A Quickie
I had a great time over the last 3 days. It was nice to get out of the house and see things while the weather was good.
I took the train on Sunday morning to Basel, Switzerland and got there around 2pm. Basel is a beautiful city, and it's right near the border of France, Switzerland and Germany. I had been in Basel in 2004 for the Basel Cycle Courier Championships (which I did not win!) and was impressed with the city then as well. I rode around for the city for a bit, looking at how clean and beautiful everything was.
While in Basel I made a quick stop to the Swiss Firefighters Museum to see if they had any T-shirts to add to my dad's Firehouse T-shirt collection. They didn't.
But they did have this really cool bike-ish fire-engine from a hundred years or more ago.
On my way out of Basel to Breisach, I came across this fence that was made out of recycled bike frames, wheels, and various miscellaneous parts.
The weather was absolutely fantastic on the first day. Here's a picture of the Rhein river. This is the view I had to deal with all day long! There were a lot of people out riding bikes and playing in the river.
I stopped at some picnic tables, and saw a clump of fur on top of one of them. Upon closer inspection, I realized that some predator had probably pooped out a mouse or a rat from his last meal. If you click on the picture, you can even count the teeth on the jawbone!
This painting was on the side of a building along the river. The Rhein separates France and Germany.
I baited this Swan with some bread, so I could get a picture of it in front of the Atlantis. 
It sees the loaf in my hand...
And moves in for the kill! This one was very tame, and was eating out of people's hands.
It was foggy the next day, but the view was still nice.
I stayed in Kerl on the second night, which is right across the river from Strasbourg. I was staying in a youth hostel like the previous night, and like before, I had the entire 6 bunk room to myself! It was great. I cooked my self some rice/tuna/pesto and then read the rule that says no cooking allowed in the room. OOPS! Anyway, that evening I rode into Strasbourg to have a look around. I had also visited in 2004, and like it a lot. I stopped at a grocery store there and picked up some delicious belgian beer, chocolate, croissants, and some espresso flavored pudding that tasted exactly like mocha almond fudge ice cream! 
Here's what I looked at a lot of the time during my 8 or so hours in the saddle per day.
A delicious snack! Cheese on bread with a nice belgian brew while writing in my journal. On the last day from Strasbourg to Karlsruhe, I decided to ride on the french side of the Rhein, and it took me through several small villages. I really enjoyed myself, and got a lot of looks, probably because I was touring in the middle of February! Or maybe because the french were jealous that they couldn't build a bike with quite as much charm as the Atlantis! I also rode through Munchhausen, which was so small that they didn't even have a place to buy postcards. My journey ended in Karlsruhe. I decided against staying on for another day, mainly because my knees were getting sore, and I had a bent middle chainring that could only be used with a couple of rear cogs.
I changed the setup for the Atlantis for this trip. I had originally planned on bringing camping equipment and 4 panniers. I changed my mind at the last second and decided to stay at youth hostels, so then I only really needed 2 panniers. I decided to use my rears on the front down low, and use my basket for my shoulder bag and miscellaneous items. This combination worked out well, and I was happy with the way the bike handled. With the weight down low on the fork, you can stand up and pedal on hills without the rear end getting all wobbly.
I took the train on Sunday morning to Basel, Switzerland and got there around 2pm. Basel is a beautiful city, and it's right near the border of France, Switzerland and Germany. I had been in Basel in 2004 for the Basel Cycle Courier Championships (which I did not win!) and was impressed with the city then as well. I rode around for the city for a bit, looking at how clean and beautiful everything was.
While in Basel I made a quick stop to the Swiss Firefighters Museum to see if they had any T-shirts to add to my dad's Firehouse T-shirt collection. They didn't. 
But they did have this really cool bike-ish fire-engine from a hundred years or more ago.
On my way out of Basel to Breisach, I came across this fence that was made out of recycled bike frames, wheels, and various miscellaneous parts.
The weather was absolutely fantastic on the first day. Here's a picture of the Rhein river. This is the view I had to deal with all day long! There were a lot of people out riding bikes and playing in the river.
I stopped at some picnic tables, and saw a clump of fur on top of one of them. Upon closer inspection, I realized that some predator had probably pooped out a mouse or a rat from his last meal. If you click on the picture, you can even count the teeth on the jawbone!
This painting was on the side of a building along the river. The Rhein separates France and Germany.
I baited this Swan with some bread, so I could get a picture of it in front of the Atlantis. 
It sees the loaf in my hand...
And moves in for the kill! This one was very tame, and was eating out of people's hands.
It was foggy the next day, but the view was still nice.
I stayed in Kerl on the second night, which is right across the river from Strasbourg. I was staying in a youth hostel like the previous night, and like before, I had the entire 6 bunk room to myself! It was great. I cooked my self some rice/tuna/pesto and then read the rule that says no cooking allowed in the room. OOPS! Anyway, that evening I rode into Strasbourg to have a look around. I had also visited in 2004, and like it a lot. I stopped at a grocery store there and picked up some delicious belgian beer, chocolate, croissants, and some espresso flavored pudding that tasted exactly like mocha almond fudge ice cream! 
Here's what I looked at a lot of the time during my 8 or so hours in the saddle per day.
A delicious snack! Cheese on bread with a nice belgian brew while writing in my journal. On the last day from Strasbourg to Karlsruhe, I decided to ride on the french side of the Rhein, and it took me through several small villages. I really enjoyed myself, and got a lot of looks, probably because I was touring in the middle of February! Or maybe because the french were jealous that they couldn't build a bike with quite as much charm as the Atlantis! I also rode through Munchhausen, which was so small that they didn't even have a place to buy postcards. My journey ended in Karlsruhe. I decided against staying on for another day, mainly because my knees were getting sore, and I had a bent middle chainring that could only be used with a couple of rear cogs.
I changed the setup for the Atlantis for this trip. I had originally planned on bringing camping equipment and 4 panniers. I changed my mind at the last second and decided to stay at youth hostels, so then I only really needed 2 panniers. I decided to use my rears on the front down low, and use my basket for my shoulder bag and miscellaneous items. This combination worked out well, and I was happy with the way the bike handled. With the weight down low on the fork, you can stand up and pedal on hills without the rear end getting all wobbly.
posted by Fahrräder at 10:22 AM
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