Day 13

D103km; 9:15-17:30
Pfilling - Deggendorf - Leitthen - Passau - Obernzell - Jochenstein
It was about 1 km before the Austrian border that we decided to stop for a 'zimmer frei' at the Danube in Jochenstein (25km east of Passau). Cycling today was not very exciting, but we remember cycling through Germany as very comfortable and pleasant where we met a lot of kind and helpful people.
We were pleasantly surprised by the length of cycling paths that we could share with the other fitness fanatics. This made the trip much more comfortable than racing on the motorways with quick Geman cars.
At first we were astonished by the size and solidity of the portions served in restaurants and the size of the beer glasses. In the meantime we noticed this is not as bad after a hard day cycling.
We found the locals most helpfull and kind till the point that we started consciously to pick the lonley places to turn the page in the guide, just to deminish the chance that someone appears from nowhere explaining us the best roads and history of the region.
And now, up to something different in Austria, like schnitzel and apfelstrudel mit sahne ;-)

Day 12

D99km; 9:20 - 18:30
Kelheim - Pentling - Regensburg - Woerth a.d. Donau - Reibersdorf - Pfelling
At Bogen we were accompanied by a senior German who cycled some 6km with us and gave us a guided tour and some explanation about local climate and geology as well as wintersport in the 'Bayerischer Wald'
Dinner was celebrated at our Gasthof at the banks of the Danube. Tomorrow we are heading for Passau and maybe further.

Day 11

D91km 9:30-18:30
Eichstatt - Kipfenberg - Toeging - Riedenburg - Kelheim
After amstel, kromme rijn, lek, waal, rhine, main, erf, tauber, altmuehl we finally reached the Danube at Kelheim. From now it goes all downstream.

Day 10

D113km; 9:45 - 19:30
Leutershausen - Gerne - Gunzenhausen - Treuchtlingen - Eichstatt
The best day so far.

Day 9

D96km; 9:15 - 18:45
Tauberbischofsheim - Weikersheim - Creglingen - Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Leutershausen
Today we have hit the roof of our tour at Kirnberg at an altitude of around 500 metres in the Nature Reserve Frankische Hoehe. A few kilometers earlier we passed the city of Gebstattel. This village is on the border of the water streams towards the Rhine/Main on the one hand and towards the Danube on the other hand. From here water is Danube oriented.
It was one of those days when you have to remind yourself you are doing it all just for fun, but therefore the  result is even sweater: highest point of the whole journey (500m), fastest descend (44km/h), slowest climb (7km/h), longest net cycling time (6h20min) and lowest average speed (15km/h)
At the end, the local specialities with mushrooms made it all worth.

Day 8

D86km; 10:15 - 17:15
Aschaffenburg - Woerth am Main - Miltenberg - Schweinberg - Tauberbischofsheim
Today a slow 'Sunday-start'. Preparing for the hills we  slowly took an extensive breakfast.... recovering from the Aschaffenburger Sommerfeste that somehow reminded us to Koninginedag...

The climbing was tough but we were releaved to see that it was less tough than expected. The most difficult hill after Schweinberg ended with an relaxing descent to our destination for today. And now, on a nice terrace, we are enjouing tasty and big meals with good beer as we are usually experiencing in Germany.

Day 7

D98km; 9:15 - 17:30
Mainz - Frankfurt am Main - Steinheim - Aschaffenburg
Today we crossed from Rheinland Pfalz through Hessen to Bavaria, where we will stay until we leave Germany. We said goodbye to the Rhine and enjoyed our last day cycling without hills. Tomorrow climbing will start..
It seems that Germany is partying at the moment. During the day we enjoyed a big party in Frankfurt along the river Main and at night the Summerfestival in Aschaffenburg starts.

Day 6

D106km; 9:15-18:00
Koblenz - Boppard - Niederheimbach - Heidenfahrt - Mainz

It has been a long stage again. We celebrated this in a coktail bar with beer and Margarita after looking for an hotel for almost an hour. We have tried to upload pictures but so far due to technical problems we failed to find a computer that allows upload pictures from our camera.

Day 5

D108km; 8:45-18:10
Cologne - Wesseling - Bonn - Kripp - Andernach - Koblenz
Most of the time cycled along Rhine racing with the vessels on the river, mainly from Rotterdam. At the end of the day a few thunderstorms but during the day the weather was excellent for cycling. Tomorrow we are heading for Mainz.....


On the pictures various waterlevels of the Rhine and the famous Lorely bend

Day 4

D0km
Wet, wet, wet and museum feet in Cologne

Day 3

D105km; 8:40-17:45
Xanten - Moers - Uerdingen - Dormagen - Cologne
Scared by the weather report, we left Xanten this morning. Fortunatelly, except for the last hour or two Pluvius had mercy with us.
We enjoued some lovely parts cycling on the dikes along Rhine. Today we have also seen too many traffic lights.

Day 2

D90km; 9:15-17:00
Rhenen-Nijmegen-Kleve-Xanten
The day started testing whether our equipment is waterproof. After one hour the weather became better and at 12:30 we entered Die Bundesrepublik. During this stage Mici showed her experience built during the training trips while cycling against the wind... Bart cycled up front most of the time..

Day 1

D99km; 10.30-18.15
Amsterdam - Haarzuilens - 't Goy - Amerongen - Rhenen (Utrecht).
After our departure we left Holland around 11.30 at Uithoorn. We crossed through Utrecht from NW to SE. The weather was dry and mostly sunny.

Day 0

Holiday has started and final preparations are carried out. Tomorrow is the first stage.
The Limes map has been updated. The route will updated in more detail after the trip.

Day -1

Today is our last working day and holiday starts.

Day -6

Today a small tour. Again a trip to Kopje van Bloemendaal. Today Bart's first helmet test after crashing while detaching his new shoes....

Day -9

Link added: Arjan & Ankie (www.vandertang.org)

Day -12

Yesterday 2 more pictures were taken on the border of Holland and Flevoland on the Hollandse Brug (Dutch Bridge), near the city of Muiderberg.

Day -13

Today a nice training trip to Almere De Vaart, the rose grewery of the Stricker family. Conditions were excellent, small breaze from the Southeast, temperatures between 25 and 30 Centigrade and a clear sky. Total length of this trip was 106 kilometres. Details on map and pictures follow later. On the picture on the right hand side you see a small reparation carried out on Bart's new bike-shoes after loosing his cap in the lake...