This place is where my bike was stolen locked to a bike rack across the street.
with this illuminated by the sun when I was inside and my bike finding a new owner.
Started about 1880, 60% complete, 300 workers currently on the job, due for completion 2030. The main spire not yet built.
When Gaudi was awarded his architecture degree, his Professor wondered whether they were awarding it to a madman or a genius.
He was inspired by nature, geometry and obsessive about light.
The historic centre of Barcelona is the classic Roman Hexagon, somewhat irregular.
It seems to be defined not by Gaudi, but by La Rambla down which everyone walks, apparently tourists by day and locals by night, but I have seen tourists out at night walking there looking at the locals. And Placa Reial, where the locals don't eat as they know where the better food is at a fraction of the price. There is a Gaudi piece in the centre. It is said to be the most beautiful square in the world - it is said.
What caught my eye over 3 days was this guy and friend on bikes on La Rambla. The first of such people to whom I have given money, and in return for which action occurs.
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All the rest of the people are also keen cyclists as these are everywhere. As befitting a poorer city, these are the most basic of such city bikes I have seen. They have a hard life.
My journey had 3 foci - Germany/Prague, Roman legacy in Provence, and Andalusia.
Looking ahead, I have nearly 5 weeks to go. This must include contingency time at the end to get the bike in a box at Madrid airport and there are a few details to sort out.
The plan is now focussed on Andalusia. So:
I had included Cadiz as a possibility for some time, and then on reading the Frommer guide to Andalusia it did not think it worthy of much time. Today whilst sheltering from the rain for a while got chatting to a Polish architect touring Spain with a big camera, and he gave Cadiz very high praise.
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Some detailed route planning now to occupy my mind - suggestions welcome.
Kms / day in the hills unknown perhaps 40 to 50.
And in the tradition of past rides I now have company.
I was reflecting on the differences between my last long ride across Europe in 2008.
A few factors:
All these combine to reduce the available hours for cycling and the average speed.
In addition when there are things to see as I often do, so there are more non-riding days.
So rather than a ride across Europe, it is a ride between places of interest when there is likely something to be discovered, and the weather reasonable, otherwise the train.
Currently in Barcelona for 5 nights, including today's day of rain, then south.
And on blogging
I had developed a pattern of writing my blogs at night after dinner whilst alone in my quiet hotel room. The wifi issue interfered with that pattern from time to time. Being on-line to sort out photos and formatting is also important.
Now in Spain. The sunrise is late as they are west but on the same time zone as most of Europe. They live at night and eat late, so the time for blogging needs to be re-thought.
Some of the most noted Roman ruins in France are in the area around Avignon.
On the Monday I cycled 60 kms return to Avignon and visited the Popes Palace. On Tuesday rode again about 60 kms but one way to Arles allowing all afternoon for looking and caught the train home. On Wednesday took the train both ways to Orange but had the bike for getting around.
Arles is noted for its Amphitheatre and it Theatre. The Theatre was virtually lost and the "Business of Arles" began in the 1800s of rebuilding and developing tourism. As you see below the stage now virtually non-existent.
I had less awareness of Orange but the Theatre of Arles cannot compare.
Clearly the well-off Opera enthusiasts know of Orange today when the great Operas are regularly performed.
The contrast is striking between its original use as free entertainment for all (classes separated though), and which was often quite bawdy. Performances could last days and much beer consumed. The audio guide made reference to the crowd often calling "get your gear off" to the actresses.
A little history:
This theatre functioned for over 400 years, till the Christians took over the roman empire and replaced theatre with a culture of death and misery.
It fell into disuse, and after the empire collapsed was sacked and burned.
The image shows 2 columns - there were 76 originally, and the centre statue of the Emperor was designed to have a replaceable head.
It was inspirational to sit, look and listen to the audio guide.
The mistral has arrived, gusts up to 80 kph and averaging 40 perhaps. Some say it defines Provence, cleans the air as this draught blasts down the Rhone valley and freshens the place up. The locals might also say it gives them respite from the tourists who have been choking the place for summer and only the stragglers are here now.
I have seen all I want to, and there is no attraction to cycling this French coast, as I suspect it is wall to wall resorts now largely quiet and a little forlorn. Lots of France, like this place, is forlorn looking without the crowds of tourists. With the unpredictable and unridable mistral, I will catch the train to Spain. It is not too far with a direct "ter" train, bike friendly, to the Spanish border.
Just to note, this ride is not an "efi" (a cross continental cyclists term meaning every inch), nor is it an "epa" (every possible attraction), as I did not bother with Nimes today, choosing to have a rest and attend to the bike and walk around town and the mistral-swept market. They are hardy souls.
For those interested, the cobblestones and other surfaces have stretched a few spokes requiring re-tensioning and re-alignment of the wheels.
The chain was misbehaving, so prudently replaced, with one with a quick release or "power link", making life easier for cleaning and packing later on.
The idler wheels on the rear derailleur that normally are provided on new bikes are simple cheap plain journal bearings requiring occasional removal, cleaning and oiling. Without attention they rust and don't help riding. Fortunately, and at modest cost, or if in France very cheaply, they can be replaced with maintenance free stainless steel sealed ball bearing (note zoomed in view) units as shown. That was the mid-ride checkup after shopping in Avignon, together with new cycling shoes as the other ones were virtually worn out before the trip began. I knew I could easily replace them here.
Relevant tools and skills therefore necessary for these trips.
Then 5 weeks to cycle the mediterranian coast and Andalusia, with a few days at the end to see Seville and pack the bike.
This place came to my attention on reading some commercial cycle tour operators web sites who use this place as a starting point for their tours. About 25 km ride east of Avignon. Apparently it is crowded in season, but now is quiet except when I arrived on a sunny warm Sunday and everybody wanted one of Isabella's sundaes or gelatos. Like Germany, these generous sundaes seem almost compulsory
Its full name at the train station is as below. The various ways of abbreviating it can cause some confusion.
There are remains of water wheels that would have powered some past industry and justified the extensive water channelling of the river Sorgue. Now all that is a backdrop to endless restaurants and cafes.
I am here 5 nights with daily excursions to places of interest with Roman ruins, all easily accessible daily using a combination of riding and train rides.
Apologies for absence of posts, but the absence of wifi has been challenging.
Since Aachen I visited Trier for a day. I draws crowds to see Roman ruins, some amongst the largest built such as the baths, indicating it importance at the time.
It also has the Karl Marx Museum which I spent a few hours in.
Then by train to Luxembourg before catching the night train to Les Arcs in Provence. These long distance slower conventional trains have been mostly superseded by the TGV but some still run (Lunea for the night train with both seats and 6 berth couchette sleepers - they also have Teoz for day trains). Speed is modest limited to 200 kph. I had a whole compartment to myself and velo next to it.
Taking a bike on the TGV is not sensible as they must be put in a box.
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So to Les Arcs and the first day on the bike for a while and the first proper climbing of the whole trip so far - 68 kms and 1,140 metres climbed, mostly in the first 38 kms.
I hoped to ride the road along the Grand Canyon du Verdon.
However after looking at the contours of the roads that go along each side, up high the conclusion was -
Ce n'est pas possible sur la velo du tour avec les baggages, so this is what I saw.
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Overnight at this place.
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Then today to Apt, a modest size town, way past it's prime. it is where I got to when time finished. And where a bit of new reporting is introduced.
The weather has turned, looks windy wet and cooler, so I am on my way to Provence from where I will ride to Barcelona, and beyond. Have hardly ridden for days since 2 ferocious days of headwinds some days back. These days motivated a short train ride to Goslar, then a longer day of trains to Aachen.
Two matters are of some consequence:
1 There is a French train strike.
2. The French school holidays begin on the 23 rd and I suspect it will get busy down south where I will be, so I may not linger depending on accommodation issues. I might have about 8-10 days in France by the time the trains resume and I get there. The key French train web site I want for the overnight bike-friendly trains uses Flash Player which does not work on the iPad.
So as there is no riding to write about, other matters.
For Charlemagne, Aachen was the new Rome. The evidence is that he was a true Romaphile. The Bronze Wolf statue circa 200AD on a pedestal in the palace church. Marble columns bought from Rome. He was the first Emperor since the Roman Empire.
Charlemagne was pivotal in galvanising the Christians into a coherent group of soldiers and stopping the widespread Islamic destruction of Europe that had gone on for centuries.
Charlemagne bought back education that had decreased since the sacking of Rome and the de-ubanisation of Europe that occurred during the Islamic invasion and widespread destruction of cities (and other matters). It was a key part of the foundation upon which the thinkers, painters and writers could develop, as many needed patronage of some sort, I think. All the other activities (with which some are more familiar) of the arts and sciences, creation of Universities, and later de-christianisation of Europe followed.
Today Aachen has a population of 250,000 and a University of 30,000 students embedded in the historic heart of the town, with all the facilities they need for learning and learning about each other. And a busy train station at the start and end of semester, like the day I arrived, and more so when my train broke down and we all scrambled onto the next train with half of the student body's fleet of bicycles.
To Trier (Germany near the Luxembourg / French border) hopefully tomorrow. A place to see and then for easy access to the French Lunea train I want that gets me to Toulon. Toulon is of no interest but it's hinterland is.
4 weeks: 1/3 of the planned tour, about 1,600 behind me at an average a bit under 60 kms / day including non-riding days.
My first experience of cycling in Germany was in 2008 along the the Danube - the Donau Radweg. As best I can remember it was a free-flowing experience and navigation and riding speeds were easy. Perhaps memory colours this a bit as the weather was fine and the week before in France was regular rain. Average speeds for the day for me then typically about 23 kph (for most days of the whole trip from Paris to Istanbul).
This tour started a in a similar way on the Main River from Frankfurt for a few days, but since then the days are mostly constant slowing or stopping for navigational checks or changes if the path or road surface is problematic, and slowing for the persistent use of cobblestones. Average speeds perhaps 18, with cruising speeds 25 to 28 after the first hr warm up at say 22 - all terrain and wind modified.
Of particular note is the Elbe Radweg, often described as one of the great cycle rides. Except for part of the day in Saxon-Switzerland when I entered Germany from Czech Republic, I can best describe it as a staccato ride. Turning, bouncing over countless short sections of cobblestones (new and apparent speed bumps), looking for signs, and deciding which side of the river to take as one is better than the other. This does not suit the long distance tourer who likes to set their own rhythm within reason. The Elbe is over 800 kms of cycleway - I only rode a part of it, but dubious about the rest.
From Litomerice to Villa Else before Dresdon and good day some sections of superb scenery in Saxon Switzerland. Frau Else something else.
The next day 92 kms through Dresdon to Strehla on the Elbe - the real staccato day, most frustrating.
From Strehla the priority was to get as close to Berlin as possible, and only linger if something appeared en-route, which nothing did. So made 132 kms at a reasonable pace as I basically chose a direct and nearly straight route on quiet rural roads towards Berlin and only using bike paths if they appeared nearby and were rideable - perhaps 30 kms of the day. A day of few memorable sights, increasing abandoned apartments closer to Berlin, and persistent spiderwebs and small flies throughout the day - there was much corn fields and indoor dairies. The bike was festooned with spiderwebs and me with little flies, and later in the hotel mossies.
When I had had enough Hotel Weisser Schwann (white swan) appeared in the town of Zossen after the worst bit of the day being 6 kms of dirt track along a canal - enticed onto it by the sign and 200 metres of good paving at which time I seemed committed to this route as the road had also just deteriorated. Berlin would be just an easy ride the next day.
On checking in and asking why this place was so highly regarded (their sign said so) I stayed 3 nights. You see, just nearby is a railway station with 50 mins on the regional express train to the centre of Berlin, which I used for the next 2 days.
Berlin: I usually like to walk cities, and particularly after some days in the saddle. After catching the train from Zossen and started walking around it became evident this was no fun. Berlin is the least walkable of all the cities I have visited. Day 1 was orientation and errands day. Day 2 (a Sunday) I took my bike on the train and it was a pleasure. The type of day when the famous old statement about how liberating the bicycle could be really meant something. My bike is allowing me to see Europe in general, and Berlin in particular.
There are other options:
hire a Segway, hire a Trabi (where else?), ride the 10 seater beer bike, go up in the helium balloon, use the good underground or the ubiquitous double decker buses, but none would compare with a bike - on the 2nd day I saw lots of the highlights at a leisurely pace in half a day, then with time for whatever came to mind.
On the following day rode about 1 hr towards Berlin as far as the wall bike path (Mauradweg) which I rode westwards along the southern boundary of the former American zone to Potsdam, visited "sanssouci", an amazing amount of former indulgence of palaces and gardens over a huge site and still undergoing extensive renovations, then joined R1 and continued till late to a hotel in a small village of Borkheide
The next day to Lutherstadt Wittenberg, then to Dessau, and now today in fierce winds a short afternoon ride to Nienburg (Saale), stopping just before a storm front passed through.
The idea for the route from Berlin, or as it transpired from Potsdam, was to ride R1 most of the way across Germany to Munster. R1 begins in France and ends after 3,500 kms in St Petersburg. Another of the great long distance european rides. I am now completely confused by them. They are unrideable. They are part of the Eurovelo network of 12 long distance paths planned for a total of 60,000 kms. I can not imagine any one using them for that purpose. It often has other prior names for other shorter purposes of follies.
I have abandoned using the specific tracks or paths and am now making my own road choices. R1 is circuitous in the extreme, often, very often, on bad surfaces, and if there is a good local road or good cycle path through town, it will direct you to some weird alternative. It appears completely inconsistent with the high standards laid out in the Eurovelo policy guidelines. Note - I am still in the former East Germany for a little while.
My plan is now to find roads to Munster, then south east to Aachen, then Trier, then leave Germany on some trains to Avignon or thereabouts. Perhaps another 10 days in Germany.
The Bike and Gear
Working out pretty well, not sure of weight but perhaps 14 kgs + bike. Two small Ortleib panniers on the front, a light 40 litre backpack on the rear rack so I can easily carry it to hotel rooms with the light panniers in my hand, and a customised bum bag as the handlebar bag with valuables, that easily can be clipped off the bike and used as a bum bag when in cafes or checking in to hotels. A few more tweaks soon.
The GPS now comes into its own now that I have abandoned the idea of looking for R1 (or other) signs. The GPS was useful in any event. Unfortunately not able to interface it with the iPad for route updates.
For future rides might consider fatter tyres. This needs a bit more thought. I have 28 front and 32 rear tyres. 36 back/front might work. Next year I won't have the luggage onboard which also needs to be factored in.
Along the Vltava River a few days back on the 2nd day out of Prague this bridge caught my attention. I think it is a pretty fine example of the creativity of bridge designers. It is only a bridge of modest size but is striking.
In the context of building roads, bridges can get pretty expensive and, with a few exceptions, bridges are almost strictly functional designs with only a minimum of additional cost allowed for the artistic flair. It is the hallmark of bridge designers to blend their creative and functional technical expertise to get an appealing bridge at low cost for the particular site. This bridge is in the Czech Republic with, I suspect, modest resources further adding to the need for low-cost design.
I further suspect putting a column on the cliff side was going to be expensive. This solution with its leaning tower and integrated bridge spanning the cycle path provided an integrated counter-weight of already needed materials to efficiently support the full weight of the bridge over the river from one side. Jára Cimrman would be pleased.
You see, there is more to that story of a few days back in Prague about Jara with his eye-catching inventions. Jara is a fictional character - a pedagogical device for the Czech people and its education system which I have not fully grasped. A quote from Wikipedia:
Czechs, their mentality and their hero
For many Czechs, Jára Cimrman is not only one of many ordinary funny characters. His status in Czech culture is much deeper and complex than it may seem at the first sight, especially for a foreigner. In the view of Czechs, the whole history of the Czech nation represents a struggle with expansive attempts of bigger nations who have always tried to dominate the Central European region and who have considered it their "sphere of interest".
No matter in which situation, Cimrman is always depicted as a determined fighter against the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, despite the fact that his very name and origin themselves reflect the ethnically mixed nature of the Czech (and Austrian) population. This symbolizes not only a silent resistance of the Czech people against the Soviet occupation but against any form of oppression which have often taken place in the Czech lands.
Over centuries of military occupations and autocracies, the Czechs developed a mentality which allowed them to resist even the toughest opponents, not by force which they usually lacked, but rather by using their brain and tactics. Reinhard Heydrich, when instructing heads of his Prague’s gestapo, warned them that unlike the Poles or the Yugoslavs who are rigid and stubborn and who can be therefore broken by sufficient force, “Czechs are servile and flexible as sticks which first bend down and then whip back when least expected.”
One of the most used, cited, remembered and very well understood phrases in the Czech Republic is associated with Cimrman and we can find its origin in the movie Jára Cimrman Lying, Sleeping. Cimrman, as a teacher in the local school, gave this advice to a group of children standing in front of a pound (fence for cattle), wondering how to get over it. “Children, in your life you will have to face obstacles. Tyrš says: “Jump, climb, but never ever bend down” but I say: “You may bend down too, but then you must straighten up again!”
The self-image of bending down and then straightening up characterizes a wide-spread Czechs' view of the last two centuries of the Czech history.
I am indebted to the Czech woman who chatted to me at his exhibition - I did not see any explanatory notes about him there.
To enjoy today you needed to have someone else's mountain bike and be pissed - neither applied to me. The gang in this beer garden were well into it when I arrived for a coke, and money is no object at $A1.10 for a large mug of beer.
Having looked at the maps, noted where the path was and entered a few waypoints into the GPS, and observed that many of the cruisey type tour operators run cycle tours between Berlin and Prague, and for context the Elbe (in Germany) is one of the world's best rated cycle paths, Comments included that this path was generally good with sections of gravel, and well signposted. I pedaled out of Prague looking forward to a big day on the bike drifting along these rivers and taking in the grandeur. Balls to all of that idea.
After the usual crappy bits of getting out of cities like Prague, wearing sneakers rather than the usual cleated shoes to allow for the unexpected bits of treacherous surface and traffic, I was soon on a great bit of high speed smooth path and after perhaps 5 kms it all went pear shaped big time. Note, this is the major route to the Elbe, Dresden and beyond, not some minor track in remote Africa..
I rock-hopped, juddered over stones, walked over tree routes, squeezed along overgrown narrow uneven tracks, walked precariously along the track right on the edge of precipitous 4m high unstable wall on the edge of the river, several times, pushed the bike up a steep slippery slope, and on it went till the beer garden. Then it got better, and bad again, and good, and bad.
And then on an OK road a route indicator giving a choice of left to the ferry, that was not there, or straight ahead. So after a few kms of the straight ahead option I reached the canal with this bridge (photo) with recently painted yellow stairs, painted after the ferry sank. This was the main route No 2 to Germany - up the stairs with bike and stuff, and down the same on the other side. To a great new path, for a while, then to mush again. This was the pattern of the whole day.
After passing Melinka, where the sign man missed the usual critical ones, I eventually found the path which was fantastic so I wound it up a bit 28 to 30 kph for a while, then "where did that go". Right to the end at Litomerice the track was goodish and bad. For the last 5 kms I braved the busy road that was right next to the goat track. On the early 2 days in Czechia, I was able to often avoid the bad track and use great quiet roads but up here I could not find any, just too busy and unfriendly, and I kept getting baited by the good bits, thinking we are getting close to Germany and the Czechs started building the path from the border as well as the good near Prague. The maps in my GPS incomplete and too sparse in this eastern world.
Distance 108 kms
Time. 6hrs 30 mins moving, 1hr stopped
Food en-route. All pretty miserable
Reflection A shit of a day & first ever day of touring with no cleated riding shoes
So to Litomerice, at the Hotel Roosevelt, delightful receptionist as we are in the countryside now. This town apparently is a popular tourist town (perhaps with well-off Czechs by the sounds I heard) because it is one of the oldest towns in Czechia with history going back to the year 1,000. These claims are sort of useful, identify the age of a building or 2, they bring in the crowds who pay more for beer than the guys earlier in the day in the beer garden, but this world has been inhabited from near the dawn of human migration, and more recently the Romans when they arrived established larger towns on pre-existing settlements all over this continent. That is another 1,000 yrs back. All a bit of a mystery to me. There is oldness everywhere and archeological remains are endemic in this ground.
Back to Litomerice. When I rode into town at 16:30 it had this sense of old elegance, but long since faded, washed out, with attempts at a new paint job. No German vibrancy in the colour scheme here. The central large square with the compulsory cafes around it, at one of which I had dinner (a turkey steak and a pear strudel), is just a run-down parking lot. A ring road made of cobblestones that generate a terrible noise with all the cars circulating and the local hoons roaring along occasionally to impress someone not here so as to continually destroy any sense of ambiance whilst having a beer or glass of wine. I wonder what this square looked like in its glory days 500 years ago? Perhaps a great garden in the middle, a market, quieter horses and carts, and a lot of life.
The locals having a cheap pizza in a quiet garden cafe down the alley nearby, away from the square. I was too tired to explore much tonight.
Well, as I strolled across the river and climbed up the hill to Petrin Tower, the highest vantage point over the city, the thought was there would be no post after one day in Prague. But after the usual photos from the top of the tower (actually half way up is better as it is nearly as high and you are not jostling for position with the crowd) I ventured into the basement and wandered around the exhibition there. The images tell the story.
with a close up of the drive train
a tricycle for professional photographers
and there are more but you might have seen enough.
You see, one reason I travel (although not very well) is to find out something about the people, and today I learnt something about the Czech mind - it was a good day
