[Home]     Cycling Down the Rhine Thursday 31st August 2017 Speyer to Oppenheim Today started with a shower or two but we didn't get very wet. It was also a lot cooler than on previous days, maybe because we were edging further north now or maybe simply signalling that the days of summer are coming to an end. We left the Luxhof Hotel and crossed the huge bridge back to the western side of the Rhine then headed north. It was easy pedalling along mostly tarmaced cycle-ways and at one point we stopped to look at the map, whereupon Andrew saw a black, sleeveless vest thing, sort of gauzy and semi-transparent, presumably discarded by a member of Village People on his retirement... Anyway this delightful item was just hanging on a post in the middle of nowhere, and instead of using it to clean his bike up a bit Andrew decided to claim it for his own. Into his panniers it went so now we are probably being hunted by an outraged Retired Village Person as well as the restaurant police. Will we ever make it safely back to Blighty? Andrew about to spot his new favourite item of clothing hanging on a post En route for Worms   Further along we stopped for a bit of lunch at Worms, a city famous for two things: the Diet of Worms 1521, and the Baron of Worms whose stately home had the ornate, twiddly plaster bits in the ceilings done by my great-grandfather. Worms Worms Cathedral I heroically resisted the urge to ask the cafe owner for a Worms sandwich, despite obviously wanting to, and settled instead for a bowl of spaghetti as being a good second option. We'd not seen much of the Rhine today and that continued after Worms as we cycled north through vineyards, passing via Osthofen, Mettenheim and Alsheim to our destination for the night, Oppenheim. Oppenheim Oppenheim is a pleasant town built on a hill and with narrow, cobbled streets winding back and forth. After 83 km today, however, we couldn't face cycling uphill over non-stop bumps to get to our apartment... which was naturally situated at the very highest point in town, just two or three inches short of the death zone. We got off and pushed. Inside Weinhofchen in Oppenheim, waiting for our Flammkuchen The Flammkuchen   Today we did 51.58 miles, bringing our total to 501.47 miles.