We’re in Cochem, Germany after these first 2 weeks on our bicycle trip! It was a weird thing, locking up the door of our house, just to hop on our bikes for this big journey. It felt like we were about to do something meaningful. Our great neighbours hugged us goodbye, took the first picture of our trip, and off we went into the heat wave. That first day was a whopping 35 degrees, not ideal, but we weren’t about to postpone anything.
Apart from the heat, things went pretty smoothly, and we quickly got to the language border in Belgium. We basically traversed the country following that border East, in constant flirtation with it until we reached Eupen, the gateway to the High Fens.
These first few days were a lot of fun. We followed a nice route, with lots of trails through these agricultural lands, and we mostly camped in people’s gardens using the “Welcome to my garden” community. It was cool to talk to these hospitable people. Not to mention, great language practice. It’s been years that we used our French and it was definitely dusty - to say the least. But we picked it back up surprisingly fast. Every night, we’d be surprised by free beers, appetizers, and even a refreshing dip in their pool. Such a fun way to travel.
In Eupen, we had a nice short vacation with Carsten’s parents before riding into the Eifel region. This area consists of vast stretches of dense forest that we could literally ride for hours without meeting a single soul. It’s incredible this region isn’t more well known. We would sneak into the wild forest at the end of a tough day of riding and pitch our tent, enjoying the silence for hours.
Typically, we would get a few visitors. Once, a mother deer with her two sucklings came up close, unaware of us, because we were upwind from her. Her blurry vision finally picked up on two crazy people staring at it with a big grin on their faces before she scurried away. Another time, a fox got close and didn’t even see us. I guess we’re pretty quiet people. A Black Woodpecker pecked a tree right in front of us. But our favourite moment was when three young, curious Pine Martens came up close and playfully checked us out. We celebrated Babette’s birthday in these woods. Not very fancy, but she wasn’t complaining. Don’t worry, we did bring wine!
This is the way we want to explore, going slowly, opting for the lesser travelled scenic route to natural places. We’re currently following the European Divide Trail (EDT) South and it definitely isn’t the fastest path. It’s hilly, mostly off-road - a mix of forest tracks, single and double track, gravel, and hiking paths. It’s been challenging in parts, we’ve pushed our bikes, and our legs and feet are achy and full of scratches. But it’s been incredibly beautiful too and we definitely feel good when we crawl into our sleeping bags at night. A good metric.
We did run into mechanical issues with the rear derailleur. Not ideal in these hilly lands. Unable to fix it ourselves, we had to backtrack for it - twice - but the bike shops haven’t been able to root cause or fix it so far. The workaround has been to disable the clutch for now, not ideal on rocky descents.
We’re currently relaxing at a campsite in Cochem before hitting the road again. The feeling of a shower after 6 days in a forest is hard to describe. Our clothes are clean again and we’re enjoying the luxury of running water and eating something else than couscous and lentils. Babette has earned a proper birthday dinner. Fortunately, Cochem is a lovely town right next to the Mosel so it’s perfect for all of that.
