The road less traveled part 9

Day 8, Obertal to Idar-Oberstein. Our hotelier decided that, being Americans, we should be served an "American" breakfast this morning. 2 eggs sunny side up, toast and a pile of undercooked bacon. Recall the 17 beers from the night before? Thanks for the gut bomb meal- Webbs it wasn't. Anyway, we started the day riding to the start of the Nahe River, or Nahequelle. It turned out literally to be a 1" pipe sticking out of a hillside in the middle of nowhere. For some reason the Germans found this an interesting site to visit. The riding was awesome today- some of the best of the tour. Lots of hills and varied terrain- dirt paths to paved lanes. Lots of little towns in between.

Idar-Oberstein is a center for the gem trade and has scads of gem and precious stone shops- indeed of little interest to us. A nice place to stay anyway.

Over the river and through the woods....

Scenic vistas galore.

A church built in to the cliffside above our hotel.

We called these "drinking huts".

And now you know why.

The road less traveled part 8

Day 7, Metlach to Oberthal. A sweet cruise down the Saar River today to the thriving metropolis of Merzig where we caught a train to the equally thriving metropolis of Saint Wendel. Rode on to Oberthal and got rooms at the only place in town. As we were having a malt beverage and talking about where to go for dinner, some big ole thunderstorms came through. That made that decision easy- we'll eat at our hotel.

Had words with this dude early in the morning. He's about 40 feet tall. Not sure what he was all about tho'- he wouldn't say.

Zur Cloef. Translated litterally: the cliff. See the pictures below for the view from the top of this monstrosity.

Worth the hike.

Just a cool pic of my bro.

This is what happens when there are 17 beers on your tab at the end of the night. We was ef'd up but good. Nearly had a hangover the next day but by this time my beer metabolizing system was in prime form so nooooo problemo.

The road less traveled part 7

Day 6, Luxembourg City to Metlach, Germany. Cycle touring just isn't about cities so we split from Lux City first thing. We were soon on the hill down that we had come up the day before. 40mph for miles on a loaded touring bike- what a gas. At the bottom of the long run down we ran into (not literally) Frank Schleck of Team CSC out for a training ride. I think he can go up faster than we can go down. We stayed the night in Metlach, the HQ for the china company Villeroy and Bach. Lots of factory stores and stuff we weren't interested in but the beer was cold and the room was comfy and clean....

View from my balcony early in the morning. The hotel was called The Hotel Shintgen. We quickly renamed it the Hotel Shithole. Oh well, it was cheap.

We went overland at this point to reach the Saar River shown here.

A bit confusing looking. Check out all the bike route signs.

This was taken at the top of a 2.4km climb. I was feeling groovy. It got so steep in places that I almost fell over.

Instead of the typical beer shot I have to show my dinner. It was called sausagesalat. Julienned bologna, dill pickles and sweet onions in a vinegar dressing with roasted taters. Sound gross? I'm here to tell you it's one happenin' dish. Wash it all down with a few ice cold regional pilsners and you've got a great meal.

The road less traveled part 6

Day 5, Remish, Luxembourg to Luxembourg City. A short day mileage-wise but lots of climbing. I would say that from the river valley at Remish to Lux City, it is mostly uphill. I really felt the single speed this day and wasn't at all sorry to have a short day. It started out cool, 55 and misty bu tturned out to be a nice day afetr all.

We have this thing about taking each other's picture out hotel room windows. Don't ask.

Definitely uphill from the river...... After 1km, the road turned straight up into a 12% climb for 3km. What a workout- one of the few times I almost got off and walked the bike. This climb was switchbacked and I can attest to the outside of the hairpin being slightly less steep than the inside. I even had to ride side to side on the road at times in order to stay upright.

What do amorous cows have to do with cycle touring? I don't know, but I like the shot.

Mmmm, lunch. There was a fest going on in the main square of Lux City when we got there. How can you pass up foot-long brats with piles of kraut and mustard? (and of course buckets of fries with mayonnaise and spiced ketchup)

Beeeeeeeeer

Cece

I know you're looking for podium girls and supermates but Cece is as close as you'll get on this blog. This series is from a shoot about a month ago. The second one down is my personal favorite. The little files you get to see on the blog just don't do the originals justice.

The road less traveled part 5

Day 4, Lewein, Germany to Remich, Luxembourg. Our first day of cooler temps and a little rain but not too bad all in all. Of interest this day was what we had for lunch: Doner Kebap; I can only describe it as the tastiest lunch I ever had. It's made of spit roasted mutton (?) shaved off and served in a pita with tahini sauce and veggies. I am sure that it's extra healthy...... Anyway, lest you forget, cycle touring is about riding to eat and drink, and eat and drink we did. With abandon. Daily.

Early in the day we came across this lock and dam with a cruise boat about to go through. Pretty cool process.

This was the second of six ferry crossings we had to make as part of the trip. It would generally only cost around $1.50 for person and bike to cross.

A cool shot of my dad and bro cruising along a river pathway.

Welcome to Luxembourg. It was like entering another country. Um, oh yeah, it was another country.... Strangely, the language, customs and architecture were all French rather than German. I suppose it shares a much longer border with France but the region has been fought over, conquered, divided, rejoined, etc. etc. for millenia so who knows. I can say this: after having toured in France, and now Luxembourg, the food and acconodations are way better in Germany.

OK, so the food wasn't that bad. If you know and appreciate a good salad nicoise, you know what the above picture is all about. And yes, it goes with beer. Perfectly well.