[Home]     Cycling Down the Rhine Saturday 26th August 2017 Luttingen to Lorrach Lorrach is a charming little town just north of Basel, a bit off our intended route but without a doubt the location of a first class ambulance and accident unit. It was another hot, cloudless day when we left Luttingen and as the hills were virtually non-existent and the cycle-ways were easy riding we rolled along at a good rate. No Swiss money left so we stayed to the north bank of the river in order to remain in Germany.                   The tower at Bad Sackingen      Easy cycling Basel north of the Rhine Basel Basel sticks out into the northern shore of the Rhine a tad so we did revisit Switzerland briefly - Basel appears much nicer on the north bank than where we were 5 days ago. Anyway on leaving Basel the way wasn't perfectly clear and we ended up going along a deserted industrial road which had tram lines running along it. I was in the lead when a car came up behind me so I moved over to the right to give him more room. Then of course my front wheel dropped into a tram-line, stuck and down I went. Ouch! - is it bleeding? An obliging German called an ambulance - if he hadn't been there I'd probably have dusted myself down and tried to carry on. That's the benefit of not being able to see what you look like, although the copious amounts of blood on my clothes should have been a hint. These'll have to be washed now... Anyway the ambulance arrived very quickly and so did the police. The nice German chap offered to let us leave the bikes in his office so we did that and then Andrew myself and the panniers went off to hospital in Lorrach. There I received admirable treatment for which I am truly grateful. My thanks to the ambulance service and the staff at Lorrach hospital. They gave me four stitches in my temple, a tetanus injection, an x-ray of my right wrist, and cleaned and dressed the various wounds. Brilliant and thanks again. I would also like to thank Andrew for his support, advice and help in my time of difficulty... along with the inevitable jokes about the situation for which he is justly renowned. Thanks, Andrew, it was good to have you there today. Anyway I'm still here. How far I'll be able to ride tomorrow I don't know. The cuts are ok but the arm hurts even though it's not broken. A rather curtailed 39 miles today, making the total distance cycled so far 274 miles.