Day 4: Marburg – Cochem

Halftime! And what a crazy and also amazing day it was. The weather was much better than forecast, at least no rain. Quite the opposite, with a bit of sunshine every now and then. It’s also much easier to ride this way than with rain gear. And we get a lot more momentum when we don’t have to keep putting on and taking off our rain gear. My impression from yesterday (day 3) was that we had April weather: rain, sunshine, rain, sleet, sunshine.

Well, the weather was good for today, but we had to deal with a couple of flat tires right at the beginning, which forced us to take two short breaks. During these breaks, things almost got a little silly as we passed the time with bad jokes, puns and a few songs from bygone days. That at least made for a lot of laughter. In addition I got some spontaneous help with my bike, otherwise it probably would have caused the next flat tire due to a small shard of glass on the rear tire punctured the tube. Nicely done by David! He happened to see that. Such breaks always have something good and beneficial.

Unfortunately, there was a third problem with one of the bikes, and I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to Remo, who gave us tremendous support today as a mechanic. He’s part of the service team, but he used to run a bike shop, if I understood correctly. And just as he offered his help more openly during today’s briefing, his help seemed more urgently needed. Is this Murphy’s Law?

Our entire team is a diverse group, but we’ve known each other for a while. Others, including myself, aren’t joining us for the first time and already know some riders from previous rides with Team Rynkeby. In any case, you get to know each other a little better every day, especially those with whom you’ll be riding side by side. By the way, the groups were divided today so that the pairs in our team can ride in one group, even side by side if they want. Supplemented by a few singles, if you will.

Eventually, things really started to roll along well, and we made good progress. Today, there were a few climbs again, but none particularly steep. What was particularly motivating for today was that, from Koblenz onward, no significant climbs were expected for the rest of the day. As one of three people who helped plan the route, I can always provide detailed information about the route to the team. I also already have local knowledge, as I had already ridden a large part of the route in advance as a test, and this helped us avoid several traffic complications, particularly in Koblenz.

While Koblenz is actually a nice town, it was difficult to pass. I was so happy that I had the opportunity to check this in advance. A major bridge is currently under maintenance and although we could pass, it would not be fun. However, thanks to Marcus and Dieter, the members of the route planning team, we found a good compromise.

The compromise for a multiple kilometer bottleneck with a long convoy was a detour around Koblenz with a short climb of stairs on the edge of an industrial area. Otherwise, in Koblenz, we would have had to ride through various obstacles and narrow passages one after the other, sometimes with 34 riders (!) and escorts (!). After several climbs — and by then it was already early afternoon — that would have been too chaotic. In other words, the route planning team did a good job. The price was a beautiful place for a break which we have missed. During a test ride I have documented this place on premise.

The place we have missed: a nice spot for a break next to a re-built Limes Tower. In this region the former Roman Empire has settled and as part of their protective border wall (The Limes wall) these watchtowers were constructed by the antique Roman.

Today we had another fantastic panoramic view, which wasn’t as easy or as frequent to capture as I thought. But we did get some photos. And once again, our service team did a fantastic job; for the second day, we were served a hot meal during one of the breaks. Especially for this, and this is also new this year, we all had a box in which we could store everyday items, including camping equipment. We can access it at every break, and the boxes are transported in a sponsored van while we ride. Fantastic.

Yet another time our service team has prepared a great meal. Thanks a lot!

For the second break we got another sweet choice…

Speaking of fantastic: the last section, after the second break, we rode almost continuously on the Moselle Road. And what can I say? A stunningly beautiful region. The river (Moselle) on the left, vineyards on both sides, and the sun is shining. It couldn’t be better. And I wasn’t overpromising our group when I said we’d be able to ride smoothly and quickly for a long time. Since we were greeted by the mayor again at our destination today and had already lost some time, it made sense to simply ride quickly. Much faster than usual for Team Rynkeby.

And that allowed us to make up quite a bit of time. This was made possible by our six windshields, which were positioned in the first three rows and rotated more frequently than usual. This allowed us to maintain a high speed of 35 km/h. Some of us had never, or only very rarely, ridden at such a speed for such a long time (about an hour) on flat ground. The rest of the time flew by, and when we arrived, you could see the joy in everyone’s eyes as they briefly hugged each other, beaming with joy, unable to believe what had just happened.

For those not familiar with this: you could describe it as the riders in the front rows being like a locomotive pulling a long (yellow) train. It was amazing. And I personally felt like I was in heaven. It was simply fantastic, even though I’m used to the pace on longer journeys and often as a solo rider, it was still something special. And since we’re in a wine-growing region, we naturally toasted our arrival with a nice glass of wine. And since this region is apparently a hot spot for Team Rynkeby, we also toasted with a Norwegian team; they’re staying in the same hotel. In total, we’ve spotted four other teams here. We’re getting closer and closer to Paris, and we might meet other teams. Well then, cheers!

And for the record…

Next day, next stage: Cochem to Luxembourg on day 5