz

Friday October 29, 2010

My dorm in the Pathpoint Cologne hostel.

Another poor night's sleep in the hostel, it's becoming the norm. Just when I was getting to sleep at about 2:30 am, when the last thing I expected was any disturbances since there was only one other guy in the eight bed dorm and he was fast asleep, the door opens and six people walk in to claim their beds for the night. What kind of a check-in time is 2:30 am? And I thought I was late with my typical 9 pm or 10 pm check-in. These six people were considerate enough not to talk, but they were constantly whispering and that was enough to keep me awake. And it's difficult to be quiet moving bags in and making a bed in semi-darkness.

These people also all got up earlier than me and woke me up again, they must have only had about five hours sleep.
Breakfast wasn't included with this hostel, I'd payed €4 for it, figuring I'm good at getting my value for money with breakfast. It was alright, but far from the amazing breakfast I had at the Ambleside Youth Hostel in the Lake District. It consisted of cornflakes and muesli with what I think were bits of chocolate. I think Europeans like their chocolate. They certainly like their chocolate spreads (such as Nutella). They had Nutella here of course, and bread, but no toaster, so they lost some points there. They did have rolls, cheese slices, salami and ham though, and I used this to sneakily make a few sandwiches and a roll for lunch later.
Then I used the free Wi-Fi, but discovedred it only lasted for ten hours, so I had to ask for another password, so that I could do some route planning. Google Maps reckoned 1200 km to Siena (and of course I didn't doubt it). Yesterday a friend from Melbourne, Juls, sent me an email telling me she would be in Vienna between October 30 and November 5, and I had been thinking about going to Austria. Vienna is ranked by Mercer as the most liveable city in the world, so I figured it could be good to see it. So I sent Juls an email back saying that I'd been thinking about going to Vienna at about the same time that she'd be there, so I'd try and catch her there.
Then I checked Google Maps, 900 km to Vienna, hmm that's a bit further than I thought! I wondered if I could actually get there in less than a week? Now there's a challenge!
It was also about the same distance to Prague too. I'd been considering going to Prague because I've heard it's a city you have to see. It's a little bit out of the way though, so I'm thinking I'll have to pass it by.
I downloaded some map tiles (about 250 mb worth) for the MotionX-GPS for the route to Vienna. I'm opting for these maps because they show the terrain and, importantly, the bicycle routes.
And with that I was off, just after 11 am, later than I would have liked.

Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom)

Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom)

The cycling was quite pleasant indeed, riding up alongside the river Rhine, and on a bike path lined by 'autumn trees' as I call them, for most of the way.

On a bike path near the Rhine river, near Niederkassel, Germany.

On the Rhine river in Bonn, Germany.

Riding up the Rhine river, in Plittersdorf, Germany.

Riding up the Rhine river, in Mehlem.

I was trying to be efficient and only taking short breaks along the way to eat a sandwich and some fruit cake. I wanted to ride 160 km to get to Frankfurt, but that would mean riding in the dark for a few hours.
I passed plenty of cyclists during the day, a few even overtook me. One bloke stopped me and asked where I was going. He couldn't speak English all that well but he gave it a good shot, and he offered some advice and directions for a good route to Vienna, or Wien as they call it. Unfortunately I didn't have a map, but he kindly wrote it down for me, and we looked at the route on my Motion X map.

The route that a local recommended I take to Vienna.

The route that a local recommended I take to Vienna.

He said he did several bicycle tours each year and he'd cycled this route before and said it was the best route to Vienna. It looked good to me, and I plan on following it if I can.
About 10 km out from Koblenz, I caught up to another touring cyclist. I had actually come across very few genuine touring cyclists so it was good to catch one. We rode the rest of the way into Koblenz together and chatted as we went.
His name was Simon, he was from Bavaria, and he'd been touring around on his bike for a few months, and would be finishing up in a few weeks. He wasn't just touring for the sake of it though, he's doing research and administering surveys to do with complex things involving the younger generation and institutionalisation as he goes. He did give me a detailed description but I can't remember exactly what he was saying. But here is a description I found on his Facebook page: "...making a documentary project and survey about 18-34 year-olds and about what it means becoming a digital society." So he will stop and chat to people that he picks out along the way and ask if they can fill out the survey.
He has a degree in economics and is now 31 years old (in 2010). He published his research in English here.
His project seemed really interesting and he seemed a very intelligent guy. I admired the way he was traveling, too. He wasn't using an iPhone for navigation like I was, rather a large scale map of Germany and he would write down the names of the towns and villages he planned to go through each day, and then he'd stop and ask locals for directions if he needed navigational assistance.
For Simon, a big part of his tour was stopping and chatting to people, not just to give them a survey, but often just to hear their story, hear what they were all about.
When I was in the UK I also enjoyed talking to randoms and hearing their story, but since I've gotten to mainland Europe, I haven't had many opportunities to stop and chat to people, since I can't speak the language. I guess the best opportunities I get to meet people now are in hostels, but I haven't done much of that recently either.
Simon, on the other hand, can speak several languages. His native language, or mother tongue, is German of course, but his English is excellent, as good as mine, and he can also speak Spanish, French and Swahili, and he can get by with his Italian too. I was impressed!
So as you'd expect, Simon was very good at talking to people, and I enjoyed chatting to him as we cycled up the Rhine together.
His bike is set up slightly differently to mine. All his panniers and even clothes are Vaude, since they're sponsoring him. He said it was difficult to get sponsorship but he managed it with the help of the fact he's doing research related to sustainability.
My handlebar bag is Vaude, same as Simons, but my panniers are Ortlieb. Both are German brands, and are probably two of the best pannier manufacturers in the world.
Instead of front panniers, Simon had a back-pack which he strapped on top of the rack on the back, and that way it's easier to carry everything when off the bike.
He had a synthetic saddle, as opposed to a leather Brooks saddle as I had, but he was covering maybe half the distance I cover each day on average, so not having a comfortable Brooks saddle would be less of a problem.
He had flat handlebars, as opposed to drop bars, and suspension forks as well as a suspension seat post.
Simon's destination for the day was Koblenz. I had been planning to get to Frankfurt, so I rode to Koblenz with Simon and we had a look at the monument which was built to remember the unification of all the different German shires.

The monument of German Emperor William I of Germany, on the confluence of the Rhine and the  Moselle, which became known as German Corner (Deutsches Eck). Koblenz.

Me in front of the Willim I monument, German Corner (Deutsches Eck), Koblenz. 

German Corner (Deutsches Eck) at the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle, Koblenz.

Fortress Ehrenbreitstein as seen from Koblenz.

Simon Schnetzer on the left, me on the right, in front of William I monument.

By this stage it was just about dark, and I realised I wasn't going to achieve my destination goal of Frankfurt.
The other thing I liked about Simon's tour was that he was couch surfing the whole way, and he was certainly an advocate of couch surfing.
I came across a video on his Facebook page which he made in English about couch surfing, if you're interested.
It has this description: "Simon is cycling through Germany for two months, making a documentary project and survey about 18-34 year-olds and about what it means becoming a digital society.
Couchsurfing is an essential part of the project, because it helps me to meet and stay with local people and have great dinner discussions. In this episode, I talk about my couchsurfing experiences, some facts about this fantastic movement and a little travel secret. Stay tuned"
He also has a website too if you're interested, but it's in German so you'll have to get Google Translate to translate it (open it in Google Chrome, it should translate automatically). And here's the website for the international project.
I signed up to couchsurfing when I was at the Conix's place in Leuven, but I haven't used it yet. Simon had arranged to stay in Koblenz with a guy called Christian, and he asked if I wanted him to call Christian and ask if he minded if I stayed there too. It seemed like a good idea to me, better than camping again and I'd have some people to talk to for a change. Christian was kind enough to take me at short notice, so we dropped by the supermarket for some supplies and wine, then found Christians place.

Our bikes parked outside the supermarket in Koblenz.

Christian was born disabled and has been confined to a wheelchair for his whole life. He can't move any of his body except for his head, so he had a carer with him; she was a young student studying economics. Unfortunately I can't remember her name.

Simon, Christian's care and Christian, inside Christians apartment in Koblenz.

Christian using his laptop.

Christian's care and Christian, in the kitchen in Christians apartment, Koblenz.

Christian was able to control the mouse movements on his laptop screen using his voice.

Christian said it was better that he'd been disabled his whole life, because it meant he didn't know life any better, as would be the case if his disability had stemmed from an accident later in life, for example.
I didn't know whether to shake Christians hand. His carer said "yeah it's fine, just grab it". So I did, and said "pleased to meet you". It was a little strange shaking a limp hand.
Christian seemed an intelligent and witty guy, and had a degree in computer science. The internet is his area of expertise, his kingdom, as you might expect for someone who can't move his body. In the world of the internet, he's just as able as anyone else. He has to use a computer with voice recognition and it was interesting seeing it in action. He can move the mouse by specifying segments of the screen to move it, and he could type just using voice recognition.
Christian is 35, he's politically active and he's also the ambassador for couch surfing in Koblenz.
We ate bruschetta for tea, which was delicious. Later on Simon handed us one of his surveys each, and asked the questions in English so that I could participate, although the survey was really for young Germans between 18 and 34 years of age. After the survey, Simon asked about some of our responses for a more in depth understanding, and I could see how it would stimulate some very interesting discussions. It was interesting hearing Christian's perspective as a disabled person too.
He mentioned that in the computer science/design area, there is no incentive for people working in that field to produce high quality work because of something to do with salary and taxes. This results in them doing a more mediocre job when they could be producing work of a superior quality. At least this is my understanding from what Simon told me, since they were speaking in German at the time. Simon if you're reading this, feel free to add or make corrections.
A bit of a digression, but at one point I took the opportunity to weigh myself on the bathroom scales. I'm 74.5 kg, which is exactly the same as my weight before I left for the trip. I thought I might have lost some weight from all the cycling I was doing.
Anyway, after a pleasant evening and some interesting discussions in the living room, Simon and I retired to the lounge-room, set up our beds and got to sleep after 2 am.

My route for the day, Cologne to Koblenz, Germany.

An overview of my route so far from France to Germany.

Ride stats:
Distance: 114.07 km
Average: 19.7 km/h
Maximum: 35.5 km/h
Time: 5:44:14
Total ascent: 448 m
Total descent: 370 m