Biking

All about the Bike, 'bout the Bike...

Biking

Visiting Kornelimuster, Germany

The efficient Deutsche Bahn train system took us from Mainz to Aachen.  See this page for more info on how to travel by train with your bike. 

We stayed in Kornelimunster which is a lovely 10km bike ride through the country side to the village, just southeast of Aachen - very refreshing after spending hours on the train.  

Biking

Europe Brewery: Hertog Jan

The Hertog Jan brewery was opened in 1915 and the location was strategically chosen to be close to a natural springs, which provides the main ingredient for the beer.  The brewery took a lot of damage during WW II but was rebuilt.  However, in the 1980s the brewery was struggling and was looking to close.  A team of employees decided to take over the building and started to brew specialty beer instead of the historical pilsner.  These specialy beers are a success and start winning prizes and they haven't looked back since.

Biking

Bike Tour in Europe: taking your bike on the train

Yes, you can take your bike on the train, but we did find this the hardest and most stressful part of traveling with a bike in Europe.  And the least predictable.  Don't make your trip or time table contingent on catching a particular train!

Biking

Bike tour: planning and packing

After three weeks of biking through Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium,  here are some suggestions of what to bring, and what to plan for.

What to pack

In addition to the specialty bike gear mentioned in a previous post, here are some other things we found really handy:

Biking

Visiting Mainz, Germany

Mainz (Germany) is located where the river Mainz intersects with the river Rhine and from Frankfurt it is a beautiful bike ride along the river Mainz on a segregated bike path.   To cross the Rhine, you get to use a small track along the train bridge, which is pretty cool. 

Biking

Frankfurt airport to Mainz

Image removed.

Arrival in Frankfurt airport and reassembling the bikes was much easier than we thought. A few small tears in the bike bag - I guess the end bits of the fork are rather pokey! But the bikes themselves are absolutely fine.