Today’s ride was a 100.5 km with 245 vertical metres of climbing as we travelled along the Mosel River heading towards the Rhine and our final historical goal of Remagen Bridge. It was also my best opportunity over the remaining days of the odyssey to achieve my 100th 100+km ride. Hence, I once again left early with the aim of reaching the coffee stop at Detzem before retracing my steps back to the final rider.
The Mosel River is the sinuous spine of the Mosel region, changing direction so often as it flows northeast toward the Rhine that it meanders nearly 250 km, to cover about half that distance as the crow flies. The Mosel composes one wine-growing region, considered the oldest in Germany. Countless finds, including several wine presses from Roman times, testify to the long history of viticulture here and the large scale of its introduction by the Romans.
This is often under extremely difficult conditions as nowhere in the world are there more steep vineyards than in the fifth largest wine-growing region of Germany. Today half of the vineyards are on steep and terraced sites with a slope of over 30 degrees, some planted at an astounding 70-degree gradient. On these precipitous inclines, nearly all grapes have to be picked by hand. That includes tying each vine to its own eight-foot wooden stake, and carrying up the slate soil that has washed down with the winter rains. Very labour-intensive and a true sign of dedication to cultivating unique wines. German Wines
There are several companies conducting river cruises along the Mosel and I saw quite a few vessels that morning including one that was moored and had offered many of its passengers the opportunity to ride on the paths…???? people on bikes who have no idea what they are doing is very scary and dangerous… nuff said
We had an awesome coffee and cake break at Detzem where the cheesecake and tiramisu were amazing. It was now warming up and time to crack on to our hotel in Lieser for lunch before it got too hot.
We passed through Neumagen considered Germany’s oldest winemaking centre as the village was founded by the Romans some 2000 years ago on a waystation between Trier and Koblenz along the river
Unfortunately, I still hadn’t reached my hundred km so had to continue for another hour riding taking me through the lovely town of Bernkastel-Kues and back to the hotel. Mission accomplished????
Another awesome day but rain coming tomorrow … goodnight