Follow The Horizon

This has to be the longest straight line I’ve ever cycled. Well almost straight, there were a couple of small bends and one switch back. Shortly after leaving Neuf Brisach our route joined the Canal du Rhone au Rhin, and we followed it all the way to Strasbourg. The first 6km was compact dirt, but… Continue reading

Today, as we veered off the EuroVelo 6 and cut across to join the EuroVelo 15 that runs along the Rhine, we achieved the 1,000km mark for our 2023 Tour de Europe. No champagne for the road gods, no costumes, just snap a picture and carry on. We still had 40km to ride today. Still… Continue reading

We had a slight headwind today, not enough to make riding difficult. The EuroVelo 6 follows the Canal du Rhone au Rhin as it gradually locks up to the midway point of our day’s ride, then it’s downhill all the way to Mulhouse (pronounced mulluz). Yahoo! Shift up at each lock and fly down the… Continue reading

We decided to get our first hotel room in Montbeliard to have a bit of city time. Unfortunately we arrived on a Sunday, and almost everything was closed. We’re staying at the Hotel de la Balance. It was highly rated on TripAdvisor, and the price was right as well as it being a bike friendly… Continue reading

Riding mostly along Le Doubs again today, this stretch of the EuroVelo 6 is beautiful. The weirs and corresponding locks are spaced regularly here, so we must be going up, but it doesn’t feel like it. We aren’t finding many cafes right on the EuroVelo this trip. On instinct we diverted into the small town… Continue reading

We left our bikes locked around a tree in the campsite and took the tram in to spend our rest day (ha) wandering Besancon and the citadel. The citadel is truly a marvel of engineering, and a nearly impenetrable fortress. Continue reading

We woke up this morning to extremely high humidity, with fog and heavy dew. The tent was soaking wet, and even inside was damp. We put some effort into drying the tent, but it wasn’t working, so we packed it up wet knowing we could dry everything this afternoon. The humidity in the morning made… Continue reading

We turned more west where the Canal de Rhone au Rhin joins the Saone River. It was a nice ride along the canal and we  joined Le Doubs in Dole. Less headwinds today, especially along the canal, so we were able to make a bit better time. There doesn’t seem to be any urban sprawl… Continue reading

This morning started with fresh, still warm croissants hand delivered to our site by the campground host. You can pre-order baked goods for the next day at most campgrounds, but these were the freshest so far. We got an early start today to avoid the worst of the afternoon headwinds, and we only planned a… Continue reading

We followed the Canal du Centre down into a new river system today, the Saone. It looks like we’ll be following this for a while, including its tributary, the Doubs. We rode into strong headwinds this afternoon, our first of the trip. Very slow and exhausting, but you have to take the good with the… Continue reading