Europe 2018 - July 12 - Kelsterbach to Rudesheim

Thursday - July 12
We got a random call from Missouri at 3:30 am! We slept in a bit to make up for it but now we are back on the road again. We are headed west along the Mainz River but on bikes instead of the train.

Still under the influence of the airport.

Mönchhofkapelle in Raunheim

Back across the big circle bridge.

Donna and Lori probably put on a couple of extra miles riding past this wall multiple times and places to indulge Doug's camera bug.

Now we are in new territory west of where we went through Russelsheim the first time.
Still following the Mainz River alongside a power station.

Now we can see the south end of the city of Mainz across the Rhine. That is the Catholic Church of the Assumption on the horizon.

The bike route goes across the Rhine on the same bridge that we went over on the train two days ago but this time we could stop and take pictures.

Another bridge with locks of love.

We followed the waterfront from the bridge. We had planned to have lunch in town but were trapped by some construction and ended up at the north end of town before we found lunch.

This is our favorite bike store!

It is definitely bike and bike stuff overload.

And it caters to all age groups and types of riders.

We left there even better equipped for the rest of our journey. Donna and Lori did resist the really cute bike purse/handlebar bags settling for gloves and socks instead.

We are headed back to the east side of the river on Rd. 643 at Shierstein. We traveled up the west side on our previous trip so thought it would be interesting to see the Middle Rhine from a different perspective this time.

It was very pleasant afternoon of riding past country homes with vineyards....

...and through small towns.......

.......and lots of beautiful gardens.

We took plenty of time to stop to smell the roses along the way.

The campground on the outskirts of Rudesheim was a very pleasant surprise with its lush landscaping and statues.

Our little plot. Now we are ready to do laundry and have dinner.

There were bikes everywhere and people from all over Europe. The Middle Rhine with its multitude of castles is a popular destination. It did get quiet at sunset though for which we were grateful.