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Cycling Europe 2022
  • Jim Cochran

Cycling Europe 2022

Change of plans: Lisa and I are cycling 1,900 miles from Glindow (Near Berlin), Germany to 💕Mol, Belgium.💕 July 4 - August 10 ❤️🚲🚲❤️ Read more
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  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler
    1

    Day 23: Walkringen, Switzerland 🐄❤️

    July 26, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We have been looking forward to every day, but this one especially. Today we would be visiting the area were my great-great grandparents come from, and we love riding in the picturesque hillsides of Switzerland, we were in for a challenging day! Leaving Lucerne we had about two hours of rain, and throughout the day we climb nearly 8000 feet in the 75 miles to Walkringen. Some of the highlights of the day were: finding some amazing cheese, a dead end road after a massive climb, the cheese shop in Obernal, Visiting the Shüpbach bicycle shops , delivering the time capsule with the Cocrhan/learn family tree to the Zaziwil cemetery, awesome climbs and the descents, cowbells, views that are indescribable, and another amazing Warmshower host. We stayed in the same house in Walkringen that we stayed at before in 2019, but it is a duplex and this time we stayed with Daniel, as Felix and Sabine were a bit busy. We were lucky enough to see Sabine when she came home from work, and Daniel prepared us another awesome dinner of pasta and potatoes with cheese. It was a special day, and definitely one that will be remembered forever! Of course 1000 more stories to come.❤️Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 24: Solothurn, Switzerland 🏊‍♂️

    July 27, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Behind again in posting! 😏 Everything continues to be wonderful. The ride from Walkringen to Solothurn included a long time spent in Bern, 🇨🇭. We again were amazed by the architecture and beauty of the different cities. We saw the famous European Brown Bears, and met a volunteer at the bear park that game me a special pin from the park. We also did some souvenir shopping for Bern items, as we weren’t sure if we could find any later. The after noon ride was interrupted with a cool swim, and after we arrived in Solothurn we relaxed by the River Aare. The evening was one of the best yet (we say that all the time, and they truly have all been perfect) with a walking tour with our host Karin’s Brother and his wife. Karin was so kind to leave us the keys to her apartment even though she was on holiday in Sweden 🇸🇪. Solothurn is a hidden Jen of a city! Evelyne and Stefan offered us a beautiful quiet walking tour of the city which ended with flaffel pitas on while watching the sun set over the city and the river.Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 25: Mulhouse, France 😀🚴🏻‍♂️🚴

    July 28, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    A slow moving day with so many stops. We loved Solothurn so much we spent a long morning touring the city and grabbed some 🥖, quiche, and an apricot pastry from the bakery Evelyne recommended. The bakery was amazing! They still use a wood-fired oven to bake. Everything we eat was the best baked goods we had ever eaten. 🤤 We then had a long stop at the cultural center about 8 miles out of Solothurn. It is an old industrial area that is a graffiti art park with restaurants, concert areas, etc. We were the only people there as I think the activity happens in the evenings. The riding was going slowly with so much to do. In Basel we finally did a float in the Rhine River. Remind us to tell you about the float, and about changing into a bathing suit in a crowded area on the sidewalk if your interested. We pedaled on to cross the Rhine into France, and had a romantic evening in Mulhouse with an evening stroll near the cathedral and a long sit on the rooftop terrace of our hotel. 🌅⛪️❤️🇫🇷 Another special fun filled day!Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 26: Sélestat, France

    July 29, 2022 in France ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    A beautiful and tough day of riding that took us through the vineyards of Alcase, France, up the mountain side to some château, through the tourist village of Colmar, and through many little medieval villages. The day end in Sélestat at a AirBnB. We took a short walk through the city and found a perfect little restaurant to try the famous thin crust style “pizza” of Alcase called tarte flambée. It was an amazing experience! After the dinner we sat on the terrace of our Airbnb and enjoyed some Muscat white whine from the region, and a fire breathing performance on the street below. I forgot to mention on the riding today I routed us on an impossible mountain biking trail, and we walked for nearly 45 minutes!Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 27: Achern, Germany ⛪️🚴🏻‍♂️❤️🧀🥖

    July 30, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We had a great breakfast which was provided by our Airbnb host. Then we explored a little bit around Sélestat as they were setting up for the women’s Tour de France. We also stopped by for a quick visit to Tabitha, and Warmshower host from our trip in 2019. We pedaled along in the sunshine to reach the Rhine river canal and head north to Strasbourg. Strasbourg Is a huge tourist destination with beautiful buildings, restaurants, a huge Street market, and the giant cathedral. We had a picnic lunch and navigated through the crowd, Spending about two hours in the city. We then continued on to cross the Rhine and back into Germany. We continue to enjoy looking at the variety of produce fields including, corn, grapes, apples, pears, tobacco, cabbage, korza, sunflowers, and soybeans. Some other of our favorite things to enjoy looking at during our rides are; the architecture of the homes and buildings, roadside temples/shrines, graffiti, the huge number of steeples that we see as we look across the horizon, and the changing landscape. We reached our Warmshower hosts, Rudolf and Hecky, at 6 PM, and had a great quiche baked dinner followed with ice cream and wine from the region. We sat around the dinner table chatting about trips, and sharing stories until about 11 PM.Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 28: Dudenhofen, Germany🚴🏼⛪️🌳🏰❤️

    July 31, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We wrapped up July with hitting the 1500 mile mark. We had some tough riding in the hills on the edge of the black forest. We climbed out of the Rhine river valley to various castle ruins. We enjoyed the riding by the luscious grape fields, And the hard claims were rewarded with great views from the castles. It was a tough ride today as temperatures were approaching 100°, and we covered 75 miles. Sundays are always a little tough to find shops that are open, but we found a Döner and Pizza shop 4 miles from our endpoint and grabbed some cokes and falafel wraps for our hotel room. We spent the evening relaxing in the AC of the hotel room, and took a nice little walk through the small village as the sun was setting. We also found an ice cream vending machine and bought the most delicious pistachio ice cream to end the day.Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 29: Worms, Germany 🍦🍺🚴🏻‍♂️🏰⛪

    August 1, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    A shorter 41-mile day of cycling had us to our overnight city of Worms around 4 pm. We enjoyed the “rest day” by spending some extra time in historic Speyer, visiting a biergarten along the Rhine, and a long walking tour in Worms in the evening. In Speyer we were awed by the cathedral Dom zu Speyer. Constructed near 1040 is the largest Romanesque cathedral in the world. In Worms we enjoyed the feeling of been in one of the oldest European cities and had a great view of the cathedral from our hotel. We ate dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, and the evening ended with an amazing ice cream stand near our hotel. 🍦🍦Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 30: Ingelheim, Germany🍇❤️🚴🏻

    August 2, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    It’s a bit hard to explain to our non-cycling friends, but the amount of diversity we see in 60 miles is amazing. The architecture and landscape changes so rapidly when riding through Europe. I was telling Lisa the other day that when touring in the United States you can often ride for days or weeks and it seems like nothing has changed. We don’t focus much on trying to go fast, but more about cruising and seeing the sites. Today included samples in the grape fields, an awesome breakfast at our hotel, a beautiful view of the cathedral in the early morning sunshine, some medieval castle ruins, and sampling the local wine with a tour into the wine cellar. We ended the evening at a restaurant on the Square, listening to a man play an acoustic guitar and sing American folk songs.Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 31: Koblenz, Germany

    August 3, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We woke up with a beautiful view of the Rhine hillsides brightened by the early morning sun. There was another delicious buffet style German breakfast that was included with our room price which had a wide selection of breads, meats, cheeses, yogurt, fruit, muesli, and spreads. We were on the road about 9 PM with a 50-mile day ahead of us. The ride would take us on the west side of the Rhine past numerous castles and churches along the bluffs. We found it hard to move forward as there was something we wanted to explore every 3 or 4 miles. The scenery was amazing and we are overwhelmed by the beauty of the Rhine River valley and villages along the Rhine. It is tourist season in Germany and there are many bicyclists along the Euro Velo route. Campgrounds are full and villages are a bit crowded, but everything is calmer than touristy areas in the US. Our hotel in Koblenz was right along the Rhine River, and we spent the early evening exploring the area and grabbing some supplies for a picnic style dinner in the hotel room. The sunset from our balcony was beautiful, and the crescent moon 🌙 looked beautiful over the steeple in the horizon. It was early to bed as the heat had us pretty worn out.Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 32: Bonn, Germany🥩❤️🚴🏻‍♂️🏞

    August 4, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    We had beautiful morning in Koblenz, but knew the temperature was predicted to get near 100° F today. 🥵 We had a great buffet style breakfast at the hotel and relaxed a bit in the A/C of our room before venturing out to explore and move on to our Warmshower in Bonn, Germany. We continued to enjoy the spectacular views along the Rhine and we’re putting the miles behind us with the heat not getting too bad. At about mile 30 of 52, we had a pretty tough detour because of a bridge being washed out from a flood. We found a little passage under the railway lines and then used our GPS to find another bridge. We had a picnic lunch along the Rhine in a nice shaded area, and pedaled on to Bonn. We arrived early in Bonn than planned, and had a cold drink in a biergarten along the Rhine. We then did a little tour through Bonn past the university and also past Beethoven’s birth place. Arriving at Thomas’s house our Warmshower host was like connecting with an old friend. We shared stories and got comfortable with an early shower and a couple of cold drinks in our cool private basement room with our private bathroom area too. Anja, got home from work and Lisa and her hit it off immediately, and later found out they had the same birth month and day. Dinner was a backyard barbecue with many homemade dishes, an awesome pasta salad with pickles and peas 😀, home grown tomatoes from Anna’s amazing gardening, other homemade salads, and a delicious rhubarb chutney that Anja made. The children, Marek (15) and Jana (17) joined us for dinner, and it was nice of them to join in the conversation with us. This was another special evening which again is why we love Warmshowers and the chance to meet such wonderful families! 😀❤️Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler
    1

    Day 33: Cologne, Germany🍺🍺⛪️🌙

    August 5, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We had a great night of sleep and decided to sleep in until about 9:00 AM as we were having a sort day of only 27 miles to Cologne. We had a nice breakfast on the back patio with Thomas. After breakfast Thomas gave us a picture show and stories about his 100-day bicycle trip from Berlin to Iran. What an amazing adventure he had! We got pedaling toward Cologne at 11:45 AM (our latest start of the trip.) The ride along the Rhine was chilly, damp, and very bumpy. We stopped for a picnic with the sandwiches we made at breakfast within 5 miles of Cologne, and also shared a sweet treat from a bakery. Cologne (1.1 million pop. Is the 4th largest city in 🇩🇪) was also crowded, especially around the Cathedral, Kölner Dom, which receives tens of thousands of visitors per day. The Cathedral is an amazing site, and I recommend you learn more about it. “The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world.” It is believed by many the remains of the three wise men are contained within the cathedral. After that Lisa and I took turns exploring the cathedral’s interior and then we navigated our way through the busyness to our Warmshower Lar’s and Sabine’s flat. They live in a car-free neighborhood which was very interesting to learn about, and experience the quietness of such a living space. No cars parked on the street, no traffic, only bicycles and walking. The evening was a beautiful walking tour with Sabine and Lars filled with talk of past adventures and future dreams of travel. We ended at a special local pub/restaurant called the Golden Cabbage. At the Golden Cabbage we had a true local experience of a Cologne Brauhus. We drank Kölsch style beer which technically can only be brewed in Cologne from the traditional .2-liter glasses which are brought to you automatically by the waitress once yours is less than 1/2 full, and as long as you don’t cover the top with your coaster. We experienced the lively atmosphere of men watch the first league soccer game on the tv, and cheers of excitement when their team scored, or almost scored, as we enjoyed local dishes of blackened pudding, and sauerbraten. One man who had been a patron of the pub for nearly 60 years practiced his English with us. He welcomed us to Cologne and wished us a wonderful trip. At the end of our adventure in the Golden Cabbage the waitress found out we had been cycling for nearly 5 weeks and we’re from America, so she gave us some gifts from the pub. The Kölsch experience was something we had never experienced in Germany, and will be a special memory forever. The evening ended with a nightcap on the terrace of Lar’s & Sabine’s flat as the time was approaching midnight. This like all days was another very special experience! 🍺🚴🏻‍♂️❤️🇩🇪Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler
    3

    Day 34: Aachen, Germany🌅🍝

    August 6, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We had a nice relaxing breakfast on the terrace with Lars & Sabine, and then were pedaling towards Aachen, Germany at 9:30 AM. It was a little longer riding with about 65 miles to cover, but after nearly 1900 miles of riding we are in a groove of cruising along “high-tailing it.” Some of our daily routines are stopping for berries on the side of the trail, picnic lunch breaks, Exploring the inside of churches, and stopping at produce stands along the roadside. We passed by Tagebau Hambach, Germany’s largest surface mining area, which has a current open area of 17 square miles and is about 2000 ft deep. It was an amazing view! Since it was Saturday there was quite a few cyclists out on the road and on the trails. We arrived in Aachen at about 5 PM and sat by one of the large city gates enjoying the views for about an hour. Within navigated by the giant cathedral to Thomas’s house, our Warmshower host. We got cleaned up and had a delicious pasta dinner with Thomas’s homemade marinara sauce (I believe the secret is the feta cheese 😀) After dinner we took a stroll up the largest hill in Aachen to watch the sunset, and heard the folktale of how the hill was formed by the dropping of a giant bag of sand the devil dropped on his way to hopefully cover the cathedral in Aachen. Got back to the flat at about 10:30 and we’re pretty tired from the day, so easily fell asleep by 11 PM with thoughts of pancakes Thomas had suggested for breakfast.Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 35: Maastricht, Nederland🌅🚴

    August 7, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Thomas made us some delicious pancakes for dinner, and after eating too many we were heading toward a lookout tower were the three countries of Belgium, Nederland, and Germany meet. Thomas joined us for the morning ride, and led us on a nice tower out of Aachen. After the lookout tower, we were in Nederland, and riding some of the course and famous climbs of the Amstel Gold Race. We always love these climbs, and seeing the names of the pro riders painted on the road. Since this area is some of the most beautiful scenery in Nederland, it was packed with tourist and cyclist. It was almost like being on RAGBRAI all day. The crowds even got worse as we approach Maastricht, since it is a very touristic city and the annual Ironman happened to be going on. This caused a lot of chaos for us, all the tourist, and even the locals trying to navigate in and around the city. We made it to our hotel in the city center about 5 PM, And found a little grocery store to buy some provisions for our dinner. We relaxed in the hotel room until things calmed down in the city, and took a nice evening stroll to watch the sunset. This is our last night on the road and we will reach Mol, Belgium 🇧🇪 tomorrow.Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler
    1

    Day 36: Mol, Belgium 🚴🏻‍♂️❤️❤️🚴🏼

    August 8, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We arrived to Molmento B&B to big hugs from Peter and Kristien. The day was spent riding along the canal and exploring a few cities along the route. We end with 1899.75 miles (56-mile average), so with a little ride to the Mol market on Tuesday we’ll have over 1,900 miles. We hit 8 countries 🇧🇪🇵🇱🇨🇿🇨🇭🇦🇹🇫🇷🇳🇱🇩🇪. No spills. No delays. Excellent weather with only a bit of rain. 5 rear flats (Jim: cobble sidewall tear, sharp stick puncture, 2 pinch flats & Lisa: small glass cut.) 2 wasp 🐝 stings (Jim: right leg above knee while going about 50 mph downhill in Switzerland, right hand while smashing one trying to get in my drink 😏) 20 Warmshowers, 1 Couchsurfing, 5 Airbnb, 7 hotels, and 2 nights at Molmento B&B. We can never capture our feelings and love for bicycle touring with words or pictures, but we hope you enjoyed our attempt. We thank all of you for your help, support, good wishes, and kindness. It is always nice to feel the kindness we experienced, and see the good that exists in the world. ❤️Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 37: Mol, Belgium 😀❤️

    August 9, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We had a wonderful breakfast at Molmento B&B, and relaxed in our room until 10:30 (Nowhere to push on to for the first time in over 30 days.) After a relaxing morning we ventured to the Mol center to visit Jos Daems and his wife Ann at their shoe store that Jos started over 50 years ago. We met Jos in 2017 when we came our first time to Mol. Jos has been to over 50 world cycling championships, is friends with many pro cyclists, and is impossible to explain his passion for everything he does in a simple “blog” post. Lisa and I walked around the traditional Mol Tuesday market, and picked up some local honey for our souvenir. We returned to Jos’s for a lunch of homemade soup, pasta, salad, and crispy cod from the neighboring fish shop. Jos and Ann entertained us with stories of travel and their grandson Victor. After lunch, Jos gave us a short cycling tour to the new street art area of the bicycle trail. We are so impressed with the street art we have seen throughout Europe. Jos also gave us a tour of their beautiful home, and we saw some of Jos’s hobbies and amazing artwork. The late afternoon was spent packing the bikes and affixing the wheels I designed to make our train transfer easier. At 7:30 we took Peter and Kristien to dinner and met Theo and Marlene (Friends from previous visits to Mol) at the restaurant. It was good to see our friends in Mol, and like usual we found time was too short! ❤️Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 38: Newaygo, Michigan USA

    August 10, 2022 in Belgium ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Leaving Mol and the travel home was definitely the toughest day. We finished packing and breakfast at Molmento around 8:15 AM. Happy teary hugs with Kristien and we were off the Mol train stations with two cars (Theo and Peter) to transport our always awkward bicycle boxes. The train trip to Brussel’s airport involved one train switch, which is always challenging to move the boxes and making sure we get the correct train. The wheels I invented and we carried 1800 miles to make moving the box in the train station and airport easier worked great! All the little stresses of the day compiled to make this an exhausting day. Check-in was about 1.5 hours with the attendant telling us we hadn’t paid for our bikes yet. The flight to Iceland was 3.5 hours, and in Iceland we were randomly chosen for additional TSA screen were somehow I tested positive for an illegal chemical on a swab wipe of my clothing. 😏 Everything got sorted out and we made or connection with a few minutes to spare. The 6.5-hour flight to Chicago involved a large man sitting next to Lisa with poor body awareness, a restless kid who kept messing with the back of my seat, numerous coughs and sneezing throughout the plane, and what sounded like a 10-year-old girl’s birthday party happening behind us. Immigration, baggage claim, and customs at Chicago O’Hare took over 1.5 hours. I then got an Uber to Paul’s (Warmshower host who let us park the Subaru at his house,) and talked with Paul for a few minutes before returning to the busy arrival area of O’Hare to get Lisa and the bikes. By about 9:00 pm we were on the way to Lisa’s mom’s house in Michigan with an ETA of 1:40 AM. The dive through Chicago was terribly busy and a lot of construction. The tiredness was hitting me hard, and Lisa amazingly made the final 3 hours of driving to end our hardest day of the tour! ❤️Special thank you❤️ to Paul and his family for the car parking in Chicago it was a great stress reliever, and saved us over $600 in airport parking!Read more

  • Jim CochranCycling Europe 2022Traveler

    Day 39: Newaygo, Michigan ❤️🚤

    August 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    The day was spent recovering from the exhausting travel day and jet-lag. We did a morning and evening cruise on the pontoon boat, and mainly chatted with Lisa’s mom (Betty) and brother (Adam) while relaxing around the house. Lisa and her mom drove Adam to the airport at about 4:00 pm, and returned about 7:30 pm. We are a nice grilled dinner of halibut that Adam caught in Alaska this summer, and grilled vegetables. I feel asleep on the night pontoon cruise to watch the sunset, and went to bed immediately when we returned to the house. This is most likely the final post unless I do a one more as a final summary and conclusion. ❤️🚴🏻‍♂️🚴🏼❤️Read more

    Trip end
    August 11, 2022
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