Cochem and Eltz Castle

Six years ago I was riding with a group of Ghostriders on our French Feasts ride. The first part of that adventure was a prologue ride in the form of a week long bike and barge trip along the Rhine from Mainz to Basel. The lady who provided our daily bike briefings was a German lady with a thick accent. I have long forgotten her name, but I never forgot her advice to me.

One day we were talking about the Rhine ride and she confided in me that her regular guiding route was along the Moselle River from Koblenz to Saarburg. She went on to say that the Rhine was "OK", but that "I really must come back and ride the Moselle".

Her advice stuck in my mind, and I soon began planning a ride that would include the recommended section of the Moselle. Of course, at that time, I had no idea that a small pandemic called Covid would halt all tourism for three years. It was not until 2023 that I would finally be able to see if the guide's advice was accurate.

Today was to be our first day of sailing, and also our first chance to sample our bikes. Before we could get on the bikes, we had a couple of hours of cruising up the Moselle to the village of Alken. This also gave us the first chance to experience passing through one of the many locks on the river.

Although we were all looking forward to getting back on a bike, we were not looking forward to another hot day and burning sun. The weather forecast promises another two days of these sort of conditions before some welcome moderation is expected.

We were all wondering how almost 100 bikes would be unloaded, and it did not take us to find out. A sloping ramp was rigged between the boat and the wharf, and the bikes were each rolled down at some speed (only moderated by a rope looped on the seat). It mostly worked well, until they came to unload Allan's bike. That is when it went pear shaped. The catcher missed the bike, the bike crashed heavily onto the concrete, damaging the mudguard. This time, Allan could not blame Michael, but we could all see that he was not amused.

As for the bikes, they were excellent. In fact they all looked virtually brand new. Apart from Allan's bike, they were a pleasure to ride. The bright red ebikes certainly were easy to spot, as were the bright yellow and pink shirts of our riders.

With so many riders all gathered around at the start, it was a little chaotic to get everyone organized. The obligatory group photo at the start turned into a monumental battle to get 27 Ghostriders all facing in the same direction at the same time. It would have been much easier to get 27 chickens dance Swan Lake. I also forgot to unfurl the Australian flag that I had carried all the way from Australia with me, just for this occasion.

With the heat already building, everyone was keen to get going without delay. Since it would be impossible to try to ride in a group of 27 (it is hard enough to manage about 10 at one time), we broke up into a number of small groups and headed off towards Cochem.

There was an optional side trip to the spectacular Eltz Castle. Unfortunately, to get there, you have to first ride up a hill, and then walk for about 45 minutes up a steep, rocky path. If the weather had been cooler, I think that more of our group would have given it a go. As it turned out, only 6 out of 27 had the will power and/or stamina to make it to the castle.

And so, it was myself and 5 women who battled the extreme heat and steep climb. And was it worth it ? It most certainly was, although by the time I got there, I was almost ready to stage a medical emergency of my own. All I wanted was a place to sit and get a cold drink. I discovered that they had very cleverly placed the cafe past the entrance gate. That meant it cost each of 14 Euro, just for the privilege of buying a drink.

After our blood had stopped boiling, we spent some time wandering around the place. It really was the stuff of storybooks, perched high on the mountain, with a whimsical assortment of turrets, towers and tunnels. It would have been nice to spend more time there, but we had a schedule to keep.

This amazing structure is approximately 850 years old and has been owned by the same family for 34 generations. That really is a staggering statistic.

Fortunately, the downhill walk was a lot easier than the uphill walk. Just as fortunate was the fact that our bikes had not been stolen. They were still exactly where we had left them. We climbed aboard and resumed our ride to Cochem.

Even though the path was flat, the scorching sun and high temperature did make the difficulty factor higher than it should have been. We were glad to reach the boat, just in time for the complimentary coffee and cake at 4.30 pm.

I would also be worth mentioning something of the village of Cochem itself. The town is nestled in the Moselle Valey, and dominated by the fairytale shape of Cochem Castle on the nearby hill. It really is one of the prettiest towns you could ever imagine. I guess that is why it is overrun by thousands of tourists every day. This really is pyjama boat country.

(Note the Internet on the boat is far too slow to upload any images, so that will have to wait till when we are back in a normal hotel)Read more