Had a late start today we had to recover from yesterday's testing stage. We said "non" to the hotel's breakfast (€16) and troughed at a local bagel joint. Jackie had a fruity yoghourt and a giant muffin. I had a big slice of summer fruits cheesecake (sorry Waynetta!). We left Strasbourg at around 12 noon. For a change we moved across to the east (German) side of the Rhine. This side was much less populated with cyclists. We soon found out why: the cycle track...

Got off to a slow start today. We had a look around Eltville. But we couldn't see the river due to the early morning mist. I broke my cycling glasses. We lost the iPhone charger. But, worst still, I noticed (after some pedalling), that I only had one glove: the right. We returned to the hotel but no one was there do we had to wait until someone turned up. Unfortunately, the glove was not inside. Where was it?? Lost! Forgetting the glove, and having taped up my...

Today was a lovely day on the Rhine. This is what we've come for. We rolled out of Bonn early. Around 8am. There was a mist hanging over the river and not a breath of air. As we headed south, the only sound I heard was the gentle rhythmic sigh of my rawhide saddle, as it adjusted to the stresses and strains. As the morning wore on the mists were burnt off by the sun to reveal a hot and sunny day. The were numerous river birds, red squirrels and lizards to obser...

First the good news. 70 mls on that dodgy knee. No problem. Sorted. Have now reached A Small Town In Germany. The region of the westrhineland is impossible to navigate using conventional maps. There are no road signs at junctions and no road numbers either. Not only were we having trouble finding the source of the Rhine but we were having trouble finding the river at all. But we stumbled upon the correct navigation method for this part of Germany: one must use ...

As we'd arrived so late in Someren last night we started a bit later, about 9am. On the roll out towards Weert, and after about 10km, something went pop in my left knee. Painfully pop, like being flicked hard with an elastic band. (Soprano, at you'd look at it, it was at about 1pm on the outer aspect of the left patella). Over the next few miles it did it three more times, just on the beginning of the downstroke. Eek! I stopped, massaged it, did some stretching ...