Day 17 Cologne, Germany - When It Rains.......

Joan's View

We had 53 miles to ride today. Tony checked radar this morning and even though rain was forecast for most of the day, it was supposed to start around 8am. We were ready to go well before that and as we prepped to clip in and take off, it started to rain. Hmpf. It was a soft rain with breaks along the way. Most of our ride was along the Rhine with great views which made the rain easy to ignore, most of the time. We took pictures when we could to avoid having to ruin Tony's phone. We got a photo of a small-town ancient wall. 

It started to rain a little harder, so we took a break where the trail went under a bridge. While we recharged, I told Tony, "There is a waterfall coming off of the bridge" so that we could avoid it. Tony thought it would be a great idea to go under the waterfall since we were already wet. 

A waterfall on the trail

A little farther on the trail, we came to a complete stop because these guys were working on the curb. We had to wait about 10 minutes until the asphalt truck moved up enough so that we could get by. 

We tried to get a picture of our front light that looked like it gave off sparklers when it rained. OK, the timing could have been better on that one.

Our next rest area was during a break in the rain.

We continued on the trail and saw these old fortifications. Tony recognized them as soon as he saw that we were in Remagen. The Ludendorff bridge at Remagen is famous because it was the last remaining bridge over the Rhine during WWII. The Germans left it open for a long time so that their troops could get back into Germany when they retreated from France. When the time came that they wanted to blow it up, their efforts failed due to multiple reasons. In time, our troops were able to reach the bridge and gain access to German. It's a fascinating story if you want to hear the details Bridge of Remagen 1945.wmv - Bing video.

Riding through Remagen, we also got this great picture of an upscale shop. 

Another storybook castle

Riding out of Remagen, we got a picture of this beautiful castle.

About halfway into our ride, it started to rain again, and then there was a noise. Yes, we had our first flat of this trip. We somewhat took shelter under a tree on the bike trail. Tony started the whole tire changing process made even lengthier when he had to fix the air pump as well. Several people stopped to ask if we needed help. We ended up moving the bike near the end of the repair to the walking path up the hill because so many cyclists were riding past, and we were sort of blocking the narrow trail.

The rain continued sometimes a little heavier, but never any thunderstorms. We were getting really soaked and Tony once again had dirt on his water bottles for that unique gritty rain day flavor. At a point where the trail turned and we had a steep short climb, the chain jumped off the gears. Tony caught the bike on the hill, and I sort of quickly got off. We pushed the bike to a level surface. This time, the chain was wedged against the wheel. It took lots of greasy fingers, some cuss words from Tony and more dirt on me because I had to hold the bike while he unwedged the chain using a variety of methods. No pictures because it was raining.

From there we came upon a short stretch of gravel and mud puddles. Tony paused a minute or so to decide if he really wanted to take that path. Gravel and rain really do a number on Tony, the bike paniers, and the bike itself. Tony decided how much worse can it be than what we already have caked on us and the bike, so we pedaled ahead.

Our detour

The rain was steady. The riders were getting tired. The path had a closure in front of us. Tony did what he usually does when that happens - we rode around it. We kept a keen eye on what was ahead of us. About a half mile down the trail, we saw that workers were trimming trees along the paths. As we approached them, we got the clear signal to turn around, so we did. We did some surveillance around the area where the trail first closed off and decided to take the cobble stone road that ran parallel to the trail. A little more dirt and a few more miles, and we were back on the trail. 

We rode through the industrial part of Bonn along the river for a quite some time before getting close to Cologne. We were relying on the Garmin to get us to our Airbnb, but the details are so much clearer on the phone. After several U-turns in heavy Cologne city traffic, Tony got out the phone anyway. We celebrated only briefly when we found the Airbnb because we had lots to clean, including us.

Overall, we were really blessed with how this day all worked out!

Tony's Extras

This ride had so many challenges, which made it a real adventure. Rain all day, mud, gravel and, yes, bicycle challenges. I am actually very sore and tired tonight. Isn't it amazing how we seem to get flats when it is raining? The flat came from some sharp nail like object. The hole in the tire, the size of a nail, gave it away. At Ludendorff bridge at Remagen, I climbed up to the first span between the abutment and first pier and you can see how thick the concrete was where they did blow it up over land. The bravery shown by the young Americans to capture the bridge is very admirable. It just brings WWII to reality and what they went through. Much more than rain, flat tires and stuck chains. God Bless all the people who died in this terrible war.