Storks, poop and some good fortune

 There was a plan in place after Strasbourg to make it past Basel, Switzerland within two days so we could rendezvous with our friends Jenny and Gerald from Calgary. They had started their ride in Nantes (west of France) just after we started from Amsterdam. Our routes would intersect at Basel, so we had managed to time it ( or so we hoped) that we could meet up.

The story of how we first met Gerald and Jenny is pretty cool. During their research for their trip, they happened to find  my France cycling video on YouTube, realized we were also from Calagry and managed to contact me. We discovered we lived within a couple of km of each other, so we got together and the rest is history!

Anyway this meeting point for us that meant two longer than average days of 80+ km to get there on Wed June 1st. Tuesday's ride was excellent - easy to get out of Strasbourg and pleasant canal ride the whole way to a town called Neuf Brisach, still in the Alsace region of France. The only down side was there wasn't a single cafe or pub along our route. Well there were a couple but they were closed.

Pleasant canal-side rideingon Tuesday

Cooking up eggs for lunch - we found no cafes or pubs on this route all day



Wednesday's  ride wasn't quite as straightforward, but we put in nearly 90 km and reached the appointed campground 10 km east of Basel and were very excited to see our friends there.

Passing through the city of Basel, Switzerland. We didn't  stop here this time as we had visited it in 2019

Great campsite next to the river alongside Gerald and Jenny

Dinner together at the campgeound

Sunset on the Rhine


We've been seeing a lot of storks, but here in the campground there were a half dozen or so nests in the trees above our tent sites. It was amazing to watch and listen to the parents flying in towards the nests to feed their babies, and the unique sounds they made wiTh their beaks. It's hard to describe, but they sounded a bit like jack-hammers.

However, Frank happened to be within range of their projectile poop at one point (they point their bums out of the nest and go for it). He was covered with poop and it was a real mess. Gerald reassured us that this was good luck!

Poor Frank - hat, jacket, hoodie and shorts all covered in stork poop 😂

On our ride yesterday, Thursday, the strangest thing happened. The clickety clack that my bike's been making for the past couple of weeks suddenly stopped. No idea how this could have happened  if it was supposed  to be caused  by worn-out bearings, but I'll put in down to the previous night's lucky omen. I'm not complaining. Now I have no excuse for my crazy tendencies 😄

Anyway it was a great day of cycling with the four of us together, although we rode through some rain in the afternoon. The day ended in a lovely campground across the river on the German side of the Rhine.

We went through Rheinfelden, Switzerland yesterday

Swiss countryside


Comments

  1. Des IrwinJune 3, 2022 at 3:45 AM

    Gosh, with my first look at that pic from your dinner time, I thought Frank had met his twin brother!
    And re your clickety clack disappearing - maybe it means your bearings have just disintegrated completely, so nothing left to grind??!!! (I'm joking, I think...)

    ReplyDelete
  2. JirkaJune 4, 2022 at 2:13 PM

    So don't forget to bet some big euro lottery. When a stork hits, you will definitely hit the right numbers and you will have the first prize.:-))

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eva and GeorgeJune 6, 2022 at 7:17 PM

    Looks fantastic!
    We spent 2 weeks during the Christmas holiday in Rheinfelden while we were refugees in Austria in 1987....
    Good luck! 1000km more and you are done!

    ReplyDelete

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