Day 14 - Bacharach to Bodenheim

 59.1 km - Total so far 685.8 km - Route pedalled.      Relive Video (with pictures)

Video of the day: Europe Day 14

We are safe and secure in a nice room with a balcony in Bodenheim. 

When we stepped outside this morning, it was pretty cold and for a brief moment, we were back in Ottawa less the snow. The ride down to the bakery was invigorating. We decided that occasionally we will treat ourselves to bakery coffee and treats.

In the first 11 kilometers, we saw no less than 6 castles and some pretty big ones. You have to wonder about the logistics of getting the materials at height and looking after the workers and masons. 

They are in Germany as well but not many

After about 25 kilometers or so the Rhine starts to widen and the topography started to flatten out. The castles became few and far between. One of the biggest one is Ehrenfels Castle, near Bingen. Close to the castle is the Niederland monument, commemorates the Unification of Germany in 1871. A local at the grocery store told me it is referred to as "Statue of Germania" by some locals. It is part of the Rhine Gorge, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Check out this Rhine Gorge link. It has a map with castle locations between Bonn and Bingen. The pictures are not nearly as artistic as the ones we took. 

Since I spend a lot of time static outside grocery stores, our Canadian flags and Amsterdam to Istanbul sign attract quite a few people. That has to be the best part of bike touring. 

We had a light tailwind that enabled us to maintain a much higher average speed. We made use of the better wind conditions to fly our Hover drone. You can see some of the footage in the video. I wished I had bought it in early fall and used it more. I got it late January but did not use it. It can't be used over snow or water because the lack of ground relief confuses it. We are still working out the kinks!

It was another super day riding the EuroVelo 15. Not having headwinds to overcome made it so much easier on our bodies. 

Tomorrow we are heading to Ludwigshafen

We saw many swan couples today

It's baby season