A Bridge Too Far.

Wrong river, wrong century, wrong direction but as I headed west towards the Rhine on Sunday I imagined those guys in history pushing to cross a big river and meet up with allies.

The Karlsruhe cycle paths lead out to the river through areas of German allotments called 'schreibergarden', There are major cycle paths down both sides of the Rhine but the western side is more suited to road bikes.

The flow in the river seemed really high and large boats were progressing up river at only walking speed. The paths are immaculate and go on for hundreds of kms. My main mission was a run for the border as it was only 30kms to reach France and someone I could actually converse with!! I had my passport but not surprisingly the border crossing was not in evidence. Lauterbourg was the nearest French village so I stopped there for a 'pizza jambon', expresso and several minutes of conversation where I didn't feel daft for not speaking the lingo.

Sunday morning riders take note. This is a group of cyclists knocking back a couple of drinks at the mid ride cafe stop.