Up the Moselle

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Cycling from Holland to Germany it felt as if we were back in the rolling Kent countryside again - and
yes we did feel those extra acquistions on the hills!
We arrived in Aachen early and met a couple of other cycle tourists in the campground. Like many other cycle tourists we have met, they were up and out of the campsite before we had even put our heads out of the tent the next morning.
There is some logic in this, it means you have covered considerable ground before the sun gets high and hot in the sky. Somehow this logic has not filtered down to us, and we still enjoy long and slow starts over large breakfast bowls and morning showers before a mid morning departure!

Leaving Aachen the push was then on to get to the Rhine, but we were very lost all morning - my logic of just going east following the GPS compass did not help, and after achieving almost no ground all morning I made friends with the GPS and actually asked it to guide us on a route. So the afternoon was considerably more successful then the morning but we did not arrive at the Rhine until about 8:30pm (those lazy starts again!) to discover there were no camping grounds. After being warned about the river police and hooligans, we never-the-less did not have much choice but to set up a wild camp, and as the sun slid down the sky we pitched behind a few trees about 100 metres from the Rhine, directly opposite the large city of Bonn in a grassy park like area.
We spent an undisturbed night, before picking up the very civilised Rhine river cycle route, which led us to the beautiful Mosel valley, where we are now resting in Cochem, in the heart of the wine district.

April 25
Lanakan to Aachen 47.6 km
Avs 12.8km
Rolling hills - Hot
LF6 from Maastricht to Aachen
Bread 2 euro
Bowl 4 euro
Plug 3
Food and cycle shorts 11
Camping 8 euro

April 26

Aachen to Bonn
100km
Hot- some hills lost almost all morning
Food and beverages 25 euro
Free camp

April 27

Bonn to Koblenz
71.5km
Camping 13 euro
Food and drink 11.60 euro
Tick removal kit 3 euro
Ferry 2.6

April 28

Koblenz to Cochem
55km
Camping 18.80
Vinhaus 15.40
Supermarket food 21
Cycling gloves x 2 sets 6
Beer 3
1 flat tyre (Sonya front)
Very hot no wind stunning views

April 29
Rest day Cochem
Camping 18.80
Food and drink 6
Postcards and stamp 3.5

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Comments

[Tim and Shell]

Cycle shorts
What is it with you and Cycle Shorts? is that the second or third pair youve bought? looks like a fetish to me :)