A Change Of Plans

WHEN THE HILLS BECAME TOO STEEP, AND THE TOWN TOO CROWDED, THESE BICYCLISTS IN EUROPE SWITCHED GEARS

- Lief Carlsen

Mary and I have never bothered to make elaborate travel plans.

“Better to follow one’s nose upon arrival in a foreign land than to be hemmed in by inflexible schedules and commitments” is the way we looked at it.

Our informal approach has often served us well in the past, allowing us to immerse ourselves in local culture and meet a variety of people that a more rigid schedule would have insulated us from. On the other hand, there are certain penalties to be paid for such a carefree attitude — as we learned in early September of this year in Freiburg, Germany.

The seed of our most recent European vacation had been planted two years earlier when we rode our mountain bikes from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide. On that ride, we fell in with a Dutch couple, the Maiwalds, who told us of a wonderful bike trail connecting Amsterdam to Rome.

Captivated by their descriptions of German castles, Alpine valleys, and Italian vineyards, we decided we would do the ride.

Toward that end, we bought special folding bicycles that could be shipped as standard airline luggage. An added bonus, once we arrived in Amsterdam, the suitcases in which the bicycles had traveled could be converted to bicycle trailers in which we could stow our gear.

Our plans, (such as they were), called for us to ride the 500 miles to Freiburg with all the gear required to live for three months in Germany. At Freiburg, we would make arrangements to store all but our essential camping gear and, thus lightened, ride over the Alps and through the splendors of northern Italy until we reached Rome.

After touring the essential sights of Rome, we would catch a train back to the charming university town of Freiburg where I planned to enroll in a language school to work on my German. The trip would take about one month. It promised to be a glorious ride.