2022 Mosel, Saar & Lahn

This trip we will be biking less each day and will stop in places we haven’t been to before.
We go down the Mosel which we have done before.
Part way down the Mosel, we take a train up to Merzig on the Saar, and bike back down to the Mosel to the Rhine at Koblenz.
The Lahn river comes into the Rhine from the east, just south of Koblenz.
It will be a new experience, and is described as being a beautifully quiet river valley.
We take train to Holland and fly home from Amsterdam.

DATE	Dist	Sum Km	City	Route
2022-08-30	Fly		Toronto Airport
2022-08-31	0	0	Paris
2022-09-01		0	Metz
2022-09-02	36	36	Thionville	Day 1
2022-09-03	28	64	Perl	Day 2
2022-09-04	29	93	Nittel	Day 3
2022-09-05	17	110	Merzig - Saar River	Day 4
2022-09-06	20	130	Mettlach	Day 5
2022-09-07	20	150	Saarburg	Day 6
2022-09-08	22	172	Trier	Day 7
2022-09-09		172	Trier
2022-09-10	35	207	Trittenheim	Day 8
2022-09-11	30	237	Bernkastel-kues	Day 9
2022-09-12	24	261	Traben-Trarbach	Day 10
2022-09-13	25	286	Bullay	Day 11
2022-09-14	31	317	Cochem	Day 12
2022-09-15	0	317	Cochem
2022-09-16	35	352	Kobern	Day 13
2022-09-17	22	374	Lahnstein	Day14
2022-09-18	25	399	Bad Laaspe - Lahn River	Day 15
2022-09-19	30	429	Lahntal	Day 16
2022-09-20	22	451	Marburg	Day 17
2022-09-21		451	Marburg
2022-09-22	35	486	Giessen	Day 18
2022-09-23	28	514	Wetzlar	Day 19
2022-09-24	30	544	Weilburg	Day 20
2022-09-25	37	581	Limburg	Day 21
2022-09-26	26	607	Koblenz	Day 22
2022-09-27		607	Arnhem
2022-09-28		607	Arnhem
2022-09-29	20	627	Woerden	Day 23
2022-09-30		627	Woerden
2022-10-01	22	649	Uithoorn	Day 24
2022-10-02		649	Uithoorn
2022-10-03	13	662	Fly

August 30 Tuesday
Quick ride to the airport.
Broke our record for check-in, bike wrap, swabbing and security – 1 ½ hours.
Lots of time for a meal. Had a beer & a wine! Judy had tea!
Lost my cellphone briefly. Someone turned it in at the gate!
Early on the plane as we had Club seats. Very comfortable.

August 31 Wednesday – In Paris

Flight was on time. 10:30am. Had to take a bus to the terminal. No undue delay
Bags both made it intact. Yeah compression straps! Bikes made it ok.
When Judy pumped up her rear tire, the valve stem came away from the tube. Had to replace tube.

Avoiding escalators and taking lifts to get to train station was circuitous. But with help from strangers we got to Paris Gare du Nord.
Rear wheel re-installation I find difficult. Judy had derailleur problem as we left airport so we walked to hotel from train station. 600m
Small but ok room with place to store bikes.
Went to bike store but were too busy to look at the bike.
I rode Judy’s bike and it came right!
Later went to Café had small 1664 beer, Judy a pop. Both same price 5.10 euros!
Had dinner there. I had choucroute. Huge portion!

Went to Gare de l’Est to check it out (leave from there tomorrow).

September 1 Thursday – Paris to Metz
Great breakfast at hotel. Checked out and left panniers at hotel. Biked to Notre Dame. Took pictures of the renovations. Amazing that so much of the exterior structure did not collapse.

Biked back to hotel. Lots of bikes zipping past us.
Back to Gare d l’est looking to have lunch. But needed to visit the bathroom – it cost 1 euro. Didn’t have change. Haven’t had to pay cash yet, so no change!
So went out of station to Café and split a chicken club.
Back to train station. They post platform # for trains 20 min before departure. You have to wait until then to go to train. They scan tickets on your phone – QR code.
Older train with 3 steps up and narrow doors.
Small car with 2 bicycle spaces. Quick train ride. Arrive in Metz at 5pm
Got to our hotel ok. Poor wifi so didn’t get a lot done.
Went out for drinks and dinner.
By luck found the busiest and biggest Café area in Metz. Place Saint Louis. Hundreds of people outside. At one I had great beer – Fisher. Judy had coke. They were 5.40 euro almost half what we paid in Paris!
We found a restaurant with one open table. Had excellent omelets for 29.60 including 2 glasses of wine.

Still crowded when we left around 9.
Great night.

September 2 – Friday – Metz to Thionville – 36km
Another great breakfast buffet!
Our first real day of biking. Took a while to get organized.
Went to a nearby bike shop to see if they could pump up our tires. Their pump didn’t work well. Took a while to get to the Moselle. Bought sandwich and an apple to take for lunch. 11:00 and we are biking down the river.

Beautiful day for biking. Trail paved, well signed. After 12 km found a Café beside trail. Toilet was a long walk through a farm. Ate sandwich around 1pm. Into Thionville around 3pm. Checked into hotel then went to nearby square for beers. Judy had Heineken 0.0 I tried a Fisher Dorelei which was too sweet. Later went back to same square and had pizza with small green salads.
Great meal and inexpensive.
Went for walk, then had another beer. Tired after 35km so crashed.

September 3 – Saturday – Thionville to Perl- 32km
Another good buffet. Rain forecast but Ok to start. Hit a trail closure in Thionville, so up a steep hill to get around it. Judy’s bike locked up. Found that her rear wheel came loose. My fault as I must have not reassembled it properly after changing the tube.
While we were stopped, 14 motorcycles pulled in. They were from Germany and were going to ride the Santiago trail.
Got away at 11am. Stopped for coffee at Bar de Bac. It started to rain. Got bikes waterproofed and collected rain gear. We left when rain had eased off.
Rained hard off and on. New rain pants let water into my shoes- need some adjustment. Rain stopped 8km from Perl. At hotel a out 3pm. Lunch in the room was an apple and Lara bar.
Large room so we were able to put wet stuff around it to dry.
Had dinner at hotel. Both had schnitzel. Very good.
Another night to crash!

September 4 – Sunday – Perl to Nittel 32km
Different breakfast. Plates of bread, meat and cheese set prepared on table for two. Waitress came and took order for anything else.
Took a while to get organized as we had all the rain gear to store. Weather forecast good for today.
Left around 11am. Up to bridge and into Luxembourg. Stopped for coffee in Remich.

Lots of people out on Sunday. Crossed another bridge back into Germany.
Lunch was an apple and part of a Lara bar in the shade. Hot hot.
Had to ride up hill to hotel. Great spot. Large patio along one side. Lots of people mid-afternoon. We have a large room in the guest house.
Bikes go in a large bike garage.
We go for drinks and stay for dinner. Excellent. Judy had Quiche Lorraine. I had a Winzer steak. (A thin saddle steak.) The meals and drinks were not expensive. The hotel is part of a winery. Great wine.

September 5 – Monday – Nittel to Merzig – 20km

Another great breakfast buffet. The Restaurant Hotel Apel is amazing.
Another beautiful day, although it will be hot: 30c.
We bike along the right side of the river. We are going to get the train in Konz. Went to a building which looked like a station. It was the old one which was now a very nice restaurant. Found the real station which was only a ticket machine by the platforms. Got tickets no problem.
Went back to old station and got coffees. Train was easy – roll on. Had to wear masks! Short ride to Merzig. Found hotel in center of town. It was 2:30, check in not til 3. Found Café patio next to hotel. As we were finishing our drinks, a man came over and asked if I was David Cain?
How did he know as there were many people on the patio. He said we didn’t look like locals!
Parked bike behind hotel then walked straight into our room! It had a small patio on our ground floor room.
Dinner was nearby, ate inside as patio full. Had to send pizza back as dough not baked enough. Got better one.  Warm night!

September 6 – Tuesday – Merzig to Mettlach – 20km

Not very good breakfast as it was from the fridge.
Fresh bread. Figured out the coffee machine.
Found another pocket in my panniers had a rip. Found a bike shop, bought a tube and got tires pumped.
Over bridge and down the left. Valley fairly wide here, no grapes yet. Valley gets narrower with forest. Stopped at Café. Talked to a German couple who were on ebikes.
The trail became gravel as we went under the Saar Lorelei. A steep cliff around a bend in the river.
There were signs to watch for falling rocks. Viewing tower up on the cliff,

Pleasant ride through the woods. A short ride today got us to Mettlach early, so found a Café for a drink.

Got checked in to the hotel. Mentioned my ripped panniers problem to the lady owner. She got her husband who tried crazy glue, didn’t work. Then got duct tape, which seemed to work. Really helpful guy.
Room up 2 floors, no lift!
Borrowed the duct tape to fix my other pannier. I felt like Red Green!
Went out looking for a restaurant and went to the Villeroy and Boch outlet store. They have a factory in the city. All kinds of porcelain, pottery and glassware.
Watched BBC with news about new British PM.
Went out for Italian. Not very good. Nice waiter who gave us free Limoncello. Very pleasant.
Found an ice cream Café, for our first of the trip!

September 7 – Wednesday – Mettlach to Saarburg – 20km

Toured around Mettlach – St Litwinus Church, Old Tower Ceramic mosaics.

Bike past restored monastery – again by Villeroy and Boch.
Bike path next to highway. See large gravel dig next to a cliff. At the locks the trail goes down to the river – quieter. Crossed bridge into Saarburg. Had trouble finding hotel as I had put the name of a restaurant with a similar name to the hotel into RWGPS. Finally found it!
We went out for drinks by river that goes through the city.
Later had dinner by the Wasserfalls. Excellent meals again. Super area.

September 8 – Thursday – Saarburg to Trier – 29km

Rain overnight with forecast for rain during the day. Had scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast. It was a cool 15C, so we put on our rain gear. As we left Saarburg saw a hardware store. Bought duct tape.
Took time to put some on 3 splits in my panniers!
We start seeing grapes growing. Got rain showers so stopped under trees. Joined by group of BoatBike bikers.
They were from USA. Rain didn’t last long. Kept rain gear on as it was cool. Into Trier. RWGPS route had us taking stairs to get up to the street! Found ramp, then got to hotel. We are 2 flights up – no lift! Had free welcome drinks then walked into the city. To Marktplatz then through Porta Negra. Down to Bahnhof. Needed to get tickets for bikes on our Koblenz to Arnhem train trip. Helpful clerk got them as well as tickets to go up the Lahn river.
Had Greek – really good. Found supermarket and got snacks.
Sadly watched BBC coverage of the Queen’s death.

September 9 – Friday – In Trier

Excellent breakfast. Cool and rainy this morning so we stayed in. Went out at 12:30 to Marktplatz. Had coffee and soups. Good. Walked to the Dom – huge cathedral. Went to museum to see Roman Empire Collapses exhibit. Got English hand held device. Unfortunately the individual artifacts were mostly only described in German. Overwhelming exhibit. Back to square for drinks. Back to hotel. Rain started just as we got to hotel.
Later ate inside – both had Quiche. Great Dornfelder red wine.

September 9 – Friday – In Trier

Excellent breakfast. Cool and rainy this morning so we stayed in. Went out at 12:30 to Marktplatz. Had coffee and soups. Good. Walked to the Dom – huge cathedral. Went to museum to see Roman Empire Collapses exhibit. Got English hand held device. Unfortunately the individual artifacts were mostly only described in German. Overwhelming exhibit. Back to square for drinks. Back to hotel. Rain started just as we got to hotel.
Later ate inside – both had Quiche. Great Dornfelder red wine.

September 10 – Saturday – Trier to Trittenheim – 42km

Another great breakfast. As we were putting the bikes together it was raining. Thought we might take the train. Rain stopped so decided to bike. Went through Trier’s industrial area with factories and containers. Rain stayed away, but is cool. Stop for coffee at a marina/camp ground. Paved trail continues. Have an apple for lunch!
Nice temperature for biking as rain stays away. Take off rain pants.
Came to a detour so have to go over bridge to other side. Rain starts again so rain gear back on. Getting pretty good at this process 😌.
Through vineyards then over bridge to Trittenheim.
Have 2 rooms. One with double bed and one with single.
No lift, second floor – getting more exercise!
Drinks outside. Rain starts gets heavy 😴.
Inside our hotel for dinner.
Best yet – lamb shank, Rosemary sauce, creamy potatoes- excellent.

September 11 – Sunday – Trittenheim to Bernkastel-Kues – 29km

Cool this am – 15C. Breakfast was not great as they ran out of things. Rain gear on kept the rain away!
Down right side, paved all the way. Some trails through vineyards. Stopped in Neumagen-Dhron for coffee. Small band started up next to Café. Quite good. Played Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen.

Got warmer, Nice for biking. 90% of bikes are electric!
There outta be a law!
Our hotel in Bernkastel-Kues is in a neat square. Two floors up to our room, no lift – more exercise!
Went out for walk, many squares, pedestrians only. Stop at wine bar, have a Riesling. Getting to like wine instead of beer after a day of biking!
Had dinner reservation at hotel. I had Sauerbraten excellent. Judy’s schnitzel was best yet!
Walked around and found ice cream – yes!

 

September 12 – Monday – Bernkastel-Kues to Traben-Trarbach – 24km

Cool, rain gear on. Some fog over the hills. Enjoyed central BK again. Beautiful restored buildings.
Lots of bikes out today, mostly ebikes.
Saw man cutting grass between rows of grapes on steep slope. Cable used to get him up and down.

Large vertical sundial on side of cliff.

Coffee at campground Wolf. Busy. Beautiful day, warming up.
Shorter ride today. Coffee at Café looking over the river. Have pizza baguettes, good.
Lots of people checking in to hotel. Parked bikes across street in private parking space.
Woman in window started to yell at us to leave. Ignore her. Large room. Out and found wine bar – great Riesling. It is Monday, a lot of restaurants closed.
Told to go across river. Find great German restaurant. Judy gets salad with grilled chicken pieces. I have oxen wurst. Tasty.

September 13 – Tuesday: Traben-Trarbach to Bullay – 29km

Rain gear on to start. Looks like our weather is going to be cool and rainy for a while.
Mostly paved trail today.
Rain starts after 3km, then got heavy. Found covered Café by trail in Reil. Got last table under cover!

Left when rain eased.

Then it stopped. Trail up into vineyards, nice views.

Find our Gasthaus, more like a pension. Decent sized room – won’t be able to use balcony.
Leave panniers and bike to center. Split a donair – good.
Later still not very hungry. End up at a Thai restaurant – order appetizers – enjoyable.

September 14 – Wednesday; Bullay to Cochem – 32km

Given grief by our lady host. At 10am she knocked on our door and told us we should have been out by 9:30. Quite stern. We took our time.
Rain gear on again. None to start. Trail signs took us on gravel Trail up and down by tracks. Found way to get under track to highway. No bike lane but not busy.
Rain started then got heavy. Luckily we found bus shelter until rain eased.

Found Café at a campground for lunch. Curry wurst at last!
The rest of the way was better weather – even took pants off!
Busy in Cochem. A Viking ship had let out many busloads of people as we made our way into town.
Our hotel for 2 days has a lift!
Went out for drinks on terrace. Pretty soon it started to rain hard. Fortunately it was covered.
Dinner was in hotel restaurant. We both had mushroom omelets – very good and light meal.
For first time had a sundae – shared!

September 15 – Thursday; In Cochem

Got out late morning. Caught bus to Cochem Castle. Amazing ride up through narrow streets.
Great views from the castle, up and down the river. We have a guided tour in English – only 6 in the tour. Built from 1000 to 1300s. Mostly destroyed in 1700s. Restored in late 1800s by rich Frenchman who had moved to Germany.
Bus ride back down was more interesting as we sat in front seats. Watched pedestrians scramble to get out of the way.
Had apple strudel and coffee.
Lots of walking on our day off from biking.

September 16 – Friday; Cochem to Kobern – 36km

Early breakfast as we need to check out by 10am.
Do some duct taping – have to keep the panniers together.
Down to river for some pictures.
We are on the left side today – paved all the way.
Bike lane next to the road all the way.
Little bit of rain. In Kobern took a while to find hotel – large room nice.
Have a nice Riesling then went for a walk.
What a treat – old buildings and Church. Lots of pictures.

Found restaurant in square good meal.

September 17 – Saturday; Kobern to Lahnstein – 26km

Cool this am so full gear on – long pants and sweat shirts. Forecast is 49 to 57% rain. But it didn’t.
Last day on the Mosel. Most of the ride was up through vineyards. Saw 2 different groups picking grapes. Reasonably flat land so no machines.
Found a trailer which I think is used to transfer climbing machines from one rail to another.
Into Koblenz and see the Rhine. The city is busy as we go in. Find Greek restaurant for some lunch.
Cross the Rhine onto a terrible bike path. Narrow with broken asphalt. Fortunately not too long.
Cross the Lahn river into Lahnstein.
Find our hotel after a short search.
Modern hotel with a large room. Good.
As we go out for dinner it started to rain. Find Croatian restaurant. Good cevapci.

September 18 – Sunday; Lahnstein to Bad Laasphe 4km

Cool again. Rain stopped as we biked 2km to the train station. We are taking trains to get to the start of our trip down the Lahn river. Get to station early. It is Sunday so it is closed. Roll on cars, lots of bikes – start with 8, end up with 12. No problem, everyone helpful.

Transfer in Giessen is 50 minutes so have time to share a bun.

This train is a high speed one, although not too speedy today. It is 25 minutes late. Some kind of medical emergency we were told by young lady who saw our Canadian flag tags on our panniers. We make our next train ok. Into Bad Laasphe, got wet going short distance to hotel. Ate at hotel as rain continued.

September 19 – Monday; Bad Laasphe to Lahntal 32km

Cool over night – eiderdowns kept us warm. The Lahn is narrow here, trail away from it quite a bit.

Trail mostly paved, good shape and well signed. Rain off and on, but we have the wind with us as we head east.

Being Monday a lot of places closed. Stopped at small place and got coffees from a machine. Should have waited a little as we found a McDonald’s! We have a fruit lunch in a field as the sun comes out. Lot of the trail through farmers fields. One stretch through forest was rough and unpaved. At the end of this stretch I realized that my cellphone was missing from its holder. Back I went. Another biker had found it and was trying to call our daughter! Good thing I hadn’t gotten a SIM card yet as it would have been the middle of the night back home.
Lucky me. Our hotel in Lahntal is modern. Large room.
Have excellent mixed grill meal at hotel.

September 20 – Tuesday; Lahntal to Marburg – 20km

After Cold night it is sunny for our ride. Short ride today. We cross fields and see glimpses of the river.

Some small towns. We are going east. Wind from the west helps. Into Marburg too early to check in to our pension which we found up stairs and a lane. Have a tapas lunch – excellent. Our pension is in an old building. No email info on how to access the key boxes at the entrance. I should have gotten a SIM card for my cellphone as I had a phone number for the owner. Frustrating 2 hours trying to get into our room. 2 floors up, no lift , steep stairs. Room is large but the ceiling sloped throughout. Worst experience of the trip.

We go to supermarket to get breakfast things as pension did not provide it.Finally out for a beer at 6:30. Find a great restaurant and stay. Lamb tenderloin for me, along with a fine Dornfelder. Share a sundae.

September 21 – Wednesday; In Marburg

I went out and got 2 brotchen and sweet bun at a bakery. Breakfast was muesli and fruit.
Marburg has an old town that is way up above where we were staying. We found an elevator that took us up to it.
Finally buy a SIM card. Only 10 euros for the card and 3GB data and unlimited calling in Germany. Beautiful old buildings.

Marburg was designated a hospital city during the second world War so was not damaged a lot. Have coffee in busy square. Back down to our room on the elevator for lunch. Walk some more. See St Elizabeth church. Built in 1200s huge, plain inside.

September 22 – Thursday; Marburg to Giessen – 36 km

Quite cold in the room. I go out to get buns for lunch. Eat breakfast in room. Although cool out, the sun is shining! Trail uses a lot of farm lanes, zig and zag.

Eat an apple then find an Imbiss for coffee and WC. Rain pants off – ever optimistic! Really good ride with variety of trails, small towns and views of the river.
Into Giessen to our hotel. Very nice with a lift. Don’t have to bend over in the room! High ceiling.
Walk into center. Giessen was heavily damaged during WW2. Center has newer buildings and wide pedestrian streets. Tried a local beer – Licher. Not much to it. Bitburger best so far. (We are in Holland when I write this, having a Heineken – even better than Bitburger.)
Eat in Croatian restaurant. Have pljeskavica – ground beef stuffed with feta. Excellent!

Judy had a grilled vegetable pan with rice and ate it all! Great meal.

September 23 – Friday; Giessen to Wetzlar – 22 km

Quite cool – 8c, but sunny! Take a bun from breakfast to make sandwich from leftover meat from last night. Very nice ride,  initially along the river. Saw conoeists go past a dam by using a spillway.  Looked like fun. After a coffee stop we were passed by 2 fire engines blasting their sirens. Into Wetzlar we have to go up a hill to get to the hotel. We walk part of the way. Stop for coffee and beer in church Square.

Find hotel.  Room on main floor – figures, given that there is a lift. Find Italian restaurant nearby,  have drinks and make reservations for later.

September 24 – Saturday; Wetzlar to Weilburg –  29km

Cool again,  partly cloudy. Stop at market in church square. I have developed a cold and am dragging a bit. Fortunately we are going downhill to start. Stop for coffee run by a middle eastern couple. Glass coffee cup is interesting – cup within a glass cup.

Trail goes away from the highway – big hill to go up. Have to walk. Couple on ebikes pass us – no fair! Two more hills not as bad. Stop at the lock at Lohnberg for a drink. Our hotel is by the train station. Eat in hotel restaurant.  Cold getting worse.

 

September 25 – Sunday; Weilburg to Limburg –  km

My cold got worse during the night.  Took rapid covid test.  Negative! Not much sleep,  so decide to take the train. Also raining off and on.

Ticket machine not working,  lifts being fixed. Had to take panniers off,  down then up stairs. Train not busy. Didn’t have to pay! Raining so park bikes under shelter and go to doner Café. Interesting watching them slice the meat off the doner. Bike in rain to hotel and check in early. They took pity on the wet bikers!

Walk into old Town – amazing old buildings. Found Burgkeller restaurant – really old. Apple strudel and drinks. Came back for dinner. Great rouladen.

September 26 – Monday; Limburg to Koblenz –  train

Slow to get away as I had to do some duct taping. Decide to take train again. Limburg station has ramps down and up to get to the platform. Our train is leaving from here and is ready for boarding. Uneventful train ride.

Go to a McDonald’s in Koblenz train station  – expensive!  They had no bathroom! Train station bathroom was next door and you had to pay. Needless to say we left and biked in the rain to our hotel. Out for a walk and found Greek restaurant we had lunch at 10 days ago. I have a Fruh Kolsch. Not sure what to think of it. Different taste.

Came back for dinner and had great meal. Salad for Judy,  meat plate for me and we shared.

September 27 – Tuesday; Koblenz to Arnhem –  train

Have tickets for train already and find lifts to platform.

Our train to Duesseldorf is there so we get on and have room for a bike on either side of the car. Train fills up but no problem getting off as people moved out of the way. 25 minutes to next train.  Cold on platform. Ride to Arnhem is busy. The door near us to get off is broken so we have to take 1 pannier off to go down aisle. Nice conductor lady helped us.
Got a QR code coupon to use to get out of Arnhem train station. Short ride to the hotel in the rain! Out to look for a restaurant. It is cold. Find the Foodhall. Neat place with a central bar and a number of food spots around it. Have good meal.

September 28 – Wednesday; In Arnhem

No biking or trains today. It is sunny and cool – nice for walking through large pedestrian shopping area.
Visit St Eusebius church – huge with no seating inside! Interesting set of organ pipes, with tubes sticking out of the bottom of the pipes.
A small Airborne museum is by the Rhine next to the John Frost bridge. This bridge featured in 1977 movie Bridge too Far.
After a tosti lunch we wander around and find T’Taphuys (The Taphouse) It has 100 beers on tap. You put money on a card and use the card to pour your own beer.
A lot of Belgian strong beers. Had Affligem Dubble and a Franc Belge. Interesting, but couldn’t drink a lot of these.
Ended up at Italian restaurant salads & shared pizza. Talked to waiter from Kosovo came to Germany in 2001 then Holland in 2006.

September 29 – Thursday; Arnhem to Utrecht by train then Utrecht to Woerden by bike – 20km

A little fog to start the day as we head to Arnhem Central Station. Renovated in 2015 the station is striking with swooping roof panels. We check out the underground bike garage – room for 5000 bikes! Need a free chip card to get in. Parking free for 24 hours. No bikes parked outside. Each row had a display showing how many spots available.
Get tickets to Utrecht. Bikes expensive at 17 euros for 2. They have to discourage people taking bikes on trains.
Train busy, bike area cramped.
Leave Utrecht on the great bike lanes. In suburbs stop at neat café. Easy ride to Woerden. Staying in modern Best Western with decent sized room. They have a bar so have to have a Heiniken – best beer so far on trip.
Have great Greek dinner.

September 30 – Friday; In Woerden

Slow start on our day off from biking. Walk into city on a pleasant cool day. Found a bakery and shared a sandwich. Brought us each a slice of bread with meat & cheese & veges on it – good. After more wandering we found an ice cream shop and ha 2 scoops each.

October 1 – Saturday; Woerden to Uithoorn – 22km

Double rainbow seen from our window as we wake up. Rains off and on as we eat then get ready. Then it stops for the day! But it is windy – 30 gusting to 50 Km/h. Fortunately mostly from the side.
We travel through suburbs of Woerden. Along narrow canals with nice homes. Through fields – great bike lanes. Stop in Mijdrecht for coffee. The route now heads into the wind for about 4 km. Bummer. Our hotel in Uithoorn is on the Amstel River. Nice setting. Too cool to sit outside so have a beer in their restaurant inside – Brand Duppelbock – dark and strong.
Walk along the river checking out restaurants. A number have patios overlooking the river. Too bad it is too cool to sit out. Eat in hotel, expensive and not the greatest.

October 3 – Monday; Uithoorn to Schiphol – 13km

Up early and away by 9:20. Cloudy but forecast is 0% chance of rain. Bit of wind from the south as we head north. Good bike lanes and directions into the airport.
Now the fun began!

1. Arrive at 10:20 for our 2:55 flight.
2. Took 20 minutes to find where Air Transat check in counter was – no info on ticket or online.
3. Inside airport is chaotic with lines everywhere. Some for security. Some were for discount airlines who hadn’t opened their check in counters yet.
4. We find a place to get our panniers organized. My duct taped ones may not survive the trip home, so I find a shrink wrap place. I buy a nylon bag which carries both my panniers.
5. Arrive Air Transat counter around 11:30. Find out they have no plastic bags to put the bikes in. This happened to us in 2015. We have to go to the other end of the terminal to the baggage storage place and buy cardboard boxes to put the bikes in.
   The boxes start out as a folded piece of cardboard with numbers to show how to fold and make tabs. The front wheel comes off. We get them done. The second box was much easier to do! 30 euros a box!
6. Now the fun begins. We have to get the boxes back to the check in area. Using a standard airport luggage cart we stand the 2 boxes up on end. I am pushing and cannot see what is in front. Judy is holding the boxes and guiding. Took a while. Get new baggage tags on boxes.
7. It is about 12:45. Off to oversized baggage – about 100m away. The crowds caused this to be a challenge until we found an airport employee who; after asking whether we had large screen TVs, helped us get there.
   Fortunately, there was no line. We had to wheel the boxes down a ramp and then load the boxes on a conveyor belt. Didn’t get much help from the attendant.
8. Now we can get in the security line. Unfortunately, our Club Class tickets did not give us any priority here.
   Took a bit to find the end of the line which was outside the terminal.
   

   The line outside the terminal

   It is now 1:10. The line seems to move pretty well. But it snakes into the terminal and around. We ate our lunch in line: peanuts and a cookie! Just before we get to the actual security area, we are able to use our Club Class status to get in a shorter line.

9. After security there is another line for Immigration.
   It is about 2:50 when we get through there. Our gate is way the other end of the terminal. Must have been over a km away. After rushing we arrive at the gate at 3pm. The plane was still there and we weren’t the only late ones.

Sitting down in the plane felt so good after being 4 ½ hours on our feet. It was an hour late leaving. Able to have a couple of glasses of champagne before takeoff!
Toronto Airport was not as chaotic. Our luggage including the bikes and my panniers arrived intact.
We got home in decent time.

This trip was a challenge in many ways. We are glad we did it, but are not sure whether we will do another!

PS: Three days after arriving home I tested positive for COVID. No doubt picked