2021-07-25 48 8

Location

In the woods of Mothern, near the Rhine river.

Participants

Baarde

Plans

My plan was to go by train to Strasbourg, cycle on the EuroVelo 15 along the Rhine river from Strasbourg to Lauterbourg, and take a train back home.

Expedition

How it started

The first portion of the journey was uneventful and rather uninteresting. Most of the itinerary was on roads, with very little cycling infrastructure. However, the weather was nice and I was cruising at swift pace.

I had 4 hours to cycle some 70-odd kilometres, reach the coordinates, record proof and board the 16:38 to Strasbourg. If I failed to catch my train, I would get stranded for 3 hours in Lauterbourg. However I was quite confident that I would succeed, even if something unexpected were to happen.

Many things unexpected happened.

What happened next

First I stopped in Gambsheim to help another cyclist to tighten his brakes. We chatted a few minutes before parting ways.

Then, in Drusenheim, I met a couple of friendly Dutch tourists who were visiting the region on bicycles. I slowed down a bit and we cycled together until Beinheim. We had a very pleasant conversation, however I was starting to get short on time. I was about to take my leave when I puncture happened. Feeling that it would be rude to abandon them at this point, I stayed until the puncture was fixed and lent them my (slightly better) pump, before resuming the expedition.

After making a small detour to avoid a portion of the bicycle path that was closed due to recent flooding of the Rhine, I lost cell phone reception. When I finally managed to load the coordinates, I realised that I had already passed the hashpoint.

How it ended

I had no time left to retrace my steps, so I continued to the train station.

I arrived in Lauterbourg 5 minutes before the train. I spent those 5 minutes stuck at a level crossing, 200 metres before the station, waiting for the train to cross. As the barriers finally opened, I dashed across the tracks, rushed through the station and jumped into the train.

5 minutes later, we stopped at the next station. In Mothern. Just 1500 metres away from the geohash. 🤦‍♂️